Royal Enfield Motorcycles Balance Beauty With Function

The company's head of industrial design explains each bike's pared-down aesthetic

The Royal Enfield brand is 120 years old, but its US presence is relatively recent. The Chennai, India-based company—which began a massive, nearly decade-long boom in 2010—wasn’t on this country’s radar for a simple reason: historically, we tended to buy bigger motorcycles. (What’s considered a “big” bike here is above 1,000cc; in India, 350cc.) Regardless, Royal Enfield became a competitive worldwide player in low-to-midsize motorcycles, …

Better Shelter’s Johan Karlsson on Their Emergency Housing Innovation, Structure

Modular, customizable homes that have been developed to reflect real-life experiences and needs

Humanitarian innovation project and social enterprise Better Shelter‘s mission lies within its name and the organization’s latest modular emergency housing provides more protection and dignity for those surviving the aftermath of disaster. Much more than a tent, Structure (which can be used as temporary housing, classrooms, clinics or other community-centric spaces) is not only sturdier and longer-lasting, it also gives owners the option to upgrade …

How POT Founder Mandy Kolahi is Democratizing the Ceramic Space

An adult beginners-oriented space run by, and intended for, people of color, the queer community and anybody who has ever felt they weren't welcome

This weekend, on 20 March, POT will release founder Mandy Kolahi’s collection of ceramics celebrating Persian New Year—a selection of blue-glazed pieces that perfectly represent the LA studio. Featuring delightfully snide Farsi phrases often uttered in Kolahi’s family (and in the wider Iranian community), this is the type of pottery that traditionally didn’t “belong” in the institution of art, made by an individual who felt …