Marie-Louise Gustafsson specializes in creating interior designs that fuse utility and humor. Recently shown at the Salone Satellite furniture fair in Milan, the Stockholm-based designer’s unusual creation, Table of Trash quirkily references the relationship between the workstation and the waste-basket by introducing an element of fun into an activity that one would normally consider completely mundane. The slide-like table top allows one to literally push those useless papers to the side and straight into the bin – forgoing the loathsome task of crumpling and searching under your desk for that bin.
We’re die hard fans of both Dutch design and fiberoptic lighting here at Inhabitat, so it should come as no big shock that we were wowed by this gem of a light fixture designed by Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe. Currently hanging in the atrium at Amsterdam’s SKOR (Foundation Art and Public Space), the three fiberoptic “Lace Bobbin Lamps” provide stunning light without the use of lightbulbs. Instead, their light is delivered via a remote power box — and of course we like to imagine that this type of fiber-optic chandelier would go perfectly with a fiberoptic sunlight device such as the Cold Lamp. We love the juxtaposition of the high-tech fiberoptic technology and the man-made woven aesthetic. Leave it to the Dutch to be both forward-thinking and nostalgic at the same time. Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe have been collaborating since 1997, and are part of the Dutch design force Droog.
The phrase “A la lata,” translates as ‘to the can’ in Spanish. A commonly uttered phrase in Colombia, the expression itself also refers to the act of doing something spontaneously, with a great deal of enthusiasm. With Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos’ beautifully constructed A La Lata Chair – the concept of executing something amazing on the fly, using whatever available means, definitely takes on a whole new meaning. Meticulously assembled using 1739 recycled aluminum can tabs, Hoyos’ unique lounge chair incorporates traditional handicraft techniques with cutting-edge contemporary design, much like the chair version of the fabulous Escama bag. Durable and ideal for exterior use, the real beauty is in the fact that the chair is entirely recycled.
With all the new construction going up in China, it’s easy to lose track of “one more cool-looking” building. But PTW’s National Swimming Center for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing exemplifies what all this new construction should aim to be: beautiful, functional, forward-thinking, and most importantly, a good example for future development in a nation whose growth appears to know no bounds. The design, which won a competition in 2003 and will sit adjacent to Herzog and DeMeuron’s main stadium, boasts a striking blue “bubble” aesthetic, which is both eye-catching and indicative of the function it houses (we love this interior-exterior architectural connection).
The Cold Light, a new fiberoptic sunlight tranport device, is the main attraction on display in Vienna at the Haus der Forschung. Called “0-24 Licht,” the design is the combined work of an architect and an artist named Angelo Stagno and Andrea Van der Staeten, who have won a design competition run by BIG, a development company in Austria. “0-24 Licht” is simple in concept: it uses a system of mirrors to focuses natural daylight through a fiber optic cable which can then be applied to many different lighting designs - producing interior lighting without any extra heat, hence the moniker Cold Light.
Remember those trendy robotic dog toys from a couple years back? Aibo and Poo-chi and the like? Well, sadly, after 6-year-olds tire of the novelty of electronic pets who can fetch balls, bark the national anthem and do silly little dances, there is not much left in the life of a toy robotic dog. Thats why we love Natalie Jeremijenko’s awesome eco / educational / engineering / art project which teaches students how to refurbish old toy robotic dogs and give them new life - turning them into lean green pollution-sniffing machines.
Joining the ranks of Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom has jumped on the green architecture celebrity bandwagon with the announcement that he is building an environmentally-friendly house in London. The environmentally-conscious ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star revealed his plans at a pre-Oscar party with the aid of environmental organization Global Green USA. READ MORE >
Katharine Hamnett has teamed up with supermodel Lily Cole to fight child labour in the fashion industry. “Save the Future” is the slogan written on a limited edition T-shirt designed by Hamnett and modelled by Cole. The vest is part of Hamnett’s “Cotton Campaign”, which not only features an environmentally-aware jewellery range, but also aims to educate people of the humanitarian ills that occur all over the world in the clothing industry. READ MORE >
Wildlife Works continues to move in the right direction with their latest collection that was recently unveiled during London Fashion Week. While I still have some reservations about their website, branding and coordination across their UK and US sites, the core philosophy behind the brand is laudable and the recent collection appeared spot on. I am awaiting look book images, but in the meantime you can watch the fashion show on youtube… and below >
As the following posts might illuminate, when it comes to fashion, London is a hot bed of ethical design. Given the size of London Fashion Week in comparison to New York, proportionally there was a lot more green going on. Estethica, a special ethical section of the fashion exhibition, happened for it’s second season. We recently met with Allison from Again NYC who participated in the event, exhibiting her handbags made from vintage textiles. She reports back that it was a great success. Also on site, were the standout recycled designs of Davina Hawthorne that are pictured above. Stay tuned to this special edition of Sustainable Style Sunday for the best of the rest including ethical veteran Katharine Hamnett, new label Amana and our hometown favorites SANS.
In case you haven’t noticed, we’re big fans of Architecture for Humanity here at Inhabitat. And Monday-Thursday of next week, I’ll be venturing down to the Gulf Coast to see first-hand just what the humanitarian design organization has been up to as part of their hurricane reconstruction efforts in Biloxi, Mississippi. AFH has a variety of programs in the works to help displaced citizens rebuild their homes, businesses, and communities through a collaboration with architects, designers, and other local entities who understand the intricacies of FEMA guidelines and the area’s new building requirements. Stay tuned for a full post-visit report on their progress. And if you’re interested in volunteering, visit AFH’s website here.
If the Plaza is a little too ritzy for your taste, perhaps the futuristic prefab one-room Hotel Everland is more your cup of tea. Designed by Swiss design duo artist-duo L/B (Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann), Hotel Everland is prefabricated from a wood frame, then literally dropped onto a site to bring modern design and hotel-quality comfort to all corners of the globe. We applaud L/B for their clever application of prefab housing to a more commercial sector. An from what we can tell, the interior space looks quite hospitable!
There are green towers and then there are green towers. Subtitled “Rethinking Towers In The Park,” the Seoul Commune 2026 project by Mass Studies is just sheer genius. Aside from its futuristic green aesthetic, the concept is an investigation into the viability of future sustainable community structures in dense metropolitan areas. The organically-shaped towers take the classic architectural idea of towers in the park, and literally turn the park into the towers themselves, offering a cheeky yet profoundly sustainable and forward-thinking solution to community development.
Green Graphic Design: Step 1, Your Printer and You
Printers and Graphic Designers have long lived in entwined chaos, each attempting to interpret the electronic wizards living within their individual computing systems. Logic suggests that adding environmental concerns to this equation will only serve to exasperate this already malfunctioning system. Fortunately for Green Graphic Designers (and printers), these days are long gone. Gone are the days we send our designs into the ether hoping to receive perfect pieces of printed matter on the other end (…right).
The green path of the future involves getting intimate with your favorite printer.
When you first feast your eyes on one of Stuart Haygarth’s quirky designs, the first thing that becomes immediately ingrained in your memory is his apparent talent for juxtaposing color with form. His recent design, the Disposable Chandelier, is no exception to the rule. Humorously crafted out of 416 disposable plastic wine glasses, the chandelier is lit with a pink fluorescent light source. Incidentally, a smaller version made with 280 glasses is also available. While the atmosphere created by this piece is elegant enough for any posh dinner party, its unusual construction also provides ample material for after-dinner conversation!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
It’s a great start to simply use less. But how about living in less? Friday’s New York Times published a great article on a few pioneers of smaller living. Forget the McMansions; no need for a 2,500-square-foot “starter home.” These folks have turned their backs on the desire for extra bedrooms, opting instead for a more “distilled way of living.” The article profiles buyers of several tiny (and mostly prefab) dwellings we’ve profiled at Inhabitat, from the 65-square-foot Tiny Tumbleweed Homes to the palatial 700-square-foot weeHouse.
Click here to read the article.
Buildings consume 40% of the world’s energy every year and generate almost half of the carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming. Immediate action in the building industry is essential if we are to avoid hazardous change to our climate.
Despite Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction of an early spring this year, some of us are still freezing our you-know-whats off (that groundhog is cute, but let’s face it, he’s no meteorologist). So until the temperatures rise, warming your frostbitten fingers by a stylish and eco-friendly fireplace is a good way to go…
Tom Dixon deftly combines smart green design with old school chic in his recent contemporary take on Lacoste’s iconic polo shirt. Primarily concerned with the ‘provenance and craft’ of manufactured materials, Dixon’s visits to Nigeria and India and the unique hand-dyeing techniques he witnessed there reportedly helped inspire his innovation versions of the polo shirt. Eco Polo relies on chemical-free indigo dyes and rougher edges on its sleeves for its hip, slightly ‘distressed’ appeal, whereas his other new polo design: Techno Polo is composed of lurex fibers and cotton amalgamated with high-tech weaving techniques to create a look that’s just right for either breaking out the tennis racket or hitting the a nightclub.
We received quite a lively response from our Stella McCartney post on vegan accessories a few months back, so we thought it was time to bring you some more vegan goodness. While out shopping for a soy-based candle earlier today, I came across a great looking bag. I was seriously enamored. I investigated, tried it on and poked around on the inside. It had a subtle hint of social responsibility, but I thought… okay, nylon interior, probably not organic or recycled… and is this leather? The brand name, matt & nat, rang a bell, so I asked the store owner and she confirmed that they were in fact a vegan company based in Montreal who make stylish faux leather bags.
Q: I’m a regular reader and make my living as a furniture designer/builder. I confess I’m in love with bamboo - I use it as often as I can and would love to spout to every client about it’s sustainability, renewability and ecologically friendly properties but there is one thing that bothers me about this product. It seems perfect in every way except for the fact that it was brought to me via a massive trans oceanic co2 belching container ship. Do I just suck it up and say “it’s a step in the right direction” or is there some other way to get around the co2 issue?
A: The perfect scenario for any designer is to walk to work and have all the materials you need healthily and restoratively growing right next to your shop. But for the rest of us- we have to develop a value system for selecting the most appropriate materials and resources with which to work. You are off to a great start by asking the right questions, such as- is a material recycle-able, renewable, non-toxic, and/or enjoyable to use??
In a splendid modern take on a local tradition, Austrian architecture firm, Maaars Architektur, turned a classic alpine “massive wood block” dwelling into a work of inhabitable prefab art. A concrete foundation holds two massive wood fins with all fixtures and fasteners built-in. This house took just 9 days to construct atop the concrete base.
The house is heated with a wood stove and solar panels, and presumably the materials function as thermal mass for storing and buffering accumulated heat. Walls of windows welcome abundant daylight and open up a sprawling vista of the hills all around.
If you’re reading this, then you are probably EPIC. Why are we flattering you so? Because EPIC stands for Ethical, Progressive, Intelligent Consumer. Surely you consider yourself to be all of those things.
EPIC is the newest North American business-to-consumer sustainable living expo, launching its inaugural event in Vancouver in March. Like a new-fangled LOHAS for tech-savvy design-fiending urbanites, EPIC has identified a market segment and they are working to solidify the connections between the producers and the buyers.
Evoking a gallery of stars, Robin Carpenter’s eye-catching LED chandelier, Spiralight, demonstrates how good those little light emitting diodes can look when they are used in a clever way. This is what LED lighting should be all about. The creative LED Chandelier recently made waves at the IMM Cologne design fair 2007 . Delicately suspended with 216 LEDS meticulously interwoven into a single twisting strand, the stunning Spiralightis typical of the Berlin-based designer’s signature aesthetic – in evoking a sense of the organic by way of obstructing symmetry in linear production via algorithms.
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