In the movie, Clemens Weisshaar, one half of design duo Kram/Weisshaar, introduces the computer-controlled X-51 hypersonic test missile, which is designed to fly at several times the speed of sound.

"There are physical objects out there, including every Airbus aircraft, that wouldn't fly anymore if you switched off the computer systems," he says. "Software becomes an integral part of a physical object [...] and that’s not even the future, it’s now."

Above: the X-51 hypersonic test missile

He then talks about an Audi race car created by engineers with whom he recently collaborated on a high-tech, ultra-lightweight chair.

"Those guys, they think completely differently – they really think of energy as investing energy in an object to make it very light, but then you need the return on the investment by saving energy afterwards," he says. "Only if you break even and actually save energy after 100,000 kilometres on the road, only then is it worthwhile doing it. Otherwise, it’s a waste."

Above: an Audi race car

Weisshaar also criticises as "naïve" the idea that making furniture from wood is always the most sustainable option, and adds: "Design students these days tend to think that everything they can make with a cordless drill is amazing. That’s also naïve.

"The age of mass production hasn't stopped – we’re more and more people on this planet, so we can’t customise products for everybody."

Above: Istanbul

Showing a slide of the Istanbul skyline, he comments on the Multithread furniture he showed at the Adhocracy exhibition during Istanbul Design Biennial, which has metal legs produced in a new 3D printing process.

"Now there’s technologies where you can actually melt on metals straight away and print metal objects straight away. That’s what we’re using – it’s called selective laser melting," he says, adding that 3D printing with plastic has largely produced trivial objects like ashtrays and egg cups. "We don't do the much-hyped 3D printing of plastics [...] now there’s technologies where you can actually print usable objects."

Above: diagram of a lioness' muscles and skeleton

He then shows an image of the muscular and skeletal structures of a lioness, explaining: "There’s so much chemistry, engineering, bio-engineering going on that nobody really understands it, not even doctors or biologists [...] the big challenge of the 21st century is to control entire systems, complex systems, and understand all of it."

Above: software analysing forces acting on furniture

The final slide depicts a computer program analysing the forces acting on a piece of furniture, which Weisshaar used to prototype pieces such as the chair for Audi.

"We take engineering code that lets us calculate the forces acting within an object, and we're bringing that into design software we’re writing," he explains. "We want to use it to see things that the eye can’t see [...] in many cases you make assumptions, you think there’s a lot of strain on the joint there, but it’s not, it’s somewhere else.

"We’re using [this technology] for tables and chairs now because we think that tables and chairs really deserve this kind of attention," he adds.

Weisshaar's other work with designer and computer scientist Reed Kram includes computer-designed concrete stools and pedestals and eight robotic arms installed in Trafalgar Square.

Dezeen Live was a series of talks between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a selection of designers and critics that took place at design exhibition 100% Design during London Design Festival this September.

Each of the four one-hour shows included three interviews as well as music from Dezeen Music Project. We've been posting all the movies over the past few days and you can watch all the movies we've featured so far here.

The music featured in the movie is a track from Business Class Refugees by Indian record label EarthSync. Listen to more songs by EarthSync on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert »
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object" – Clemens Weisshaar at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.

Above: Miles Davis and musicians recording Kind of Blue

"India doesn't value it's traditions much," says Thakrar, "[in Britain] we do look backwards a bit more for meaning. I think for us to rescue the tradition of these cafes is pretty precious."

Cafes started by Iranian immigrants in the 1920s, which are solely based around the food and are "undesigned", are vanishing as India "rushes towards modernity" and Thakrar says that where there used to be 400, only about 30 are left. "The children of the cafe owners don't want to be cafe owners, they want to be bankers or accountants, so there is an adverse trend there," he says.

Thakrar set up Dishoom in Covent Garden and more recently Shoredtich to bring the food and atmosphere of these cafes to London. "Being in a place that feels undesigned, which takes you to Bombay, we try and create that here," he explains.

The first of five images Thakrar talks about is of Miles Davis and his musicians recording the Kind of Blue album in just one take. "This is an incredible example of art," says Thakrar. "Miles Davis once said 'it's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't', which of course resonates with design and food as well, and we think about that a lot."

Above: Dishoom's pop-up restaurant on London's South Bank last summer

Next he shows Dishoom's pop-up restaurant on London's South Bank last summer, made from recycled materials. "The whole idea of the pop-up was that if you take one of these cafes and walk it down to Bombay's Chaupati Beach in 1965 and it were to take a mild acid trip, what would happen?"

Next up is a set of Tintin canvas prints. "He goes through life naive, he's wonderfully innocent and I think we all should do that," Thakrar says, "particularly when you're thinking about design and food, you should come at it fresh, with a wide-eyed attitude."

Above: Tintin canvas prints

A Caravaggio painting follows and Thakrar describes the similarity between the Italian artist's depiction of flaws and the approach to designing their latest Dishoom branch."We spent a week with our designers recently looking for those Caravaggio-esque bits, finding the parts of these old cafes we could bring alive in a different venue," he explains.

Thakrar ends with a picture of an elderly man in his traditional restaurant in Bombay. "When you take a bite of their food, you're tasting the century of tradition and heritage, which makes the food more than just food," says Thakrar.

Above: Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus painting

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place at design exhibition 100% Design during London Design Festival this September.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. We've been posting all the movies we filmed over the past few days, and you can watch all the movies we've featured so far here.

Above: a Bombay cafe owner speaking to his customer

The music featured in the movie is a track from Business Class Refugees by Indian record label EarthSync. Listen to more songs by EarthSync on Dezeen Music Project.

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- Shamil Thakrar at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.

Contrasting this year's Venice Architecture Biennale with the upcoming Lisbon Architecture Triennale she's curating, Galilee explains why her approach avoids showcasing architectural models and products in favour of process and debate. "We're not really interested in showcasing things that have happened, and we want to showcase things that will happen: people that will change the future of architecture, who's going to be curating the next city and what's that going to look like?"

This search for the next generation who will shape our world leads Galilee to work closely with critical designers who specialise in experiments and social commentary. "They don't have an aim to be as part of a kind of manufacturing process but they would rather be involved in a discussion," she explains.

Design with a critical agenda demands a critical response and Galilee stresses the need to uncover and nurture creative criticism. "There's a real sense of urgency for a kind of more critical design and a kind of conversation about design," she says.

By way of example, the talk begins with a discussion about the Hacked Lab exhibition that Galilee curated in Milan earlier this year (above), which comprised a series of events centred around new technologies and design experiments. "The idea of the week was to try and find different ways of presenting designers' ideas and try to find things that are not just stuff on plinths," she says. One of the activities involved designer Dominic Wilcox racing a 3D printer in a competition to build a model of the nearby Duomo cathedral.

She goes on to present a photograph taken in Africa (above), a place that she is currently researching, and explains how the narrative of African design is starting to focus on technology and particularly on science fiction. "Science fiction is quite an interesting way of designing in its own sense, city wise and landscapes and so on," she explains.

The Black Book Interview Project, a series of events during the London Design Festival about the "urgent topic" of critical design is discussed next. "[The curators] were really trying to find out where critical design is, who's writing it, who's doing it, why isn't there more of it?" says Galilee, before explaining how designers like Tuur Van Balen (above) are more interested in a "more social or anthropological or scientific kind of narrative".

Broadening the topic to include architecture, Galilee discusses how this year's biennale in Venice contained too many models presented as whole projects and not enough engagement with ideas. "Curators really should be sort of raising their game at this moment and be really trying to challenge audiences and to provide something interesting to say," she adds.

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place at design exhibition 100% Design during London Design Festival this September.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. We've been posting all the movies we filmed and you can watch all the movies we've featured so far here.

The music featured in the movie is a track called Mosquito Maps by American designer and musician Glen Lib. Listen to more of his songs on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Beatrice Galilee »
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critical design" - Beatrice Galilee at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.

Above: "misused" furniture in Brazil

In the movie, Hubert says that "a designer's name is incredibly powerful" and "designers really need to focus on their own name".

"Do one thing really well, talk about one thing really well, have a message, have an ethos, and keep hammering it home," he advises. "It's a simple process but it's been really beneficial for us."

Above: overhead cables in Japan

Hubert starts off by showing a selection of images that inspire his work, including overhead cables in Japan, which he describes as "organised chaos", and "misused" furniture from Brazil where people have strapped chairs to pillars and trees to create makeshift living spaces.

"They're sort of used for old boys watching the street, watching the world go by, and I just love this idea that they've been customised," he explains. "It's these strange ways that furniture is misused and has a second life. I just find this story and the life cycle of a product really interesting."

Above: Tenda lamps in Hubert's studio

He then discusses his studio's new in-house approach to the design and manufacture of some projects. Commenting on the tent-like lighting he launched at London Design Festival in September, he explains: "Instead of handing it over to a third party and essentially having a middle man in the process, we decided that we'd develop the whole thing."

"It's just thinking about the idea of tapping into that, and diversifying from the royalty model and the fee model to doing a bit of self production," he adds.

Hubert presented the Tenda lamps at designjunction this year, alongside a chair made from a T-shirt-shaped piece of bent plywood developed for Portugese brand De La Espada.

Above: furniture by Benjamin Hubert at designjunction

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place at design exhibition 100% Design during London Design Festival this September.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. We've been posting all the movies we filmed over the past few days, and you can watch all the movies we've featured so far here.

The music featured in the movie is a track called Witness is Silent by American designer and musician Glen Lib. Listen to more of his songs on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Benjamin Hubert »
See all our stories about Dezeen Live »
See all our stories about London Design Festival 2012 »

The post "It's all about brand – a designer's name is
powerful" – Benjamin Hubert at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.

Above: Malouin's Hackney-based studio

Malouin talks about the gentrification of the east London borough, where his studio is based and that Dezeen featured prominently in our Designed in Hackney coverage. "We measure how fast Hackney is changing by the amount of 'blackboard cafes' selling flat white coffees that pop-up," he says. "There's a new one opening every week."

"It's also creating a giant demand which escalates prices," he continues."Inhabitants of Hackney can't necessary live there any more."

Above: American designers Charles and Ray Eames

The second of five images he shows is of multidisciplinary American designers Charles and Ray Eames, who he cites as his inspiration. "In terms of a studio, what they represent and what I aspire to, they are the best possible example."

He then shows photos of rolling up fabric to create stools without metal frames. "Form and style are extremely important but they usually come after a long, stretched out process-led design and then we think about the shape," he says.

Above: the making of Hardie Stools commissioned by Kvadrat 

"We're also interested in the way products inhabit spaces," he explains about the space his studio created for furniture company Artek at designjunction this year.

He finishes by showing his spinning "light paintings" made of Swarovski crystals, currently on display at the Digital Crystal exhibition at London's Design Museum.

Above: the Artek space at designjunction

Dezeen Live was a series of discussions between Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs and a number of designers and critics that took place as part of the talks programme at design exhibition 100% Design during this year’s London Design Festival.

Each of the four one-hour shows, recorded live in front of an audience, included three interviews plus music from Dezeen Music Project featuring a new act each day. Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting all the movies we filmed during the talks and you can watch all the movies we've featured so far here.

Above: Blur "light paintings"

The music featured in the movie is a track called Mosquito Maps by American designer and musician Glen Lib. Listen to more of his songs on Dezeen Music Project.

See all our stories about Philippe Malouin »
See all our stories about Dezeen Live »
See all our stories about London Design Festival 2012 »

The post "Hackney is changing" - Philippe Malouin
at Dezeen Live appeared first on Dezeen.