Design Wire July 2024
Founded by Donna Dwyer in 1998, MY PLACE TEEN CENTER (MPTC) is a southern Maine nonprofit organization that offers free year-round afterschool programs, academic assistance, and nutritious meals for youth ages 10 to 18. MPTC, known for the vibrant red doors at the entrance to its Westbrook location (they’re even incorporated into the group’s logo), is partnering with JIM GODBOUT, president of Jim Godbout Plumbing and Heating; GUY GAGNON, executive director of the Biddeford Housing Authority; and an army of volunteers to restore the former ST. ANDRE’S CHURCH in Biddeford and transform it into the organization’s second home. Built in the late 1800s, the Romanesque Revival–style church has been unoccupied for more than a decade. Initial repairs began with updating the church’s brick facade, removing pigeons who had made the abandoned building their home, converting the structure’s heat source from oil to natural gas and heat pumps, and more recently, adding radiant-heat flooring to the 10,000-square foot building.
Maine’s favorite outdoor retailer L.L.BEAN dropped a limited edition summer collaboration with swimwear company SUMMERSALT to prove they’re experts not just when it comes to the cold. Each item in the playful L.L.Bean x Summersalt collection, which includes swimsuits for women, men, and children along with cover-ups and accessories, was codesigned with Summersalt’s data-backed fit and L.L.Bean’s legendary outdoor expertise in mind. The collection is available in four colorways (blue, teal, pink, and black and white) as well as four limited edition prints (watercolor floral, mixed gingham, and two shades of batik) created exclusively for the collab. Available online from both retailers and in select L.L.Bean stores, the collection includes summer-ready gear like hats, beach towels, sandals, a water bottle, and even a dual branded, inflatable stand-up paddleboard.
Dutch beer maker HEINEKEN and Boston-based streetwear brand BODEGA worked together on the BORING PHONE, a no-frills cellular device meant to “help people discover there is more to their social life when there is less on their phone.” According to new research commissioned by Heineken, 90 percent of Zillenials in the United States and United Kingdom admit to doom-scrolling while socializing with friends and family. The Boring Phone aims to change this behavior by taking things back to basics: the transparent device (a callback to early mobile phone design) lacks apps, a touchscreen, internet access, maps, push notifications, and social media—it can, however, send and receive texts and phone calls and capture low-quality photos with a 0.3 megapixel camera. A limited run of 5,000 reduced-tech “dumb phones” produced by HUMAN MOBILE DEVICES was created for Milan Design Week, and a handful of devices will be given away to fans around the world. For those who can’t get their hands on a Boring Phone, a new app called the Boring Mode, launched last month, renders typical smartphones boring.
Linoleum may be the trendy material of the future—not just a relic from the past—thanks to anew type of endlessly remoldable tile created by Dutch designer CHRISTIEN MEINDERTSMA for British industrial design company DZEK. Unlike traditional linoleum, the biodegradable FLAXWOOD tile, made of linseed oil, pine resin, wood dust (a byproduct from furniture and woodworking companies), and chalk, requires no backing, uses far less energy in its mold-and-pressure-press production process, and is made without fossil-derived coatings and pigments. Honey-colored Flaxwood cures to a solid texture but can be kneaded and remolded like playdough. “If we are serious about lowering architecture’s carbon footprint, then building materials have a big role to play,” says Dzek founder BRENT DZEKCIORIUS, who hopes to eventually produce tiles from local, fully traceable materials, including fast-growth plants like cattail and reed, along with wood dust from different species of trees for aesthetic interest. “We are trying to un-design what has been done, and to reset the material language for a renewable twenty-first century,” he adds.
A team of Mainers led by Amy VanHaren, founder and CEO of PUMPSPOTTING, is renovating a school bus nicknamed the BREAST EXPRESS into a mobile lactation lounge before embarking on a 13-city road trip to deliver vital support and delight to mothers and families in the early stages of parenthood. Inspired by 1960s and 1970s tour buses and paired with a modern and feminine aesthetic, the bus conversion is a collaboration between Becky and Will Turek of CORNERSTONE CONVERSIONS and Holly Curtis of KIT SUPPLY AND CO. According to Curtis, “We want the bus to feel like a joyful oasis that invites new mothers to exhale the mess and the stress of those early days. Bold color, light wood finishes, and soft, luxurious upholstery will come together for a space that feels relaxed, refined, and like a small haven for you to get the care and connection you deserve. And yes, the bus is covered in boobs!” VanHaren reiterates the importance of Pumpspotting’s third national tour and its second iteration of the Breast Express (the first vehicle, pictured above, was an RV that had already been renovated into a home). “With maternal health rates at a low and two-thirds of parents reporting feeling lonely and burned out, it couldn’t be a more vital time for us to be coming together with communities across the country to bring Pumpspotting’s support system back on the road,” she says. “Moms leave the Breast Express feeling lighter, more connected, and better able to feed their families in their chosen ways. We’re really proud of that impact.”
In an effort to reduce waste from the Aomori Prefecture’s expanded production of apples, SOZAI CENTER (a Japanese studio founded by SHOTARO OSHIMA), in collaboration with KOMORU CORPORATION and M&T, designed a washable, scratch-resistant textile made from pomace (the stems, seeds, core, and flesh of the fruit) mixed with bioplastics. Called the ADAM SHEET, the translucent, speckled biomaterial does not include artificial coloring and can, therefore, vary in hue based on the moisture and sugar content of the season’s apples. Measuring 0.6 mm thick, Adam is easy to maintain and can be wiped clean with water or a neutral detergent. Crossbody pouches and card cases made from Adam are available online; in the future, Oshima hopes to incorporate the textile into fashion, furniture, and interior design.
A thesis project developed by students and researchers in the masters’ program in Advanced Ecological Buildings and Biocities at the INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED ARCHITECTURE OF CATALONIA offers a new vision for eco-friendly mobile living. The MO.CA, or Mobile Catalyst, is a self-sufficient dwelling-on-wheels for two, boasting all the domestic essentials with a minimal impact on the environment. Built from dowel-laminated timber at VALLDAURA LABS in Barcelona’s Natural Park of Collserola, MO.CA consists of two anchoring “toolboxes” that initiate activities in the central “reaction chamber.” The Utility Toolbox, located toward the front of the trailer, contains a kitchen (with a sink, refrigerator, one-burner stove, and drawers), shower area, waterless humus toilet, sleeping shelves, and a utility cabinet for electrical and water systems (the unit is solar-powered and can run for 24 hours without recharging). The Activity Toolbox contains collapsible furniture along with moveable ladders and doors. An outer layer of water-resistant cotton fabric on a mechanical pulley and a set of glass doors on each side of the dwelling allow the space to adapt to pleasant or poor weather conditions. Beyond acting as a residential unit, MO.CA can be used for exhibitions, concerts, office work, and as a library or meeting place.
Brewer general contractor NICKERSON AND O’DAY is putting the final touches on the exterior of the $8 million PENOBSCOT NATION COMMUNITY CENTER on Indian Island before moving on to complete the building’s interior. In the spring, community members were invited to a topping-off ceremony and were given a unique opportunity to sign the final sheets of plywood before they were attached to the roof. Construction on the community center, which will house the PENOBSCOT NATION MUSEUM and act as headquarters for the tribal court system, finance and administration offices, and tribal council, began in August 2023 after six years of planning. The new building is expected to open this fall.