Week 8 — Digest
Mix
Neffa-T
Design
Chinese Buddhist Temple
Chinese architecture firm Atelier Deshaus designs a new Buddhist temple that sits adjacent to the Great Wall of China.
The minimalist characteristics of the structure invoke a sense of serenity and focus, connecting the occupants with the textures, materials, and surroundings of the temple.
See and read more on Dezeen.
Don’t Cremate, Compost
Recompose is an American startup that is seeking to change the funeral home business. They have opened a new facility in Seattle where human remains are composted instead of being cremated.
Family members of the deceased are able to take the compost home in order to grow new life. Recompose’s Seattle facility was designed by Olson Kundig and has a very futuristic look, giving A24 ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ vibes.
Fashion
Subvert and Serve
Knitwear, designed to jumble facial recognition software, forms the latest collection from Cap_able, an Italian fashion startup.
Manifesto Collection was developed with the help of AI which created the designs to lead surveillance software to confuse the wearer for animals.
Read more here.
Birkins made of 0’s and 1’s are a NoNo
Hermès was handed victory by a jury in New York in its case against the creator of MetaBirkin, Mason Rothschild. The project was an NFT of the Birkin bags that had no connection with Hermès.
This gave rise to a copyright lawsuit that is now a foundational precedent in the new era of digital fashion. The case serves as a statement that physical trademarks are applicable to the digital sphere.
Hermès won the case on the basis of trademark infringement and cybersquatting, where someone purchases a domain with the knowledge and intent of assimilating it with a known brand in order to mislead the public.
You can read more in this Business of Fashion article.
Music
Cody Lee - 我愛你
Culture
Retired Yakuza Softball Team
As Yakuza members age and the law cracks down harder on them, retired members have a tougher time adjusting to civilian life after retirement. Lack of opportunities along with stringent requirements to prove that you have moved on from that life make it so lots of them live a stagnant life.
This New York Times article follows Ryuyukai, a softball team made up of retired Yakuza members, which seeks to create community and opportunity to help kickstart the civilian lives of its team members.
