Design

The First Brand Manager Was a 1st Century Roman Glassblower

Ennion made me. Those were the words molded on glass vases and jars that survived centuries of dust, change, and trauma all over the classical world. But who was Ennion? And how, in the early years of the world, did his glassware become so famous? We don’t know much about him: He was a craftsman…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 25

Barbed Wire’s Dark, Deadly History

In the mid 1800s, not many (non-native) Americans had ever been west of the Mississippi. When Frederick Law Olmstead visited the west in the 1850s, he remarked that the plains looked like a sea of grasses that moved “in swells after a great storm.” Massive herds of buffalo wandered the plains. Cowboys shepherded cattle across…

Tech News Roman Mars - 99% Invisible Mar 25

This Table Listens to Your Boring Meetings and Pulls Out the Good Stuff

Meetings can be horrible, unproductive, and maddening. Can a high-tech conference table make them bearable? The New York Times R&D Lab have tackle the problem with the lab’s latest project. The Semantic Listening Table is an attempt to make sense of the chaotic conversation. The smart table combines pervasive data collection and the internet of…

Tech News Mario Aguilar Mar 25

1908’s Best Party Invite and More Forgotten California Design

From psychedelic rock posters to modernist film titles, it might seem like the graphic output from California means anything and everything goes. But there’s a particular California spirit when it comes to design. That’s what Louise Sandhaus argues in her new book Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires & Riots: California and Graphic Design, 1936-1986, an ongoing examination…

Tech News Alissa Walker Mar 24

Irregular-Shaped Building Blocks Let Kids Build Ultra-Modern Skyscrapers

Hot Wheels doesn’t sell tiny die-cast horse and buggies to kids these days, so why would anyone assume that children would want to build ancient castles with building blocks? Areaware’s Blockitecture set—designed by James Paulius—instead features a collection of irregularly-shaped wooden blocks that can be stacked and balanced to create a towering modern high-rise. Not…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 24

These Structurally Absurd Homes Look Straight Out of Harry Potter

If you’re a Potter fan who would’ve liked to see more impossible, Burrow-like homes in the movies, then you’ll love the fantasy world of German designer Matthias Jung, whose surreal houses look like they ought to be kept hidden from our Muggle eyes. Jung’s creations, which he calls small “architectural poems,” are actually collages of…

Tech News Maddie Stone Mar 21

Instant Skyscrapers Are About to Change the Way We Live in Cities

The pop-up city is an idea that dug its way into our collective brain a century ago as the first steel buildings rose—a dream that’s as common in cartoons as it is in urban planning. And for the first time in history, it’s technically possible. In China, a company called Broad Sustainable Building Co has…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 20

How A 121-Storey Building Uses A Giant Magnet To Prevent Swaying

When you’re building a skyscraper with triple-digit numbers of storeys, there are some rather unusual building challenges to face — like the fact that the entire building can sway with the wind, fast enough to make people sick. The Shanghai Tower solves that problem in a scientifically awesome way: using magnets. The problem of winds…

Tech News Chris Mills Mar 20

These Mega-Cruise Ships Look Like Small Cities From the Air

The stacks and stacks of cabin windows make today’s ocean liners look gargantuan enough from the shore. But the view from directly above gigantic cruise ships is even more startling. Jeffrey Milstein, a former architect who specializes in photos of planes and infrastructure, recently finished a new project that focuses on cruise liners. “After 14…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 18

This Designer Uses the Silver Inside All the Gadgets We Throw Away

How long have you had the computer or phone you’re reading this on? How about the others that proceeded it? Inside all of these electronics are precious metals that are usually trashed—even though they are still usable, as this Cape Town jeweler proves. The circuit boards that make up the bones of our devices depend…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 17

A Better Suitcase With a Roll-Up Lid That’s Never In the Way

It means you’ll be sacrificing a bit of storage space, but Fabbrica Pelletterie Milano’s new Nendo-designed Kame suitcase has a clever segmented lid that rolls up when opened so it’s not constantly falling down on you while you’re trying to find a specific shirt. It also means you can open the suitcase in tight spaces,…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 16

This Intricate Table Collapses Into a Tiny Cube

How do you plan on spending your retirement? Moving to Florida, or taking up painting, perhaps? Izzy Swan, a retired furniture shop owner, is spending his by making impossibly complex transforming furniture. South Carolina-based Swan runs a site called Think Woodworks, where he posts projects like how to build a lathe and how to salvage…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 16

Designing a Shadowless Skyscraper Isn’t Magic, Just Good Science

The boom in skyscrapers is good for elevator manufacturers, but can be bad for residents who have to live in the shadow (literally or otherwise). Using computer-aided design and some seriously big mirrors, architects in London have come up with a plan to build a pair of skyscrapers with no shadow at all. As Wired…

Tech News Chris Mills Mar 15

The Solar-Powered, Recycled House That Will Let Us Float in Style

If you’ve ever considered trading your house for a life on the water, but don’t fancy the idea of cramped, below deck living quarters, then this floating, solar-powered home, designed by renowned Italian architect Giancarlo Zema, might be just the thing for you. As our climate warms and sea levels continue rise, our coastlines will…

Tech News Maddie Stone Mar 15

The Tricentennial Tower is Like the Space Needle With Gondolas

US Thrill Rides, the company that plans to bring us the world’s tallest roller coaster, has just unveiled designs for its latest project: The Tricentennial Tower, a 320-foot tall structure that looks like the Seattle Space Needle with a gondola ride slapped on. The tower, which is planned for the New Orleans waterfront, emerges as…

Tech News Maddie Stone Mar 14

I Saw the Future at New York’s Uncanny Smithsonian Museum

It’s weird to see a working Nest thermostat on display at a Smithsonian museum in Manhattan. It’s even weirder to tinker with the gadget, pushing buttons and changing settings. But touching and tinkering with technology is the Cooper Hewitt future museum’s specialty. You could consider the Cooper Hewitt to be the Smithsonian’s computerized crown jewel.…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Mar 12

The Insanely Complicated Logistics of Building a Planetarium

Miami’s building a new science museum, and it seems hell bent on making the construction process as interesting as possible. A few months ago, we posted a video of the concrete being poured for the museum’s crazy, martini-glass-shaped aquarium. It took 25 hours of continuous, hyper-precise pouring to finish the job. This week, the construction…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 11

These Hi-Tech Faucets Prove That The Future Is Coming To Our Bathrooms

Faucets already seem a bit like magic — you turn them on and the water flows right out. But these faucet designs add a bit more pizazz to conventional plumbing technology, letting us better control the flow and temperature of water. Ripple Faucet, designed by Smith Newnam, 2008. It uses a metal ball on electromagnetic…

io9 Vincze Miklós Mar 11

9 Buildings By Frei Otto, the Architect Who Engineered the Future

Frei Otto, architect behind some of the most important structures and engineering ideas of the last century, has died just two weeks before he was to receive the Pritzker Prize—the award that people often describe as the Nobel Prize for architecture. Maybe you’ve never heard of Otto. That’s OK. He kept himself outside the fray…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Mar 11

This Mirror House Is a Giant Optical Illusion

Most of us are content getting back to nature with a hiking or camping trip every now and again. But if you’re serious about making a life off the grid, and you don’t want your pesky habitation to obscure your view of the scenery, then this mirror house might be just the thing for you.…

Tech News Maddie Stone Mar 8

The First Brand Manager Was a 1st Century Roman Glassblower

Barbed Wire’s Dark, Deadly History

This Table Listens to Your Boring Meetings and Pulls Out the Good Stuff

1908’s Best Party Invite and More Forgotten California Design

Irregular-Shaped Building Blocks Let Kids Build Ultra-Modern Skyscrapers

These Structurally Absurd Homes Look Straight Out of Harry Potter

Instant Skyscrapers Are About to Change the Way We Live in Cities

How A 121-Storey Building Uses A Giant Magnet To Prevent Swaying

These Mega-Cruise Ships Look Like Small Cities From the Air

This Designer Uses the Silver Inside All the Gadgets We Throw Away

A Better Suitcase With a Roll-Up Lid That’s Never In the Way

This Intricate Table Collapses Into a Tiny Cube

Designing a Shadowless Skyscraper Isn’t Magic, Just Good Science

The Solar-Powered, Recycled House That Will Let Us Float in Style

The Tricentennial Tower is Like the Space Needle With Gondolas

I Saw the Future at New York’s Uncanny Smithsonian Museum

The Insanely Complicated Logistics of Building a Planetarium

These Hi-Tech Faucets Prove That The Future Is Coming To Our Bathrooms

9 Buildings By Frei Otto, the Architect Who Engineered the Future

This Mirror House Is a Giant Optical Illusion

Ozempic Shreds Bones? How a Small Study Turned Into a Big Health Myth

Anker’s Soundcore Translation Earbuds Are Now Nearly 7x Cheaper Than AirPods Pro 3 After a Sudden Price Drop on Amazon

Volkswagen Shuts Down Tennessee Plant’s EV Production at the Worst Possible Time

Using Emojis at Work? You’re Not Going to Like This Study 😮

A Terrifying Invasion Feels Eerily Familiar in This Short Horror Story

Shark AI Ultra Robot Vacuum at 51% Off Quietly Undercuts Dyson’s Stick Cleaner Prices

Tubi Manages to Turn People Against Recommendations With Bad AI Branding

Gizmodo’s Favorite Photos From NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

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