There is a basic truth, isn't there, that if you have to say that something is cool and trendy, then it isn't that anymore. Cool has to be cool without it being said. When something is cool there has to be an understated obviousness about it. You see it once - and that it’s it. That is the way it is. Fashionable is different from cool. Fashion is something that is applied and in fact has very little to do with style. Style in design is the effortless understanding of shape an

There are few cities in the world that have managed to create such an incredibly well functioning and harmonic city environment. All architects should learn from these prime examples of high density urban planning. The hierarchy of access is a very subtle yet effective means of protection for families and individuals. By defining what is entirely public and, then by stages, defining a kind of access filter, you build up a language that can be read instinctively. The importanc

When a new product sees the light of day, it isn't enough that innovation is centred solely on the product itself. Innovation has to be applied all through the supply chain and indeed in the sales chain all the way to the customer and the user. At STEENSSEN we see our global brand as one that embraces everyone that plays at part in the development, the construction, the making of the component parts, the assembly, packaging. It doesn't stop there. STEENSSEN has to reach out t

"Hot AIR" is a most appropriate description of the AIR audio system from STEENSSEN. The word "hot" carries many meanings with it and most of them are exactly right for AIR. For instance, it is a great selling product, so it is hot on the market. Although we have to admit that the people who buy AIR are not the ones we expected at first when AIR was still on the drawboard. The fact that hot air rises is also a great metaphor. We like the slowness and steadiness of hot air ball

Date: January 5, 2015 By Nehal El-Sherif It rarely rains in Cairo. In the last days of November, it rained for less than 30 minutes for the first time after a very hot summer. While many enjoyed the cooler weather, complaints began flooding the social media as rapidly as water began flooding the streets. The roadways filled with water and aggravated the normal traffic jams, a problem that has long been connected to the Egyptian capital. Many people had to spend up to four hou

The quotation marks in the title are because I have to admit that I stole the line from an article by Jonathan Margolis in the Guardian. See it here Actually is it his wife who said that because she meant that both serious hifi and anti-wrinkle cream were based on very "dubious claims, expensive prices - and results which are only apparent to the buyer." Actually the beauty of that idea is not that both are expensive indulges but they both represent the fact that people to wa

This is not Hallstadt am See in Austria. It is Hallstadt See, the Chinese rip off of the Austrian village. A true copy in southern China without any agreement with the original. Like the real village, it is an attractive place and with so much identity, that there are constantly crowds of couples being photographed in these surroundings. Of course the falsity of this endeavour is disturbing. A copied identity of a foreign culture is without intrinsic value. It is fundamentall

It’s fascinating to think about the sounds created by the weather. There are the obvious stormy conditions when the wind can howl and the rain can thunder down. But in calmer times, the way the weather works with temperature and humidity, the sounds created really add a richness to our lives. I especially like the calming sound of a heavy snow fall. The air filled with slowly falling snow flakes acts like a blanketing sound insulation. The traffic noise becomes a quieter back

You walk down the street. It's a cloudless day. The air is crisp. The sky is so blue that it is bordering on indigo. Then you get that optical illusion where the sky becomes the dominant shape and the buildings take on a minor secondary role. This first essay is about those times when the sky wins. Then the solid blue takes on a dominant form like an abstract painting. More details are on page 14 of BLUE and other shapes 2. https://www.steenssen.com/product-page/blue-and-othe

You know Nordic Noir. It is that kind of dark Scandinavian crime thriller or whodunnit film that successfully swept across many international tv channels. The origins of Nordic Noir are found in a combination of a generation of (mainly) women crime authors and also the innovative Danish film genre called “Dogme” that turned up in the 90’s. That film technique was based on low cost film production with hand-held cameras, ambient lighting, actors in their own clothes and to a l

FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Graz, Austria joined STEENSSEN in carrying out research into 3D sound. The masters programme at Graz looked at STEENSSENs development of ARSA - Ambient Responsive Sonic Architecture. ARSA 3D sound enhances music and film tracks and renders them relative to the actual surroundings of the room in a way that gives a 3D experience. This is done by using the shape, materials and positions of the speaker drivers relative to the each oth

Liberty Square in Taipei is quintessentially oriental. Also quintessentially euphemistic. The monumental Democracy Stairway on the right leads to the tomb of Chang Kei Shek, the brutally non-democratic totalitarian military dictator, who ruled over the society from 1949 until his death in 1975. More details are on page 156 of Creating Compact Cities. https://www.steenssen.com/product-page/creating-compact-cities/ #LibertySquareTaipei #Urbanistico #DesigningTownscape #StreetsS