happy new year 2012 from designboom!

happy new year 2012 from designboom! ‘2012’ by iran-born, amsterdam-based artist reza abedini of orientation lab

happy new year from designboom! we’re still here for you…and to celebrate the start of 2012, we’ve asked contemporary designers, architects, and artists from around the world to tell us their new year’s resolutions for this year… and about how well they did at keeping those from 2011! new studio unveilings and design goals join exercise wishes and holiday plans in the thoughts we’ve compiled below. browse through the complete list, or click on an individual’s name to see what (s)he has in store for the coming year, alongside a project that shows where (s)he’s been in 2011.

here at designboom we have a resolution of our own: in 2012 we become a teenager, finally 13 years old. this year, we want to take a serious look at what makes us who we are today, even if that means rebelling just a little bit from what we were (like any proper teenager!). a new site will be rolling outin the next couple weeks, and we have a lot of exciting things in store for the rest of the year. of course our mission is always to celebrate the best of art, architecture, and design; and we’re looking forward to what 2012 will bring. don’t forget to tell us your own 2012 new year’s resolutions in the comments!

architects

UNStudio eric owen moss chris bosse / LAVA betillon / dorval-bory architectes akihisa hirata

designers

karim rashid	studio job	luz interruptus
claesson koivisto rune	tom price	frank nuovo of vertu
josh owen	benjamin hubert	aqua creations
culdesac	dominic wilcox	united visual artists

street view of ‘scotts tower’ by UNstudio, singapore city, singapore read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/unstudio-scotts-tower

dutch architect ben van berkel of UNStudio:

‘I do believe in this time for everyone in particular or the profession it’s important to celebrate new ideas and new inventions. it’s a time where you maybe rethink not only what is going to be produced but also what we do as architects, what we can celebrate on the level of something more related to how we collect ideas and knowledge. so my wish is that we gained a year’s more worth of experience of how we can develop knowledge within the profession. direct 2.0 is a world where you notice that inventions are coming up sometimes in a week’s time, or that companies are set up in two weeks’ time. the world is much more accessible today than ever before, but things in our profession [of architecture] are by their nature very slow-moving. so I believe quickness may be a topic for the next year: not quite a commercial quickness but more an intellectual dexterity: the cross fertilization of knowledge.’

‘radioactive control’ by luzinterruptus image © gustavo sanabria read more: https://www.designboom.com/art/luzinterruptus-radioactive-control

spanish art collective luz interruptus:

‘we seriously don’t have any new determination for the new year; we’d just like to keep doing things as we have done through now, eliminating things that worry us, things that we dislike, or those that outrage us. we’ll try to pay attention to what happens around us, and we’ll keep going out during the nights with our lights, without having to depend on anyone or anything, and without asking for permission or apologizing. we won’t stay away from any event that we consider interesting, but we won’t make a special effort to achieve it, and we won’t say yes to commercial brands nor to commissions with imposed results, which would undermine the work we perform in the streets for everyone. last year we thought the same way and took the same decision, and we think we carried out our agreement. in the future years, if they come, it should go the same way so we can preserve the essence of luzinterruptus.’

contemplative boxes of the ‘berchtesgaden youth hostel – has untersberg’ by LAVA, berchtesgaden, germany image © robert pupeter, courtesy of LAVA read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/lava-berchtesgaden-youth-hostel-haus-untersberg

german architect chris bosse of LAVA (laboratory for visionary architecture):

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?i ‘build more, design less.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘yes and no. we wanted to build one major project in sydney but instead got to build a mini masterpiece: a small tsunami shelter– a small but an important contribution to the topic. so I guess in the end that is a major project!’

‘space time’ by karim rashid for zero read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/karim-rashid-space-time-for-zero

new york-based designer karim rashid

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘my new year’s resolution is to build awareness for colon cancer for both men and women. I was diagnosed with cancer in early january 2011 and underwent surgery. it was quite a shock considering I eat healthily, exercise, and take care of myself. my resolution was to continue to fight my cancerwith a hardcore homeopathic diet / remedies and health plan. I am now cancer free and want to help others fight this plague. the american cancer society estimates that in 2012 about 140,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and about 50,000 people will die of the disease in the US. I was fortunate that I decided to be tested at 49 and caught it at an early stage. I recommend that all men and women over the age of 40 get tested; currently, even only about half of people aged 50 or older, for whom screening is recommended, report having received colorectal cancer testing. I wish everyone doublepeace, globalove, creativity, and a healthy 2012!‘

editor’s note: colon cancer alliance – http://www.ccalliance.org/ march is national colorectal cancer awareness month, and friday, march 2nd, 2012 is ‘dress in blue friday’, ‘for a future free of colon cancer’

‘samitaur tower’ by eric owen moss, culver city, los angeles, california image © designboom read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/eric-owen-moss-architects-samitaur-tower

american architect eric owen moss

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘to do what I forgot to do last year’

‘slipstream’ light installation in toronto, by united visual artists read more: https://www.designboom.com/art/united-visual-artists-slipstream-light-installation

london-based art and design studio united visual artists (UVA)

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘our main resolution for 2012 is to finish the new workshop in our studio that we started to build last year. the workshop will allow us to fabricate small objects and prototypes much more efficiently. this is where we are concentrating our efforts right now: on smaller scale work… which could very well be our biggest challenge in 2012!‘

‘tokonoma’ by aqua creations read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/aqua-creations-at-milan-design-week-2011

israeli designer ayala serfaty of aqua creations what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘further explore my venture into new felt furniture and come up with more textiles and pieces.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘my resolution was to make the most amazing solo exhibition in new york…I spent many years working to perfect the ‘soma light sculptures’, and much time researching and developing felt textiles and the furniture that I made with those textiles. I worked intensely towards the show for about a year and just wanted it to be beautiful and successful. the opening was in november at cristina grajales gallery, and yes, I am happy to say, the resolution was kept and we made it happen.’

editor’s note: serfaty’s solo exhibition, ‘ayala serfaty: in vein‘, is on at the cristina grajales gallery in new york through january 26th, 2012.

‘acoustic composition’ by betillon / dorval-bory, jurmala, latvia read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/betillon-dorval-bory-acoustic-composition

french architects nicolas dorval-bory and raphaël bétillon of betillon / dorval-bory architectes

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘our resolution is to be more demanding of ourselves, to work more efficiently, and to focus on bolder projects dealing with atmospheric architecture.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘last year our resolutions were quite material: settle our new office, work hard, find a nice place to work in, get public building projects, and participate in some competitions. and we actually managed to do all this; it was a good year! we built our office, won a small public library [in onet le château, france] , and produced some other good projects.’

quack cabinet, 2011 by studio job image © r. kot read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/studio-job-quack-cabinet

netherlands-based designers studio job

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘stay alive!’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘stay alive… and yes, fortunately we kept our resolution!’

‘nobis hotel’ by claesson koivisto rune, stockholm, sweden image courtesy of ake e:son lindman read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/nobis-hotel-stockholm-by-claesson-koivisto-rune

swedish design studio claesson koivisto rune

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘in our work as well as in our lives it is important to be true to our principles. and it is equally important not to be enslaved by principles. so our principle for next year is to not have any principles.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘did we keep last year’s resolution? of course, in principle.’

‘bloomberg pavilion’ (2011) by akihisa hirata architecture office, tokyo, japan, at dusk image © takumi ota, courtesy of museum of contemporary art tokyo read more: https://www.designboom.com/architecture/akihisa-hirata-architecture-office-bloomberg-pavilion

japanese architect akihisa hirata

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘to reconsider the basis of architecture after the japan earthquake on march 11th.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘last year our goal was to win an international competition.we got second prize two times [for the new kyoto prefectural library and archives and the kaohsiung maritime cultural & popular music center]. it will be our resolution to win 1st prize in the coming year.’

‘PE stripe meltdown chair’ by tom price read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/tom-price-pe-stripe-meltdown-chair-at-design-miami-basel-2011

british designer tom price do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: ‘my new year’s resolution last year was to avoid making any new year’s resolutions. this year I will resolve to do the same. it ensures that I’m never too disappointed in myself (or overly smug, for that matter)!’

the ‘vertu constellation T”, released this year read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/vertu-constellation-luxury-touchscreen-smartphone

frank nuovo, design director of vertu luxury phones

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘santa claus promised my family a precor AMT 100 exercise machine. my new year’s resolution is to use it and get back in shape! my hope is that it will help make up for all the traveling and keep me from looking like, well… santa claus.’

the tissue box cover designed this year by josh owen for kontextür image © sabine scheckel read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/josh-owen-studio-visit

american designer josh owen

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘this year’s resolution will be the same as last year’s: try to run at least 3 miles each day. I have a lot of teaching and designing to do in this life so I prefer to try to stay fit.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year?: ‘yes, it was also specifically to try to run at least 3 miles along the erie canal every day. every day I was in rochester I tried to do this. when I was in other places I took my running shoes. I had many runs along the zattere in venice, the giardini pubblici in milan, and the waterfront in kowloon.’

did you keep it?: ‘overall I managed to make it about 5 out of 7 days each week.’

‘coracle’ lounge chair by benjamin hubert for de la espada read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/benjamin-hubert-coracle-cargo-for-de-la-espada

british designer benjamin hubert

what is your new year’s resolution for this year? do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year?: ‘I don’t make new years resolutions so I didn’t have one last year… but if I were to have one this year, it would be to keep pushing the edges, choose collaborative partners wisely, and find a happy work/live balance!’

‘the paint evolution’ by culdesac for valentine, a brush which allows for painting by hand read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/culdesac-the-paint-evolution-for-valentine

spanish design studio culdesac

what is your new year’s resolution for this year?: ‘for next year we are working around the idea of opening an extension of culdesac in los angeles, USA.’

do you remember what your new year’s resolution was last year? did you keep it?: last year’s resolution had to do with the idea of being more efficient in the studio, and to be honest we have incorporated some tools and working protocols that have allowed us to do so. there is always room for improvement, but step by step we are on our way!

‘UC davis protest’ (2011) from dominic wilcox’s ‘moments in time’ collection read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/dominic-wilcox-moments-in-time