Word: designers
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French Architect Jacques Ferrier is a big fan of concrete. He has used it extensively in his latest work, including his design of the French pavilion for the 2010 World's Fair in Shanghai, and believes it has strong aesthetic appeal. "It has a sensuality," he enthuses. "It evokes images of white minerality." Most of all, Ferrier praises concrete for its environmental friendliness. One of his concept projects is Hypergreen, a showcase tower with a curved, concrete lattice façade, designed to generate enough energy to meet most of its own needs...
...because it's poured and thus doesn't let in wind and water. Its density also means that it stores heat during the day and releases it at night, making it possible to save on air-conditioning and heating. Architects including Ferrier are playing with such possibilities as they design their new buildings. And the ultra-high-performance concretes can be put to surprising uses: in a showroom on the Lafarge campus, there's a table made of concrete that is so thin and elegant that from a distance it looks as though it could be made of marble...
Satoshi Yasui is the kind of designer who can riff on any product--including socks. Not just any socks, but comfy ones with a 90-degree heel, knit for a perfect fit by Czech grandmothers, that he and his 15-member design team at Muji transformed into one of the Japanese retailer's roughly 7,000 products. "They don't fall off like regular socks, which are usually manufactured with a 120-degree angle," explains Yasui, lifting one cuff of his black jeans to reveal a pair. Yasui--who has been with Muji since the Seiyu supermarket chain created...
Anonymity is an odd thing for a brand to strive for, but not if you are a "no brand" brand. The goal of Yasui's team is to define Muji by design: to create and refine products toward ultimate simplicity and functionality. Muji is characterized by neutral tones and a bare-bones chic infused into everything from food to beds to bicycles--even a house. Muji ("no mark" in Japanese) screams minimalism to anyone who has entered one of its 433 locations in 16 countries...
...comes as no surprise that the creed of the design team is "The design that is not designed." That could be a Zen nightmare, but Yasui explains: "It might sound sarcastic, but it is the ultimate design--anonymous, free of décor, without mark. It is not a monster of functions. It is simple." The team's official name--Planning & Design/Material Development Office--hardly captures the creativity that directs Muji's household division, which includes furniture, housewares, stationery, fabric, electronics and health and beauty. The team's designs drive 55% of Muji's sales, about $1.5 billion...