Tag Days

Foiling technology in yachts is not new, but it has really taken off above the waves in recent times, for its ability to add substantial efficiency and noise-free rides for the demanding, affluent patrons. Case in point, the first collaborative, “The ICON” by BMW and TYDE. Opening new frontiers, the carmaker and marine expert are back with “The OPEN,” the world’s largest foiling motor yacht with luxury unparalleled.

Some collaborations are meant to be, and that’s exactly where it is going with the two abovementioned industry leaders. It is their second partnership for The OPEN, which is meant to be a larger and refiner electric foiling yacht designed for enjoyment above the waves.

Designers: BMW and TYDE

The OPEN is, as the design team puts it, a new “perspective on electrification, sustainability, and innovation.” The inventive electric vessel is designed to measure 49 feet long and about 15 feet in width. It will be powered by a zero-emissions drivetrain, borrowing the efficacy from The ICON. The battery onboard is a BMW i3 with 400kWh capacity and twin 100kW electric motors that provide The OPEN maximum speed of 30 knots.

An interesting aspect is the integrated hydrofoils that will allow the yacht to begin gliding above the water at around 18 knots with minimum drag and utmost silence. The propulsion system further helps reduce OPEN’s energy consumption by up to 80 percent, the designers note.

Capable of cruising over the waves at 25 knots on 50 nautical miles of range, the luxury yacht also adds to the green performance with solar panels embedded in the vessel’s hardtop. The yacht has a windshield wrapped around the seating area which offers a clear yet safe vantage point to check out the surrounding panorama. The life on the deck doubles up from being a solitary sun-basking regime to a dining area, and bathing platform, if you may.

For when the day is over and you need to hit the sack, onboard you have an accommodation for two. The cabin is luxury-packed with all the amenities including a bed, workstation, TV, and ensuite bathroom.  The OPEN electric foiling yacht is likely to begin shipping toward the end of 2024 with TYDE managing the production and marketing.

Architects Ignacio de la Vega and Pilar Cano-Lasso created Tini Living around five years ago. Tini Living is a prefab company that’s come up with five models of ADUs in an effort to provide their customers with as much transparency as possible. “We wanted to create something simple and elegant, but we also wanted clients to know exactly what they were getting the cost, and the timing from the very first meeting,” said de la Vega. And, what makes their ADUs even more unique and fabulous is that they can be completed in 100 days!

Designer: Tini Living

Tini Living offers a range of ADUs to meet the diverse needs of their diverse customers. They provide an entire range of standalone, prefab modules and an extra small version called the Tini XS which starts at $38,000. The Tini XS is one of their popular models, and it is perfectly suited for two people. It includes a kitchen, bed frame, full bathroom, and a hot and cold air pump within 180 square feet.

They start off with a design phase, in which the clients can make their own personalized changes and small adaptations to the module of their choice. Once the plan is finalized, they aim to complete the construction of the ADU within 150 days, and delivery within 30 days. By keeping construction and delivery time to a minimum, Tini Living aims to offer its clients flexibility and provide reduced economic burdens as compared to traditional homes.

In terms of pricing, Tini Living maintains a transparent attitude, where they offer the client as much information as possible before the process begins. They have created a unique customization tool, which allows them to alter and adapt their different models to the personal needs and requirements of their clients. The company also partners up with local architecture and engineering firms, to ease and smoothen up the entire process, and to provide a cohesive and coordinated process. They also work with a third party to ensure that all the local requirements and regulations are met and followed at the site.

Engineer, automotive enthusiast, woodworking hobbyist, and arguably the dad of the year, Vietnam-based ND Woodworking Art has an entire YouTube page dedicated to documenting his art – building luxury cars for his son out of wood. Sure, some dads stand in line to buy the latest Hot Wheels set… ND Woodworking Art just gathers a ton of lumber and builds the cars to his young child’s scale, creating functional wood automobiles that don’t just feature opening doors and turning wheels – they even have engines, brakes, batteries, and even lights inside them. Given that we’re now nearing the delivery date of Tesla’s most anticipated vehicle, the YouTuber decided to just go and build one for himself. Made entirely out of wood sitting on a welded metal chassis, ND Woodworking Art’s Tesla Cybertruck is one of his biggest builds yet. It’s a tad bit smaller than the original pickup truck (which has seen its fair share of controversies and delays), but comes with all the bells and whistles. You’ve got not one but two sets of opening doors, functional headlights and taillights, positionable rear view mirrors, a rear truck bed that opens, and perhaps the icing on the cake, a functional Tesla Cyberquad in the back, just as Elon had showcased back in November of 2019! As a celebration of Musk’s impact on the tech world, the YouTuber also carved the X (formerly Twitter) logo onto the driver’s door, filling it with epoxy resin and adding lights inside that make the logo glow when the car’s lights are switched on. The video above documents the entire 100-day process, culminating in one of the sweetest finales as the father and son ride together on the road in the Cybertruck and the Cyberquad!

Designer: ND Woodworking Art

While Tesla’s struggled (rather miserably) with meeting Cybertruck delivery timelines, encountering multiple design and manufacturing hiccups along the way, ND Woodworking Art had no such problem. Clearly not his first rodeo, the dad put together a schematic, began building the chassis, and layered it with wood, polish, and lights in just a span of 100 days. Let’s say, the Cybertruck’s angular design made things a lot easier, given that the YouTuber has worked with more challenging organic builds like this incredibly complex miniature Bugatti Centodieci. It’s no bulletproof metal, but then again that’s Tesla’s problem.

What’s more, the truck even features a load-bearing bed at the back that can hold items like a Cyberquad. The tailgate opens up, turning into a telescopic ramp that lets you roll the quad out, just how Elon demonstrated during the Cybertruck’s original reveal.

A look at the telescopic ramp built into the Cybertruck’s tailgate, along with the fully functional quad bike.

The entire process began with a meticulous planning phase, followed by building the car’s chassis out of metal piping welded together. With the original Cybertruck, the space-grade metal body itself doubles as its chassis… but you can’t do that with wooden sheets. The entire car sits on a metal skeleton of sorts, which also houses the car’s electric powertrain.

Once the chassis was ready, ND Woodworking Art began layering it with the wood planks, cutting them, angling them, and nailing/gluing them in place. The truck uses a clever combination of light and dark wood to create some visual drama, while also representing the original car’s metal body and black trims.

Almost every inch of the car gets wood treatment, from the outside to even the inside. The rear gets lined with darker wood as does the car’s interior cockpit and dashboard, featuring light wood chairs and a red wood steering yoke.

The doors open and close just like with any regular car.

The inside features wooden seating that’s carved to resemble cushioned car seats.

This wooden Cybertruck gets a wooden steering yoke to match.

Finally, ND Woodworking Art adds finishing touches to his homemade Tesla. It features a clear sheet on the front as a windshield, along with a functional wiper. The top gets tinted plastic sheets too, giving the car a nice shaded skylight. The front features the classic linear headlight along with left and right indicators, and the rear gets the linear taillight to match. Finally, as an homage to Musk, the YouTuber also embeds an ‘X’ logo into the driver’s door, which lights up on command.

The field of agriculture has been experiencing remarkable technological advancements, transforming the way we produce and consume food. Innovations like Hydroponic farming technology have already shown the potential to enhance crop growth and quality. Building upon this trend, Square Greens presents a groundbreaking solution that reimagines food production and consumption, combining cutting-edge technology and minimalist design to offer fresh, nutritious meals in just four days.

Designers: Eugenio Costa, Edoardo Graci, Valeria Cattoni, and Simone Centonze

In a world where convenience and health-consciousness go hand in hand, Square Greens emerges as a game-changer. Square Greens introduces a novel approach to cultivating food that is both technologically advanced and environmentally friendly. Unlike traditional farming methods that require ample land and time, Square Greens thrives within a minimalistic, compact greenhouse resembling a microwave.

The driving force behind Square Greens was to create a tool that marries simplicity and efficiency. At its core, Square Greens is a compact, A5 paper-sized pod that houses an entire ecosystem for rapid plant growth. The green pod design is ingeniously crafted to facilitate optimal water absorption, ensuring the plants receive the nutrients they need to flourish. The incorporation of a needle-like mechanism acts as a water stopper, releasing water into the pod’s cotton medium once inserted.

One of the standout features of Square Greens is its user-friendly design. The green pods are designed to accommodate seeds and can be easily removed, simplifying the process of planting and harvesting. Notably, the creators have taken innovation a step further by incorporating a status bar that changes color as the plants receive water. This intuitive feature acts as a visual indicator of the pod’s hydration status, ensuring optimal growth conditions.

The meticulous attention to detail is evident in every aspect of Square Greens’ design. The rear of the greenhouse showcases a harmonious arrangement of the logo, legal information, and energy plug, all encapsulated within a single square. This blend of aesthetics and practicality is a testament to the creators’ commitment to offering a seamless user experience.

The journey from concept to reality was a series of careful iterations and innovative problem-solving. The initial prototype consisted of nylon components, including two frames split in half, a water pump, and a water-resistant LED strip. Through rigorous testing, the Square Greens team fine-tuned the system to achieve optimal growth conditions. The result was a “secret” system that dramatically accelerated growth, enabling a complete meal’s worth of greens to flourish in just four days.

The initiative to enhance user convenience in agricultural processes is truly commendable. Establishing a continual connection between users and their crops fosters a sense of engagement, thereby contributing to the potential success of the device among producers. However, the realm of food production is a delicate domain to experiment with. The apparent artificiality of the process may raise apprehensions among users regarding the adoption and consumption of the resultant produce.

Nonetheless, it is crucial not to disregard the significant market acceptance that hydroponic technology has experienced. It is a technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. This innovative technology found graceful approval among both consumers and the market at large. Notably, even a prominent grocery chain, Carrefour, has embraced this method, incorporating it into the production of its own range of fresh food items. This instance underscores the feasibility of integrating advanced techniques into the food industry.

The key to success lies in skillful marketing. Presenting the technology in a strategic and appealing manner holds the potential to overcome initial hesitations and pave the way for widespread adoption. While challenges exist, the precedent set by hydroponic farming exemplifies the transformative power of innovation, providing optimism for the long-term prospects of this novel product.

Square Greens represents a quantum leap in the agricultural industry, ushering in an era of rapid growth and efficient food production. By combining advanced technology with elegant design, Square Greens has created a solution that not only addresses the demands of modern consumers but also promotes sustainable practices. As we continue to witness the fusion of innovation and agriculture, Square Greens stands as a testament to the endless possibilities that await us in the realm of food production and consumption.