MusaDesign keeps urban living exciting yet satisfying and comfortable at Escala Seattle
MusaDesign has recently completed a lifestyle showcase now on display at the Escala Tower. We worked with a true "A" list of Seattle partners who brought their diverse backgrounds and unique expertise to help us all realize artistic and lifestyle vision of exciting yet satisfying and comfortable urban living. We will share more details about the project and highlight a few unique collaborations in the weeks to come.
To get a taste of the project watch an interview that Polina Zaika of MusaDesign gave to king5 Evening Magazine: http://www.king5.com/on-tv/evening-magazine/Decorating-like-a-pro-88703557.html.
Photo by "Ilya's Photography"Labels: Escala, Interior Design, Seattle, Urban
The Evolution of Communication Furniture (Is wired furniture on the way out?)
Buildings magazine has recently published an article by Eric Smith of MusaDesign, discussing evolution of wired firniture.
Read full article here: The Evolution of Communication Furniture
Solutions for bringing data to workstations are a common necessity for office environments – especially because the scourge of cables can quickly become excessive. The current offerings of integrated panels and wired furniture are flush with variety; however, these solutions are set to become extinct as the habits of business communication evolve. This cycle of replacement is typical – office furniture needs to be updated along with the technology it proffers – but the human proportions of furniture, which are the fundamental elements, do not change. This poses the question: What can be new about a table?
The answer begins with the evolving habits of communication. Since the paperwork explosion of the 1950s, the typical office presumption is that each worker operates primarily from an isolated station, because that’s where documents are stored and correspondence occurs. Today, these habits are rapidly changing – data storage is now virtual, and digital communication is omnipresent. Schools and businesses are finding that productivity is occurring more informally in places like open learning labs. These spaces use furniture that’s functional in a social way, encouraging interaction and exchange. Data cables and wired furniture will soon be a relic of the past as they give way to shared interactive surfaces and pocket computers. Examples of this emergent vision are under way at Microsoft Office Labs, and a sample video, titled "Productivity Future Vision," can be found at http://www.officelabs.com/.
Touchscreen tabletops like this one – essentially tabletop displays that can accommodate multiple users at once – have different applications, depending on where they’re used. In a hotel environment, these tabletops can include features like an interactive concierge and directions to shops and restaurants, downloadable music playlists, the ability to organize vacation photos, a digital jukebox, games, and pictures and information about sister hotel properties.
Labels: Interior Design, Technology
zaw capitol hill: creating strong elements
At this stage we developed ways to integrate the menu, wine, dessert, and ordering counter, creating dialogue between the shopper and the worker while showcasing the action in the kitchen.
With logo and brand identity established, we could investigate the vital store functions and elements through the eye of the brand. We could begin discussing the appropriateness of materials and how they could continue the brand's story.
We created a package of relationships: employees to customers, beverages to menus, visibility to food assembly, materials to the brand's identity.
Labels: Interior Design, MUSADESIGN, Retail Store Design, zaw pizza
Who needs a balcony in Seattle?
With all the rain that we get here in the Northwest, we do not get to use our balconies very often, and the balcony space tends to be somewhat of a waste. Over two years ago Dutch architectural company Hofman Dujardin Architecten came up with a clever window design called bloomframe™ that makes windows transform to an open balcony at a push of a button.
Back in 2005 MusaDesign wanted to use bloomframe™ inside a loft interior space to provide privacy upstairs while still allowing it to be opened when privacy is not necessary. Unfortunately, bloomframe™ was still just a concept back then and we could not use it. The good news is that bloomframe™ is getting launched as a product in April 2008. We are looking forward to using it in our projects in Seattle.
The bloomframe™ balcony will be presented at the GEVELtotaal exhibition at the Ahoy Exhibition Centre in Rotterdam from the 23rd until the 25th of January 2008.
http://www.hofmandujardin.nl/pdf/Bloomframe-pressrelease.pdfhttp://www.hofmandujardin.nl/index2.html Labels: Interior Design, Interior Design Seattle
Touchscreen tabletops like this one – essentially tabletop displays that can accommodate multiple users at once – have different applications, depending on where they’re used. In a hotel environment, these tabletops can include features like an interactive concierge and directions to shops and restaurants, downloadable music playlists, the ability to organize vacation photos, a digital jukebox, games, and pictures and information about sister hotel properties.
