Design Articles

Design Articles

Design Articles featuring great design, architecture, fashion, graphics and innovation from across the globe.

 

Playful Hut

Playful Hut is reusable packaging designed for a large energy storage product. The packaging is made from biodegradable corrugated and honeycomb cardboard, which provides load bearing strength and cushioning during transport. Tongue-and-slot connections replace glue and plastic. Easy-tear perforations allow users to open hollow spaces and remove paper blocks, so the outer box becomes a playhouse and the inner tray becomes toy furniture. The box unfolds on four sides for easier handling. The aim is to reduce material waste and extend the useful life of packaging.

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Bishan

Bishan is a bookstore set inside a former ancestral hall in Bishan Village, Yi County, Anhui. The hall, a Wang family shrine, was built more than 230 years ago during the Qing Dynasty. The project covers 420 square meters and adapts a protected historic building to present-day cultural use. Natural materials such as wood, bamboo and stone shape the interior, while the bookcase wall is finished in white rammed earth. Cement board supports the bookcase wall and limits damage caused by ground moisture. The form of the bookcase wall recalls painted screens and frames a central reading area.

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Takanabe Ninomaru

Takanabe Historical Museum, established in 1986, was reimagined to address declining visitor engagement due to outdated exhibits. The redesign embraced JIN, the philosophy of benevolence, transforming it into a cultural and educational hub fostering civic pride. Through visual storytelling and spatial design, the renewal introduced thematic curation, immersive exhibitions, and layered acrylic panels symbolizing historical continuity. Renamed Ninomaru History Museum, it now serves as an interactive space where heritage, education, and community connect.

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AI Sealer

AI Sealer is a personalized seal design and carving system that combines traditional Chinese seal carving with intelligent manufacturing. Users create a seal in three steps: text input, character style selection, and layout adjustment. Deep learning models reproduce ancient seal characters in several traditional styles. An intelligent carving machine with automatic dust extraction and precise tool positioning completes the engraving in about five minutes. Each design can also be certified as a digital token or applied to items such as canvas bags and electronics.

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Transition

Transition is an exhibition of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, which has a history of 1,400 years. The open layout has no rear wall, so visitors walk freely and view each arrangement from many angles instead of only from the front. Sunlight and responsive LED lighting change through the day, so the space and the living flowers shift continuously. The pedestals are 3D printed from recyclable resin and can be taken apart, moved and reused. The level, barrier-free floor gives easy access to all visitors.

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Box Factory

This Zero Energy, low carbon project has operational data that confirms its actual performance. It is an all electric building that relies on onsite solar to meet its energy needs, with heat pumps providing heating and cooling. Careful siting and form work as hard as the systems, with the building oriented to local wind patterns and sun angles. Box Factory integrates climate resilience, innovation, and community impact through thoughtful design. During the 2022 Electra Fire, which burned 4,500 acres in Amador County, the project proved itself resilient and climate ready.

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