Behind the design – Leaf cycle lane divider
All products start off as an idea in someone’s mind. An idea that takes shape as a solution to a problem, or as a flash of unexpected inspiration. The process between the idea and the finished product is an interesting one, and different for each design. There are many things to consider, and often many […]
‘Splash’ by Neko wins an iF DESIGN AWARD 2022!
Award-winning design: ‘Splash’ by Neko wins the prestigious German iF design award We are very proud to announce that our ‘Splash’ play sculpture is a winner of this year’s iF DESIGN AWARD, the world-renowned design prize. The jury, made up of 132 independent experts from all over the world, selected Splash as an award-winning […]
6 things to think about when choosing a cycle lane separator
There’s been a lot in the news the past year about bike lanes – cities worldwide have installed pop-up ones during the pandemic and are now looking at how to make them a permanent fixture. There are so many ways to achieve this and many different types of cycle lane divider.
The ‘Why’ behind Neko Playwaves
Open-ended play, inspired by our own children Since launching Playwaves, we get asked a lot where the inspiration came from for these unique playground designs. We’re very proud that our own children were a big part of inspiring the Playwaves designs. But why? As a company founded by two growing families, our children have been […]
5 ways that design can help public sector projects stand out
Industrial design and innovation in public spaces. In this article, we take a look at industrial design for the public sector – at national, regional, and local level. Governments can have many design requirements for public space projects, and can benefit hugely from great design and innovation.
How to choose the perfect urban furniture for a park
Industrial design for landscape architects. At Neko, we’re specialists in industrial design for the urban environment, and we often work in landscape architecture. However, we are not landscape architects.
Improving cycling infrastructure for a post-pandemic world
A design perspective One of the unexpected highlights during our strict lock down in Spain was making the short trip to the end of the road to throw our rubbish away every couple of days. The first time, as usual, I kept to the pavement, crossing the street at the zebra crossing, looking both ways […]
What’s next for our public spaces?
In Spain, the Covid-19 lockdown has been one of the strictest in the world. Only one adult at a time is allowed out only to go to the supermarket or the pharmacy. For six long weeks, children were not allowed to leave home at all. As of this week we are finally allowed outside for […]
What is urban furniture?
An easy definition of urban furniture would be all the furniture items you find in the outdoors. But it goes further than that. It means things like park benches and litter bins, in all our public spaces – both indoor and out – streets, parks, shopping centres, etc. They are pieces for everybody, that we […]
How (and why) to design user-centred cycling infrastructure
I’d like to talk a little about inclusive urban furniture design for cycling infrastructure, and how we can use design to encourage bicycle use in cities by thinking about the needs and problems facing cyclists and their environment. In 2005, we started Neko – an Industrial Design and Architecture studio. We were four partners from different backgrounds; […]