Photo from Business Week

I like the triangle cutout from the ceiling

Shot from the airport train system

We all knew that this is the place where the Olympics happened in 2 years ago. The city is like a hungry child who’s hunger for the new things.I still have the blurry memories of Beijing back in 20 years ago when I first came here with my dad and grand ma. I have to say now the look of Beijing is totally different, it becomes a place where everything is modern and big(I mean really big~!). Compare to when it was full of bicycles and people all dressed in blue or black in memory.

The city is like a child who wants to grow up as fast as possible.

Beijing is a totally different place in 2010.You will find the people here is almost the same as in Taipei, Singapore or Hong Kong. If they don’t talk you would hardly find any difference between them and yourself. But once you are in the MRT station, you will find the quality of people is still quite the same as the old-time which is not so civilization. The metro system is always so crowded and really have to be rude and pushing people to get your way out of the train. I would say people in Beijing still have a long way reach the level of “international”.

Shot in front of our hotel where a lot of LED lights on trees

The foods in Beijing were amazing. We had different kinds of nice food when we were there with clients and designer friends. Here is the top 3 meals we had in Beijing:

1.『Made in China 長安一號』- it seems to be the best place to have the famous Beijing roast duck in town. It is a  fine Chinese restaurant located inside the Grand Hyatt Beijing. One of the dishes is a roast duck skin. you can dip it with sugar and when you put it on your tongue, it just melt immediately!

Photos from CityWeekend

2.『那家小館』- It’s a Manchurian restaurant with reasonable price. They are serving royal Manchurian food originally from the Ching dynasty. I like almost every dishes and they were all new to me. The dinner was a treat by our client which cost about 1500 RMB in a VIP room. But there was total 10 people that night and we had lots of Chinese white wine and Yangjing beers.I’m highly recommend this restaurant for the great food and service.

The front door is really cool especially the guy dressed like a Manchurian guard

Photo from Silly Jilly’s flickr

3.裕德孚老北京涮羊肉 – A mini size old local restaurant which only got 4 tables. My friend Pearl brought me there to taste the best lamb hot-pot and it really was! The lamb meat is really fresh and not smelly at all. One of the bizzard dish is the cow spine. At first I thought it was lamb gut before I was told it’s the cow spine. It taste like a long chewy tofu and the flavour is not as strong as I thought it would be. And there was interesting  thing called sweet garlic which a kind of pickle preserved by vinegar and sugar.

photo from Hendry’s picasa

Sweet garlic

The Metro40 collection includes seating, shelters, lighting, and amenities, and has been developed for use by city planners and architects to help global urban centers elevate the livability, quality of experience, design appeal and overall image of their public transit systems.

Metro40 Street Furniture by BMW Group DesignworksUSA

DesignworksUSA’s experience in automotive and other types of design for mobility, from airplanes to trains to yachts, provides a comprehensive understanding of global transportation demands. Additionally, DesignworksUSA is known as experts in translating a company’s brand values and business benefits into emotional design statements. Landscape Forms brings expertise in urban streetscape furniture and amenities of exceptional quality. Both firms share a deep commitment to design excellence and sustainability in materials, structures and processes, all of which is apparent in Metro40.

“Bringing great design to public, seemingly anonymous spaces such as transit shelters promotes a very positive, personal impact on people’s moods and daily quality of life,” says Verena Kloos, President, BMW Group DesignworksUSA. “Urban gentrification projects such as the new High Line park in Lower Manhattan demonstrate the importance and value of making cities more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing for their citizens, and the exploration of this dynamic made the Metro40 project with Landscape Forms particularly compelling for DesignworksUSA,” she concludes.

Global Function and Aesthetics

DesignworksUSA’s multidisciplinary studio in Munich led the design with input from the Singapore and Los Angeles studios to develop Metro40. DesignworksUSA provided product design, strategy, and research. Metro40 sets a new standard for function and aesthetics in the transit site furniture category. Creating a signature style for Metro40 is a daunting task when one considers the multitude of environments where it must appear in sync, and “at home,” with its surroundings. Cultural behaviors vary tremendously from city to city, as does architecture and climate. The extreme requirements of wear and tear are also a major consideration. Further, all products were designed in accordance with Landscape Forms’ strict environmental standards for BIFMA and LEED certification.

[from CONTEMPRIST]

[from CONTEMPORIST]

Kieser+Spath was founded in 2008 in Darmstadt, Germany. Seen below are photos and descriptions of five of their pieces that they’ve sent us.

.

MAHONEY – Cantilever Chair

A filigree chair in which seat and backrest swing independently and though support dynamic seating. It consists of a visually circulating ribbon that shows changing facets to the viewer. Mahoney invites you with it´s sportive appearance to an exciting and comfortable seating experience.

CHIC – Coatstand

A dynamic object that plays with its owne forces by being a light construction. The circulating ribbon stabilised itselves in a geometric playfull way and becomes a solid wardrobe. Jackets and coats can easily be thrown over the upper bows or fixed at the two hangers in every bow. The# lively waisted shape makes „chic“ a sculptural roomobject for a sensual welcome in the livingroom.

LINA – Light

A sculptural light for in & outsoor use. Center ist the vertical illuminant. It is fixed to the wireframe with buttons on the textile. Without the illuminant the waisted wireconstruction can be used as a decorative object.

OCARINA – Table

The side table out of a filigree woodgrid and steal wire presents itself as a rich in detail  piece of furniture. Inspired by wirefurniture from public space there imerged a new piece of furniture by a material change. The table surface consists of 58 under steam bended beechrods. These form a stable and slighty elastic grid. Ocarina is a transparent combination of tension, force and dynamic.

ROSS WELL – Textile Table

This side table is deliberately constructed without a tabletop which is replaced by a tensed textile. Depending on the used material, the table can appear in different looks because of the exchangeable tablecloth. A base where not only glasses and plates will find a comfortable place.

The designers – Marcel Kieser and Christof Spath

[from CONTEMPORIST]

.

Now they launched the SOAP mouse which is also quite an interesting idea by using the shape and metaphor of soap which associates with the waterproof function. I’m quite like the saop color, material finishing and the way that wire comes out.

because it could multiply by “∞“
111
111
111
111

The worst client for a designer is also called “designer“,

because they know exactly how to squeeze you.