the Aëdle VK-1 Headphones

Paris based brand Aëdle create high-end audio accessories. It is their exquisitely handcrafted design of the VK-1 headphones that I am excited to share with you today. The VK-1 Classic Edition combines minimalistic and refined design with high-definition custom made titanium transducers. Aëdle’s co-founders, Raphaël Lebas de Lacour and Baptiste Sancho explain how they have been developing and optimising the VK-1 headphones for two years, which are set for a limited release in February of this year. In their own words : “Aëdle was born from our desire to make a pair of headphones with no compromise between sound quality and design. It was our chance to create something unique and concrete by using the latest audio technologies with traditional craftsmanship.” Aëdle have also designed a beautiful limited edition VK-1 carbon version, comprising black lambskin leather and pure black matte anodisation. [1]

VK-1 Classic Edition combine minimalistic and refined design with high-definition custom made titanium transducers, but will take you back around 350Eur. Hand-assembled in France, in the box you will find : 3.5 mm Detachable Audio Cable, an Aedle Serial Number Metal Card, Travel Pouch, an Airline adapter + 6.5 mm adapter, and info Booklet.

[1] Ref. http://minimalissimo.com/2013/01/aedle-vk-1/

the Music Maker Jam loops and jams creator

Music Maker Jam is your way to create your own music on a tablet or a smartphone wherever you want - whenever you want. This free and straight-forward music maker app from MAGIX, makes it easy to start playing with music and mixing your own songs in no time. The loops from various musical genres allow you to create your own song in an instant. The professionally produced loops can be combined with each other to make your own new favorite song. Give your song some structure by combining the various song parts. Adjust the tempo and change the melody with your fingertips. Add amazing effects to songs in realtime. Mix songs using the 8-track mixer for a perfect sound. The sounds are professional and sound great individually or when combined. Jam Sessions can also be saved directly as an audio file. It features : various music styles with professionally produced loops, ability to adjust the tempo (BPM) and melody using the step sequencer, amazing effects can be added to songs in realtime, the songs are created (mixed) via the 8-track mixer, clear song structure thanks to the individual song parts, different music styles combination via the loop selector. The Music Maker Jam is available in the Windows 8 store as well as on the Android store for mobile smartphone users.

This is a very lite version of Magix Music Maker utilising the same concept of Soundpools, like the Full Windows Music Maker versions, alas in a more stylized, visual and simpler way to use. The supplied loops seem at first to be not compatible with other Magix Music Maker programs, however there is a tutorial here of how to import soundpools from the Jam version to the Full Windows Music Maker (ver 2013,14). The other way round though, is not that simple since it involves a lot of xml writing and editing of files (as well as extensive cross referencing of loops, etc. – a pain).  Music Maker Jam is a great beginners program, simple and easy to understand. Loops can be perfect for kids playing also. But giving it a twist, and since the intuitive touchscreen control incorporated is intended to put the full studio experience in the palm of your hand, with sounds perfectly synchronized to keep you on the beat, how about you start jamming live in front of your friends and fans ?

the Hermès luxury bicycles

In Nov.2013 two ultra-lightweight carbon fiber bicycles were showcased in Hermès stores worldwide. Le Flâneur d'Hermès and Le Flâneur sportif d'Hermès; a unisex leisure and a sporty city bicycle, will be available in three sizes - S, M, L - and two colors – charcoal and blanc d’Espagne (Le Flâneur sportif d'Hermès is also available in a sporty shade of red). Both of the bikes which have been hand-made in France by TIME, a French manufacturer of bicycles and cycling equipment founded by Roland Cattin in 1987, will feature a shock-absorbing monobloc frame, belt-driven transmission, bull leather on contact points such as the handlebar grips, saddle and carry handle, hydraulic disc brakes and a choice of 8 or 11 gears integrated into the rear wheel hub.

[Ref.] http://www.yatzer.com/le-flaneur-d-Hermes-bicycle

the Angell Wyller Aarseth collective

The Norwegian design collective Angell Wyller Aarseth (AWAA) was founded in 2010 by Christoffer Angell, Øyvind Wyller and Simen Aarseth. While pursuing Masters of Design at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, the three realized they had complementary ideas about design and decided to form a loose collective to explore those ideas, while also continuing to work individually as interior architects and product designers.

After exhibiting together at 100% Norway, a juried exhibition at the 2010 London Design Festival of leading Norwegian design talent, and Design Tide in Tokyo, the collective debuted a range of cast iron cookware in Paris in January 2011. AWAA subsequently showed a larger range of products at the Salone Satellite in Milan, where they received a Special Mention from the jury, and at the ICFF in New York, where they won the ICFF Studio for their cookware. In 2012, AWAA presented their collection of seating, lighting and tables at the Salone Satellite in Milan. The latest design by the collective Angell Wyller Aarseth is the Oslo lounge chair for Bernhardt Design.

AWAA approaches design first by analyzing an activity to determine its essential elements to then establish an archetypal object that fulfills those elements. From there, elements are layered on to lend meaning, functionality and adaptability to the object. Their diverse personal interests and experiences contribute to their designs. Angell is an interior architect with experience in lighting design, having interned with the American lighting brand Rich Brilliant Willing. Wyller is a freelance designer and has experience with design journalism from his time as a columnist with the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. Aarseth works as a brand strategist and designer at the Oslo-based firm Work.

[Ref.] http://www.christofferangell.com/

are you up for a Triptease ?

Triptease is a place where people save and share the best of their travel. Putting images front and centre, they capture what it was really like. Taken from their description : “We love travel. We love everything about it. The hotels, the restaurants, the bars and the wild beach parties. We believe getting out your own front door and heading off to a new destination might be the healthiest thing you can do. Travel reviews are a decade out of date. Travel, perhaps the most photo-worthy of all pastimes, is overrun with dull, anonymous text reviews. It's time for a makeover. We put photographs at the heart of Triptease. The process is easy, but the result is powerful. We help you create reviews worth sharing with the world.”

Triptease is a new kind of social site for travel. However, they do have a business side, since they aim to be working together with the industry. For business owners / users, you can set up a special account so that people know who you are. By encouraging your guests to share their experiences and create, Triptease expands your info and links back to your site. Tripteasers love sharing their experiences with friends and family. Every one of these reviews can have a direct link back to your website. As per their saying : “Happy guests become an army of marketers. Help your bottom line and cut out OTAs.”

Frustration with travel reviews drove Triptease founder Charlie Osmond to develop the service after six years working in social media for big names across fashion and politics. The startup is privately funded with Osmond investing proceeds from previous ventures as well as receiving some angel investment. He is joined by co-founder Alasdair Snow, Chris Warren Gash, marketing, Elsie Rutterford, business development, Pawel Lipka, development and Andrea Perrini, design. Osmond says Triptease is going after the luxury end of the global online travel market which is worth an estimated $75b. Competition is massive between Facebook because of its volume of social conversations and reviews giant, TripAdvisor. “We’re after a higher-end audience. When it comes to review creation, a typical user for us is more likely to be someone who would never contribute to Tripadvisor. When it comes to browsing reviews, Tripadvisor is a more direct competitor.” Revenue will be drawn from affiliate fees from click-throughs and the company is also planning some secondary services and revenue streams. “At present the industry encourages guests to post ratings to third-party review sites. Every review posted drives bookings via OTAs who take a cut from the hotel. We’re taking a different approach based around review freshness (less than six months old). If a partner (hotel, agent or airline) encourages a guest to create a review on Triptease, for a period of six months, while the review is fresh, we link directly back to the partner for free – no OTAs in the way.” [1]

[1] Ref. http://www.tnooz.com/article/triptease-wants-to-refresh-the-reviews-space-putting-an-end-to-ugly-faceless-text/

the Fogo Island Inn experience

A windswept fleck of land off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada, has in the last several years, been the site of an exciting project in economic renewal and avant-garde architecture. It’s an incongruous sight : sleek white boxes on stilts above the rocky, windswept coast of that small island off northeastern Newfoundland. But the 29-room Fogo Island Inn is bustling with the area’s vibe. High on a rocky promontory a world away from civilization as we know it. Yet it boasts high-end comforts like an art gallery, a talented young chef, and a rooftop sauna from which it’s possible to glimpse icebergs bobbing in the vast, coal-black Atlantic.

The building is an X in plan. The two storey west to east volume contains public spaces while the four storey south-west to north-east volume contains the remaining public spaces and all the guest rooms and is parallel to the coast. The public areas on the first floor include an art gallery curated by Fogo Island Arts, a dining room, bar and lounge, and a library specialising in the local region. The second floor includes a gym, meeting rooms, and cinema. The fourth floor roof deck has saunas and outdoor hot tubs with views of the North Atlantic. All guest rooms face the ocean with the bed placed directly in front of the view of the Little Fogo Islands in the distance with the North Atlantic beyond. Guest rooms are located on all four floors with the 21 rooms on the third and fourth floors all having a wood-burning stove. The ceilings of the rooms on the fourth floor follow the slope of the roof and the three rooms on the east are double volume spaces with the sleeping area located on the mezzanine.

The building is the latest edition to an ongoing arts residency programme being established on the Newfoundland isle. Saunders Architecture of Norway is responsible for adding this hotel and gallery on stilts to the picturesque Fogo Island. In addition, Saunders Architecture has also completed six live-in artists' studios dotted around the island. Every element of the 29-room inn was created on Fogo, a result of collaborations between residents and Canadian and European designers. The Fogo Island Inn is an initiative of the Shorefast Foundation. Shorefast is a registered charity of Canada that uses a social entrepreneurship model to contribute to cultural and economic resiliency for Fogo Island and Change Islands. From a distance, the inn almost seems to float above the landscape, yet it is a dramatic structure, as minimalist and modern as a spacecraft. “This isn’t the kind of building we wanted to hide, or sweep under the carpet,” says Saunders. “We wanted it to appear as though it were raising its head, full of pride, to look out at the sea.”

[Ref.] http://www.fogoislandinn.ca/fii/press/

[Ref.] http://www.dezeen.com/2013/10/29/fogo-island-inn-by-saunders-architecture/

[Ref.] http://www.azuremagazine.com/article/todd-saunders-breathtaking-fogo-island-inn/

the Salto Chico Lodge in Patagonia

The Salto Chico Lodge is located right at the heart of the extraordinary Torres del Paine National Park in central Patagonia. The varied and untouched landscapes of this area led UNESCO to declare it a biosphere reserve. The Patagonia hotel lodge opened in 1993 on the banks of the Salto Chico waterfall. It affords an excellent view of the unique Paine Massif and two of the three impressive torres, or towers, which give the park its name. The lodge has 49 rooms and a variety of inviting spaces adopting a design which borrows certain organic forms from the landscape itself, thus blending to it with simple elegance. It was designed to create a dialogue with its environment, putting human beings in touch with the sublimity of their surroundings. For Patagonia travel, the lodge provides the welcome surprise of comfort in a remote area; nonetheless, you are not isolated from nature, but placed “within” it.

The hotel was designed by the architect José Cruz Ovalle ; an architect, who has studied and worked in Chile and Spain, has created a substantial portfolio of award-winning work. José Cruz Ovalle is the highly regarded master architect behind the innovative and architecturally stunning explora hotels Patagonia explora (2005), Hotel Rapa Nui explora (2007) and most recently, the interior renovation of explora Atacama Hotel de Larache. You can walk around the perimeter of Hotel Salto Chico, following the "orbit" or revolving space built into the design. Thus, the interior and exterior accompany one another and enter into a dialogue at the access to the rooms. The traveler can simultaneously view both the interior of the lodge and the surrounding landscape. Apart from the main section of the building is the swimming pool area with jacuzzis and sauna - the “Casa de Baños del Ona”, or Ona Bath House– which can be reached via sloping wooden walkways. The swimming pool and jacuzzis are at the same level as Lake Pehoé, providing a continuous view of the water. The outside of this building is painted the same emerald green color as the lake.

the Aenaon Villas in Santorini

The secluded housing complex which makes up the Aenaon Villas consists of seven luxurious white washed cube shaped villas built next to and on top of one another. Situated at the highest and narrowest part of Santorini, an island in Greece, they almost balance on the very edge of the world famous Caldera between the settlements of Imerovigli and Oia. All of them are open from East to West offering breathtakingly unobstructed views of the endless blue Aegean Sea, the volcano and the most unique sunset in the world. Each villa is built in complete harmony with the region’s natural environment and follows the values of traditional Cycladic architecture whilst artfully displaying the owners’ love and devotion to elegant simplicity in every detail in the luxe white-on-white interiors.

The original decision of mechanical engineer George Alexiou and his wife Alexandra back in 1989 to buy a plot of land in Santorini and build a housing complex brick by brick, was to prove life changing. George’s brother who rejected buying the plot for himself, recommended it to the couple who then spent twenty years chasing their dream up until 2009 when 'Aenaon Villas' opened its doors to the outside world. Since then, its allure has enthralled the handful of guests from all over the world that have been lucky enough to discover it.

[Ref.] http://www.yatzer.com/aenaon-villas-santorini-greece

modern chalet forms in Sweden

These uniquely formed chalets located in the Ramundberget ski resort of Sweden, were a project by Daniel Fagerberg Arkitekter, completed in 2007. This chalet / apartment complex can be found also tagged as Osthang. The buildings are based on traditional colloquial longhouses. Five buildings divided in three apartments each climb the steep mountainside in middle of the ski system. The strategy for the project was to for as low cost as possible construct a timber feel ski hut with as low ecological footprint as possible. 

At the same time esthetically not reducing it to a log cabin but instead giving it the comfortable properties of a home away from home. One of the main tasks was to make a simple construction in this remote area where the closest hardware store is two hours away. Therefore, keeping it simple by only using two materials, solid wood and pine paneling became the corner stone of the project. To be able to meet building codes and regulations without any use of insulating material the layout was based on large super insulated windows to the south, -heating the black floors (heat accumulates in thermal mass of solid wood and in the water radiant floor heating system) and with the help of Thermoshield applied directly at the rough industrial grade solid wood wall to keep a lower indoor temperature. The result is a breathtaking experience of an almost sacrosanct space filled with surprises and design jewels such as the red toilets and spy glazed saunas together with a wonderful indoor climate.

The property measures a total of 1226sqm.The plans for this project were made in April 2006. The team of architects worked closely with the client and in April 2007 the first flats were handed over. The building has been organized along the hillside and a courtyard was also created. The project actually includes four distinctive buildings. They are divided into three apartments over two floors and a loft. There’s also an additional house that houses two more apartments. [1]

[1] Ref. http://www.homedit.com/the-osthang-ski-resort-by-daniel-fagerberg-arkitekter/

[Ref.] http://www.archdaily.com/201077/osthang-daniel-fagerberg-arkitekter/

the Ziferblat cafe concept

It was September of 2011 in Moscow, that the first ever Ziferblat was established. It was a relaxed feel-at-home / café / meeting place, that amongst other things formed as the place for new music start-ups, a place where goods were baked and jams were made, with a carefully selected library, and what ultimatelly became the proving gropund for most of the Ziferblat team’s ideas and projects. Now over 2 years from the original realisation date, the Ziferblat is counting 8 locations in Russia and one in London, UK, all interestingly diversified, but with a unique characteristic in their conception.

In London, an average cappuccino at a artisanal café costs around £2.65 (3.20Eur, 4.35USD) . At the newly opened Ziferblat café, you can get as many cappuccinos as you want for free – but there is a catch – you have to pay for every minute you spend there. The pay-per-minute café idea comes from Russia, where multiple Ziferblat cafés have popped up around the country in the last few years, after the original outpost in Moscow proved successful. Rather than paying for goods, customers are paying for the space and comfort. The cost at Ziferblat is 3p per minute (ie. £1.80 per hour, or 2.15Eur, or 2.95USD) – which means you could stay in the cafe for almost ninety minutes at the cost of that cappuccino. Whilst there you can tinkle on the piano, make yourself a coffee with the self-serve espresso machine or grab some cookies from the cupboard and milk from the fridge. It is like a friend’s apartment, where you feel perfectly comfortable helping yourself. [1]

Ziferblat means clock face in Russian and German (Zifferblatt). The idea is guests take an alarm clock from the cupboard on arrival and note the time, then keep it with them, before, quite literally, clocking out at the end. There's no minimum time. Guests can also get stuck into the complimentary snacks (biscuits, fruit, vegetables), or prepare their own food in the kitchen; they can help themselves to coffee from the professional machine, or have it made for them. There's even a piano – an idea that could seem brilliant or terrible, depending on who takes the seat. [2]

In their own words : “Ziferblat is a place where everyone can feel at home. Here you are free to be yourself; you can work, do some art, read a book, play piano, get acquainted with good people, attend events, drink as much tea or coffee as you want — in other words, do whatever you like as long as you respect the space and the other people in it. Ziferblat’s doors are open to everyone. Each Ziferblat guest becomes a sort of micro-tenant of the space, responsible for it and able to influence its life. You will be welcomed by the Ziferblat community and able to work with them to help create, supply and develop this project. Everything is free inside except the time you spend there; and by paying for the time you’ll be making a donation towards the further development of this social experiment.”

[1] Ref. http://www.psfk.com/2014/01/pay-per-minute-cafe-london.html#!r32Bp

[2] Ref. http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/jan/08/pay-per-minute-cafe-ziferblat-london-russia

[Ref.] Ziferblat info booklet : http://ziferblat.net/files/Ziferblat-Secret-Knowledge.pdf