Nokia Flagship Store in Chicago

by Evan Orensten

Nokia's second flagship store opens on Chicago's chic Magnificent Mile tomorrow, 24 June 2006 (the first is in Moscow). One has to wonder whether this premier U.S. location is strategically or coincidentally placed in Motorola's home town, just blocks from the Moto design studio and across the street from Moto's Destination Q store.

With an objective of education and experience over sales, the flagships are staffed with well trained Nokia employees and all of the latest gear. Unlike many mobile shops you can hold and explore the handsets. Displays provide interactive tutorials which allow you to send text messages that are displayed in Nokia's growing number of flagship stores (NYC opens in Fall 2006).

The 3500 sq ft. store also includes the first Vertu Lounge in the U.S., providing an appropriate environment to display the hand-crafted bling of the handset scene.

Nokia Chicago Flagship Store
545 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL

NIKEiD Studio Tournament: Week 2

by Josh Rubin

To celebrate the 2006 football games in Germany, Nike will honor their favorite designs that come out of the NIKEiD Studio in NYC. Each week a "team" will be selected by Studio staff and will consist of the best 11 sneaker designs created in the Studio that week. The creator of each designed sneaker will receive three referral cards to the NIKEiD Studio and one of the 11 designs with be named "Player of the Week" and will receive a complimentary visit to the NIKEiD Studio (free shoes!).

On 10 July 2006, a "Team of the Tournament" will be named, consisting of the best 11 designs created since the tournament began on 9 June. The creator of each design will receive a complimentary NIKEiD Studio experience. One of the 11 designs with be named "Player of the Tournament" and will be allowed to create the ultra-exclusive NIKEiD AF1 low.

CH has the exclusive on this one so stay tuned for each week's picks over the next several Fridays. This week's winners are pictured above (click to zoom). Last week's winners are here.

Juke Joint II

by Ami Kealoha

Next time you're about to make out with your girl or boy (or whatever it is you like to make out with), instead of throwing on a Barry White or Marvin Gaye best-of, reach for this new release, Juke Joint II, from the German duo Boozoo Bajou. A follow-up to Boozoo's more roots-oriented Juke Joint, part two features a selection that ranges from warm soul, like The Meters' Van Morrison-like ballad "Heartache," to Light of Saba's down-tempo dub, to their own hip hop track "Back Up" featuring MC Oh No. In all, it's a never-boring mix that manages to sidestep clichés and go well with brandy and scented candles. Pick it up from from Amazon.

Paul McCarthy: Head Shop/Shop Head

by Ami Kealoha

From gross-out, almost juvenile humor to absurd pop spectacles—like his ongoing outdoor series of large-scale inflatable sculptures—Los Angeles-based artist Paul McCarthy's work is known for poking fun at consumerism by making even the most unassuming objects intimidating and bizarre. His latest show, "Head Shop/Shop Head" at Moderna Museet in Stockholm that opened this month (through 3 September 2006) includes an extensive array of new and older pieces (some dating back to the '60s). Featuring a heavy sampling of his recent multimedia series made with his son Damon McCarthy called "Carribean Pirates," that bears a more-than-coincidental resemblance to images from Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle, it seems that McCarthy's target this time may be the art world itself. More images and museum info after the jump.

Tropolism: Implant Matrix Installation

by Ami Kealoha

Today Tropolism directs our attention to the futuristic work of architects-cum-sculptors Philip Beesley and Will Elsworthy who recently debuted their Implant Matrix installation at the electronic media arts center Interaccess' show "Scale" in Toronto. Made from a complex structure of pentagonal "geotextile" nodes that sense and react to the audience and over two years in the making, the organic form is lit from within. Go to Tropolism for more.

The Chairbag

by Ami Kealoha

With the portability of an inflatable chair, the groovy shape of a beanbag, and a water-resistant surface, Amsterdam-based PS Lab's debut product, the Chairbag, is just in time for summer lounging. As if all those features and the bouy-inspired design aren't enough, the PVC chair also boasts a vanilla scent—a first in furniture, as far as we know. Available in red, blue, black, silver, and white, the Chairbag runs €169 and comes in a convenient black carry bag (pictured, after the jump), which makes it perfect for camping or trips to the beach. Though currently only available in European stores, PS Lab has plans for an online store.

Cyclepods

by SummerSeventySix

The steadily-rising price of oil, and, in London, a congestion charge of £8 for cars entering the centre of the city, mean more and more people are traveling by bike. Cheap, quick and relatively healthy (if you don't suck in lungfuls of fumes) the downsides are being caught out by the British weather and where to put your bike when you arrive.

So with that in mind, James Steward and Natalie Connell are deserving winners of this year's UK's Young Entrepreneurs Of The Year Award for their Cyclepod.

An intelligent, space-saving design, the pods vertically store eight bicycles within a two-meter diameter, which is half the room needed by traditional storage units, according to the makers. The design also lets cyclists lock both the bike's frame and front wheel so they can't be stolen, and the umbrella will at least keep the rain off when you're not riding. There's no faulting the modernist design either, which is already cropping up in certain parts of London, and at the headquarters of multinationals like Pepsi.