Category: Photography

Born in Hong Kong in 1960, artist Johnson Tsang employs realist sculptural techniques accompanied by his incredible surrealist imagination.

Specializing in ceramics,  stainless steel sculpture and public art work, Tsang pushes the boundaries of the viewer’s imagination. By turns whimsical, lyrical, and provocative, his works integrate two elements: ‘human beings’ and ‘objects’, turned into creative themes by the artist. Since 1993, Tsang’s works have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Spain and Switzerland and collected by local and overseas museums and collectors. ‘Open Mind‘, a series of sculptures featuring human faces, captures the fluidity of both physical motion and human emotion while challenging us to see the world in a different way.

Calling all designers: here’s your chance to shine. The A’ Design Award & Competition, the annual showcase celebrating top designers, architects and design-focussed companies from across the world – have just opened their 2017 call for entries. Here’s where you can enter.

A’ Design acknowledges design on the broadest possible spectrum, with over 100 categories including: Good Industrial Design Award • Good Architecture Design Award • Good Product Design Award • Good Communication Design Award • Good Service Design Award • Good Fashion Design Award.

Whichever industry you’re in, the award offers the chance to kick-start your career, with wide exposure and the chance to meet industry insiders. The winning designs received feedback from the jury and are exhibited in an international showcase with the chance to sell pieces. Check out the Winner’s Pack for more on what you could be in for, and take a look at the judging criteria and process here.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars: The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2017, and results will be announced here on iGNANT on 15 April 2017. Find everything you need to know about entries here, and get started on gathering inspiration by taking a look at some of our favorite winners from the past two years’ competitions.

House at Mill Creek Single Family Home by Pedevilla Architects

Structo Lamp by Naty Moskovich & Iddo Zimmerman

Lilla Multifunctional Table by Jessica Herrera

Toby’s Home Interior by Chris Precht

L33 Lamp by Boglárka Mázsi

The Spline House Space by Chun-Ta Tsao

Sliding Table Side Table for a Living Area by José Leite

Barin Ski Resort by RYRA Design Studio

agili Bookcase by Krama Architects

Flexible Open Exhibition Space by Product Design R&D Center of SWJTU

Did you like the works above? Nominate yours here. We’ll publish a selection of winners here on April 15.

– In collaboration with A’ Design Award & Competition –

Griss Equine Veterinary Practice is located in Rankweil, Austria, a small village at the end of the Rhine Valley, in the middle of an expansive lea. Designed by marte.marte architekten, the clear-lined building stands out due to the distinctly brutalist architecture, which appears surreal within its surroundings.

Built out of rough reinforced concrete and untreated wood, the building is a home to animals as well as humans. An apartment for the veterinarian is combined under a roof with the equine practice, including an in-house pharmacy, treatment rooms, a laboratory and stables. A base plate, a reinforced concrete floor, as well as four solid vertical concrete wall plates form the supporting structure of the building. The partly recessed façade is made of prefabricated wood frame elements, interrupted rhythmically by ceiling-high windows. The clean form continues in the interior. Expansive ceiling-high glass sliding doors in the living room offer a great view across the natural landscape. Made out of silver fir, the floors and walls achieve a warm and placid environment. A covered veranda is created by the glass elements and concrete wall plates, which are set back at the edge of the roof.

Founded in 2006 by Enrica Cavarzan and Marco Zavagno, Zaven is a multidisciplinary creative studio focusing on the interaction between communications, design and art.

Based in Venice, Italy, Zaven offers creative direction, product, graphic and installation design. Apart from that, the creative duo behind the brand regularly teaches, holds workshops and lectures in various design schools, both in Italy and abroad. In collaboration with Nike, Zaven designed ‘The Athletes‘, a series of oversize floor lamps. The collection forms an installation that refers to the beauty of an athlete in motion and features the diffuser made with Nike Flyknit. “The reflection, light and shadow are employed to enhance human movement within the space,” say the designers.

A self-taught photographer from Avignon, France, Valentin Duciel shares his appreciation for 60s/70s culture through a series of analogue images from his European trip.

“As soon as I can, I flee people, flee the city noise and the smell of exhaust.”
Capturing his companions who love traveling, the French photographer focuses on intimate in-between moments. The people in his images usually contemplate breath-taking views, rest at the lake or just simply spend time together, without too much rush or pressure. During their summer trip, the four best friends visited Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria and Switzerland. Duciel describes his way of traveling: “As soon as I can, I flee people, flee the city noise and the smell of exhaust, always armed with my cameras and my films. I don’t go very far, without much money, but with my mates.” Through his lo-fi imagery, Duciel conveys a feeling of freedom, the admiration for 60s culture and an ode to the beauty of nature.

Known for his colorful and vibrant murals, Sicilian artist Gue has created another artwork on the surface of a 347-square-meter basketball court.

Made as a part of Carlo Carrà park’s urban redevelopment in the Italian city of Alessandria, the geometrical work features vivid reds, yellows and blues. Describing the background of his work, Gue explains that he chose the color samples usually used in basketball courts, but combined them with personal variants. Playing with the viewer’s perception of shape and space, the work redefines the traditional appearance of the sports field. That said, apart from popping the eye with its lively shapes and tones, the painting’s lines also highlight the movement within the space.

Mexico-City based Architecture studio, PRODUCTORA, has made climate bearable for a golf club community in Chihuahua, Mexico. On a descending landscape, the team has planted a 375-square-meter angular house –literally into the slope– to use mother nature’s soil thermal mass. With the rural city’s temperature ranging from minus ten in the winter to a searing forty degrees Celsius during the midst of summer, this house is a relief to the golf community with its diverged patios, roof openings, and tranquil views.

Former Model Lina Scheynius from Sweden started photography in 2002. Nowadays she works as a photographer for magazines, publishes photo books and has exhibitions in various countries. From January 26 to April 15, 2017, Christophe Guye Galerie in Zurich shows the second solo exhibition of Scheynius pictures.

The 33 year-old’s subjective approach to depicting faces, bodies and nature combined with a snapshot look establishes her exceptional aesthetic. The remarkable intimacy she puts in every picture seizes the observer. Still, the self-taught photographer leaves the message of her artworks open to interpretation. Nudity and sexuality are present in many of her works but in an artistic, unobtrusive way. Scheynius’ new photo book called “09“ will be released in the first week of February. Pre-orders can be placed on her website.

The latest project of fashion designer and university professor Ying Gao is named the ‘Can’t’ and ‘Won’t’, two impressive dresses, imbued with robotic movement and facial recognition software that move subtly as if they’re breathing.

Combined of art and technology, the dresses are composed of high-tech super organza, cotton mesh, PVDF, and electronic devices. Ying Gao created these dresses to explore the aesthetic of false neutrality, using what she describes as a “living system.” The dresses begin to move when an onlooker enters the room, but only continue moving if the same onlooker remains still.
The designer questions our perceptions about clothing by combining urban design, architecture and media design. She investigates the construction of the garment, inspired by the transition of the social and urban environment.

All images © Dominique Lafond