mercedes-benz-sculpture

There are some fascinating design shifts happening at Mercedes-Benz ~ from the design studio in Sindelfingen to Como to Tokyo to Carlsbad, the message was clear - the hunt is on for “Perfect Aesthetics” and in doing so, they are aggressively pushing their designs to be more fresh, young, emotional, and sexy ~ phrases like “enjoyment of innovation” + “inspire our customers” + “sensuality and joy” + “importance of perception” kept recurring in addition to talk of the future and fascination and playfulness. It was most definitely a buzzwordfest, but the excitement and passion of the design teams was impossible to ignore. There was an inescapable giddiness throughout the week around where the future may take us, and a need to think far beyond their more traditional production vehicles. Steffen Kohl’s gung ho push from the design side to gain the freedom to explore the insane ideas are guaranteed to frighten corporate types a bit. It’s inspiring to see his team indulge in the ideas designers dream about as students ~ you know, that awesomely idealistic time when you believe absolutely anything is possible?

A big part of this is the fight to create more artistic explorations through sculpture to push abstract concepts. The idea of art being key to Mercedes-Benz design strategies as well as a beautiful way to tease designs earlier in the year is intriguing. And i love these form studies of Oliver Samson, Thomas Stopka,Yves Renaud, and Sylvain Wehnert from Karim Habib’s team. Exploring lightweight forms to play with strength, perspective, and transparency, the results resemble polygons, honeycombs (all sharing one central perspective point), string art, and woven chaos. See them all on the next page!

As a reminder ~ here’s the first sculpture they released… a teaser of the CLS as if emerging from liquid metal ~ or draped with their signature silver clothes before unveiling… 

Exploring the lightweight nature of polygons… 

All of the honeycombs are focused into the same central point ~ and as a result, moving around the sculpture creates a fascinating exploration of transparency and visual openings and closings for a unique optical illusion of sorts… 

Weaving in an organized chaos of sorts, playing with density through transparency… 

Inspiration for shaping with strips… 

String art creating a nearly batmobile like web… 

Gaetano Pesce for Melissa

Italian architect Gaetano Pesce has designed this pair of shoes made of plastic discs for Brazilian brand Melissa.

Consumers can customise the ankle boots by cutting circles away from the edges.

See also: Dezeen’s top ten stories about shoes.

Stylish Shower Drains / Floor Channels by Dallmer

We love these amazing modern shower drains from Dallmer. When it comes to design, the typical shower drain is a functional, less than esthetically pleasing standard design that we all put up with. Well, not any longer. The clever folks at Dallmer have provided us with a modern and chic alternative.

With its CeraLine and CeraNiveau products, Dallmer provides a modern alternative to traditional drainage systems for showers, combining a successful blend of innovative components and stylish design. Not just a pretty cover, either, their products include a compact drain for under-tile waterproofing as well as amazingly sleek cover plates that enables any modern shower design to maintain its form without compromise.

For those interested in technical specifications, for use in design projects, Dallmer products use a drain body that is cast into a polymer-concrete collar, and the compound seal is fitted to this in line with ZDB requirements. The integrated reinforcement securely anchors the drain in the screed, with the drainage point remaining firmly set into the structure of the floor even under heavy loads to maintain a permanent watertight seal.

Jimmi’s Galaxy | Edwards Moore Architects

Australian architects Ben Edwards and Juliet Moore (Edwards Moore Architects) have designed a series of bespoke mirrored dog boxes & as a place for pampered pets, the box is made from laser-cut mdf, with a mirrored 880 Lucida Abet Laminati laminate finish. It is named after their first ‘client’ Jimmi, Edwards’ dog, and gives the classic dog box a playful twist.