The Cool Hunter, Roaming the globe so you're in the know
Hot Pick
June 18 2007
Yes, we all saw Lost In Translation and thought, ‘hang on a minute, if Bill Murray can seduce Scarlett Johansson by singing ‘More Than This’ then maybe we could too!’
Let’s face it, karaoke has always been the butt of bad movies, and its reputation is currently languishing somewhere between Japanese businessmen necking methylated spirit and hen parties ‘cutting loose’.
But recently, it has started to reclaim its cult status from half-tanked brides-to-be, and become a little bit more palatable. This new karaoke bar has been quietly, or rather, loudly, winning acclaim for its alternative approach to the nation’s favourite pastime.
Rather than the dark booths of your standard karaoke club, this new private members’ sing-along has incorporated young artists to help liven up the interior. Think Manga cartoons but with a Lichtenstein edge.
Each booth has its own distinctive decor, and every surface has a graphic to reflect the spaces they fill. Which is a far cry from the matted walls and vinyl floors some bars choose. And most of all, it’s members only, so there’s no need to worry about being harassed by a woman with oversized fairy wings stuck to her back. By Matt Hussey.
June 15 2007
Roadside billboard ads set out in consecutive order to deliver their message are nothing new. However when the message is as poignant as this campaign, drivers sit up and notice.
Using the old flick book art form of animation and motion the individual images create a fast moving clip to a driver speeding by them at high speeds. Quite literally, for a speeding driver life can flash by them in a split second. By Andy G
June 13 2007
The creation of Parisian electronic masterminds Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay, Justice first implanted their pogo-inducing sound in last year's massive remix of Simian's 'Never Be Alone'. While Justice's remixing fingers have also moulded the sounds of stars like NERD, Soulwax and Franz Ferdinand, it's their critically-lauded new album '†' which is causing the most fan-fervour.
The band's current single 'D.A.N.C.E' - looped around the Jackson 5, chanting-child refrain of "Do the D.A.N.C.E/1 2 3 4 fight/Stick to the B.E.A.T/Get ready to ignite" - sounds like an electro-funk Go! Team shouting orders to the disco infantry.
The 'D.A.N.C.E' film clip follows two torsos as they charge in circles through a dark club. As they move, their t-shirts act as projection screens for a myriad of evolving graphic prints and patterns created by the art director of Justice's label Ed Banger.
Following the clip's release, a number of its featured t-shirt designs were put up for sale (Colette, Paris ) causing a feeding frenzy amongst the music-nerd elite and the fashion frantic alike.
Justice might be the best thing to happen to French electronic music since Daft Punk and given the buzz they are generating, expect more monster singles in the coming months. For now though, as Justice would say, things are 'prêt à allumer'. By Nick Christie
May 28 2007
Mazda's current design philosophy is moving in decidedly Zen-like circles. Like a child throwing pebbles into a mirror-still pool of water, the Japanese brand cast the diametrically different Sassou, Senku and Kauri concepts far out into the design community in 2005/6 and waited to see which way the ripples would take them.
From these three focal points an inward momentum was created, an inexorable circular movement towards a production car bearing a completely new Mazda design language. That car, hints Mazda North America's Design Director Franz von Holzhausen, will appear in pre-production form at the company's home auto show in Tokyo later this year.
'It's like a concentric circle,' explains the soft-spoken California-based designer. 'With the Sassou, Senku and Kabura we struck out in a bunch of different directions, but eventually we're going to land in the middle at something that you can go into the showroom and buy. For the moment, however, they're still circling the outer reaches of a design philosophy that Holzhausen has dubbed 'flow', or Nagare in Japanese.
At the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, this new form language physically manifested itself in the first of a troika of striking new concepts: the Nagare. A radical grand tourer for the year 2020 designed by Mazda's studio in Irvine, California, Nagare borrows the most successful elements from its three conceptual forebears and translates them into what Holzhausen describes as a 'concept of a concept car'.
'Flow is the study of how nature expresses motion. If you look at a desert landscape, it appears as if the air is moving across the sand even though you can't see it. That's what we wanted to create: a way of introducing ideas of texture and motion into the surface language,' explains the Pontiac Solstice designer. 'That's the thing: it's not just a stuck-on detail or a cliched road stance. We've got a lot of freedom to explore this.'
The most striking thing about the Nagare's design is the deep etch lines that run along the car's flanks. They converge, fading as they go, to an invisible point above the rear wheelarches before re-emerging and fanning out to form filigree-like strands of orange light that make up the rear light clusters. Like ripples on a sand dune, they create a sense of air moving across the vehicle, of unseen motion - a theme picked up by the twisted lines that form the headlamps. Sidewinder trails are what come immediately to mind.
The Nagare, says Holzhausen, was just the first expression of flow. For the Detroit show in January, the Irivine studio team distilled this idea into a deliberately more feasible and down-to-earth form: the 2010 Ryuga sports car concept. Again, deep etch lines dominate the overall look, and the Senku-inspired shark's head nose and sidewinder lights remain. But the feel is less extreme, especially inside where the Nagare's diamond-pattern seat configuration gives way to a more conventional 2+2 layout. 'It's still about motion,' insists Holzhausen, 'but in a much more calm and quiet way. Like a Japanese rock garden.'
Meanwhile, the Geneva show will debut an even more grounded expression of the philosophy, this time designed by the company's studio in Frankfurt, Germany. Something equally exploratory but more believable, promises Franz. As radical, as avant-garde, as these cars feel now, by the time we get elements and themes into the finished car two years from now, people will be like 'yeah, we've seen this. It's a Mazda'
Personally, I doubt people will be so blase. While parent company Ford's European arm continues to talk in a loud voice about its Kinetic Design philosophy and expressing 'energy in motion', Holzhausen has found a way of actually translating this into something you and I can touch, and hopefully buy. Interestingly, the US-born designer says that the roots of this can be traced back to Spring 2006 edition of Intersection, the one with the Colani concept on the cover: I saw that car, the way it was shot from above with those organic, flowing shapes, and said 'that's the kind of car we need to build'. All my recent concepts have sprung from that point. By Euan Sey. Exclusive online extract from Intersection Magazine.
May 25 2007
Libraries aren’t generally known for amazing architecture but this incredible one in Italy has us dying to get there amongst the books. Pictured below, it’s actually an extension on the existing library at the Pontificial Lateran University, which houses new reading rooms and an Auditorium. The incredibly stylish space was designed by Rome firm King Roselli, who took totally fresh approach to the project by employing features not usually seen in these types of spaces, such as a curved ceiling, angular stair-casing and vast glass panelling.
The university holds an outstanding collection of books numbering around 600,000 volumes, some of which date back to the 16th century, whose subjects for the most part coincide with the principal academic courses: philosophy, theology and law. The bulk of them are now deposited in the newly restored compartmentalised underground vaults equipped with an adequate fire extinguisher system and humidity and temperature control. Learning has never been so glamorous. By Laura Demasi
May 22 2007
Originality is rare these days in the art world but we're pleased to report that we've stumbled upon an artist whose work is both innovative and modern. Matt Bilfield, California based artist, won us over with this incredible three-dimensional piece 'Peggy', a brilliant and ambitious interpretation of a painting by famous artist, Roy Lichtenstein. The mammoth work - its seven feet wide and three feet tall - is comprised of 2788 hand cut, sanded, and painted dowels that where then assembled together to recreate Lichtensteins image. The result is a cross between a graphic art image, sculpture, and installation which offers the viewer a different experience from every angle. By Bill T
May 6 2007
To categorize the new Indigo Patagonia hotel and spa in Puerto Natales, Chile, as a cool place is to make use of the word cool in both its old and new meaning.
The old cool – as in somewhat coldish, refreshingly chilly – is a fitting description of the six-storey, 28-room block of a building. It is also a perfectly appropriate way for the hotel to be here in the middle of Patagonia’s fresh magnificence.
In the new main hotel building, Chile’s favorite modern architect Sebastian Irarrázaval has managed to encase a balance between understated Northern European luxury and a straight-forward humility toward the surrounding environment.
Indigo is not a product of indulgent architecture that attempts to take over the scenery. It is an honest, almost college-dormish building that fits in its place as if it had always been there while also standing out as something one wants to explore. That has also been the appeal of Patagonia to adventurers, mountaineers, kayakers, trekkers and nature-lovers for decades. With its ancient ice fields older than time itself, fjords deeper than anyone can fathom, air and sky clearer than seems natural, and vistas more humbling than you can be prepared for, Patagonia makes you feel a bit like an intruder and yet you are unable to resist its lure.
At Indigo, the new cool is evident both outside and in. The red corrugated-metal facade sports huge white lettering that indicates the various floors and spells out “indigo.” This creates an almost surreal effect, as if the facade were a fake prop onto which the lettering is being magically projected. All the while, the building looks way more industrial than residential.
Inside, touches of luxury and attention to detail are everywhere. From the natural materials – wood, basketry, cotton and linen – to the neutral color palette and ever-present vast windows, everything helps you ease into the main attraction of Patagonia: the natural world.
The new Indigo Patagonia hotel is a fusion of the three owner’s ideas. Climber and publicist Hernán Jofré’s brought along his love of nature, chemical engineer Ana Ibañez contributed impeccable taste (we can thank him for the elegance of the interior), and Olivier Potart added vision and fantasy. The Chilean, Spaniard and Frenchman dreamt up the concept of the new hotel and converted the eight-year-old original Concepto Indigo hotel into the new hotel’s restaurant. The two buildings now cozy up to each other spectacularly unmatching yet happily at home as part of the town’s low and semi-vacant skyline.
Perhaps it was the owners’ international backgrounds that affected Indigo Patagonia’s particular mix of mountain chalet and safari hut and then balanced it harmoniously and meticulously by the over-arching touch of northern calm. The rooms exude comfort and simplicity and the large windows everywhere let you see where you are.
Nowhere is it more evident that you are in the lap of luxury and rather close to heaven, than in the top-floor spa. The sauna and two massage rooms are great, but soaking in one of the three outdoor Jacuzzis overlooking Fiordo Última Esperanza (Fjord of Last Hope) when you really know you’ve found bliss.
The town of Puerto Natales (pop. 18,000) in the province of Última Esperanza is on the mainland but connected to the sea by channels. You can get there, for example, by taking one of the daily flights from Santiago de Chile to Punta Arenas and then driving 250 km to Puerto Natales. The area is best known for the Perito Moreno glacier, Fiordo Última Esperanza, and for Torres del Paine National Park that is on the UNESCO world heritage site tentative list. By Tuija Seipell
May 4 2007
Packaging has power – enormous power – over what we buy. The fashions we wear express who we are. Packaging does that for products. We identify with a product because we believe that it does for us what we wish it to do. And as any brand manager will tell you, we buy the “brand promise” and the package carries a lot of that promise.
Try this test scenario. You are dying to break your shampoo routine, or for some reason cannot find your usual brand. How do you select an alternative? You generally pick a package that appeals to you or draws your attention. Often you do that out of necessity – you don’t have the chance to taste or try most products. The package must do the selling right there on the spot.
Ask retail anthropologist Paco Underhill (author of Why we buy and Call of the mall) and he’ll likely produce studies and surveys on shelf impact, shopping behavior and consumer psychology, all showing that it does matter what the box looks like, even when we say it doesn’t.
Martin Lindstrom’s latest book Buyology – Truth and Lies about Why We Buy covers the results of Lindstrom's $7-million study that attempted to figure out what really makes us vote with our wallets. The over-arching revelation – if it is indeed a revelation – is that, more often than not, we as consumers do not know why we buy. We do not know what actually affects us when we make a buying decision.
What we do know – and what marketers know – is that it is all about emotions. How does the brand make us feel, is what matters. Our first impressions, whether about products or people, are strong and quick. In many cases, packaging is the main influencer. The billions spent on packaging and branding annually are not spent on spec. Marketers know it works, although even they don’t always know how or why.
Packaging has a huge impact on many other things as well, not just on our buying decisions. On store shelves, the battle for space and shelf impact is tough. There is a reason why a box of twelve pills is five or more times larger than it actually needs to be to contain the pills. Theft is one concern, possibly also anti-tampering, but mostly it is about taking up space, taking it away from the competition.
As the brand gains shelf space with the bigger box, other things happen as well. The bigger the box, the more shelving is needed. The more shelving is used, the larger the store needs to be. The larger the store, the higher the rent and the more staff is needed to keep it running. We can keep going along this route.
The larger box also means larger cartons to ship the boxes, larger warehouses, larger trucks and so on. A larger box uses up more materials, more trees are cut down, more plastic is used, more garbage is accumulated... And of course, it all costs more. We are not trying to say that packaging is the cause of all ills, but we are suggesting that designing and producing “a slightly bigger box” is not a small decision.
We also feel that we must finally start seriously caring about the environmental impact of unnecessary and eco-unfriendly packaging. Designers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers are the ones that can influence what happens in the packaging world. Packaging manufacturers will follow and start making whatever the market wants to buy. Ideally, of course, manufacturers of packaging should also invest more in developing eco-friendly options, but if unfriendly options keep selling well, why would they change?
Our daily behavior proves that branding and packaging are important. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.
But there is a bigger picture and it includes the inconvenient truth that much of packaging still ends up in garbage, in landfills or in the oceans.
The challenge is to keep the cool, the impact, the fun and the practical function of packaging, but to do it in a way that doesn’t do any damage.
As always, we at The Coolhunter are looking for genuinely original packaging. Let us know when you see it!
From milk cartons to cosmetics, if its packaging that really pops, let us know about it! - Tuija Seipell
Looking for a design studio who can deliver - look no further than TCH Design
April 28 2007
Ikea pack furniture in it. Gehry has made furniture from it. Now architects are shaping spaces with it. Is there any limit to the creative re-use of corrugated cardboard? With its unique physical consistency, its decidedly axial strength, and its deadening acoustic absorption, corrugated cardboard has many inherent qualities. As such it was the perfect material for this particular sound installation.
Made from 720 half square sheets of 7mm thick corrugated cardboard, stacked in 360 layers, this cavernous sound space is set within a 2.5m cube. As a space for listening to and experiencing music, the initial concept for the design developed from the architect's ambition to create a strong spatial intensity and a distinct internal atmosphere. With an irregular free-form interior set within a regular cubic volume, the object has a profound duality. Made from one material it also has an implied solidity that strengthens the architect's distinction between inside and out - a distinction that is heightened when the full acoustic ambience is experienced from within.
Cutting the cardboard took three working days, and assembly just one. The structure sits under its own dead weight, without any fixings or glue. And, for those of a technical persuasion, a simple calculation reveals that the combined compression of the 360 layers of cardboard is 20mm over the 2.5m height, or an average of 500ths of a millimetre per sheet. All services are integrated within the stack, including cable runs and apertures for the six-speaker surround sound system. R. G.
April 22 2007
Aqua Dome is a 140-room, four-star-plus hotel and spa complex in Tirol Therme Längenfeld, the Tyrolean Alps in Austria. The altitude must have had an effect on the planners and designers because the place is out-of-this world heavenly.
The services are impressive and the facilities absolutely beautiful although somewhat counterproductively named with words too difficult to pronounce unless you speak German. The dome-ceilinged, glass-walled thermal spring hall Ursprung (Origins) is the main indoor area with two pools and a huge waterfall. From there, you swim via two canal pools to the amazing outdoor area, Talfrische (Freshness Valley). With its illuminated structures and steaming vessels it resembles the potion-making lab of a gigantic but friendly sorcerer. The two canals lead to a cone-shaped illuminated tower. From there you proceed to the three bowl pools that look like gigantic martini glasses. Bobbing in one of these eight-metre-high bowls that are 12 to 16 meters in diameter, you can gaze upon the Alps and contemplate your good fortune.
The beauty center and spa are known as Morgentau (Morning Dew), the rest room (not a bathroom but a room for rest) is called Besinnung (Reflection) and the view terrace is called Umsicht (View). Gletscherglühen (Glowing Glacier) is the impressive “sauna world” with various Finnish saunas from earth lodge and hay sauna to a loft sauna, a steam cathedral, a salt water (they call it brine) grotto, herbal bath, ice pool and a panorama whirlpool. The fitness center called Gipfelsturm (Peak Push), the kids’ area called Alpen Arche Noah (Alpine Noah’s Ark), the medical center (Medalp 4health) plus several restaurants ensure that everyone’s needs are met.
Aqua Dome is one of the six VAMED Vitality World resorts, all located in Austria.
What also impressed us about Aqua Dome are its architecture and its surroundings. Aqua Dome is located about 70 kilometers from Innsbruck and 180 kilometers from Munich in Längenfeld in the heart of the beautiful 67-kilometre-long Tirolean Ötztal valley known as a thermal springs area since the 16th century. Aqua Dome’s 3000-year-old, 40-degree Celsius sodium-chloride-sulphate-sulphur thermal waters flow from this ancient valley.
The Aqua Dome is Austria’s largest tourism project of recent years. It has revitalized tourism in the entire area, long known for fabulous hiking, skiing, mountaineering and white water rafting.
We don’t know about you, but we’ll climb a mountain or two any day if the reward is a warm evening spent in one of Aqua Dome’s misty martini glasses. By Tuija Seipell
