Co.Design

Learning from late architect I. M. Pei: “Architecture is not fashion”

Pei, who died this week at the age of 102, reshaped cities all over the world, practicing a brand of humane modernism that influenced what many people thought of 20th-century architecture.

How glass skyscrapers took over the world–and why we need to stop building them

Glass architecture is remarkably wasteful. So why is there so much of it?

Social media is an assault on our senses. Now it’s a literal gun, too

This gatling gun fires emoticons at your face, just like Facebook!

What’s an algorithm? Let an avocado explain

Imagine you’re trying to decide which avocado to buy: The mental calculations you’re running about price and ripeness are just like an algorithm.

What the Iron Throne reveals about the hidden history of user-friendly design

The set design of “Game of Thrones” embodies the changing role of design as an expression of privilege, comfort, and authority in the real world, from the middle ages to contemporary life.

Try not to be creeped out by these eerily human portraits of robots

Welcome to the Uncanny Valley.

Nike is launching a guide to sustainability for brands–get it here

“Given the existential threat, no one brand is going to solve it on their own.”

Every American should visit the new Statue of Liberty Museum

It’s 26,000 square feet dedicated to the universal symbol of democracy itself.

Apple and Google should steal these ingenious smartphone concepts

Simple physical gestures could give users more control over the way their smartphones work.

NYC’s brilliant plan to capitalize on land no one else wants

The city–like many others in America–faces a housing crisis and a climate crisis. To figure out how to create 300,000 affordable units over the next decade, it’s turning to architects for help.

Decay by design: These 3D-printed organic plastics naturally decompose

A group at MIT created polymers derived from organic matter, printed by a robot, and shaped by water.

Away, now worth $1.4 billion, may soon be a fashion brand

The fascinating design behind Björk’s otherworldly reverb chamber, on tour now

Fans with tickets to the star’s Cornucopia tour will see her perform inside a cathedral-like chamber, carefully designed to replicate her memories of childhood.

The perfect little black dress now comes in 99 different sizes

Fashion label Laws of Motion overhauls traditional apparel sizing, offering 99 micro-sizes to better fit each body. It debuts with a single sheath dress.

The mouse of the future? Your eyeballs

Recent research finds that eye tracking, which is often used as an assistive technology, could be used to help people be more productive.

The hardware trend Google and Apple are throwing their weight behind

Tech giants, along with a handful of smaller players, are designing “kill switches” that cut the power to the microphones or cameras in their devices.

We should hold tech giants to these 5 rules if we want to stop manipulative design

Step one: Platforms should disclose when they are using the tools of behavioral science to influence your behavior.

This cookbook from the future teaches you to make bug burgers and algae chips

Designed by Ikea’s innovation lab Space10, Future Food Today is chock-full of recipes that use unconventional ingredients like microalgae and mealworms.

You’re probably being tricked by “health washing” at the grocery store

Here’s how to avoid this sleight-of-hand move by packaging designers.