Signals

US – Leading hospitality designer Liz Lambert has joined forces with Icon and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), pioneers in 3D printing constructions and architecture, to re-imagine El Cosmico, a 21-acre campsite offering unique overnight stays in revamped trailers, safari tents and teepees. Based in a campsite in Marfa, Texas, the hotel and amenities – a spa, pool and shared community facilities – will cover a 60-acre plot in the desert and showcase large-scale 3D-printed structures, including domes, arches and vaults.

Aligning with Icon’s cosmic aspirations, the architectural design borrows from organic formations found in space and acts as a gathering space for culture and community in the city. The collaboration has allowed them to ‘pursue the formal and material possibilities of cutting-edge 3D-printed construction untethered by the traditional limitations,’ said Bjarke Ingels, BIG’s founder and creative director.

Whether it be for affordable housing or for community spaces, the use of 3D printing technologies has the potential to change how cities are constructed. In Designing Beyond Earth, we interviewed Melodie Yasher, vice-president of building design and performance at Icon on the intersection of space exploration and design.

US – A survey by Credit Karma suggests that young consumers in America are driven by emotional spending. Some 58% of Gen Z and 52% of Millennials identify as someone who spends money to cope with emotional highs and lows. Nearly a quarter (24%) of Gen Z and Millennial (21%) emotional spenders also admit doing most of their emotional spending while lying in bed, with 18% of Gen Z and 13% of Millennials spending while scrolling through social media.

The researchers highlight revenge shopping – an answer to rising anxiety and uncertainty combined with boredom – and retail therapy as incentives for all consumers. Over half of all survey respondents (54%) said spending money on retail therapy was preferable to actual therapy to deal with their emotions. But Gen Z are the only group stating the opposite, with 54% saying they are more likely to prioritise therapy.

In our Cost Of Living Crisis series, we look at how organisations and brands are flexing their business operations to cater for customers who are facing rising inflation and empty supermarket shelves while using shopping to cope with their emotions.