Premier Danish audio brand Bang & Olufsen’s line of devices already carry with them an inherent air of exclusivity by virtue of their design, price, and limited availability. But B&O’s newest offerings representing their ongoing Atelier Editions series takes things to another level. If you’re able to cop one of the 64 Beoplay EX earphones in Forest Green or one of the 15 monolithic cone-shaped Beosound 2 wireless speakers in Gradient Green, consider yourself very fortunate.

Inspired by the “abundance of nature in the summer months,” the Gradient Green Atelier Editions version of the 360-degrees sound wireless speaker presents a much more conspicuous presence compared to the normal aluminum, gold tone, or black anthracite options, alongside an even more conspicuous $5,699 price tag. As its name implies, the green sheen of the tinted aluminum speaker deepens across the length, from a lime hued top down to its meadow grass green base.

The Forest Green color drop of the Atelier Editions Beoplay EX earphones is a little less striking than its wireless speaker counterpart, but also a tad bit more attainable at just $699. Still, if you’re partial to this hue, note the Danish audio brand is only releasing 64 units.

Previous Atelier Editions include Beoplay EX earphones in Peach Pink and Pineapple Yellow colorways.

Previous Atelier Editions included a similar Lime Green, Peach Pink, and Pineapple Yellow. These two new green hued editions are available to order till they’re all sold out, surely making those who miss the opportunity green with envy.

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Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

In some products, any sign of the process of creation intentionally fades away into the background. In others, like Bocci’s 118 Pendant Light, it’s quite the opposite. Every opal glass globe contains dozens of small, feather-like forms and intricacies that when lit from within gain even sharper detail.

“For many years, I have been researching and experimenting with fabrication processes, looking for novel methods that create a unique form,” said Omer Arbel, designer and co-founder, Bocci. “Whilst each 118 is created in the same way – by blowing molten glass through a steel cage – the end result is always one-of-a-kind. Just like the weather outside our workshop, to the glassblower’s mood, to the chemical composition of the glass, each 118 takes form in response to numerous uncontrollable factors.”

These ethereal glass spheres show signs of the steel cages responsible for their formation. Air that’s blown into the core pushes molten glass into recesses of the form, where gravity and heat cause each unique tendril to form and elongate. Once the shape has cooled and set, the cage is sheared off, cleaned, and used again to create another 118 globe.

To learn more about the 118 Pendant Light from Bocci, visit bocci.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

In 2013, I had the privilege to visit (and feature here) a dazzling Infinity Room by one of the most famous and influential artists alive: Yayoi Kusama. Ten years later, the 94-year-old Kusama presents a brand new (and much bigger) Infinity Room, included within a dazzling four-room exhibition that includes polka-dotted pumpkin walls, towering flowers, and new abstract paintings. On view at David Zwirner Gallery in New York, I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers is well worth a visit, whether you wait in line or not.

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023,  © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

The center of the exhibition holds Kusama’s newest Infinity Mirror Room – a 13-foot white cube titled Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity I Would Offer My Love. The wait can be over a couple hours to access this 1-on-1 personal moment within infinity (ask the first person in line on the sidewalk how long they’ve been waiting). The cube is entered via a quarter-circle yellow window in the corner, sealing you inside without any visible door. These windows offer a new experience for those familiar with Kusama’s previous Infinity Rooms. Rather than electric lights that flicker inside, these windows allow flashes of movement from the “real world” outside the cube to occasionally spark, split, butterfly, and kaleidoscope into your infinity. The experience therefore skips between two realities – a fantastical infinite dreamscape and the real physical world outside, as if you have a foot in two different parallel universes.

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023, © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023, © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

But you do not need to wait in line to experience the other three rooms of the exhibition – well worth the trip even if you decide to forgo the Infinity Room. The first work you’ll encounter is an open garage holding three massive painted stainless-steel flowers. Each is titled I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers and the room is best experienced as you walk around the three without stopping. Because each flower takes a different anthropomorphic pose, you can imagine them in motion, scuttling along the gallery floor to the city outside. There is a feeling in all Kusama’s work that is analogous to a carnivorous plant: beautiful, magnetic, hypnotic, and joyful, and yet we must trust that the work won’t fully consume us, whether that’s getting lost in infinity forever, or being literally consumed by an oversized plant. It’s a complexity that gives all her work an intriguing depth.

Yayoi Kusama, I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, 2023 (detail)
© YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy the artist, David Zwirner, Ota Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro

Yayoi Kusama, I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, 2023 (detail)
© YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy the artist, David Zwirner, Ota Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro

Kusama has produced an exciting range of work over her 70+ year career. For me personally, the infinity net paintings which she began in the 1950s are my #1 favorite. The metronome-like process of paint application is inspiring in its commitment and confidence while resulting in an eternally sustained visual buzz.

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023, © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

And here, 36 of her newest paintings are on view – most of them from her recent series Every Day I Pray for Love (2021-present). Some hold that familiar “net” language while others buzz with contrasting dots of color or joyful amoeba forms. The exhibition page features some great full images of individual paintings (scroll near bottom of that link).

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023, © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

The final room will drop your jaw with three painted bronze sculptures of morphed yellow pumpkin walls. Each is titled Aspiring to Pumpkin’s Love, the Love in My Heart (2023) with perfect black polka dots that exaggerate the yellow undulations. Like the flowers, they are best activated when you are in motion, as the air itself seems to bend in this fully white room.

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023,  © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

Installation view, Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers, David Zwirner, New York, May 11—July 21, 2023,  © YAYOI KUSAMA, Courtesy of David Zwirner

Yayoi Kusama, Aspiring to Pumpkin’s Love, the Love in My Heart, 2023 (detail)
© YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy the artist, David Zwirner, Ota Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro

Yayoi Kusama I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers is free and open to the public at David Zwirner Gallery. The Infinity Mirror Room is first-come-first-entry and often has a very significant line. The rest of the exhibition is easily entered without a wait, and is highly recommended even if you skip the Infinity Room. The gallery is only open Tuesday-Friday from 10am-6pm (closed on weekends). The gallery is also closed July 4^th. See gallery’s FAQ page for all details.

Yayoi Kusama, 2020 Photo: Yusuke Miyazaki, © YAYOI KUSAMA. Courtesy the artist, David Zwirner, Ota Fine Arts, and Victoria Miro

What: Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers
Where: David Zwirner Gallery, 519, 525 & 533 West 19th Street
When: May 11 – July 21, 2023 (Tuesday-Friday 10-6pm starting June 19^th)

David Behringer visits over 200 galleries every month to uncover and share the most exciting contemporary art in New York today. Subscribe to his exclusive weekly newsletter at www.thetwopercent.com and learn about his private gallery tours. And be sure to check out his YouTube.

Trucks are hugely popular across the United States, with pickups (and SUVs) ranked as the most popular segment of vehicles over the past four years. Unsurprisingly, electric trucks like the Rivian R1T and Ford Lightning are also doing well, with growing demand for vehicles with load capacity, EV efficiency and performance, technological amenities, and the option to get off the beaten path to seek adventure tempting car buyers into PHEV trucks in droves. But trucks today are increasingly oversized for everyday tasks, especially for those living in urban zip codes where parking a mid or full-size truck can prove challenging. TELO, a new electric truck arrives as the antithesis of the modern pickup, a small but capable EV pickup designed for urbanites who want all of the perks of a truck with a fraction of the parking space footprint.

In Japan, small alleyway width Kei trucks are designed to navigate the tightest spaces, aiding city dwellers and farmers alike with a myriad of tasks. But in the United States, even the smallest truck – currently the Hyundai Santa Cruz – still measures close to 200 inches in length and 75 inches in width. Compare those numbers to the 152-inch long TELO, an electric truck comparable in size to a MINI Cooper. Yet this wee work and play vehicle also is outfitted with the same as most Toyota Tacoma trucks (a 5-foot bed; though still smaller than this truck owner’s daily driver, a Tacoma with the 6-foot bed option), and a four-door five-passenger spacious interior.

With a pugnacious front somewhat reminiscent of the Canoo pickup truck, but smaller, the TELO’s modest proportions offer something beyond a parking space-friendly demeanor. This little EV can keep on trucking for 350 miles between charges.

The TELO’s 106kWh battery pack charges to capacity in just 20-minutes (20-80%), powering a 380 kW dual motor AWD for a total of 500 HP and good for 0-60 in 4 seconds, while delivering 350 miles of range (just enough to get you from Los Angels to San Francisco in one go).

The truck’s unique design is the work of fuseproject and Yves Béhar (far right), TELO’s Head of Design and Advisor, here with TELO’s co-founder, CEO Jason Marks and co-founder, CTO Forrest North.

“For us, the opportunity to design with the latest EV technology meant that we could create a category defining and environmentally mighty ultra-compact pickup truck,” says TELO’s Head of Design, Yves Béhar. “It is designed for city adventurers who want a vehicle nimble enough for city streets and robust enough for outdoor exploring, with plenty of space for their people and gear. It has been an honor to bring to life an unparalleled EV truck which offers best-in-class utility, safety and all around drivability.”

The TELO’s bed capacity is expandable thanks to a specially designed mid-partition between the back-seat and the truck bed. Folded down, longer items can intrude from the truck bed into the interior of the truck, enabling transport of items as large as 4-feet by 8-feet sheets of plywood, long ladders, or as shown here, an armada of 9-foot surfboards.

TELO is being aimed at “urban adventurers” seeking the practicality of a small footprint vehicle for the daily tasks with the load capacity and power of a traditional truck, and noting our own positive response to this design, TELO has a good possibility of establishing an entirely new segment sorely lacking in the United States market: the mini electric truck.

TELO will retail for $49,999 (not including State and Federal Electric Vehicle Tax Credits) and is currently available for pre-order with a deposit of $152 at www.telotrucks.com.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

One of the highlights of each year’s NeoCon show is the Best of NeoCon Awards. Now in its 33rd year, the 2023 program continues to recognize products from industry leaders – as well as smaller brands – that demonstrate innovation and design-forward thinking. A jury of architects, designers, specifiers, enterprise clients, facility managers, and top business media have given out 114 awards in more than 50 categories for Gold, Silver, Sustainability, Innovation, Business Impact, and Best of Competition. This year, the Flote Lounge Collection from Hightower was awarded the coveted of Best of Competition award. Keep reading for a few of our favorite Best of NeoCon winners and see the entire list here.

Seen above, Hightower’s Flote Lounge Collection was inspired by the support, comfort, and relaxation of a pool float. With an inviting, curve-hugging seat and modern-yet-timeless aesthetic, Flote brings a sense of buoyancy and comfort to the user.

With no obvious back or front, Lumber can be placed in most spaces – you can even hang it on a wall to take up minimal space. A small side table is the perfect size for a laptop or coffee meeting.

OMNIRoom by Mute Gold Award in INTERIOR PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS > Demountable Walls

OmniRoom is a modular room-in-room system for creating plug and play flexible workspaces – create tailor-made or choose from preconfigured options. Rooms can be placed separately or combined into multifunctional hubs that act as central points of the office.

Net Lounge by Nardi S.p.A Gold Award in OUTDOOR > Furniture: Seating

The Net Lounge outdoor armchair is made entirely from recyclable polypropylene fiberglass. It’s deep seat and enveloping shape create a wave-like profile that sums up its strong design character with one movement.

Mike Ford + Shaw Contract by Shaw Contract Gold Award + INNOVATION Award in FLOORING > Carpet: Area Rugs

Shaw Contract partnered with Hip Hop Architect Mike Ford to create a rug collection celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary. The collaboration highlights Hip Hop’s textures, patterns, and rhythms, showcasing its energy, optimism, and rich history.

Beam by Nienkamper Sustainability Award in FURNITURE > Lounge Furniture Collections

Beam is an innovative seating collection that’s compact and curvaceous, with a playful silhouette. As the name suggests, Beam’s fully upholstered seating elements rest on an exposed wood beam through the center, adding warmth through materials and finishes.

CoLab by Senator Silver Award in FURNITURE > Collections for Collaboration, Gold Award in FURNITURE > Education Solutions

How do you foster connectivity and community when the new normal is geared towards being off-site? CoLab offers workspaces and institutions a versatile modular furniture system that empowers shared learning and collaboration while inspiring socializing and collaborative work.

Elevate by SIXINCH USA INNOVATION Award in FURNITURE > Seating: Modular

Elevate doesn’t make you choose between a dining set and an outdoor lounge grouping. Most dining furniture isn’t comfortable enough for extended work, and lounge furniture is typically too low to support a working posture or digital or analog tools and materials. But with elevate, you can have it all.

Cayman by Enwork Gold Award in FURNITURE > Furniture Systems

Cayman is a private office solution that’s also a great fit for video conference and collaborative spaces. Modern aesthetics, height-adjustable surfaces, and integrated technology are just a few ways Cayman brings innovation to the private office with its custom capabilities.

Rowen by OFS Gold Award in FURNITURE > Seating: Benches

The Rowen bench seamlessly blends elegance and warmth. Inspired by architecture and landscapes, it evokes a sense of beauty and tranquility while inviting people to sit awhile with its harmonious balance.

Congratulations to all winners of the 2023 Best of NeoCon Awards! See all of the winning designs at neocon.com.

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

“Disruptive” is thrown reflexively and regularly when discussing electric vehicles’ impact upon automotive manufacturing, fuel efficiency, mobility technologies, and ultimately how we drive. But alongside these developing changes, the public’s expectations related to the car shopping experience is also evolving, one veering away from the haggle and hassle of dealership-oriented car buying of yesteryear. The introduction of EV truck and SUV maker Rivian’s Spaces in New York City’s Meatpacking District is the first of several brick-and-mortar retail showrooms meant to connect with new EV buyers who want to casually get to know the brand, vehicles, and electric vehicle technologies all without the dreaded hard sell.

“Rivian Spaces are purposefully designed to be casual and inviting, where anyone who is curious is welcome to come in to learn more about us and our products,” said Denise Cherry, Senior Director of Facilities Design and Retail Development at Rivian. “We’ve peeled away the formality that can be associated with automotive retail and focused on creating a relaxed, family-friendly environment that invites guests to stay awhile and discover at their own pace.” That’s all a nice way of saying Rivian’s Spaces are imagined to be more like other retail experiences and less of the unwelcome persuasive spiel attached to today’s auto dealerships.

A render for comparison. Located under the High Line in New York City, the product displays inside the New York City Spaces are made from diverted ocean-bound plastics from Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois while greenery throughout takes cues from the High Line which is just above the retail space.

Cherry emphasizes the difference between these Spaces and a traditional dealership is their “casual, warm atmosphere”, an environment expressed through their choices in materials, eclectic furnishings and interactive educational displays. “Through Spaces, we want to inspire people to imagine where they can go and what they can do in a Rivian.”

Additionally, reflective of Rivian’s environmental efforts in manufacturing their vehicles, so too will Spaces be designed with consideration of their footprint and impact. “For example, for our 10th Avenue Space in New York City, we intentionally minimized the structural buildout in favor of modular components that can be moved from site to site,” explains Cherry, “Future Spaces locations like Laguna Beach, CA and Groveland, CA, showcase adaptive reuse, breathing new life and purpose into existing structures.”

Rivian is bringing in architectural experts to ensure historically-significant features of the historic South Coast theater were retained while updating the interior to contemporary energy, code, and accessibility standards.

Rivian Spaces will eventually roll out across the country in other markets, joining the company’s existing network of over two dozen service centers across the U.S. and Canada. These other new Spaces include a showroom housed within a converted movie theater in downtown Laguna Beach, California (above), and also an indoor-outdoor 10,000-square-foot site in Austin, Texas complete with a green space, rooftop patio with panoramic views of the city. Rivian emphasizes the architecture and interior design of each location will reflect their locale, including distinct furnishings within.

Rivian’s 10,000 sq. ft. Austin Space will offer direct access to the Ladybird Lake biking and running trail in the city’s South Congress district and a rooftop patio.

Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Rivian Space in Groveland, California – a gateway town to Yosemite National Park – is housed within a former historic gas station converted into a modern cabin design aligned with the brand’s modernist adventure lifestyle.

In numerous ways Rivian is steering the EV buyer closer to something akin to customers and the Apple Store, wooing potential customers into uniquely designed retail destinations showcasing product to try without the hovering pressure to buy, emphasizing product-focused experiences and education rather than immediate sales. While nothing is guaranteed, we’re apt to predict the future of buying your next car will become nearly as easy as buying an iPhone one day – albeit a bit more expensive.

The first Rivian Space opens today, June 16th, at 60 10th Avenue in New York City’s Meatpacking District, with additional locations TBD.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Remember when playing in the sandbox was fun as a kid? Adulthood often leaves play in the rear view mirror but this Sandbox brings it back in the form of a playful storage cabinet. Designed by Tel Aviv-based Roee Magdassi for Portuguese brand Porventura, Sandbox is a modular shelf design comprising an oak wood box and a series of geometric components the user can arrange for their own storage, and aesthetic, needs.

The square shelf, which is elevated on black steel legs, acts as the container to hold all of the colorful pieces. The components, which are a mix of boxes and blocks, come in a series of shapes, sizes, and colors that can be rearranged into endless configurations to hold your most favorite items all while looking like a playful interactive puzzle. Fill it up or leave it sparse as more of an art piece – either way, it would be fun to have.

To learn more about Sandbox, visit porventura.pt.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

Molly Kidd, co-founder and principal designer at Light and Dwell, studied interior design as she grew up, fascinated by creativity and transforming spaces. She and co-founder, Aymee Kuhlman, met and formed a friendship that turned into a business partnership when they opened the proverbial doors to the interior design practice in 2015. Their intent was to design homes that are a place of light where families can gather, entertain, and lounge while creating memories.

Based in Oregon, Light and Dwell is naturally influenced by the Pacific Northwest and an emphasis on quality over quantity. Sustainability plays a large role in every project, as the practice implements a 50/50 initiative to mix vintage and custom-made pieces – giving new life to objects while simultaneously supporting local makers. This approach to creating spaces that feel fresh yet timeless is in line with Light and Dwell’s nod to old European culture, full of easy refinement. “
I visited Europe for the first time when I was 16. I stayed with a friend who was living in Paris and will forever be impacted by the Parisian architecture and cobblestone streets,” Molly shared.

“
In the beginning, every penny made was reinvested back into the business,” Molly said. “A few years into Light and Dwell, when Aymee and I took our first “big” paycheck, that’s when I realized this could be my career! I realized that my creative abilities aren’t something that everyone else has, and that this talent could change people’s lives. Your home has the ability to transform your life for the better, and I love that I get to do that for individuals, couples and families.”

With a heavy focus on craftsmanship, Light and Dwell opened a shop in fall 2022 with their own one-of-a-kind furniture pieces. It was the next natural step after creating custom pieces for clients, gathering inspiration while traveling, and wanting to bring even more sustainability to the home collection. It’s no surprise that they’re crafted to last a lifetime, and there are plans to continue expanding the line throughout the year.

When she’s not designing or running Light and Dwell, Molly enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and three kids and entertaining in their home in Oregon.

This week Molly Kidd joins us for Friday Five!

Photo: Chris Mottalini

1. The Outdoors in the PNW

After growing up in a beautiful forest, I always find solace and inspiration outside. Whether it’s going for a hike, driving through the mountains, or sitting in my backyard, I can’t get enough of it. Many of our designs are inspired by nature and the natural, muted, earthy palette of the region – lush green, overcast days, the ocean, and mountains. Some of my favorite materials are stone and unlacquered brass in their raw state as they age and patina over time.

Photo: Molly Kidd

2. Artisan Coffee Shops

Everyone who knows me knows I can’t go a day without a cup(s) of joe. Breve au laits are my go-to drink of choice! Every time I travel, I look up artisanal coffee shops in the area. I love supporting local cafes and trying new beans wherever I go. My everyday coffee shop knows my order before I get to the counter, and I absolutely love that sense of community. If you see me in the streets, I’ll most likely have a coffee in hand.

Photo: Molly Kidd

3. Floral Arrangements

My love for design and arranging started with being a florist in my late teens. Every project at Light and Dwell starts with a floral arrangement to create the overall color palette and inspiration. I love the textures, layers, and colors floral arrangements provide. I’m a big fan of Hart, a local florist in the PNW. Florals have the ability to completely change the atmosphere of a room. Some of my favorite florals for creating a light and airy atmosphere are chocolate cosmos, garden roses, tulips, and hellebore.

Photo: Molly Kidd

4. Local Antique Shops

I remember growing up antiquing with my mom. Every item tells such a beautiful story, and most of the items are one-of-a-kind. They bring about warmth, character and new perspective to spaces. In all of our designs, we have a 50/50 initiative, incorporating 50% new and 50% vintage items. Traveling around the country for different projects, one of my favorite things is finding antique shops to fill the project with local finds. Whether it’s vintage furniture or Levi’s, I love the hunt.

Photo courtesy 1stDibs

5. Vintage Scandinavian Lighting

I’m constantly inspired by the soft and subtle wave detailing in vintage Scandinavian lighting. Vintage lighting has this perfect juxtaposition of old-world and modern day for the perfect accent. It adds character to a space and is versatile enough to fit with any style.

Work by Molly Kidd + Light and Dwell:

Utah European Modern Projet This modern European home is the perfect place where the owners, a doctor and entrepreneur, can both entertain guests or relax. The family was drawn to warmer tones, so Kidd incorporated a variety of beige tones and unlacquered brass finishes throughout the home. Much of the inspiration throughout was pulled from elements from the French Riviera. Photo: Amy Bartlam

Villa with a View Project Light and Dwell became involved with this project at the very beginning, starting with the plan and site development. The goal was to design a forever home that would capture the surrounding views and evolve with each season of life. They also wanted each design element to speak to the vineyard the property was located on. Kidd drew inspiration from Northern California vineyards, European villas, the home’s surrounding landscape, and the clients’ love of Italy. The result is a lighter version of a rustic ranch home full of bespoke pieces mixed with a European-inspired feeling. Photo: Chris Mottalini

Villa with a View Project Light and Dwell became involved with this project at the very beginning, starting with the plan and site development. The goal was to design a forever home that would capture the surrounding views and evolve with each season of life. They also wanted each design element to speak to the vineyard the property was located on. Kidd drew inspiration from Northern California vineyards, European villas, the home’s surrounding landscape, and the clients’ love of Italy. The result is a lighter version of a rustic ranch home full of bespoke pieces mixed with a European-inspired feeling. Photo: Chris Mottalini

Villa with a View Project Light and Dwell became involved with this project at the very beginning, starting with the plan and site development. The goal was to design a forever home that would capture the surrounding views and evolve with each season of life. They also wanted each design element to speak to the vineyard the property was located on. Kidd drew inspiration from Northern California vineyards, European villas, the home’s surrounding landscape, and the clients’ love of Italy. The result is a lighter version of a rustic ranch home full of bespoke pieces mixed with a European-inspired feeling. Photo: Chris Mottalini

Kelly Beall is senior editor at Design Milk. The Pittsburgh-based graphic designer and writer has had a deep love of art and design for as long as she can remember, and enjoys sharing her finds with others. When undistracted by great art and design, she can be found making a mess in the kitchen, consuming as much information as possible, or on the couch with her three pets. Find her @designcrush on social.

The earliest versions of Samsung’s Family Hub refrigerators offered what many considered little more than a tablet inset into a refrigerator door experience. But remember, Samsung is the same company that lead the charge with super-sizing phones, nearly single-handedly creating the market for large screen mobile devices known then as “phablets.” No surprise Samsung is taking a similar committed route within the kitchen, maximizing their smart home dashboard and SmartThings ecosystem to an impressive extreme.

The new Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator with Family Hub+ is a smart home enabled appliance outfitted with an enormous 32-inch, bezel-less, full-HD screen designed to assist in everyday tasks: following recipes, scheduling/planning, monitoring myriad of smart home controls, or even just catching up on some streaming programming.

Like other Samsung Bespoke refrigerators, this new Family Hub+ model will eventually allow customization of color and finishes to match the rest of your kitchen. Bespoke Family Hub+ is available in full depth ($4,999) and counter depth ($5,099) models.

Over the span of eight iterations Samsung has committed to making their line of Family Hub technology enhanced smart refrigerators a standard in the evolution of kitchen appliances, integrating ever larger and more capable app-powered displays right into the refrigerator doors.

One benefit of this much larger fridge screen is the option to check the contents within without even opening the door. Built-in AI cameras inside allow a peek inside to determine if you should even bother opening the fridge or get working on a new grocery list.

If you already bring a tablet or phone into the kitchen to view recipes, text friends/family, or stream content while cooking or eating, the utility of a 32-inch screen is going to be obvious. Daily tasks like meal planning, creating shopping lists, viewing family calendars, and monitoring connected smart home devices are made more easily accessible and legible. Samsung has integrated 190 Samsung TV Plus free channels to watch from the refrigerator screen (albeit with a vertical aspect ratio), with picture-in-picture (PIP) viewing as an option – such is the benefit of a screen nearly as large as a small 4K television nearly stretching the entire expanse of one of the fridge doors.

The sleek front of the fridge hides behind one of its doors a hidden interior water dispenser and AutoFill Water Pitcher, complemented by a Dual Auto Ice Maker offering both cubed ice or smaller bite-sized cubes.

Of course the benefits of this latest, or any of the Bespoke Family Hub+ powered refrigerators, is magnified if you’re already invested in Samsung’s own SmartThings ecosystem. Samsung hopes to entice users to buy into their whole range of connected devices – from Galaxy phones, to washers and dryers, smart watches, and this fridge. But even sans that degree of brand/app loyalty, the convenience and options proposed by a built-in 32-inch display is undeniably a unique proposition, one that may warrant reconsideration of what a fridge is capable of offering beyond what the appliances have always done.

The new Samsung Bespoke 4-Door Flex Refrigerator with Family Hub+ is available now for $4999 for Full Depth and $5099 for Counter Depth.

This post contains affiliate links, so if you make a purchase from an affiliate link, we earn a commission. Thanks for supporting Design Milk!

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.

Google recognizes many of us are still working remotely and suffering from the same longstanding issues related to working together while not being physically within the same space. In 2021 the company revealed Project Starline as a possible answer to this dilemma, a concept merging hardware and AI-enhanced software to create a “magic window” where users could “talk, gesture and make eye contact naturally with other people in life-size and in three dimensions.” The premise is sort of like a futuristic phone booth and photo booth, with some shades of the holographic communication technology from the Star Wars universe.

But that first 3D teleconferencing video booth required a room-sized setup. At this year’s Google’s I/O developer conference Google revealed they’ve been able to shrink Project Starline down to a much more manageable size, one comparable to a large computer display or flat screen television.

Like the first iteration, the system uses advanced AI to conjure what is perceived as a photorealistic recreation of the person chatting with you. It does this using a light field display capable of producing perceptible elements of volume and depth that make the person seem “right there.” Instead of looking at a flattened image of a colleague, Project Starline produces a more convincing in-person view retaining the all-important element of eye contact sorely lacking during Zoom, Meet, and other video chat solutions currently available.

Google isn’t the only company making efforts to improve video chats; Logitech’s lounge-like Project Ghost video conferencing booth alsom invites a dimensional window-like gaze with other speakers.

Google says they’ve already gotten these prototypes into the corporate settings within Salesforce, T-Mobile, and WeWork, but the real test will be when they’re able to further simplify this multi-camera setup for home offices for remote workers, sans the necessity for IT expertise, a future that may supplement or supplant AR/VR glasses.

Read all about Project Starline at the Google Blog.

Gregory Han is the Managing Editor of Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.