Stories
Enter the Zoöp
Aric Chen, Het Nieuwe Instituut’s artistic and general director, discusses transforming the institution into the world’s first zoöp: a body dedicated to ecological regeneration and representing non-human life.
Blocks, Each Exactly One Cubic Metre
Minecraft is raising a new generation of young gamers applying their design skills to real-world issues, but its first foray into mobile AR gaming raises questions about surveillance technology.
The Ground of Palestine
Artist Ariel Caine meets architect Dima Srouji and archaeologist Silvia Truini to discuss archaeology as a tool of colonisation and settlement in Palestine.
The Design Line: 7 - 13 May
Design Line covers the end of the iPod, more than a bit of Bitcoin drama, an ear-tingling ASMR exhibition, and a political interruption.
McModernism, USA
She said no pickles. Kate Wagner mourns the loss of garish Hamburgler decor as McDonald’s revamps itself to fit with the trend for boring, brandless spaces.
Fewer Pictures of the Cigar-Smoking
Drawn together by ArkDes, a group of architects and curators take aim at the myth of Sigurd Lewerentz, and explain why this giant of 20th-century Swedish architecture’s work was so much greater, richer and stranger in reality.
The Design Line: 30 April - 6 May
It’s a week of multi-billion rail announcements, drone chaos, rhythmic tremors, and historical dress scandal as Design Line returns with all the latest news.
A Topography for Encounter
From Disegno #31, a roundtable interview with Herzog & de Meuron on the opening of M+, a Hong Kong museum in built on reclaimed land in a city at a political crossroads.
A Meeting of Waste Streams
From Disegno #26, Attua Aparicio Torinos creates emoji plates out of discarded porcelain from Jingdezhen and glass remnants.
The Design Line: 23 - 29 April
This week on Design Line, Design Shanghai is postponed amidst lockdowns, Thomas Heatherwick shocks the world with a tree-themed design, and Prince Charles backs a gas mask for cows.
Design Drafts – an open call for new design writers
Het Nieuwe Instituut and Disegno partner to run Design Drafts an open call for new design writing and writers.
Old Skins for New Boots
From Disegno #26, the making of Matthias Winkler’s debut collection of non-binary boots made from deadstock material that includes old lederhosen.
The Biodegradable Aphrodite
Fresh lipstick and fat bacteria; Oli Stratford tours the studio of Shellworks, an experimental company making biodegradable beauty packaging.
The Design Line: 16 - 22 April
This week on Design Line, the Playdate gaming console launches, a London landmark temporarily escapes demolition, and Netflix has a rocky first quarter.
Who’s Afraid of the Metaverse?
Natalie Kane, Keiichi Matsuda and Florian Dussopt explore the design significance of the metaverse as part of a live event hosted at Molteni&C.
Pottery Heads
Weed’d head of design Simone Bonanni talks to Disegno about ceramic bongs and developing a made in Italy cannabis culture.
Welcome to the Island
Crystal Bennes ventures to Gipsön, the mysterious island made of radioactive waste from the fertiliser industry that sits off the coast of Sweden.
The Design Line: 9 - 15 April
This week on the Design Line we explore the demolition of the Nakagin Capsule Tower, Aric Chen taking on the London Design Biennale, and an app that makes web browsing more accessible.