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Design Beyond Aesthetics
A journal exploring electronic music, sound, and visual culture through a design perspective—connecting technology, rhythm, and contemporary creative practice. This platform focuses on the structures behind electronic music: from techno and house to sound design, production, and cultural movements. It examines how music is shaped by machines, systems, and environments—bridging design thinking with sonic experimentation.
While rooted in design, the focus shifts toward electronic music as a cultural and technological language, analyzing genres, artists, tools, and the spaces where sound becomes experience. Published on otaviosantiago.com, this is an independent perspective on how music, design, and technology intersect—moving beyond aesthetics into structure, systems, and culture.
Graphic, Web & Motion Designer
Oak House: A Hexagonal Wooden Tower by Ulf Mejergren in Sweden
The Oak House, designed by Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA), rises as a hexagonal wooden tower in Kalmar, Sweden. Standing 6.5 meters tall, the structure merges the form of an ancient hollow oak with a small red house, creating a totemic figure that feels both familiar and slightly surreal. Children enter through a low opening in the “trunk,” where daylight filters from above through thick, branch-like wooden forms. Architecture of the Oak House Positioned beside Värsnäs Presch
2 days ago
Walled Off Hotel Reopens in Bethlehem as Art, Hospitality, and Political Witness
The Walled Off Hotel, conceived by anonymous street artist Banksy, has reopened in Bethlehem after a two-year closure triggered by escalating violence following the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli military response. The reopening comes amid an ongoing regional conflict and a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza marked by mass displacement, destruction, and tens of thousands of civilian deaths. Announcing the reopening via Instagram, the hotel stat
4 days ago
Warmer: The Aluminum Office Mug Warmer Powered by a Simple Tealight Candle
An Office Mug Warmer That Keeps Drinks Hot Without Electricity Design studio Paradigm, in collaboration with the virtual platform Render Weekly, presents Warmer—a minimalist office mug warmer powered entirely by a tealight candle. Unlike electric warmers that require cables and outlets, Warmer relies on a small flame placed beneath a suspended aluminum cup, keeping beverages warm throughout the workday. A deliberate gap separates the mug from the candle, ensuring the drink st
Jul 20
SCUT Lunar Tower: A Perforated Observatory Rising from China’s Mangrove Wetlands
SCUT Lunar Tower as Ecological Observatory The SCUT Lunar Tower stands at the eastern edge of the Hainan Dongzhaigang National Nature Reserve, an ecologically sensitive landscape that contains China’s largest continuous mangrove forest. Designed by the South China University of Technology Architectural Design and Research Institute, the tower functions as both an observatory and a research instrument rather than a dominant architectural object. Rising 33.5 meters above the we
Jul 15
Pier 865: The Walkable Sculpture Transforming Knoxville’s Park into Living Architecture
Pier 865: The Walkable Sculpture Transforming Knoxville’s Park Public art rarely invites you to touch it — let alone walk on it, rest beneath it, or climb through it. Pier 865, the newest installation by MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY, breaks that boundary entirely. More than a walkable sculpture, it is a piece of walkable architecture, reshaping Knoxville’s historic park into an immersive spatial experience where art, nature, and community merge. A Structure Lifted from the Lands
Jul 10
Gambey Paris Apartment: PAF Atelier and BB Architectes Redefine Space with a Perforated Mezzanine
Gambey Paris Apartment as Interior Architecture The Gambey Paris Apartment, designed by PAF Atelier and BB Architectes, transforms a compact dwelling in Paris’s 11th arrondissement through a single, carefully inserted architectural element. Rather than dividing the apartment into conventional rooms, the project is organized around a freestanding steel structure that concentrates circulation, storage, and programming into one cohesive interior framework. This approach allows t
Jun 26
Wooden Compass for Dementia Orientation: How Aumens Uses Design to Restore Direction and Autonomy
A Wooden Compass Designed for Dementia Orientation The wooden compass for dementia orientation, developed by Aumens, begins with a problem that is both practical and deeply human: people living with dementia often lose their sense of direction, even in places they know well. A short walk to a nearby store can suddenly become disorienting or dangerous — not because the environment has changed, but because spatial orientation has. The wooden compass was designed with a single,
Jun 5
Blue Temple Builds Earthquake-Resistant Modular Bamboo Housing in Myanmar for the Price of a Smartphone
Modular Bamboo Housing for Extreme Conditions The modular bamboo housing project in Myanmar developed by Blue Temple in collaboration with Housing Now demonstrates how architecture can respond to crisis with precision, speed, and dignity. Located in the Bago region, the initiative delivers low-cost, earthquake-resistant homes designed for communities affected by conflict and natural disasters. Each unit can be constructed in just seven days and costs approximately 1,000 USD—a
May 31
Rediscovering the Mazda Suitcase Car: The Portable Vehicle That Fit Inside a Samsonite
A Forgotten Experiment in Portable Mobility In the early 1990s, long before micro-mobility became a global obsession, Mazda quietly engineered one of the most unusual vehicles in automotive history: the Mazda suitcase car. Designed as a compact, three-wheeled vehicle that could be stored inside a hard-shell Samsonite suitcase, the project explored the boundaries between transportation, portability, and industrial design. Created between 1989 and 1991, the concept emerged from
May 18
Maison Louis Vuitton Sanlitun: Jun Aoki Designs a Colour-Shifting Architectural Dress in Beijing
Maison Louis Vuitton Sanlitun rises in the heart of Beijing as a fluid, translucent structure that blurs the line between architecture, fashion, and landscape. Designed by Japanese studio Jun Aoki & Associates, the four-storey flagship features a shimmering facade of dichroic glass that shifts colour with light, movement, and season—an architectural interpretation of a Louis Vuitton dress. Fashion and Architecture Merge at Maison Louis Vuitton Sanlitun The facade of Maison Lo
May 15
Bianca Censori’s Bio Pop: Performance Furniture, Power, and the Architecture of Bodily Constraint
Bianca Censori Bio Pop Performance Furniture as Social Architecture Bianca Censori’s Bio Pop performance furniture marks a provocative intersection between design, architecture, and performance art. Presented in Seoul, the work transforms tables, chairs, and chandeliers into apparatuses that physically restrain women’s bodies, reframing furniture not as passive objects, but as active agents of power. Rather than functioning as utilitarian supports, the furniture operates as a
May 10
Recycled Food Waste Robotics: EPFL’s ‘Claw’ Machines Made from Crustacean Shells
When Food Waste Becomes Functional Technology At EPFL’s CREATE Lab, scientists are redefining the boundaries between waste, biology, and robotics. In a recent study, researchers developed robotic claw machines made from recycled food waste , using crustacean shells—specifically langoustine tails—as structural components for functional robotic systems. The project challenges the dominance of metal, plastic, and synthetic composites by asking a radical question: can biological
Mar 11
A Metallic Paper Piggy Bank That Teaches Children to Save and Give
PLANBUREAU Studio has created a metallic paper piggy bank for the Hungarian branch of Red Noses International , an organization that supports hospital clown doctors. The brief was simple yet challenging: design an object for the charity shop that teaches children how to save and how to donate, all while keeping the retail price under 10 EUR and production costs low. The result is a playful, build-it-yourself piggy bank made entirely of paper. This design turns a familiar ob
Feb 22
Bee-Sized Robot Design: How MIT Is Rethinking Flight, Intelligence, and Scale
The development of a flying robot small enough to rival a bumblebee marks a significant moment in bee-sized robot design , where engineering, artificial intelligence, and biomimicry converge. Created by researchers at MIT, the four-centimetre robot weighs less than one gram yet demonstrates agility, speed, and control comparable to its biological counterpart. Designed to operate in environments inaccessible or dangerous to humans, the robot is envisioned as a future tool f
Feb 17
Design and 3D: From Visual Experimentation to Cultural Language
Design and 3D are no longer separate territories. What began as technical experimentation has evolved into a new visual language — one that reshapes how we experience identity, space, and digital culture. 3D is not just a tool. It is a shift in perception. How Design and 3D Started to Converge The relationship between design and 3D began quietly, inside software labs and motion studios. Early 3D tools were complex, slow, and reserved for specialists in animation or industria
Feb 15
Design and Sustainability: Responsible Design for a Sustainable Future
The connection between design and sustainability is no longer optional — it is essential. Design shapes products, systems, behaviors, and values. Every decision, from material choice to digital interface, carries environmental, social, and cultural consequences. Design determines not only what we create, but how it is produced, distributed, consumed, and discarded. In a world facing climate urgency, resource scarcity, and social imbalance, design has moved from decoration
Feb 9
Design and Technology: How Innovation Shapes Contemporary Culture
Design and technology have always evolved together, shaping how societies build, move, communicate, and imagine the future. From the invention of printing to digital interfaces, every technological shift has transformed how design functions as a cultural and practical tool. Today, design and technology are inseparable forces defining contemporary and future visual language. Technology introduces new tools, systems, and possibilities, while design gives those systems form,
Feb 5
Design in Conflict: Lebanese Students Reimagine Design for Life Under War
Design in Conflict is an exhibition that brings together architecture and design students from Lebanon to confront the realities of living under continuous instability. Hosted inside Beirut’s abandoned Burj El Murr skyscraper, the show presents speculative yet deeply practical projects addressing life shaped by war, interruption, and resilience. Organised by Archifeed alongside product designer Youssef Bassil and design engineer Tark Mahmoud, the exhibition positions design
Jan 28
LEO Flight Unveils the Electric Solo JetBike — A Propeller-Free Personal Air Vehicle for Unlicensed Pilots
An Electric Solo JetBike With Enclosed Jet Propulsion Instead of Propellers LEO Flight has introduced the electric Solo JetBike , a compact one-person aircraft concept that hovers using electric jets instead of propellers . This innovative design serves as a low-altitude personal air vehicle that requires no pilot’s license . The electric Solo JetBike proposes a radically different approach to ultralight aviation. Following the still-concept LEO Coupe , the JetBike utilizes
Jan 22
A Moss-Covered Earthen Roof Shapes the Sekiyuan Teahouse Waiting Area in Japan
A Moss-Covered Earthen Roof Blends Architecture and Landscape The Sekiyuan Waiting Area in Ichihara City, Chiba, is a small architectural gesture with unusually rich cultural depth. Designed and built by Kurosawa Kawara-ten together with an architect and an artist—none of them professional builders in the traditional sense—the structure is a quiet but significant exploration of how informal building practices can contribute to contemporary architecture. The project was car
Jan 13
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