Non-designers have the misconception that design is easy. Any designer will tell you the polar opposite is true. Design is going up against a master ninja and his army of foot shoulders; when you are little more than a band of misfit humanoid turtle martial artist apprentice junk food eaters.

Existing somewhere between the land art of Robert Smithson and traditional metal manufacturing processes, Copenhagen-based designer Andreas Konradsen has successfully created what is likely the first chair design to be fabricated using a natural body of water. Konradsen, a recent graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Design, created the “Ripe Chair” as an exploration into new ways of approaching sustainable design practices. Rather than creating the steel frame with traditional welding, he submerged the parts deep in the Baltic Sea and let six months of natural corrosion do the job for him naturally. Unsurprisingly, this slow and patient method of manufacturing is also seeking to…

This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist knocks you in the pop sockets with head-boppin’ groove tuneage to help propel you through the work week in style. Whether you find yourself inking markers until they’re dry, grinding material through a bandsaw or working that 3D geometry all day, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week we’re paying tribute to the one and only David Bowie. We’ll start off with “The Man Who Sold the World” and work our way through some of the best and most memorable songs from Bowie’s expansive catalog – both old and recent. Have suggestions? As always, let us know what you listen…

To our subtractive manufacturing excitement, we’ve seen an increase in the number of desktop CNC machines internetting their way into our lives over the past year. The latest of these is the Evo-One, a sleek package from MakerDreams that fits in 530cm (20.8″) envelope. A perfect size for that woodtop desk next to your well-groomed ficus.

Discovery has a new way to experience all that happens in this world. DiscoveryVR covers everything from puppy dog sporting events to blowing things up–they avoid the combination of the two for obvious reasons.

The new Line/Shape/Space site has an interesting read by Autodesk CTO, Jeff Kowalski. It is, of course, to promote Autodesk’s Dreamcatcher project, a parameter-based, generative design project, but the headline is nice and controversial, just the way we like’em.