Icon | September 2015
From beautiful sex toys to greedy development, in this issue we explore how the worlds of design and architecture enable our sinful ways or attempt an antidote
You might describe the world we live in as one of virtue and sin: the coexistence and tension between the good and the wicked. Where we’ve yet to develop a concise list of virtues, we have certainly done it with sins: there are seven, and allegedly they’re deadly. They are the human propensities for pride, lust, gluttony, wrath, sloth, greed and envy – so familiar is the list that it hardly needs spelling out. In this issue, we explore how the worlds of design and architecture both enable our sinful ways (and make them a bit more beautiful), or attempt an antidote.
From among the profusion of sex-toys-turned-design-objects, we look at the recent work of Studio Anna Maresova for Whoop.de.doo – “elegant and minimalistic” are rarely descriptors of dildos, but Maresova pulls it off. We also head to Tokyo, and explore the Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama-designed temple in the middle of hedonistic Shinjuku: is this a place of calm out of place, or an important counterpoint?
Icon’s John Jervis explores the world of outdoor gyms that help keep us moving and fit, as Leo Hollis contemplates the potentially slothful results of London’s “new vernacular”, and Roger Zogolovitch and Alex Ely discuss the greedy ways of developers (there must be a better way!). If that makes your blood boil, then turn to page 100, and discover a brief history of the objects designed for you to squeeze, smash or stab the stress out of your life.
Plus, of course, we develop our own list of seven deadly design sins ...
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Icon Magazine was established as a British design and architecture magazine in 2003, by Marcus Fairs, who was the first digital journalist to be awarded with an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The magazine is part of the Media 10 group and celebrated its 150th issue in 2015, where a redesign took place and it was split into the three sections that you enjoy today - Lifestyle, Architecture and Objects.
The magazine is tailored to appeal to all design enthusiasts, whether that individual has an interest in a specific designer or architect or a particular trend that is taking place. With critiques and reports placed between articles, this magazine supplies readers with both expert opinions and facts on all the latest designs, exhibitions, architecture and cultural movements.
Beautifully presented, whilst being both rigorous and insightful, Icon Magazine provides you with the perfect insight into everything that is happening in architecture today, and what this means for the future.
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Articles in this issue
Below is a selection of articles in Icon September 2015.