Happy Fourth! Fun Design Facts to Ponder While You Wait for the Fireworks

"Pill Flag," artist Ray Geary's prescription for patriotism. (Photo: Jordan Doner) Happy birthday, USA—you don't look a day over 200. Before heading out for a day of flag-themed frozen novelties, imported periodicals, and sparklers, lots and lots of sparklers, we assembled this list of a dozen fun facts—all gleaned from recent UnBeige stories—for you to muse upon during your own Fourth of July festivities. Enjoy the holiday! • Designing brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana grew up in a house filled with crystals, plucked from farms in Brazil by their father, an agronomic engineer. • Kanye West's new album, Yeezus, was inspired by a Le Corbusier lamp. • The Smithsonian's first crowdfunding campaign is a success, having surpassed the $125,000 goal to back “Yoga: The Art of Transformation,” an upcoming exhibition at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. (You have until July 8 to donate.) • You can spend eternity in a dwelling designed by Tom Kundig: the architect has designed a funerary urn. • The Soviets made some swell notebooks. Rad and Hungry founder Hen Chung told us that Latvian composition books (with "yellowing pages, faded mint covers, and a simple rubber-stamped logo") are her favorite of the items that have been included in her company's country-themed cool-tools packs. • Fashion designer Vera Wang is interested in expanding into athleticwear...or maybe donuts. • For Le Corbusier, his paintings “were the secret laboratory for his architecture," according to Jean-Louis Cohen, professor in the history of architecture at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts • One of architect Moshe Safdie's sons, Oren, studied architecture but is now an accomplished playwright. • OXO founder Sam Farber, who died last month at the age of 88, chose the company's name for its graphic versatility: it reads the same horizontal, vertical, upside-down, or backwards. • Architect and designer Michael Graves' favorite food? Peeps. • “Waku-Doki” is Japanese term that describes the excitement of an adrenalin rush--and the feeling of being behind the wheel of the 2014 Lexus IS at Rockingham Speedway. • Martha Stewart says that she was raised to be "diligent, determined, and orderly." Also, she names many of her dogs after classical composers.

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Happy Fourth! Fun Design Facts to Ponder While You Wait for the Fireworks

Stephanie Murg

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Stephanie Murg