The Crit #16: The 2021 Review
Another year of design is almost done and dusted. But before we say sayonara to 2021, we have a special episode of The Crit: an official unofficial review of the top design stories from around the world this year.
In the architecture project of the year category, we extol the virtues of Leher Architects’ Tiny Homes villages for unhoused people in Los Angeles, and The Tokyo Toilet Project, which comissioned Japanese architects to design public bathroom facilities. Sunne, the solar-powered lamp for the home created by Marjan van Aubel, and Formafantasma’s low carbon website redesign were our design projects of the year.
Products of the year, in the eyes of The Crit, are a more comfortable contraceptive device, the Ballerine IUD, and Marie Bee Bloom’s compostable face masks. As for the biggest trends of 2021, we spotlight hybrid working and NFT furniture.
For the villains of 2021, we suggest the Metaverse, as well as the people who put an OSB furniture unit in a bin storage room to try and rent it out as a studio flat. On the flip side, our 2021 heroes are architect Alison Killing for her Pulitzer Prize-winnning investigation of internment camps in Xinjiang, and the late, great fashion designer Virgil Abloh.
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Show Notes: Ep.16 - ‘The 2021 Review’
Tiny Homes by Leher Architects – 2:20
The Tokyo Toilet Project – 7:27
Sunne by Marjan van Aubel – 13:14|
Formafantasma Webstite Redesign – 17:00
Ballerine IUD – 21:10
Marie Bee Bloom Masks – 26:37
Hybrid Working – 31:51
NFTs – 36:09
The Metaverse – 40:05
Manchester Bin Store Flat – 42:52
Alison Killing – 49:44
Virgil Abloh – 53:01
Credits
All music for The Crit has been created by Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki (Adam Cheong-MacLeod and Charlie Carroll) at Pentagram, and our logo was designed by Leonhard Rothmoser.