Dezeen Magazine

Thigh gap jewellery by Soo Kyung Bae

"Let's stop attacking thin people as the enemy"

Comments update: unrealistic body-image expectations are the hot topic this week, after Soo Kyung Bae created a collection of jewellery designed to highlight the area between a woman's thighs.

Mind the gap: the so-called thigh gap is considered a beauty ideal among many young people, but some readers think drawing attention to such a trend with jewellery will only reinforce its revered status rather than challenging it.

"What about the women who didn't realise there was such a thing as a thigh gap trend until they saw this jewellery?" asked James. "[This] project aims to challenge harmful body-image expectations but actually works to reinforce them."

"Beauty standards are unrealistic for everyone," countered Ammaarah. "I'm grateful for concepts like this that add a sense of humour to the issue. It's about time someone mocked how genuinely ridiculous today's ideology of beauty is."

Others were concerned that the backlash could alienate those with what is deemed to be an ideal body shape. "Unrealistic? I mean, it's not attainable for everyone, nor should it be, but let's stop attacking thin people as the enemy," concluded Chris.

Should designers do more to highlight issues surrounding body image? Let us know in the comments section »


New York Horizon by Yitan Sun and Jianshi Wu

Park life: our Instagram followers reacted angrily to a sunken "sidescraper" concept for New York's Central Park, which was the winner of this year's eVolo Skyscraper Competition.

"This plan takes the humanity out of Central Park," said one commenter while others described it as monstrous, horrifying and insensitive respectively.

"This is a fundamentally flawed proposal," added another user. "Promoting silly, unresolved and sexed-up rubbish like this is the primary reason why we architects have lost what gravitas we once commanded in the public eye."

Not everyone hated the concept and jumped to the project's defence.

"There is value in research such as this," wrote Oscar. "It will obviously never happen but imaginative ideas can lead us to new places and innovative solutions." Read the story on Dezeen and join the debate on Instagram »


Google Tel Aviv office

Forced fun: is the Google-inspired fad for slides and ping-pong tables damaging to the workplace? Yes, according to office design expert Jeremy Myerson. However, the issue isn't as clearcut for all our readers.

"Google does not add whimsy for the sake of adding whimsy,"said Jeremy Reding. "It is added as a means for collaboration, learning, and discovery."

"Forced fun isn't fun," hit back Lucy, adding that permanent members of staff in such offices never use the quirky facilities.

"These office designs have never been intended to be a productive working environment," concluded Davide. "It has always been a clever marketing strategy to visualise Google's self-prescribed business culture." Read the comments on this story »


New Zealand votes to keep it's flag

Fun with flags: New Zealand residents voted to stick with their existing flag despite an expensive competition being held to find an alternative design.

"The [proposed] design alternative just wasn't up to it," said Kay. "I think some of the others were better and could've won if selected."

"Keeping the original flag was the best way," argued Steven Heath. "It's just a pity NZ$26m was wasted by the change-everything brigade."

The competition itself was flawed, according to one guest commenter, who thinks the public should have been asked whether they wanted the Union Jack removed first. Read the comments on this story »