Dezeen Magazine

Dezeen's most memorable Instagram moments from 2014

As 2014 draws to a close, we're looking back at the year's most memorable events, parties and people through pictures our team has posted on Instagram.

Captured by Dezeen's journalists around the world, the images tell the story of a year in which we interviewed the world's most influential architects and designers – from Rem Koolhaas to Ron Arad – showcased the latest innovations in design and technology, and unveiled the "cutest cat in London".

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Touring Zaha Hadid's superyacht using augmented reality - photograph by Dezeen

We kicked off 2014 by exploring emerging uses for augmented reality with a walkaround digital model of Zaha Hadid's £300 million super yacht at a pop-up store curated by Dezeen at London department store Selfridges.

The Imagine Shop showcased a number of other future-facing products including an augmented-reality watch store, which allowed customers to virtually try on a range of designer timepieces. Read more about the Imagine Shop »

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Gunnar Asplund's Woodland Cemetery in Sweden - photograph by Dan Howarth

We attended Stockholm Design Week in February, reporting on popular projects including an obese flesh-like chair, a two-legged table designed to rest against a wall and a sofa based on a pin cushion.

Design editor Dan Howarth braved the cold to visit Gunnar Asplund's Woodland Cemetery located south of central Stockholm.

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Dinner at Palazzo Clerici in Milan - photograph by Marcus Fairs

In the warmer climes of Milan, Dezeen's founder Marcus Fairs attended a dinner at Palazzo Clerici with London studio Raw Edges, toasting the beginning of the world's biggest design gathering in April.

You can see all of our Milan 2014 coverage on Dezeen, including exclusive interviews with designers Jaime HayonMarcel Wanders and Philippe Starck.

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Rem Koolhaas' Elements exhibition at his Venice biennale - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Sparks flew at this year's Venice Architecture Biennale curated by Dutch architect Rem KoolhaasDescribing architecture as being "not in good health", Koolhaas wanted the exhibition to "modernise architectural thinking".

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Portrait of Rem Koolhaas - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Popular images taken at the launch of the biennale in June included a portrait of Koolhaas explaining the finer points of Fundamentals to Dezeen, and a full-size model of Le Corbusier's seminal Maison Dom-Ino.

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Model of Le Corbusier's Maison Dom-Ino - photograph by Anna Winston

You can catch up with coverage of the biennale on Dezeen, including verdicts from leading international critics and curators, who variously described it as "accomplished", "brilliant" and "taking the piss".

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Paul Cocksedge with his Double O brake lights - photograph by Amy Frearson

Paul Cocksedge's Double O brake lights were among the many products that captured the imagination of readers this year. Modelled in our picture by Paul himself, the circular bike lights can be locked to a bicycle by slotting them over a standard lock. Read more about the Double O brake light »

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The Serpentine Gallery Pavillion under a rainbow - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Chilean architect Smiljan Radić designed this year's Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London's Hyde Park, creating a translucent pebble structure of white fibreglass.

Radić told Dezeen that he wanted it to have the qualities of a giant hand-made model. Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs snapped this picture of the structure after a sudden burst of rain.

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Portrait of Zaha Hadid at her summer pool party in London - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Zaha Hadid rarely left headlines in 2014 as controversy surrounding her Tokyo Olympic stadium design rumbled on and the Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku was crowned as the Design Museum's Design of the Year.

The year also witnessed the openings of her London Olympics aquatics centre in its completed form and a 38,000-square-metre cultural complex in Seoul (below).

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Zaha Hadid's Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul - photograph by Dan Howarth

In September the global design community flocked to the UK for its annual London Design Festival.

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Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby's Double Space installation - photograph by Dan Howarth

One of the headline-grabbing installations created for the event was Barber and Osgerby's giant mirrored structure, which rotated slowly to create changing reflections of the surrounding paintings exhibited in the V&A museum's Raphael Gallery.

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Portrait of Ron Arad - photograph by Marcus Fairs

As part of a series of exclusive video interviews filmed for Moroso, we spoke to designers including Ron Arad, Ross Lovegrove, Tord Boontje and Benjamin Hubert about their working relationships with the Italian furniture brand. The interviews provided an excellent opportunity to capture some unique portraits of the designers.

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Dominic Wilcox with his driverless stained-glass car - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Our Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition on the future of mobility also took place during London Design Festival. From augmented reality to long-haul space travel, the exhibition featured a series of radical concepts for how we might get around in years to come. One of the most talked-about pieces on show was a stained-glass driverless car by Dominic Wilcox.

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Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg preparing for the Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition - photograph by Marcus Fairs

Other installations included an "ecosystem" of 113 model cars by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and Lucy McRae's vacuum chamber inspired by NASA research. Find out more about our Dezeen and MINI Frontiers exhibition »

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Dezeen's design editor Dan Howarth (left) with Ai Weiwei (right)

Dezeen's design editor also visited China in September for Beijing Design Week, and paid a visit to artist Ai Weiwei.

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Eindhoven towers - photograph by Marcus Fairs

In October, we went to Eindhoven for Dutch Design Week, where we interviewed director Martijn Paulen about the interface between technology and design, which he thinks holds "answers to the future".

We also published a number of future-facing products from the event including soft toys designed to let babies post to Facebooktextiles designed to promote wellbeing and an avatar created for fighting child sex tourism online. See all our Dutch Design Week 2014 coverage »

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Image of Marina Bay Sands from Gardens by the Bay - photograph by Amy Frearson

Some of the most popular images on our Instagram this year were taken in Singapore as we covered the World Architecture Festival.

We spoke to 2015 AIA Gold Medal recipient Moshe Safdie about the design of his Marina Bay Sands development and discussed the implications of skyscrapers on urban landscapes.

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Wilkinson Eyre's cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay - photograph by Amy Frearson

Dezeen's deputy editor Amy Frearson managed to escape the heat of Singapore to explore Wilkinson Eyre's cooled conservatories at Gardens by the Bay. Watch our video tour of the conservatories »

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Chapel of St. Lawrence by Avanto Architects - photograph by Amy Frearson

In November, we set off for Finland to explore new buildings by emerging architects – including the Chapel of St. Lawrence by Avanto Architects. See other projects we discovered on the trip »

Enjoys walks on the beach #DesignMiami

A video posted by Dan Howarth (@dahowarth) on

To round off the year, we jetted off to catch some sun at Design Miami 2014. Highlights of the fair included Theo Jansen's series of wind-powered machines scurrying autonomously across a beach and Studio Job's monumental furniture pieces inspired by architectural landmarks.

While we were in Miami, we also took the opportunity to assess the radical architectural changes taking place in the city by interviewing Argentinian hotelier and property developer Alan Faena.

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Dezeen's junior production editor Olivia Mull with Jessie the cat - photograph by Dezeen

It's not often that work grinds to a halt at Dezeen's studio, but when editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs brought his kitten to visit, we downed tools immediately.

Several sources who witnessed the visit described Jessie as "the fluffiest thing on four legs", adding "she's probably the cutest cat in London".

For more Instagram moments from Dezeen, follow us here »