These days, companies like Stihl and Makita sell multi-heads. These are battery-powered motors that can drive a variety of common landscaping attachments, like string trimmers and hedge cutters.

Uniquely, Makita also offers this Snow Thrower attachment:

The business end is 12" wide and can handle a 6" depth of snow at a time. Tiltable vanes on the inside let you control whether you want to throw the snow to the left, to the right or straight ahead. The company says you can clear about five parking spaces with two 18V batteries.

So how well does it work? Seeing is believing. Here's Murray Kruger of Kruger Construction putting it through its paces:

If IDD Cologne 2025 was the trade fair's new move to bring an urban flavor to the more industrial international furniture fair in Cologne, Passagen has always been approaching its audience from the urban side by design. Established by Sabine Voggenreiter in 1990 as a decentralized off-program to contrast the IMM in the trade fair area, Passagen is the less corporate (but not less premium), often more hidden, and potentially more diverse grassroots counterpart.

This is where design students, smaller brands, designer-makers, movers and shakers show their stuff, fresh out of the workshop. Featuring shows by universities and schools, individuals, shops, collectives and collectors, Passagen is traditionally spread out through the city and inhabits all spaces that are apt and available, ranging from workshops to wine shops, industrial buildings to mosques, and even private homes and a bunker from WWII.

Visitors are known to grab a drink from a kiosk and wander the venues marked by the iconic orange-and-black flags for hours – in spite of the biting temperatures of a January in Germany. Since it's also the season of Karneval (which lasts multiple months here), design enthusiasts will find themselves mixed in with people in colorful costumes and funny hats throughout the city.

Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

I first checked out KISD's exhibition at Ebertplatz in the inner city (a brutalist half-submerged so-called "problem space", reclaimed and redesigned by the local community).

Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

The surrounding infrastructure here is worth noting for designers: Due to the city having failed to keep up the maintenance, local artists were allowed to redesign the broken escalators… with some turned into slides, some into climbing structures, and some into psychedelic stairs that light up and play music when you walk on them.

At the bottom of the psychedelic stairs, the KISD exhibit this year shows five magazines about the "Infraordinary" – seemingly insignificant every day objects from the archives of Cologne's Kolumba Museum collection, investigated and interpreted by students in magazine form. Topics ranged from poems about touch interfaces to iconic mechanical calculators, partly designed in a concentration camp during WWII.

KISD at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Magazine about the Curta calculator at KISD Infraordinary, Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Further west, Ehrenfeld is one of the major neighborhood hubs for culture and design in the city, with an abundance of individual and collective shows for Passagen. I started at the Cologne Central Mosque, one of the more impressive new builds of the last decade in the city, and the largest mosque in Germany.

Cologne Central Mosque at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

The exhibit invites visitors into a tactile interior experience that reveals both the building's architectural history and verses from the Qur'an – audible, touchable in Braille, and visible, projected onto multi-layered textile installations.

Cologne Central Mosque at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Charming Körnerstrasse is one of the most iconic streets in Ehrenfeld – known for its shops and cafés, and also home to more than a dozen exhibitions during Passagen.

Körnerstrasse at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Behind the thick walls of the bunker K101 at the end of the street, Tubeslight shows their patented collection of lamps, designed for energy efficiency, long life, modular repairability and a flicker-free natural colour light.

Tubeslight at Bunker K101, Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Simple and beautiful, S15 by Sebastian Goldschmidtböning is a vertical wooden shoe holder.

S15 by Sebastian Goldschmidtböning at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Also on show (and for sale) were some of Roberto Cordone's last remaining, recently restored and signed polyurethane Componibili sculptures, originally created for the Ars Viva in 1973.

Roberto Cordone' Componibili at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

More plastic-fantastic, Utensil (Cologne designers' favorite industrial accessory shop) presents a new collection of stackable boxes in every conceivable size and shape.

Utensil at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Local designer Alexander von Dombois has turned vinotheque La Source into a popup shop with furniture on the menu. Stackable oak chair Tünn is accompanied by a new design for an aluminium lamp shade and candle holder, and event tables made from discarded pallet packaging materials.

Alexander von Dombois at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

The owners of Stahl Ton open their beautiful private home and event space to show off a new sideboard, staircases and various other steel structures and objects.

Stahl Ton at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Designers Fair in Pattenhalle is a collective platform for more than 30 international independent designers and schools.

Three stand-out pieces all had an element of delightful visual confusion:

The German-Danish studio das kleine b has been decorated with multiple awards from the German Design Council and focuses on handmade wooden furniture. Shelf b appears to float in space, with supporting structures hidden in the books themselves.

Das kleine b at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

LU by student Jakob Jaschke is a seemingly melting lamp concept made of powder-coated steel and a 3D-printed sleeve.

LU by Jakob Jaschke at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Martin Neuhaus paints stucco ornaments with light, using up-cycled plastic cups, Gugelhupf sand moulds for kids, and a recently updated lighting system.

Martin Neuhaus at Passagen 2026. Photo by Anki Delfmann.

Being a platform for designer-makers, Passagen is organizing the first symposium of the brand new Association for Producing Designers, with the goals of showing the world the value of durable and timeless furniture and interior design, creating an alternative to the monoculture of the mass market, and improving the economic situation of small manufacturers and independent designers. The event will take place on January 22nd at 4PM in Pattenhalle, Cologne, Germany.

In conjunction with a new exhibition, Magis has gone digging in the crates. Here's a short furniture design history lesson from the company, on Konstantin Grcic's Chair_One.

At Magis, there is no project without research. And when the collaboration with Konstantin Grcic began, in the late 90s, the subject of that research was a technology not commonly used to produce furniture: aluminium die-casting. At that time, an unexplored territory that left space for creativity.

The image of hot, liquid aluminium fired into the mould inspired a geometric design based on subtraction, with flat triangular elements joined at the edges and empty spaces characterising the aesthetics of the chair.

Such a complex design was achieved after years of study on sketches, cardboard models, prototypes and a new tool for the time: 3D modeling software.

A radical departure from conventional chairs, when Chair_One was first presented to the public, it provoked strong reactions.

Besides its strange angular shell, the conic base in concrete was something the design world had never seen before.

But Magis and Konstantin Grcic never stopped believing in the project, and gradually, people started understanding the revolutionary design of the chair, eventually turning it into an icon.

The chair was soon followed by stools, tables and public-seating systems, which keep being chosen for residential and contract spaces to this day, proving that good design ages well.

Chair_One is part of the exhibition "ICONIC PIECES – Design Post Celebrates 20 Years of Design History", now running in Cologne thru March 31. (Design Post Cologne is a prominent German furniture showroom.)

For fine detail work, a Dremel has long been the go-to tool. But Chinese manufacturer Hozo Tools has designed something that looks better in every way. Hozo reckons that rotary tools are limiting and imprecise, and have thus designed their NeoSander to use reciprocating motion instead. The company reckons this offers less vibration, improved control and greater precision.

The tool comes with eight different heads of various shapes:

Sandpaper for the heads comes in eight different grits, and is pre-cut.

Furthermore, the system comes with 64 heads total; that's eight of each of the eight head styles. The idea there is that you can have a dedicated head for each of their eight grits. The heads are color-coordinated by grit, a nice UX touch.

The sets start at $129, and the Kickstarter campaign has amassed $370,000 to date, with 48 days left to pledge. They'll start shipping in May.

Here's a clever invention for contractors doing clean-up: The KwicKan is just a sheet of ABS with handle cutouts.

You stick it inside of a contractor bag, which gives the bag structure and lets it stand on its own.

Once the bag is full, you just grab the handles and the KwicKan can be easily pulled out.

It of course stores flat, and being made out of ABS, it's easy to clean off.

Korea has a long history of producing fine ceramics, dating back some 8,000 years.

Image: National Museum of Korea - KOGL Type 1

The country also, like neighboring Japan, has a love of cute, primitively-drawn cartoon characters. So it was just a matter of time before someone combined the two. These pieces are by Korean ceramicist Jiho Song:

Because he draws each character by hand, he can occasionally insert Easter eggs:

Song appears to have a pottery studio in Ye's Park, a crafts village in Icheon, but maintains no web presence beyond an Instagram account.

How many different ways could you possibly design a folding or collapsible helmet? You might be surprised, as we were, having covered a number of different designs over the years. (While most are designed for cyclists, the Japanese ones on this list are intended for natural disaster environments.) Here are fifteen different approaches:

Julien Bergignat and Patrice Mouille's Tatoo Helmet

Mike Rose's polypropylene Collapsible Helmet

Jeff Woolf's Morpher helmet

Closca's Fuga helmet

BioLogic's Pango folding helmet

The Hövding "airbag for cyclists"

The Fend Helmet

The Tanizawa Portable Fold-up Disaster Helmet

The Osamet Collapsible Safety Helmet

The Derucap Collapsible Safety Helmet

The Tatamet Designer Foldable Safety Helmet and Tatawing BCP

Designer Foldable Safety Helmet

Designer Foldable Safety Helmet

Tatawing BCP

Tatawing BCP

The Flatmet Collapsible Helmet

The Ventete aH-1

The latest is this Newlane Foldable MIPS Bike Helmet.

The sheer variety is a testament to human creativity. We look forward to encountering a 16th design!

In Dublin, Ireland is the Explorium, a/k/a the National Sport and Science Centre. This is a family-friendly facility that features hands-on activities to teach kids and adults about science.

In addition to featuring a Lightning Room with a gigantic Tesla coil, a Robotics Arena and a VR Zone where you can walk around with life-sized dinosaurs, there are physical activities where participants can run, jump and climb.

The interactive exhibit that teaches about centripetal/centrifugal force is rather novel. Called G-Force Bike, it consists of a bicycle you can ride through a full vertical loop.

"When you cycle fast enough, the inward-pointing force overcomes gravity, allowing you to complete the loop safely," the Explorium explains. (And yes, you're strapped in the entire time.)

Those within range of Dublin can learn more here.

Is it a problem that steering wheels are circular? Peugeot's designers, like Tesla's, seem to think so. The French marque's Polygon concept features a new "Hypersquare" steering wheel, which they refer to as a "new ergonomic approach."

The company says that by modulating the ratio between the speed the car is traveling and how far the wheels turn, the new interface offers "effortless handling in every situation." The idea is that at high speeds, the ratio is normal, i.e. only small movements are required to say, change highway lanes. But at slow speeds, each degree you turn the wheel—or whatever the hell we have to call it now—turns the wheels much further. The maximum rotation in these low-speed situations is 170°. Theoretically, this means the driver can perform three-point turns without any hand-over-hand motions.

This approach is possible because they'd be using steer-by-wire technology, where mechanical parts are replaced with electronic components; the steering ratio is determined by software. This arrangement is good for the manufacturer, and bad for the consumer. By replacing the mechanical column, intermediate shafts, hydraulic pumps, and related hardware with sensors and electric motors, the company reduces their production costs—and makes it more expensive for the consumer to have the system repaired, when something inevitably goes wrong. Whereas any competent mechanic can work on a conventional steering problem, making it all-electronic probably means the vehicle will only be repairable at a Peugeot dealership, where prices will be higher.

The variable-ratio arrangement also begs the question of what happens at intermediate speeds. Drivers are used to predictable steering ratios, and your body intuitively understands how far to jerk the wheel during an avoidance maneuver. Will muscle memory also be able to factor in how fast your car is traveling, and thus how far to turn the wheel? Your guess is as good as mine.

Now making the rounds on social media, racking up hundreds of thousands of "likes," is this false claim:

"Local authorities in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula have declared a state of emergency after an exceptionally severe snowstorm buried neighbourhoods, triggered rooftop avalanches, and caused fatalities. Snow accumulation ranged from 3 to 12 metres, engulfing buildings, blocking roads, and covering vehicles and entrances, with some residential areas nearly buried under towering snowdrifts."

The claim was accompanied by AI-generated images:

Folks, 12 meters is nearly 40 feet. What's shown in the photo is drifts well over a hundred feet.

In fact, seven feet of snow fell on the city. While that's not nothing—two people did in fact die—it's not even close to the claims and images above. Here's what the conditions actually look like on the ground, as captured by Reuters, the AP and residents themselves:

Here's what we looked at this week:

Industrial designer Sabine Marcelis upgrade's Ikea's hot-selling lamp.

Rimowa and Vitra's luggage-like Aluminum Stool.

Design criticism: Are these transitions good or bad?

Phileole's Grain Blanc is a vertical wind turbine for sailboat masts.

The Roulette Cart, designed by Belgian industrial design firm Futurewave, is a stylish, more functional update to the granny cart.

When beautiful design crashes into reality.

The Hänel Rotomat is a ferris-wheel-style industrial storage system.

Knockdown, flatpack adjustable children's furniture designed by Luigi Colani.

Industrial designer Martina Claesson's Plinth stool, for Andersen Furniture.

This bi-color Ultras Sconce by 6:AM Glassworks is blown from a single piece of glass. And yields a cut-off that is also saleable.

British furnituremaker Nick James' textured furniture designs.

Remedial design: This bookshelf adapter for manga lovers is bizarrely specific, and useful.

The Spider Pro Tool Holster, a more secure alternative to drill clips.

The Pliyt Concept: A robotaxi with compartmentalized seating.

The subway car is the great equalizer, where the masses travel shoulder-to-shoulder. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have the private car, where you are sealed within your own private cocoon. A California-based startup called Pliyt—for Personal Luxury In Your Travel—has a vision for making the latter more efficient.

Pliyt's concept is a four-passenger robotaxi, where all the seats are sealed off from each other. "Your Pod. Your Privacy. Your Space," the firm writes. "Complete in-ride anonymity even in shared trips." It's an Uber X without having to see (or smell) what the other passengers look like. And these AI-rendered passengers freaking love it.

Here's the crazy thing: The company doesn't have any autonomous driving technology, nor any experience building cars (as you might be able to tell by the vehicle's exterior styling). Instead they want to partner with existing autonomous-driving technology providers, then somehow gain the funding to purpose-build the entire vehicle from the ground up.

In other words, it seems to me that all they've got…is the idea. The question that GM and Toyota must surely be asking themselves is, "Can't we just take one of our minivan platforms, and redesign the interior with sealed-off pods? What do we need these guys for?"

Most cordless drills come with a clip, so you can hang them from a pocket or a belt. The clips are fine for occasional-use DIY'ers, but they're not infallible. This Spider Pro Tool Holster is designed for tradespeople who prefer a more secure solution.

Using the holster does require some commitment; the user must install a stud on their drill. There are two options. The first is a $7 Drill Pin that replaces yur drill's built-in clip, by threading into the OEM hole. (Different manufacturers have been taken into account.)

The second option is this $7 Grip, which is essentially a beefy zip-tie you can place around the tool's handle. It locks in place with a metal hex nut.

The holster features a vertical channel with a V-shaped top, making it easy to get the pin into the channel. A gravity latch locks it into place.

To remove the drill, the user must lift the yellow latch with their thumb.

That's the only part that looks iffy to me; I wonder how easy that is (or isn't) with gloves on.

Lefties have been considered. The latch can be placed on either side by the end user.

And the holster is, of course, not limited to drills; anything you can secure the Grip to will work.

The holster runs $25.

This object is so strange and specific, I thought for sure it came out of Japan. But in fact, this MG Raiser is from German company Manga Guardian.

It's a sort of remedial device aimed at manga (Japanese comics) lovers. The deal is that most manga volumes are about 13cm wide. But the most common bookshelves, like the Ikea Billy series, have shelves that are more than twice that depth. The MG Raiser, then, allows you to utilize the full depth of your shelves (and store more manga) while still being able to see all of the spines.

Furthermore, the piece is sized so that it's about five manga volumes wide. Manga series are commonly 10 volumes long, allowing you to fit one collection in one of these objects.

These run $23 a pair.

This sideboard is by British furnituremaker Nick James. It's made of solid Oak, and features a single height-adjustable interior shelf.

The real beauty is on the outside:

No crazy router jig used here. The texture was achieved purely with a CNC mill.

He's done the same with this taller bar cabinet below. I know it's totally subjective, but while I find the sideboard elegant, the bar cabinet is too much for me (in the closed position). I think it's that proportionally, the texture too heavily overpowers the simplicity of the base.

This striking Ultras Sconce is by 6:AM Glassworks. Though based in Milan, the Italian design brand is dedicated to showcasing Venetian glassmaking techniques practiced in Murano.

The sconce is actually blown as a single piece of glass. To achieve the two colors, the artisans use the Venetian a canne ("with cane") technique. This is where separate glass rods (canes) are assembled into a single mass, then blown into shape.

The manufacturing procedure actually yields two separate objects. The part that the sconce is cut off of is sold by the company as the Ultras Vase.

This handsome Plinth is by Swedish industrial designer Martina Claesson.

Inspired by the form of a gymnast's vault, her aim was to make a simple, elegant stool and storage piece.

They're made of solid oak, and they stack.

Claesson is a freelance designer, most notably for Ikea, but for this one she signed a production deal with Denmark's Andersen Furniture.

In some manufacturing facilities, you may see gigantic storage cabinets that look like this:

That's the Hänel Rotomat, by German office equipment company Hänel Bu¨rosysteme. They developed the design in 1957, inspired by the Ferris Wheel.

The company reckons their system has three major benefits:

Space savingHänel Rotomat® storage lift utilizes the available room heights and, thanks to its compact design, creates space savings of up to 85 % in relation to the footprint.Work time slashedThe Hänel Rotomat® storage carousel brings the required parts to the retrieval area in just a few seconds.ErgonomicsNo more bending, ladder-climbing or walking long distances to search for and store parts or articles. The required items are brought automatically to the optimum ergonomic retrieval height.

As all parents know, children rapidly outgrow both clothing and furniture. In the 1970s, Luigi Colani designed this plywood Tobifant furniture set, which could grow in height along with the child.

Colani designed it to not only be flatpacked, but to be utterly easy to assemble. The joinery consists of simple wedged tenons.

The set went into production in the late 1970s, by West German children's furniture brand Kinderlübke. Today you can still find surviving examples on vintage reseller sites.

This beautiful Topos Chair and Sunlounger were designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.

They're in production by Spanish furniture manufacturer iSiMAR. The indoor/outdoor pieces are made out of galvanized steel and offered with powder-coated finishes in multiple colors.

Alas, you can't really sit on the wire frames (if comfort is a concern), and the pieces look rather less good once the seat cushions are on them.