In image above: a Floating Cities inspiration, by Space & Matter here. Here lays the rest of our selection of important news and updates for the summer period:
- Ex-Indie community, nowadays a multinational conglomerate, Brooklyn-based Etsy acquired the London-based Depop on a 1.6 billion dollar shopping spree. In an effort to enlarge the audience of crafters and vintage sellers paradise galore and eventually expand its control to the booming pre-owned and 2nd-hand market, (provided the generation Z's go-to gender-fluid aesthetics and circular attitude towards fashion hyper-production), the U.S giant took over one more U.K business success story. Casualty or Thumps Up for the British economy, post-Brexit? No concrete answer to that just yet, the sure thing is that the Depop app will go through some major changes in the future, with Etsy incorporating new features of AI derivatives.
- A very impressive evolution in the actual automotive industry, Volvo cars has announced a partnership with the Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB, aimed at developing the production of steel, usually applied up to this current moment in the automotive components manufacturing procedure, without the use of fossil fuels. The so-called HYBRIT project, becomes for the first time one of the most ambitious initiatives for researching the industrial development of steel without fossil fuels, a revolutionary act for the European heavy industry in total, including cars.
- Private aviation companies in the EU are already started to visualize goods delivery through drones (check our relevant post from Web Summit 2019), among the other uses of the technology. In the post-Covid era where logistics and courier services became the no1 sector of focus and exploitation, the AURA U-Space air traffic management project driven by the SESAR JU program will address the safe integration of drones into low-altitude airspace without affecting conventional air traffic operations. Operation-wise this is the first step towards a framework of regulations for aerial activity of small-scale flying vehicles/objects other than aircrafts, inside the urban airspace and potentially towards a liberation of the streets from traffic and accident-friendly transport risks.
- Skogluft (“Forest Air”) has new and expansive schemes coming up. The Norwegian pioneer –conveying research for more than 20 years at NASA and the Norwegian University of Environmental and Life Sciences – develops living walls, combining air-purifying plants, integrated daylight lightning and a digital gardener to make garden care easy, without explicit botanical knowledge. A green, natural atmosphere designer, “Skogluft” publication recently published in China, sold to over 100 countries worldwide and translated in 11 languages.
- Portugal Smart Cities Summit in Lisbon, Portugal changes dates: certainly the most important exhibition conference in Europe dedicated to smart, innovative technologies at the service of future cities, the event will eventually take place on the 16th-18th of November 2021 due to the upcoming local elections. Book your entry here.
- Another luxury brand goes Green: heritage powerhouse Longchamp launches it’s famous iconing folding bag Le Pliage® in a newly debuted collection, Le Pliage® Green made from recycled fabric as an alternative to its hard-wearing nylon canvas. Longchamp strongly believes in a sustainable future with the company committing to use exclusive recycled canvas in all of their products by 2023, (check the Le Pliage® new campaign created by legendary art director and designer Sander Plug for Fred & Farid agency here).
Stay tuned 👀
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A4D-D4A💙💚🙌
