Design

How our use of metals and finishing processes features in design today and since prehistoric times.

The Mini - an iconic car with a design that is recognised around the world.

Considered the second most influential car of the 20th Century just after the Ford Model T the Mini is a British Pop-culture icon.

The story of Kem Weber (1889 – 1963), one of the proponents of Art Deco design and architecture in 1930s America

Richard Storer-Adam recounts the work of this influential industrial designer, famous for his work with Walt Disney Studios, through two of his favourite products created in the style of Streamline Moderne.

How the simple industrial process of tube drawing allows for the production of precision quality pipe and tube

Richard Storer-Adam gives a brief history of two essential modern-day products - hypodermic needles and steel pipes - and the manufacturing technique that connects them.

A brief tutorial on the most luxurious stainless steel watches in the world

Richard Storer-Adam gives a brief tutorial on Rose and Rose Gold watches, watch straps, lugs and integrated wrist bands including the Rolex Glidelock system in 904L stainless steel.

A virtual tour of Oscar Niemeyer’s Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Niterói, Brazil

An appreciative and honest critique of this dramatic architectural work - Lola Adeokun shares her experiences and feelings whilst visiting Niemeyer’s museum of art in Rio de Janeiro.

A study of the major design influencer Jean Prouvé

Richard Storer-Adam gives an overview of the life of an iconic mid-century designer whose background as a blacksmith and empathy with metal fabrication played out in his work ranging from furniture, such as the famous Standard SP chair, to pre-fabricated buildings.

Outrageously successful. Peter Marino, the artist behind the architect

Carol Rutter looks at how art and sculpture are integrated into this controversial art and music-loving prolific designer’s interiors including his work for Christian Dior for whom he designs nearly all of their stores.

Alvaro’s Siza’s Swimming Pools – The Body in Motion Part Two

Ana Lopes Ramos continues on her guided tour sharing the surreal experience of the atmospheric “poetic modernist” architecture of Alvaro Siza’s swimming pools at Leça de Palmeira, Portugal.

The Avenues, Kuwait – An extravagant shopping mall and a lifestyle destination

Richard Storer-Adam takes us on a tour around the fourteenth largest shopping mall in the world, built in the middle of a desert with more than half a million visitors a week.

Alvaro Siza’s swimming pools – The Body in Motion Part One

Ana Lopes Ramos takes us to visit these intriguing 1960s sea-water swimming pools at Leça de Palmeira, Portugal designed by Alvaro Siza the famous Portuguese architect from the nearby town of Porto.

Wozoco Apartments by MVRDV Architecture – an original, inventive and colorful development in Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Ana Lopes Ramos reviews the design of this apartment building which features cantilevered balconies with brightly colored acrylic balustrades creating a kaleidoscope effect.

Hermitage Gantois, Lille, France – from hospital to luxurious hotel

Robin Fisher traces the history and architecture of this fifteenth century hospital which has become a five-star hotel with a hallmark exterior of perforated aluminium cladding powder-coated to look like rusty steel.

Calatrava at the World Trade Center - A contemplative tour of the Transportation Hub built on the site of the World Trade Center which was attacked by terrorists 11th September 2001.

John Sadar walks us around this startling structure with its asymmetrical whale’s tail outline, describes the organic design and takes us into the cathedral-like Oculus, the centrepiece of the building.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

This distinctive building is the result of a gift from the philanthropist, Lillian Disney, who survived her famous husband by 31 years. Richard Storer-Adam looks at the story behind the design, how Frank Gehry won the design competition from seventy entries, years before his Guggenheim Museum design and of course the remarkable stainless steel sails.

The profound legacy of the influential architect Eero Saarinen

Richard Storer-Adam Looks at the formative years, inspirations and some of the highlights of Eero Saarinen’s career including the Des Moines Art Center and the famous TWA Terminal.

The wonder of a canopy - a selection of favourite structures from around the world

Richard Storer-Adam takes us on a visit to four of his favourite canopy structures both contemporary and historic, going back to the famous Parisian metro entrances designed by M. Hector Guimard.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, a design legend - a review of the life and work of this influential designer

Richard Storer-Adam looks at the background of this influential designer including his time at the Bauhaus School and the pieces he produced including the famous WA24 table lamp, also known as the Bauhaus Lamp, which is still in manufacture today.

An “anatomic sociology” of Doors - a philosophical look at, and a practical review of, this architectural necessity

Federico de Paoli looks at doors from a unique perspective, their history and symbolic meaning and catalogues the different types of exterior and interior doors.

Federico de Paoli is an architect based in London, UK.

The Peace Bridge 2012, Memorial Drive, Calgary by Spanish architect and Structural Engineer Santiago Calatrava

Richard Storer-Adam critiques the remarkable Peace Bridge, designed by this controversial architect and constructed by Grahame Infrastructure Ltd, which spans the Bow River and has no piers or supports.

A stroll through the elegant, stainless steel double - helix Helix Bridge, Singapore by Cox Architecture and Architects 61

Richard Storer-Adam guides us through the construction concept and design details of this extraordinary sculptural bridge which was created in mock-up form in its entirety before being built on site.

The history of the Gateway Arch, St Louis, also known as the St Louis Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1965

Richard Storer-Adam examines the key aspects and story behind this impressive landmark, the largest stainless steel building in the world, which is built in the form of a flattened catenary arch.

A history of the life and work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, his design philosophy and his Barcelona chair designed in 1929

Richard Storer-Adam looks at the work of the man who became known simply as “Mies” with a focus on the iconic Barcelona chair, still made today with only one redesign in the fifties to incorporate the use of stainless steel.

The Delorean Motor Company and its only model, the DMC12, simply known as “The Delorean”

Richard Storer-Adam gives an overview, assessing whether this was a success story or a failure, of the doomed car company and iconic product with a shell of glass-fibre and brushed 304 stainless steel with gull-wing doors made famous in the film series "Back to the Future".

The amazing Eileen Gray Bibendum Chair

Richard Storer-Adam looks at this now timeless design classic from the 1920’s, its inspirational designer and how the Bibendum chair was the foundation for the Michelin Man cartoon for the French tyre company.

The three essential elements of lasting “Feel-Good Design” – Usability, Utility and Desirability

Richard Storer-Adam examines the core characteristics of great design using the examples of the Philippe Starck lemon squeezer, the 1962 Vespa GS 160 scooter and the Apple store, Istanbul Turkey

Black: A truly luxurious and artistic color for art, furniture and accessories for thousands of years

We look at how this primal color denotes status, high-value black products such as ebony, obsidian and granite and how black is used today for luxury products such as the Piaget Altiplano Skeleton black PVD watch.

Gates and balconies by the three famous Austrian Gahrs brothers

Gates and balconies created as works of art and sculptural installations in welded stainless steel and Cor-ten.

House 77, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal by dIONISIO Lab, 2010

Looking at the symbolically laser-cut stainless steel cladding which operates as shutters, a decorative building skin and a sculptural element for this contemporary house.