SUMMER NEWS 2021- PART A: (Salone del Mobile.Milano Digital Platform, ADI Design Museum, London Tech Week, DW Global Media Forum …).

Here we go again this summer with the first batch of groundbreaking news from the design arena. Fasten your seatbelts and follow the latest developments:

- The presentation of the new Digital Platform for the Supersalone 2021 took place on the 30th of June, attended by the organizers of the fair (screenshot in central photo above). The Virtual Event platform is set to be a New Medium inside the global exhibition design toolbox of systems and devices. As Salone del Mobile.Milano and Italy are considered to be the design world leaders, the blood plasma of the industry holding together and unifying all the important aspects, factors, people of the sector, the platform aims to demonstrate real content not only as a reference database but as a 365-day round  live stream. A hub, a social media account, an interaction space, an editorial exchange and breakup rooms function, plus a convo spot network, the platform is not a substitute of Supersalone physical space designed by Stefano Boeri & his super-talented team, but an independent, supporting entity providing extra facilities to the physical event (the latter will also host a Forest, 3D printing stations and live gatherings of artists/makers/designers and scientists). An innovative, emotional and sustainable Salone del Mobile is awaiting for us this September 5-10th 2021 and we will have lots of things to (re-)discover apart from the essential design of the most important houses and studios on the planet.

- The much anticipated ADI Design Museum was inaugurated on May 25th in Milan, becoming one of the 3 most important museums dedicated to design in Europe, alongside with the London Design Museum and The Vitra. The Migliore + Servetto international studio, ultra-experienced and with multiple assignments and accolades over a prestigious portfolio of exhibition and public spaces design, conveived and designed the permanent exhibition of the museum’ historic Compasso d’ Oro Award Collection along with the museum' brand identity and logo. A new heritage meeting point, full of history and legacy, illustrating in the most fluid and ingenious way some of the milestones of the design production in the continent.  

- London Tech Week is returning September 20-24th 2021, to amplify the power, resilience and speed of innovation across UK tech, with more than 20K attendees across 700 sessions with AI powered networking and so much more. Climate Tech, Elevating Founders podcasts, Hybrid Workplaces, CreaTech, Quantum Cybersecurity, MedTech (new innovative AI for cancer pre-diagnosis), you name it , it is going to be there, in one of the hottest upcoming events in the beginning of autumn, heading to November and to the pick of the year: the Web Summit 2021. 

 - The DW Global Media Forum this June 2021 endorsed many pivotal questions regarding  the future of media, among so may other emergencies. What kind of journalism we need in the future? How do you Design, Finance & Regulate your own private or public Medium or Channel nowadays?  Does journalism needs rescuing and how AI is contributing to the mix? In this unorthodox post-Covid19 pax romana (not) infodemics era,  when medium can only be the Fact and not the message anymore accountability, constructivism, transparency and responsibility can be equally tough for traditional media corporations and independent outlets. Who will survive and continue as a disruption-able, unbiased organization? Prominent journalists, scientists and inventors gathered and exchanged opinions and of course news, regarding startups and some great new engineering: check in photos bellow (from top to bottom) Scewo Bro climping wheelchair, Scorpion 3 flying vehicle soon in the use of police forces in Dubai and ArcaBoard motion machine.  

To be continued with a comprehensive list of companies and products for the part B of Summer News 2021!

Stay well 

A4D-D4A💙💚😎

(RE)-Design your Memory: Drastically Improve Your Memory with An AI-Powered App - Welcome to memoryOS

Fascinating news! memoryOS is pleased to announce the launch of their Kickstarter campaign. Using the latest eLearning technology, memoryOS consists of hundreds of bite-sized lessons making memorization skills accessible and joyful to master. While completing game levels, a mental blueprint is created in your long-term memory, which then becomes your mental storage unit known as the Mind Palace. memoryOS combines interactive micro lessons with an immersive 3D Game enabling your mind to keep all that matters in perfect order.

Maintaining a great memory can be time-consuming, costly, and ineffective with the wrong methods. Your brain isn’t “forgetting” needed information when you need it to, because of its IQ or even your lack of focus. It is actually forgetting because you are trying to memorize without having such a skill in the first place. 2x World Memory Champion, Jonas von Essen, delivers an unforgettable journey when it comes to memory and what is terrific about his skills is that anyone can learn them. This is why, together with the memoryOS team, he is making a mind-changing memory app.

This ongoing mission brought memoryOS into a friendly relationship with The Stephen Hawking Foundation and recently began the hugely exclusive process to implement OpenAI’s GTP-3 and Dall-E into the EdTech app, to leverage by creating high-value content for lessons, exercises, and practical use. Becoming more than just an app.

#MindsAreLimitless

#MakeWorldRemember

While memoryOS has been under development, a number of early adopters have participated in a training program that will become the eLearning component of the app. Based on results from the memory training program, participants have already seen significant improvements in their recall. The average improvement in recall actually increased by 70%, with an average increase in recall speed by 60%. That’s a 1.7X recall and 1.6X speed increase just after one relatively short demo session!

Finally, merging together the latest virtual technology with immersive 3D gaming and created the most enjoyable and efficient tool for improving your memory and mental sharpness plus keeping your brain alive: with memoryOS, you improve your mental performance in an enjoyable way that doesn’t trigger resistance from your brain or from your old habits and lets you gradually harness your own amazingly powerful mind! The benefits are endless: from confidence boosting to better performance during exams, to instant memorization skills in everyday life, enhanced creativity and word recalling (acting as an Alzheimer's prevention mechanism, also due to mnemonics creation for complicated, long words), onto becoming yourself implemented to the constant development of the app.

The current educational system expects us to remember significant amounts of information without teaching us how to memorize it in the first place. Memorization is as important as reading and writing. It should be taught as our basic skill.

Thanks to an ever-growing community of over 33,000 members whose support and positive feedback have been overwhelming, memoryOS is developing further and faster, implementing new desired features. Provided that the memory improvement market is growing like never before, it is a sign that people are recognizing how essential memory truly is. Each of us has had an “I don’t remember” episode, so we already know some of the invaluable benefits of being able to remember — memoryOS goes far beyond that. And, it’s not just about the massive increase in our personal productivity. Great memorization skills for the wide public bring a positive impact on humanity as a whole. This is what memoryOS mission is all about.

(Note: If you are interested in pledging as little as $36 to memoryOS’ Kickstarter campaign, you can reserve an Annual or Lifetime membership at a substantial discount and gain early access to the demo app to get started in our Champion Memory program.

In that case just click on the link.)

The app is available on apple store and google store.

If you interested in all relevant news and updates, regarding the app, click here.

Enjoy this bonus film on youtube:

https://youtu.be/SCBWkeiFf38

The Titaness Mnemosyne, daughter of Uranus and Gaia was the Goddess of Memory in ancient Greek Mythology and mother of the 9 Muses, each of them representing a sector in the arts and sciences. Memory is the beginning of Thought and the fuel of Creativity. Let's take care of it, starting with memoryOS.

And Remember...

Stay Safe & Happy

A4D-D4A 💙💚🙌  

SALONE DEL MOBILE 2021 alias #SUPERSALONE: THE MILESTONE YEAR (A PREVIEW OF THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL EVENT).

In image above: a rendered view of the communal areas (resting & chilling), in the new #supersalone exhibition design plan for the September Edition of the fair this year, (as presented for the first time at the Press Conference of 26.5.2021 in Milan, Italy).

 “…Being a Leader is not about Kickstarting, is about Twisting , Disrupting & Eventually Continuing.” ,Claudio Feltrin, President of Federlegno  Arredo Events. 

The die is cast, the Salone del Mobile will finally take place on the 5th-10th of September 2021. All different ends, organizers, designers and the local authorities came back with a a master plan, in order to re-create practically everything from scratch in order to deliver the magnanimous design fair in a viable, safe and entirely groundbreaking format for the exhibitors and the operators-visitors. On the 30th of June 2021 the digital portal of the #supersalone, as it is called now, will be presented as an integral part of an hybrid event, both virtual and physical. 

That will also allow a full, yearly, ongoing review of the evolutionary process of the fair and not just a glimpse of it under a constraint 5-day attendance. Provided an extremely complicated year for production and logistics due to the pandemic-putting many design studios and manufacturers in peril- listening, sharing and supporting are for the #supersalone participating companies and operators network key factors for cultural and commercial success. Architect Stefano Boeri gathered a multi-disciplinary dream team of designers in order to create a unique navigational system of access, exhibition, curation and recreation, never done before in a commercial fair of that scale (the basic map of it in photo bellow). 

We break down bellow the bullet points or key characteristics of the project design, set up to accommodate all the demands of the exhibitors, following all the necessary health and safety protocols for the attendees inside the space but most importantly establishing a new dialogue about design in business and society, that will affect all future similar fairs but also the way we interact and exchange knowledge regarding industrial production, also on an academic level.

 -A Waste-less Event: the whole construction is designed to be completely upcycled after the end of the event. Reusing and upcycling the materials of the whole project is the X Factor of the #supersalone, done in a superb way in terms of assembling and dismantling the elements of the construction skeleton for further After-Life use (in photos bellow).  

 -Booth Era is Over (“Square-Meter Logic”): Linear Meter Planning is adopted. The end of the booth is a fact in this year’s edition of #supersalone. The fantastic yet simple idea to make the fair an ever ending sequence of consecutive walls without beginning or end (like the Internet!), will guarantee better ventilation & spatiality, energy  economy (physical and electrical) and fluidity between areas. Exhibiting companies will occupy linear space, according to their needs, one after the other and there will be green areas between walls for relaxation and contemplation. A flexible Town, the  #supersalone navigation configuration provides a unique exhibitional /recreational, business environment organically inter-connected 4 All. (in photos bellow).

  -The Lost Graduation Show 2020-21: Every design student in the world graduating the “annus horribilis 2020” did not have the chance to curate his/her Final Show, therefore showcasing their work and get introduced to the design world as new professionals. #supersalone is taking charge of this by tossing the coin and making 2021 an “annus mirabilis” for so many final-year design students around the globe: it started an open call to all international design schools for them to submit their best graduation works from the past 18 months. The final exhibition out of these works, will give schools a much-needed chance to support and promote their graduates.  #supersalone will be producing this very significant exhibition at its own expense, also by establishing an Instagram account of all selected works (@thelostgraduationshow) for mass audiences and investors-recruiters all over the world. Furthermore a jury of international design experts will review all works and award the best ones, very much in the likes of the Salone Satellite legacy the past decades. 

-In & Out #supersalone, Triennale and more: besides the lectures, talks and conversations consisting the framework of the public programme, the Triennale will be contributing as the pivotal cultural organization of the city with collateral and complimentary events and exhibitions (i.e. the legendary  Enzo Mari retrospective), increasing the audience’s engagement and participation.  

Stay tuned for More #supersalone exclusive info the following months. A super-innovative and emotional edition that marks the end of an era but most importantly the beginning of a new One. 

#InSupersaloneWeTrust 

Peace and Perseverance  

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌   

The Future of Fashion is Circular: The Sustainability Clause (materials, textiles, methods, policies, standards and norms for a New Era in Fashion and beyond– powered by Fashion Revolution: The New Fabrics and Materials workshop).

In photo above: Secret Paradise Mark II, a backpack made from used and decommissioned sail in the island of Corfu, GR. Learn more about Salty Bag philosophy and mission here. 

The current climate crisis reinforced by the pandemic, accentuate all essential talks about sustainability, primarily in the fashion industry. Noble intentions and no-harm intended sweet-talks are long passed behind us, as we all need to fully understand and incorporate new standards in our shopping regime, as fashion needs to step further ahead, establishing fresh rules in textile science, supply chain regulations/end-of-life cycle reform, anti-greenwashing* transparency and methodology. (*Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how a company's products are more environmentally sound.) 

There is no excuse for not trying, no matter where you come from - an independent small house or a mighty fashion group - to adopt at least to some extend, a business eco-practice by certification regarding either production renewable energy blends, ethical supply and anti-sweatshop logistics, upcycled yarns/eco-engineered materials, or natural materials from sustainable plantations and organic soils.The so-called “Green Identity” is a costant design process and not just an end-to-a-means sole principal. The design of the 80% of the energy footprint of a garment is defined during the design stages and not at final production. The road to Net-Zero or Zero Waste energy footprint is a long one and it is undoubtedly linked not only to consumers habits but predominantly to necessary governmental policies imposed onto all stages of fashion production. 

Mandatory regulation for textile wastes from industrial units are already implemented in France and Sweden, with the EU members common law coming up, (active from 1.1.2025) for non-interring or burring clothes, including the collection obligation and compulsory upcycling of remaining garments, for the latter not ending up inside the soil and eventually as micro-plastics into the waters. That’s just not enough though: common policies for public procurements of every type of textile end product (hospital sheets, airplane seat covers, public services or schools soft furnishings et al.) should be controlled all the same inside the continent for certificates that reassure their green footprint and origin. 

As the consumer culture changes, awareness about climate change and post-disaster scenarios is raised through social media but also there is a generational and social re-mapping, regarding our notions and useful practices as fashion professionals and consumers/citizens. 

What to Do (a condensed Bible for Fashion buyers and makers:

 - Ensure responsible material sourcing

 - Think of alternative raw materials and where they come from ( mushroom-based textiles, or coffee-based textiles, plant-based leather and their plantations) 

- Opt for 100% unblended or recycled fabrics - Recycled fibers (seaqual® yarn: recycled polyester) and biodegradable ones 

- Close-looped design process until production

- Production certifications- non chemical usage certification 

- Prefer natural dyers 

- Traceability of facilities- ensuring proper water management and proper disposal 

- Opt for Fair Labour Cerificates 

- Ensure Supply Chain Transparency 

- Support local production- go for local yarn and materials as much as possible 

- Encourage adequacy, care labeling, informative content and responsible marketing

- Renovating and reusing scraps of fabric, adopt new business models of upcycling collections and made to order/ custom made models

- Intergrate new technologies through the creation of apps and intelligent systems, promoting scalable models in order to reduce more waste through circularity/customisation

Follow those useful links to associations, organizations, schools, standards, certifications, legislations, exhibitions:

Fashion Revolution, Athens Fashion Club, Fabric Republic, Eunomia Research & Consulting, Christiana Vardakou Hand Crafted Textiles, Fairtrade International, Cotton Made In Africa, Fair Wear Foundation, Fair For Life, SA8000Ⓡ, Global Recycled Standard (CRS) , Recycled Claim Standard (RCS 100), STeP OEKO TEX, REACH, C2C, Première Vision, Modtissimo.

Special thanks to:

Victoria Dipla, EU Qualified Lawyer/MSc, LL.M Candidate UC Berkeley, Fashion Revolution Greece. 

Maria Vytinidou, B.Sc, M.Sc., MBA, Chemical Engineer, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur, Founder Athens Fashion Club Fashion School & The Fashion Gate.

Stratis Andreadis, Co-founder, Salty Bag.

Evaggelos Dimitrakopoulos, Τextile Engineer B.Sc., M.Sc., General Director, Athens Fashion Club Fashion School.

Hara Xirou, Head of South-East Europe, Eunomia Research & Consulting. 

Dimitris Mathioudakis, Trainee Consultant, Eunomia Research & Consulting.

Christiana Vardakou, Designer-Founder, C.Vardakou Hand Crafted Textiles.

Vassiliki & Christina Gerothodorou, Founders - Commercial Directors, Fabric Republic.

Time 4 Action💨

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

Time 4 Action: The Future of Fashion is Circular (a real-time, step-by-step workshop in partnership with Maison Faliakos, Athens, GR - powered by Fashion Revolution Week).

In photo above: Before and After - A 70's "Deux-Pieces" lives a second life, by Maison Faliakos, Fashion Open Studio workshop, Fashion Revolution Week, Ath, GR.

Fashion is a holistic system, incorporating several disciplines such as art, design, craft, business, science, education, technology. As a vital pillar of the economy, fashion as a growth generator is heavily criticized for its practices the last decades, those last having a catastrophic effect on the planet and on human capital. Climate change and social change, accelerated recent developments and shook profoundly the fashion ecosystem, this time for good. Nothing will stay the same: from big groups to independent entities, from large industrial units to local, creative fashion studios. The need for a U-turn is imperative with first and foremost new textile technology (econyl et al.) at the stirring wheel of production worldwide but also a fresh strategy when it comes to resources: no more new fabric, new plastic (Everlane) or (new) waste. Houses, studios, brands and companies are going circular by re-using old stock from scraps to yarns (Queen of Raw), establishing fabric banks (Raeburn) and offering a new type of service, the one of re-designing from scratch your old garments. The design process is pivotal in this new type of assignment: it involves the 100% of the designers with all their relevant tools and knowledge but also requires the engagement of the individual, of the client or wearer as an essential part of a successful, final product. 

This business model can and will be scalable the next couple of years and it is already adopted and exploited by different platforms as a check-in  into a novel, entrepreneurial cycle. The Fashion Revolution organization local branch in Athens, GR teamed up this year with one of the oldest couture houses of the hellenic capital: Maison Faliakos celebrates 40 years in the field, lately becoming the refuge of a new generation of thinking class, the hype downtown Muses of the old city, who opt for an intellectual kick inside the beauty of those couture garments', elaborate stitches. In a 3-day fashion exercise of high caliber, the team of the house Chief Creative Officer Christos Petridis and Creative Director Venediktos Antipas receive a 70’s two-pieces (dress and jacket) by the owner, international female actor Youla Boudali and transform it with the invaluable help of their head-seamstress Mrs Smaragda and sewing technician Mr Hassan, a Bangladeshi tailor living in Greece-into a new-wave bomber jacket, a bustier top and a pair of sweatpants ( from top to bottom, all stages in the photos bellow: 1.Receiving  2.Sketching 3.Dismantling 4.Ironing 5.Pattern cutting 6.Pattern cutting, re-assembling, print handpainting 7,8. Re-composing 9.Fitting 10. Delivering ( to Happy Customer😊).  

In this upcycling journey of “thrifting couture” the notions of sustainability, circularity, zero waste, inclusivity, aesthetics as an ethical set of values, heritage, responsibility, anti-sweatshop conditions, diversity, representation and eventually quality are illustrated and explored live, together with the ever-ending evolving question on the fashion condition in general. Its impact on mental health, the necessity for adaptation, innovation, cross-platform disciplines, hybrids, copyright protection and archi-vism, designer collectives but also policies to facilitate transparency and lifelong learning. 

In days when venture capitalism is becoming something like instant coffee where every new aspect of everyday use –from masks to loungewear and hand sanitizers to apps for post-disaster scenarios like tsunami warning-is considered to be a profitable equity of relative permanence – clothes continue to be an essential commodity. Fashion is not for the faint-hearted after all and the urge to consume more of it in an irresponsible manner is coming to an end. The end of an era of fashion as we know it and  the re-birth of it as a clear and distinctive design process, without blurring lines and obscure places. It is going to cost the fall of some of the industry's Pompeii(s) but we can hope for our dream designer to come in our premises some day by 2030 and revamp our closet by using our existing pieces at a yearly rate. The tectonic plates of the industry, one of the most prolific in design, are moving, almost violently. 

To be continued: New Textiles and Textile Technology for the 21st century: Eco-Sustainable, Recycled, (Re)-engineered. Coming up next as an annex?-))

#NothingMoreModThanGoodMode

#whomademyclothes

A4D-D4A💙💚🙌

QUANTUM COMPUTING: THE NEW FRONTIER FOR RE-DESIGNING JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING.

 

The emerging 5G is one of the latest developments about to revolutionize the world, yet the Quantum Computing technology is the next tectonic shift in times the human race faces current challenges like agricultural production and climate change. The potential for all types of businesses is huge but despite the immense possibilities of QC surveys are showing that companies are still hesitating to invest and engage the specific technology. Today QC is still limited in volume and breath and very few organizations are scaling and piloting the technology within their core infrastructures, due to limited funding and support to this function. 

Taking into account technology advances, greater partner engagement and more funding, QC will continue its shift from the Research & Development (R & D) lab to the real world. By 2032, one-fifth of respondents expect their organizations will have identified or launched a use case or pilot, and 15% expect to be conducting at least one pilot. However live deployments and scaling of QC will remain limited. 

Governments across the world have announced an approx 22 billion dollars of funding over the coming years, with China in the lead of course with an investment of 10 million in the technology, (: in the EU, Germany and France alone are topping up with almost 4 billion dollars in QC education an research), a thing that sparks huge optimism in the venture capital world about the launch of new markets. In addition private investment in quantum technologies is ramping up rapidly, with companies like IonQ and blue-chip giants like IBM, Google, Daimler and J.P. Morgan among others. 

Applications are varied:  from materials to batteries, further up to machine learning, the development of new drugs and molecules, including financial applications as well. Drug discovery and materials design in particular can have a huge impact by the implementation of QC enabling a 20% saving in R & D (:reducing trial and error lab processes by accurately stimulating  strongly correlated electron systems e.g. for high temperature superconductors or multiferroics for high absorbency solar panels. This is a tremendous development impacting on new building technology and 3-D printing construction for public housing in the era of recession and extreme climate change).

 

Like every other tech r-evolution, QC raises some eyebrows in terms of several repercussions in the areas of ethical competition and corporate behavior in regards to the diffusion of the tool and the exploitation of the sector. Risks such as access to QC by the Big-Tech conglomerates triggering inequality issues or computation power for nations that can even end up to encryption break eventually, global arms race, future monopolies, non-accessibility of those tools by all and for all, (:there is ongoing intention for inclusivity by the QPC tight community). States and companies need to re-think and re-design their strategies and they need to reflect on their computational usage resources. Which of their operational areas can benefit from QC technologies? 

Autonomous vehicles, advertising- optimization-data mining, drug design, logistics, machine learning, algorithm innovation- hybrid algorithms- AI: by 2040 the Quantum Computing will be present at its full capacity, ready for work within the multiple state-of-the-art capabilities it can offer to humanity. How it will affect Creativity? All it is left, is wait and see. 

Visit the QC Summits and News around the globe here for explicit info. 

Come back to us for more;-)

All the best

A4D-D4A 💙💚🙌

DESIGN + SUSTAIN: THE FUTURE OF HABITAT.

It's pretty clear: Covid-19 was the last drop in an quite full glass, accentuating the need to re-direct our everyday routine and re-think our home design. Things are getting interesting and complicating enough while climate change is hammering cities and rural areas and the pandemic redefines our ordinary life cycle: our habits, work, recreation, mental and physical health - plus wealth and assets.

Smart design and technology are meant to be the key players to tackle climate change in multi-populated urban centers with a multitude of systems, devices and apps but the adoption of a new set of values in terms of aesthetics inside the home space is rising, as new social standards are making their way after Covid-19 forced the implementation of new patterns. A innovative philosophy in home interiors is evolving right as we speak, breaking the news and the "different rules" in creating a living space.

Urban areas are home to more than half the people on earth - a proportion that will rise in the years ahead - and they are responsible for more than three-quarters of the world’s economy. As they expand, many of the world’s fast-growing cities end up building over floodplains, forests, and wetlands that could absorb rising waters during a storm or hold reservoirs of water during a drought.

“All cities will be affected by Climate Change, but coastal cities will have the worst problems. Hundreds of millions of people could be forced from their homes as sea levels rise and storm surges get worse. By the middle of this century, the cost of Climate Change to all coastal cities could exceed $1 trillion…each year.”announced recently Bill Gates, far from being the first or the only one pinpointing the emergency of the situation. Decarbonization experts around the world,  believe that the evolution in digital technologies and common standards are vital to protect urban areas from rising sea levels and rapidly changing weather conditions. Smart building design being one of these solutions, it holds the key putting its considerable weight behind a global zero emission economy.

(*Cities and their buildings are expected to be the primary target here as the biggest polluters on the planet, collectively responsible for more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gases*, which puts pressure on companies and building asset owners to go carbon neutral.)

Hundreds of design companies, architectural studios and home decor manufacturers have already pledged to zero carbon emissions strategy behind their planning solutions for their private or corporate clients- including whole nations- now legally bound to meet the 2050 net-zero carbon emission target through the 2015 Paris Agreement, (such as the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, and China).

Where does all this leave us, common people leading (un)common lives in our apartment blocks, country houses or residential resorts?  The decision to change our everyday space comes somewhat second in pace to our reactivity adopting a Survival Kit, imposed by the need to control and realize our consumption, use, expense, choice and eventually trace the path of fulfillment. The next step towards happiness might start from our very living room. Literally and essentialy this time.   

*UN-Habitat: https://unhabitat.org/topic/climate-change

All the Best + More

A4D-D4A 💧💨🙆