Flavorwire

With the New Year almost upon us, we thought we’d take the time to fit in one last curated look in the rear view mirror. As legendary renaissance man and International Best Dressed Hall of Famer Cecil Beaton once said, “be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.” We’ve taken a look at some of the best designs from the past year that do anything but play it safe. From clothing to dress up outdated chairs, a couch you can draw on to a wearable pillow that lets you nap anywhere, including imaginative architecture and fashion, click through to check out our favorite inspiring, avant-garde design from 2012.

CHAIR WEAR by Anke Bernotat and Jan Jacob Borstlap with Audax Textielmuseum

Parades by Mathilde Bretillot

Ostrich Pillow by Kawamura-Ganjavian

Hide & Sleep Day Bed by Katrin Greiling

Drawing Machine Wind-up Toy by All Lovely Stuff

Zieharsofika upholstered stools by Meike Harde

My Couch, My Canvas by Annebet Philips

Butterfly mirrors by Morie Nishimura

Desk by Boys and Girls

Maisonette (small houses) by Simone Simonelli

Parrish Art Museum by Herzog & de Meuron – Long Island, New York

House NA by Sou Fujimoto – Tokyo, Japan

“Wendy” by HWKN for MoMA PS1 – New York, New York

Twilight Epiphany by James Turrell – Houston, Texas

OCT Design Museum by Studio Pei-Zhu – Shenzhen, China

170′ Trampoline by Salto Architects – Nikola-lenivets, Russia

Superkilen Urban Park by BIG architects, Topotek1 + Superflex – Copenhagen, Denmark

Wearable cocoon of quilts and blankets by Danica Pistekova

DIY magnetic earrings by Akiko Oue

Bird Shoe Series by Kobi Levi