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The Limitless AI Pendant feels like spiritual predecessor to the inevitable OpenAI wearable device

The Limitless Pendant AI represents a fascinating convergence of advanced technology and thoughtful design, creating what might be the most aesthetically pleasing AI wearable to date. Unlike bulky smartwatches or intrusive headsets, this device embraces minimalism while packing impressive functionality into its compact form. While other AI wearables often announce their technological nature through aggressive styling or obvious interfaces, this pendant succeeds by looking like something you’d actually want to wear.

The pendant’s most striking design feature is its double aluminum body (sometimes described as dual-disc construction), which creates an elegant silhouette that could easily be mistaken for contemporary jewelry. The device is compact, measuring just 31.9mm in width and 16mm in thickness when folded, making it remarkably unobtrusive for daily wear. This compact footprint ensures the pendant won’t interfere with clothing or feel cumbersome during extended use.

Designer: Grace Jesters (Limitless.ai)

Crafted from premium aluminum, the Limitless Pendant showcases a sophisticated double-body construction that feels both substantial and refined. Aluminum provides excellent durability while maintaining a lightweight profile that won’t strain the neck during all-day wear. The metallic finish offers a modern, tech-forward appearance suitable for both professional and casual settings. The magnetic clasp system is a key design element, allowing the pendant to be worn as a traditional necklace or clipped to clothing, bags, or other accessories. This flexibility addresses a common wearable challenge by accommodating various personal styles and practical needs without compromising functionality.

Color options expand the pendant’s appeal, with eight finishes available: black, blue, green, grey, navy blue, pink, white, and yellow. This thoughtful palette ensures the device can complement various wardrobes and personal styles, moving beyond the typical black or silver options that dominate the wearable market. The pendant’s surface features a subtle perforated pattern that serves both functional and aesthetic purposes. These precisely engineered holes house the device’s multiple microphones (with beam-forming technology for clear audio capture) while creating an attractive visual texture. A small LED indicator provides visual feedback about recording status, seamlessly integrated into the design without disrupting the clean aesthetic.

Weatherproofing adds practical durability, ensuring the pendant can withstand daily wear without compromising its appearance or functionality[1]. The charging solution uses a USB-C port discreetly integrated into the pendant’s structure, supporting fast, convenient power delivery. The device boasts an impressive 100-hour battery life, meaning users rarely need to interact with charging cables, preserving the seamless wearing experience. The cord included with the pendant is designed for comfort and style, complementing the device’s premium aesthetic and providing secure wear throughout the day.

The Limitless Pendant AI offers a refreshing alternative for those devices that may seem overwhelming and intrusive. It demonstrates that the future of wearable technology lies not in making devices more obvious, but in making them more beautiful and seamlessly integrated into our daily lives. For those seeking AI assistance without sacrificing personal style, this pendant represents a compelling vision of what wearable technology can become when design and functionality work in perfect harmony.

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Why the Hyptec Earth’s Organic Aesthetics Are a Bold Rejection of Cybertruck’s Brutalism

GAC’s Hyptec Earth concept landed at Auto Shanghai 2025 with the kind of visual punch that makes you forget every other EV on the show floor. The Chinese automaker’s luxury division has crafted something that feels less like automotive design and more like biomimicry taken to its logical extreme. Every surface, every detail, every lighting element screams organic inspiration, and frankly, it works in ways that should make established luxury brands nervous.

The moment you see those headlights, you know you’re looking at something different. Three vertical slashes per side cut down the front fascia like claw marks, glowing with an intensity that suggests predatory awareness rather than mere illumination. They’re menacing in the best possible way, channeling everything from Wolverine’s adamantium claws to the jagged energy of a Monster logo, but refined into something undeniably premium. This signature alone will make every other EV headlight look timid by comparison.

Built on GAC’s Xingling safety architecture, the Earth takes the shooting brake format and sculpts it into something that appears wind-carved rather than CAD-designed. The exterior flows in unbroken curves from nose to tail, with lava-inspired surfacing that captures light like molten rock. There are literally no straight lines anywhere on this car, a design philosophy that extends from the macro proportions down to the smallest details.

The front three-quarter view showcases how effectively the Earth’s proportions work together, with the dramatic headlight signature anchoring a face that manages to look both aggressive and elegant. From behind, the car maintains its clean, sculptural presence without resorting to fussy details or unnecessary visual noise. The dark, glossy finish amplifies every curve and surface transition, creating a sense of depth that makes the car appear almost liquid in certain lighting conditions.

The side profile reveals a cab-rearward silhouette riding on impossibly large aero wheels that look like they belong in 2035, while the rear maintains the same flowing aesthetic with a slim LED tailbar and bold HYPTEC badging. The overall stance suggests something naturally formed rather than engineered, which is exactly the point GAC’s international design team was driving toward.

Step inside and the nature theme becomes almost overwhelming in its thoroughness. The seat headrests curl forward like the tips of unfurling leaves, while feather-shaped motifs accent the door handles with tactile elegance. The dashboard houses a curved tablet that literally curls into the surface when powered down, then unfurls when activated, with the display itself bending to match the physical form. This kind of kinetic interface design represents genuine innovation in automotive UX, moving beyond the static screens that dominate current luxury interiors. The cabin wraps occupants in a two-tone burgundy and white palette, with bio-leather surfaces and plush textures that reinforce the organic theme.

Multiple screens integrate seamlessly into the flowing dash architecture, while zero-gravity seats promise the kind of comfort that turns long drives into meditation sessions. The steering wheel abandons traditional circular forms for an open-loop design that feels like holding polished driftwood. Even the floor covering appears to be some kind of shaggy white material that looks more living room than automotive, but somehow works within the Earth’s cocoon-like interior environment.

Whether any of this translates to production remains the big question, but GAC has created something that feels genuinely different in an EV landscape increasingly dominated by generic minimalism. The Earth proves that sustainable luxury doesn’t have to mean sterile aesthetics. Sometimes, the most advanced technology looks exactly like what nature has been perfecting for millions of years.

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sou fujimoto retrospective lands in tokyo with architectural forest of models and installations

Sou Fujimoto retrospective lands in tokyo’s mori art museum

 

Until November 9th, 2025, Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum presents The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest, the first major retrospective dedicated to the influential Japanese architect behind the Expo 2025 Grand Ring. Spanning three decades of work and eight thematic sections, the exhibition offers a journey through Fujimoto’s vision of architecture as a porous interface between people, nature, and the future city. Featuring models, installations, animations, and even plush toys engaged in dialogue, the show reimagines the architecture exhibition as an immersive forest.

all images by Tayama Tatsuyuki, courtesy of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo

 

 

The Grand Ring model centers Primordial Future Forest show

 

Fujimoto’s signature design language, light, layered, and open, finds deep roots in the landscapes of his childhood in Hokkaido. But in the place of nostalgia, the exhibition at the Mori Art Museum proposes the forest as a metaphor for a new kind of urbanism that is decentralized and emotionally resonant. The idea emerges most explicitly in the central installation Forest of Thoughts, a sprawling spatial archive of over 100 projects arranged like undergrowth, each a branch of the Japanese architect’s genealogy. Visitors encounter recurring themes such as ‘open boundaries,’ ‘many, many, many,’ and the ‘amorphous,’ which together challenge rigid definitions of form and function.

 

At the heart of the exhibition is The Grand Ring for Expo 2025 Osaka, the architect’s most ambitious project to date. A 1:5 model of the world’s largest wooden structure, over four meters high, anchors the Open Circle section, supported by sketches, joinery mockups, and documentary footage. The circular form, enclosing and expanding, becomes Fujimoto’s architectural metaphor for belonging in a fragmented world. This theme resonates across projects like L’Arbre Blanc in Montpellier, with its leafy balconies spiraling outward like tree branches, or House of Music Hungary, which dissolves into a park as if architecture and landscape were never separate to begin with.

Forest of Thoughts, 2025

 

 

Architecture as Play, Experience, and Speculation

 

The retrospective unfolds with inventive curatorial gestures that combine architecture, performance, and storytelling. In Stuffed Architecture Talks, nine of Fujimoto’s iconic buildings take the form of plush toys, chatting with distinct personalities about their designs and contexts. Elsewhere, The Animated Forest uses projections to animate user movement through Fujimoto’s buildings, shifting the focus from object to experience. 

 

Perhaps most provocatively, Resonant City 2025, developed with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata, visualizes a future metropolis of interlinked spheres hovering in layered space without a center. This speculative urban vision closes the exhibition with a question: What might architecture look like if shaped by multiplicity, not hierarchy? If cities could behave like forests, open, resilient, interconnected?

 

Primordial Future Forest is an architecture exhibition oriented toward what lies ahead. ‘Rather than focus on the past,’ shares Fujimoto, ‘this survey is firmly anchored in the present and looking toward the future.’

the exhibition proposes the forest as a metaphor for a new kind of urbanism

a sprawling spatial archive of over 100 projects arranged like undergrowth

visitors encounter recurring themes

Installation view: The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2025

The Grand Ring for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, 1:5 scale model, 2025

the circular form becomes Fujimoto’s architectural metaphor for belonging in a fragmented world

Book Lounge of Awai (In-Between)

each book is placed on its own seat

A Forest / Many Forests

Forest of Future, Forest of Primordial – Resonant City 2025

Sou Fujimoto portrait inside the Grand Ring model

 

 

project info:

 

name: The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest

architect: Sou Fujimoto | @sou_fujimoto

location: Mori Art Museum | @moriartmuseum, 53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo, Japan

curators: Kondo Kenichi, Tsubaki Reiko

dates: July 2nd – November 9th, 2025

exhibition design collaboration: Kurakata Shunsuke, Haba Yoshitaka, Miyata Hiroaki

photographer: Yashiro Tetsuya

The post sou fujimoto retrospective lands in tokyo with architectural forest of models and installations appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.

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Modular Knit One Chair Reinvents Sustainable Seating With Hollow Design

Picture walking into a modern office and seeing what looks like a plush, upholstered lounge chair. You sit down expecting the familiar give of foam cushions, but instead discover something entirely different. The chair feels supportive yet airy, almost like sitting on structured fabric and air. That’s exactly what Paul Crofts achieved with his Knit One Chair for Isomi.

Most lounge seating follows the same basic formula: metal or wood frame, layers of foam padding, and fabric or leather stretched over the top. It’s been working for decades, so why change it? Well, Crofts looked at this traditional approach and decided to throw it out the window, replacing foam with air and conventional upholstery with 3D-knitted textiles.

Designer: Paul Crofts for Isomi

The magic happens through 3D knitting technology, which is commonly used in task chairs but rarely seen in modular lounge seating. This process creates the chair’s shell as a continuous, seamless piece that mimics the visual fullness of traditional upholstery while being made almost entirely of air and knit. The ribbed detailing references classic padded chairs, giving it a familiar yet futuristic appearance.

What makes this approach so compelling is the zero-waste output. Traditional upholstery involves cutting fabric pieces and discarding scraps, but 3D knitting produces exactly what’s needed without waste. The process also uses recycled materials and creates a fully recyclable end product. It’s the kind of circular design thinking that makes environmental sense without sacrificing aesthetics.

The Knit One system isn’t just a single chair, though. Crofts designed a complete modular collection that includes a lounge chair, a straight ottoman-style module, and an angled module. Each piece is fully reversible, meaning you can flip any element to function in both directions. This flexibility lets you create countless layout combinations for different spaces and needs.

There’s also a bolt-on solid wood side table that completes the collection, adding practical utility while maintaining the system’s clean aesthetic. The dual-tone knitted shell showcases elegant construction details, and the tactile ribbing feels substantial and inviting. You’d never guess that what you’re touching is mostly air structured by precisely engineered textile.

The environmental benefits extend beyond the knitting process itself. The chair sits on a lightweight metal frame designed specifically for flat-pack shipping and easy local assembly. This addresses one of the contract furniture industry’s biggest challenges: how to move large-scale seating without creating a massive carbon footprint from transportation.

By eliminating non-environmental materials altogether, the Knit One Chair pushes sustainability further than previous eco-friendly furniture projects. The textile feels opaque and textured, moving away from the open mesh look you might expect from knitted materials. Instead, it delivers the visual and tactile qualities people want from traditional upholstery.

That said, this radical approach might not appeal to everyone. The unique construction means comfort will feel different from foam-based seating, and the contemporary aesthetic might not suit all environments. The chair also represents a relatively new approach, so long-term durability in high-traffic settings remains to be proven over time.

Still, the Knit One Chair represents a significant step forward in sustainable furniture design. It proves that you don’t need to compromise on comfort, flexibility, or visual appeal to create environmentally responsible seating. For contract spaces looking to reduce their environmental impact while maintaining design quality, this modular system offers a compelling solution that feels both innovative and practical.

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5-in-1 infant walker concept grows with your child

The JUMBO walking aid represents a revolutionary approach to supporting infant development, transforming the traditional concept of baby gear from single-use items to lifelong companions. This innovative elephant-inspired design addresses one of the most significant challenges parents face: purchasing multiple developmental aids that quickly become obsolete as children grow. I personally know a lot of parents that have encountered this problem which is a bit hard on the wallet and also on the environment.

JUMBO employs a thoughtful progression through your child’s developmental journey. The system begins as a low-height table that encourages infants to pull themselves up and practice their balance. This crucial first stage supports the natural development of core strength and coordination that helps activate muscles in a manner similar to natural walking. The elephant’s gentle, rounded design provides emotional comfort during these early exploratory phases, making the learning process feel less intimidating for little ones.

Designer: Sai Divakar Boddeti

As your child gains confidence, the elephant’s head cleverly transforms into a walker with an ingenious two-stage base system. The felt pads offer controlled resistance perfect for beginners, allowing children to practice their stepping motions safely. Once they’ve mastered this stage, the pads can be swapped for smooth-rolling wheels, providing the freedom to explore while maintaining stability. This adaptability addresses the ongoing debate about walker safety by offering graduated support that closely mimics natural walking patterns.

The modular design philosophy extends far beyond the walking phase. Once your child has achieved independent walking, JUMBO transforms into a child-sized table and chair set, perfectly aligned with Montessori educational principles that emphasize child-appropriate furniture. This stage can last for years, providing a dedicated space for creative play, meals, and learning activities. Perhaps most impressively, JUMBO’s final transformation into a minimalist center table means it never truly leaves your home. The sleek, modern design integrates seamlessly with contemporary interiors, serving as a beautiful reminder of your child’s developmental journey. Available in multiple color options including soft blues, warm terracotta, sunny yellow, and classic neutral tones, JUMBO can complement any home aesthetic.

The environmental benefits of this approach cannot be overstated. Traditional baby gear often ends up in landfills after brief periods of use, but JUMBO’s circular design philosophy ensures decades of functionality. This sustainable approach appeals to environmentally conscious parents who want to reduce their family’s ecological footprint while providing excellent developmental support. Research consistently shows that increased physical activity, participation and enjoyment are key benefits of well-designed mobility aids. JUMBO delivers on all these fronts while eliminating the storage and waste issues associated with conventional baby products. The emotional connection formed through the elephant’s friendly design creates positive associations with movement and exploration that can last a lifetime.

The post 5-in-1 infant walker concept grows with your child first appeared on Yanko Design.

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From Bespoke Interiors to Enduring Comfort: Chris Cooke’s Vision for King Living

The contemporary design landscape continues to blur traditional boundaries between automotive and residential comfort, creating opportunities for cross-industry collaboration that brings fresh perspectives to established markets. When discerning consumers seek cohesive experiences that extend from their vehicles into their living spaces, forward-thinking brands respond with strategic appointments that bridge these distinct yet complementary realms.

Bentley Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami

King Living has made such a strategic move by welcoming Chris Cooke as their new Design Mentor, bringing over a decade of expertise from Bentley Motors to the Australian furniture brand. Born in the UK and now based in Sydney, Cooke joins with a distinguished global career across interior, product, and furniture design. This appointment represents more than a personnel change; it signals a convergence of automotive precision with high-end residential furniture craftsmanship. How will Cooke’s collaborative experience with celebrated designers and his emphasis on user experience transform King Living’s approach to modular, sustainable design?

The Bentley Blueprint: Collaborative Design Excellence

Chris Cooke’s ascent within Bentley Motors reads like a masterclass in design leadership and strategic collaboration. His most recent role spanned over a decade, during which he progressed from designing materials and finishes to leading interior design and ultimately heading the Lifestyle and Global Collaborations team. This evolution positioned him to oversee a diverse portfolio from automotive vehicle interiors and the Bentley Home furniture collection to bespoke projects like the Bentley Residences in Miami.

Bentley and the Macallan

Cooke’s collaborative experience proved as expansive as his portfolio, having worked with celebrated designers including Philippe Starck, Carlo Colombo, and Federico Peri. His partnerships with brands such as Macallan, Naim, and Graf von Faber-Castell further reflect his ability to combine high-end design with enduring performance. These collaborations required him to understand not only Bentley’s design language but also the manufacturing constraints and aesthetic requirements of partner brands.

Bentley: 2024 Milan Design Week collection

The scope of his responsibilities extended far beyond traditional automotive design to encompass lifestyle products and residential spaces. His mandate included designing key touch points beyond the vehicle for Bentley’s global brand presence, a challenge that demanded both creative vision and strategic thinking. This holistic approach to brand experience influenced everything from material selection to spatial planning, establishing him as a thought leader in design collaboration.

Bentley Residences, Sunny Isles Beach, Miami

His work on comprehensive architectural projects, most notably the Bentley Residences in Miami and the Bentley Cube in Seoul, demonstrated his ability to create narrative-driven spaces that embodied Bentley’s design philosophy in built environments. These projects featured his integration of Bentley’s signature Diamond concept throughout the spaces, showcasing his skill in working at multiple scales while maintaining design coherence. Each space incorporated distinctive Bentley design cues styled harmoniously throughout, from private swimming pools to the innovative Dezervator car elevator system.

 

King Living’s Foundation: Where Mentorship Meets Modular Design

King Living’s established design philosophy provides an ideal foundation for Cooke’s automotive-influenced approach and mentoring capabilities. Established in Sydney in 1977, the company has built a reputation as a designer, manufacturer, and retailer of contemporary, modular furniture with timeless appeal. Their commitment to timeless design, adaptable living, and sustainability aligns closely with the values he championed at Bentley.

King Living

The technical innovations that define King Living’s approach demonstrate their commitment to engineering excellence that resonates with Cooke’s automotive background. Their pioneering use of steel frames, backed by an industry-leading 25-year warranty, reflects a dedication to durability that parallels automotive engineering standards. The recyclable nature of these steel frames supports their commitment to sustainable design practices. Their Postureflex® Seating System, explicitly inspired by European car suspension systems, creates a direct connection point with his automotive expertise.

As a vertically integrated business, King Living designs all furniture in-house and manufactures in its own state-of-the-art facilities, ensuring consistent craftsmanship and enduring quality. This approach aligns with Cooke’s understanding of material integrity and build quality. “The team has a deep respect for materiality, craftsmanship and longevity. All qualities that align with my own design values,” says Cooke. “There is a relentless focus on user experience and build quality, always in harmony with the final aesthetic.”

King Living

Cooke steps into a pivotal role at King Living, guiding the future of the brand’s design direction while mentoring the next generation of design talent within the in-house studio. His experience in managing complex international collaborations while maintaining brand consistency aligns with King Living’s global presence across the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and China. The company’s family-owned structure and commitment to shaping the future of furniture provides an ideal environment for his mentoring approach.

David King, Founder of King Living, emphasizes the strategic nature of this appointment: “Chris brings a rare combination of global experience and a deep respect for craftsmanship. At King, we believe timeless design is born from a relentless pursuit of quality, values that Chris lives and breathes. His vision aligns perfectly with ours.” This alignment extends to King Living’s unique culture where obsessive attention to detail and a commitment to sustainable, modular design go hand in hand.

What This Means for King Living’s Future

Cooke’s vision for King Living builds upon these established foundations while introducing new possibilities for material innovation and design refinement. His experience with Bentley’s exploration of new materials and sustainability positions him to push boundaries in textiles, recycled content, and sustainable manufacturing processes. The holistic design approach that characterized his work on Bentley residences suggests potential expansions in King Living’s product offerings and design philosophy.

Bentley: 2023 Milan Design Week collection

Expected developments include enhanced tactile and visual qualities in fabric selections, advanced sustainable textiles, refined surface finishes inspired by automotive precision, and improved construction techniques drawing from automotive manufacturing. His background in integrating digital interfaces with physical comfort, evident in modern Bentley vehicles, could influence future smart home integrations in King Living products. The emphasis on creating cocooning havens that defined his automotive work may translate into furniture pieces that provide enhanced comfort and personal sanctuary within the home.

Cooke was drawn to King Living’s unique approach to longevity and value. “Many brands claim to value longevity, but King Living builds it into every part of the product,” he explains. “That dedication to modular design, a timeless aesthetic and long-term value is something that sets them apart globally.” His appointment signals recognition that expertise from adjacent sectors can provide fresh perspectives and solutions, reflecting a broader understanding that consumers expect coherent experiences across all aspects of their lives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chris Cooke’s background?

Chris Cooke spent over a decade at Bentley Motors, progressing from materials and finishes designer to Head of Lifestyle and Global Collaborations. He worked with celebrated designers including Philippe Starck, Carlo Colombo, and Federico Peri, and led collaborations with brands like Macallan and Graf von Faber-Castell.

Bentley and the Macallan

What will Cooke’s role involve at King Living?

As Design Mentor, Cooke will guide the future of King Living’s design direction while mentoring the next generation of design talent within the in-house studio. He emphasizes a relentless focus on user experience and build quality in harmony with aesthetic form.

How does this appointment benefit King Living?

Cooke brings automotive-grade precision and material expertise to enhance King Living’s construction quality, introduce new sustainable materials, and potentially expand into bespoke customization options and smart home integration.

A Strategic Vision for Australian Design

As Chris Cooke transitions to life in Australia, he expresses enthusiasm for the opportunity to contribute to a brand that is redefining timeless design for a new era. “The chance to mentor a talented team, help shape the brand’s future direction and be part of Australia’s growing and increasingly influential design industry made the move both inspiring and strategically exciting,” he notes.

King Living

His appointment represents a strategic master stroke that positions King Living at the forefront of furniture design, combining automotive precision with sustainable design expertise and holistic lifestyle vision. The convergence of his Bentley experience with King Living’s established values creates unprecedented opportunities for redefining what residential furniture can achieve in terms of craftsmanship, sustainability, and user experience.

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Peru’s Secret Qorilazos are Gaining Attention and It’s About Time

In the highlands of Chumbivilcas, Cusco, Peru, 12,000 feet above sea level, you’ll find Qorilazos, the little-known horsemen and women of the Andes. Unlike Hollywood cowboys, these riders are the real deal and have stayed away from the spotlight, until now.

A recent social media post about the Qoritlazos by the Peruvian outlet Somos El Comercio, and its sister publication, El Comercio, which has over 3 million online followers, has begun to quietly circulate. And it’s stirring up curiosity For those who have never heard of Qorilazos, it’s a first glimpse into a centuries-old equestrian tradition. For others, it’s nostalgia.

“In the heart of Chumbivilcas, Cusco,” El Comercio explains, “the horse is a means of transport, a companion of work, and an emblem of a cattle culture comparable to that of the North American cowboy. Passed down from generation to generation, this tradition lives on in races, rodeos, and the proud figure of the Qorilazo.”

So why has one of the oldest and proudest riding traditions in the Americas gone overlooked for so long? And what does it mean now that people are finally paying attention?

Peru’s Secret Qorilazos are Gaining Attention

One woman shared a longing that echoes across generations: “My grandfather, may he rest in peace, was one of them, born in Chumbivilcas. I’d love to know more about him … I don’t know where to start!”

Others proudly honored their lineage: “Beautiful land of my parents. I honor my ancestors and their customs.”

One commenter recalled tales passed down from an elder: “My grandfather used to tell me about the people of Chumbivilcas—independent, proud, untamable.”

Cowboys Came Later

While the post compares Qorilazos to North American cowboys, some commenters pushed back against the framing. Their point? Qorilazos aren’t Peru’s version of the American cowboy—they came long before.

“There’s no need to compare ourselves to cowboys. They came centuries after the Qorilazos. In fact, cowboys were modeled after Spanish riders like the ‘Dragones de Cuera.’ Say it with pride: we came first. They are like us—not the other way around.”

RELATED POST: Potatoes Aren’t Irish! They’re 100% Peruvian, and We’ve Got the Receipts!

The name Qorilazo comes from the Quechua words qori (gold) and lazo (lasso), forming a symbol of honor and skill. These highland herders rely on their horses for transportation, managing livestock, traveling long distances, and settling community matters. And they’re living history in motion.

Long-buried Pride

The Qorilazo tradition isn’t isolated. In the comments, people pointed out similar cultures elsewhere in the Andes. According to a local, “In Cangallo, Ayacucho, there are the Morochucos, the riders of the Andes. Their history is intertwined with Peru’s, including the fight for independence.”

“There have been horse breeding competitions every year for more than two centuries,” another added.

These regional variations highlight a truth often overlooked: the Andes have long been home to skilled horsemen with rich and complex traditions. And many are older than what’s now considered the cowboy mythos. And now, thanks to social media, the world is learning more about it all.

What began as a quiet post on Instagram has turned into something else entirely: a digital thread connecting people to forgotten stories, family histories, and long-buried pride.

“I wish I could be one of them,” someone wrote. “More stories like this, please!”

Featured image details: A Peruvian Morochuco peruano, from the Peruvian Andes, courtesy of WikiCommons.

The post Peru’s Secret Qorilazos are Gaining Attention and It’s About Time appeared first on Nuestro Stories.

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SANAA designs cluster of veiled volumes for taichung green ‘museumbrary’ in taiwan

sanaA’s Campus of Interconnected Volumes

 

Taichung Green Museumbrary is taking shape with architecture by SANAA in collaboration with local firm Ricky Liu & Associates Architects + Planners. First unveiled in 2013, the project at last has an opening date set for December 13th, 2025. Alongside this long-awaited announcement, the team has released new visualizations of the 58,000-square-meter complex, which integrates an art museum and public library into a single composition — all surrounded by the city’s expansive 67-hectare Central Park.

 

The project is SANAA’s largest cultural work to date and their first public building in Taiwan. It consists of eight low-profile, interlinked structures that gently settle into the landscape. The buildings are clad in glass and smooth metal panels and wrapped in a secondary skin of expanded aluminum mesh that appears suspended, catching light across the facade in changing patterns throughout the day.

 

Each volume is designed with a different scale and function, distributed horizontally to encourage movement between its programs without strict boundaries. This open spatial strategy underscores SANAA’s intention to prioritize a more fluid and communal public experience within institutions.

visualizations courtesy Cultural Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Government

 

 

Transparency, Permeability and sunLight

 

The Taichung Green Museumbrary is designed by SANAA and Ricky Liu & Associates Architects + Planners to lift lightly from the ground. This allows for the breeze and natural light of the park to flow beneath and through. Broad, shaded plazas between and below the buildings create a porous interface with the surrounding landscape. Multiple entrances allow visitors to enter from all directions, reinforcing the building’s openness to the city.

 

The dual-layer facade of metal mesh over low-e glass and metal cladding produces a soft, luminous exterior that diffuses the sun and reinforces a sense of airiness. These quiet formal gestures are central to the so-called museumbrary’s identity as a place for slow engagement with art, literature, and learning.

the project opens in December 2025 as Taiwan’s first combined art museum and library

 

 

A Rooftop Forest and Park Integration

 

Atop the building, the rooftop Cultural Forest offers elevated views across the Central Park and city skyline. Designed as a continuation of the site’s landscape, the rooftop is accessible to the public and extends the building’s civic presence vertically. The garden reinforces the project’s central concept: a library in a park and a museum in a forest.

 

Within, the library will house over one million physical and digital resources. Exhibition spaces within the art museum have been configured to accommodate a wide range of media, scales, and curatorial approaches, including large installations and performance.

the building was designed by SANAA with local firm Ricky Liu & Associates

 

 

The opening of the Taichung Art Museum is marked by a major exhibition, ‘A Call of All Beings: See you tomorrow, same time, same place,’ curated by Yi-Hsin Lai and an international team. Drawing from the museum’s collection and new commissions, the show explores relationships between human and non-human worlds, set in conversation with the building’s open architecture.

 

Highlights include site-specific installations by Adrien Tirtiaux and Seunghyun Moon, archival materials from The Little Prince, a kinetic kite piece by Joan Jonas, and new works by artists including Haegue Yang, Michael Lin, Chia-En Jao, and Myrlande Constant. The program also features performance and video by TAI Body Theatre and YiLab, and contributions from local publication White Fungus.

eight interconnected volumes are clad in glass and expanded metal mesh

 

 

By uniting an art museum and a public library in one horizontally connected structure, SANAA reconsiders how cultural institutions function in contemporary urban settings.

 

As Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa explain, ‘We have always hoped to create an open building that many people can easily participate in. Whether it is the museum providing visual learning through art or the library offering education through literature, combining the two to create a new multifaceted learning space is what we believe to be one of the main characteristics of this building. We have carefully considered how to gently link the two entities together to create a place that connects learning and communication for people.’

 

The project’s lightweight and permeable vocabulary supports this ambition by blurring distinctions between spaces and softening transitions between indoors and outdoors. SANAA’s design situates the act of learning within the rhythms of everyday life and within the sensory immediacy of the surrounding park.

each volume floats above the ground to invite breezes and light into shaded public plazas

 

project info:

 

name: Taichung Green Museumbrary

architect: SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho, Ricky Liu & Associates Architects + Planners | @rickyliu_architects

location: Taichung, Taiwan

completion: expected December 13th, 2025

previous coverage: September 2013

visualizations: courtesy Cultural Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Government

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A Very Unusual Midcentury Modern Chair of Dutch Design

This vintage lounge chair might be the strangest piece of Midcentury Modern furniture I’ve seen.

Produced by Dutch manufacturer De Ster Gelderland in the 1950s or ’60s—and probably designed in-house, as there’s no famous designer’s name attached to the piece—it is an odd mishmash of styles.

First off, the spindle back. During the Midcentury period, this would have been seen (at least in America) as a folksy throwback. Spindle-back chairs were associated with English and Welsh furniture from earlier centuries.

The woven rush seat also speaks of folk craft; no modern upholstered fabrics here.

However, this is offset by the striking padding on the backrest, a circle on a piece otherwise devoid of perfect geometric shapes, made of bouclé (yarn loops). This was a then-modern touch; it was just a few years earlier, in the late ’40s, when Eero Saarinen popularized bouclé by using it on his iconic Womb Chair, designed for Florence Knoll.

Then there are the through-tenons. This was a nod not to the Arts & Crafts movement, as an American or Brit might guess, but Scandinavia’s own past. Through-tenons were a feature of vernacular Scandinavian furniture dating back to the 16th century—as were spindle backs, hence their inclusion.

These nods to the past aside, the low-slung chair’s rakish stance, the angles of the armrest support, and the splay of the short, stubby legs are hallmark Midcentury Modern.

All in all, I’ve never seen a chair that blended such rustic, vernacular elements with Midcentury Modern design cues in what I feel was a successful way. Perhaps because it’s so evocative. I read one description of the design that called it “timeless,” and I disagree; this is multiple time periods woven together, in a way that works in my opinion, while it rides right on the line of being a camel (i.e. a horse designed by committee). Wonderful piece and I can’t take my eyes off of it.

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Traditional boathouse in Lake Bled transformed as research HQ

Nestled along the western edge of Slovenia’s iconic Lake Bled, the Boathouse Zuka stands as a remarkable example of sustainable architecture that honors tradition while embracing innovation. This modest 25.5-square-meter structure, renovated by Ljubljana-based OFIS Architects, demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform a simple building into both a functional research facility and an educational landmark.

The project began with a unique challenge: how to preserve the heritage of a traditional alpine boathouse while adapting it for modern scientific use. Rather than demolishing the existing structure, OFIS Architects chose a painstaking restoration approach that would become the project’s defining characteristic. The architects initiated a careful dismantling process, logging every piece and subjecting the wood to repair and protection using traditional pine resin.

Designers: OFIS Architects (photos by Miran Kambic)

What makes this renovation truly special is how the architects reimagined the building’s facade. The wooden planks were rotated and offset at varying angles, generating a rhythm of slats that offers transparency, shadow play, and filtered views from within and without. This innovative approach creates a dynamic interplay of light and shadow throughout the day, transforming the humble boathouse into a beacon that glows softly when illuminated from within at dusk.

The building now serves as headquarters for the Slovenian Environment Agency’s research operations on Lake Bled. Scientists can set out from here to monitor Lake Bled’s water quality, making the structure both functionally important and symbolically significant as a guardian of the lake’s ecological health. Perhaps the most innovative feature is the experimental rooftop filtration garden that crowns the traditional pitched roof. This system of wooden trays demonstrates how architecture can actively contribute to environmental protection. Lake water is pumped through this substrate, creating a living laboratory that visitors can observe and learn from.

Inside, the architects made thoughtful material choices that enhance both comfort and coherence. Cold cement tiles were replaced with natural wooden flooring, improving internal comfort for researchers and maintaining the structure’s coherence with its timber envelope. These changes ensure the building feels warm and welcoming while maintaining its connection to traditional alpine architecture. The project represents more than just a successful renovation; it offers a model for sustainable design in an era of climate change. The project offers a model for low-impact, high-value architecture: one that preserves memory, extends the life of existing structures, and adds new layers of meaning through ecology and public engagement.

As tourism and climate pressures continue to impact Lake Bled, the Boathouse Zuka suggests that meaningful architecture doesn’t require elaborate forms but rather regenerative gestures that restore, teach, and protect. Through its thoughtful blend of tradition and innovation, this small structure proves that even the most modest buildings can make significant contributions to both cultural heritage and environmental stewardship.

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