Umut Yamac’s Perch Light

The architect's perfectly balanced, origami-inspired paper light

Architect and designer Umut Yamac’s Perch Light is an intriguing, playful piece of design. The stylized bird-shaped light sits still on its perch until you pass it, or a draft sets it in motion: then the bird gracefully swings, dipping back and forth whilst staying illuminated. The interactive quality of the kinetic light is one of the things that makes it so appealing; but the …

London Design Festival 2014: Fresh Staples

Exciting happenings found at the annual event's reliable design venues

Our previous look at this year’s London Design Festival highlighted a few select newcomers for 2014, but equally exciting are the shops, satellite fairs and institutions you come to count on during any city’s annual design week. Below are some of the new collections and exhibitions that caught our eye at venues we always enjoy visiting. Mint Shop Founded in 1998, Mint is a reliable …

Cool Hunting Video: Mercedes-AMG Engines

Mercedes-AMG racing heritage at its best, rooted in handcrafted engine construction

Mercedes-AMG invited Cool Hunting to Affalterbach, Germany, to see firsthand how their AMG engines are assembled. Expecting a loud warehouse full of bustling technicians, we were surprised by the incredibly tidy space filled with meticulous mechanics building monster engines in an almost intimate environment. We gained a clear vision of Mercedes-AMG’s motto, “one man, one engine” as we watched individual mechanics single-handedly take a motor …