Is that stack of papers in the corner of your desk constantly growing? Wish you could sit on it and forget about it? That’s what PUSH> Design has done with their Disposable Office collection, turning recycled paper into furniture. Robert Buss of PUSH> says the Disposable Office is “furniture made from information for the information age.” This mantra is mimicked in their pieces’ monikers, like the Security Documents Chair, Menu Table, or Bank Statements Shelving.
Don’t let the name fool you - Daily Dump is an elegant solution to an age-old problem. A home-product winner in this year’s INDEX Awards: Design To Improve Life Competition, Daily Dump is a personal composting system that draws inspiration from the ceramic craft ware typically used in households and villages throughout India. Designed by Poonam Bir Kasturi and utilized primarily in Asia, Daily Dump is a hygienic composting system that helps households to manage biodegradable waster matter and convert it into high-quality compost.
Good design can save lives and improve human society. That’s the thought behind the Solar Bottle by Italian designers Alberto Medo and Francisco Gomez Paz. Winner of a 2007 INDEX award, the sleekly designed Solar Bottle uses simple solar technology to purify dirty drinking water and prevent water-born diseases.
When the City of Pasadena wanted to bring some beauty to an electric power plant in a somewhat overlooked neighborhood, little did it realize that the design idea would grow into a completely sustainable solution that would enhance the area, increase safety and security and quite frankly, look fantastic! Developed by UeBERSEE, the botanically-inspired PowerSEED art installation involves flower-like stalks of solar powered lights sprouting up throughout different areas of site. It’s not until you see the images that you’ll understand why this gorgeously simply installation was nominated as a finalist in the 2007 Index Award and the Metropolis Magazine Next Generation Awards.
We at Inhabitat believe in good design - design that shows thoughtfulness, awareness of global and environmental issues, and aims to make the world a better place in both small and big ways. So it’s no surprise that the recently announced Index Awards(Index is a Danish non-profit network organization that supports design to improve life worldwide) piqued our interest and produced so many great entries. So many of the 2007 Top Nominees demonstrate what design should be all about. In the coming days, we’ll be highlighting some of our favorites from each of the five categories (work, home, body, play, & community). Here’s to design that hopes to do good.
The Dutch have fought their marshy surroundings with clever engineering since the country’s inception, and we’ve seen some impressive “floating architecture” from DuraVermeer and WaterStudio. Now that global warming is fanning the flame: melting ice-caps and raising sea levels, more and more Dutch designers are getting into amphibious architecture. Builder Hans van de Beek’s amphibious houses are an obvious yet genius solution to rising water levels. He explains; “They are pretty much just regular houses, the only difference is that when the water rises, they rise.”
Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina flooding tragedy and to make sure that people don’t forget it about the massive devastation that affected so many people on the Gulf Coast, we would like to remind people how important it is to tink about ways to improve home and landscape design so that something like this never happens again.
The dishwasher is a modern convenience that saves us hours of cleaning and drying time, not to mention pruny dishpan hands. But is the dishwasher an extravagance in our eco-conscious age? You might be surprised! The answer is no - and that’s a win-win for those who believe that technology can lead to a greener, more prosperous future.
For those of you looking for some end-of-summer cinema, the most important film to go see in the next few weeks is The 11th Hour, a global warming documentary produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Nadia Conners and Leila Conners Petersen. The film - which just recently opened in your local cineplex to great reviews - is a moving look at the world’s contemporary environmental crisis, and a rousing call-to-action to try to stop global warming before it is too late.
If you love the idea of biodiesel but can’t work out the practicalities- finding fueling stations, fixing up your car, or getting all your bio-fuel questions answered, look no further- BioBling has got you covered. The Southern California-based service connects eco-conscious people to green cars and the clean, renewable fuel to run them. Let them turn your old Mercedes into a lean green automotive machine, or have them hook you up with a biodiesel distributor who will deliver the fuel right to your garage door.
Last week we brought you our Top 5 Sexiest Sports Cars, and while there is no doubt that all of the cars we featured are beautiful and innovative, the sexiest and most sustainable form of transportation out there is the one you power with your own two legs. Not only does cycling get you outdoors get you in shape and give you a chance to flaunt those legs — it is also the only form of speedy transportation that comes with ZERO carbon emissions. So now we present to you our list of the cutest, most innovative, and most useful bicycles we’ve encountered. (We tried to narrow it down to five, but just couldn’t cut any of these). Counting down from 6 to 1…
How would you like to be paid to save some energy? That is the concept behind “demand-response” a process in which energy companies pay users to use less power. There are a number of companies that are able to manage this process, but only one of them does it with style, by using the Energy Joule, designed by Ambient Systems (we mentioned them earlier today as the makers of the Ambient Orb)
If there ever were a building in the world that should be as green as possible, the United Nations Headquarters in New York would probably be it. The good news: the UN seems to agree. The almost-60-year-old building, one of the most influential and iconic buildings on the Manhattan skyline, will be undergoing extensive renovations that will transform the building into a model of energy efficiency for all to follow.
As energy-conscious citizens, wouldn’t it be great to know the best (and cheapest) times to use more or less energy? Thanks to a clever little gadget and an equally clever manager at the Southern California Edison power company, that info could easily be at your fingertips with the Energy Orb.
As the summer comes to an end, it’s time for some of us to start gearing up for the school year, ideally in sustainable style. If you’re looking for the greenest way to carry all your textbooks, laptop, and other gadgets to and from class, here are our top five recommendations for eco-chic book bags…
Here’s the perfect carry-all solution if you’re headed back to school but just don’t want summer to end- the Juice solar tote from Reware is big enough for your new textbooks, but beach ready for your last few Indian summer adventures. These durable bags can “re-juice” smaller electronics such as cell phones, BlackBerry, PDA, MP3 player or handheld GPS. And even better, they’re made from biodegradable canvas, and the panel itself can be removed and use separately from the bag.
Ahoy matey! If you like the high-seas aesthetic and are looking to go back to school in eco-sailor style, then boy do we have the perfect tote bag for you! Breathing new life into old sailboat sails, the super cute AUM Shoulder Tote from Branch transforms a distinctive yet very durable material into a long-lasting, limited edition bag that retains the marks of its nautical origins.
The cultural activity in Barcelona generates a huge number of advertising banners every year, which are hung from street lights to advertise exhibitions and events. In 2000 there were approximately 19,800 banners that were largely not reusable. Enter Demano to the rescue: the Spanish company recycles these banners into a variety of cool products for portage (similar to Baumm’s recycled banner bags).
What started as a few grassy plots of sod occupying metered parking spots in San Francisco has blossomed into a world-wide event scheduled to take place September 21st, 2007. Rebar’sPark(ing) Day is back for its third year and is bigger and better than ever, this time partnering with both Public Architecture and The Trust for Public Land. ReBar hopes to expand this year’s event beyond the 13 participating cities from 2006 including New York, London, and Rio de Janeiro; and they’re inviting everyone to get involved- that means YOU!
Following their hugely successful and influential book, William McDonough and Michael Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle textile certification is now launching the second generation of its sustainable rating system for the greenest fabrics out there. Their sustainable design consultancy group McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) will launch the new and improved Cradle to Cradle programs in September 2007, with new criteria based on information gathered during the first two years of the existing standards, and a ‘Basic’ level to sit alongside the Silver, Gold, and Platinum levels of certification.
In a sunny valley of Sonoma County two winemakers have forged green building, renewable energy and biodynamic agriculture into a bountiful endeavor. Founded in 1998 by Christopher Medlock James and Ames Morison, the Medlock Ames Winery has come to full fruition beautifully with glowing wine reviews and an operation that is now 100% solar powered. The sustainable philosophy of this forward thinking vineyard is entwined in its structures and practices. The winery building, designed by George Riley of Sebastopol, incorporates passive solar design, natural daylighting and natural ventilation.
While the words “back to school” may conjure up images of new backpacks and pencil boxes, for a very lucky few Dutch students it means moving into some very hip and well-designed dorm accommodations. Keetwonen, a student housing project in Amsterdam, turns shipping containers into 1000 units and provides all the amenities a student could ever want. And aside from the obvious green usage of surplus shipping containers, Keetwonen has integrated a rooftop to accommodate efficient rainwater drainage while providing heat dispersal and insulation for the containers beneath. Designed by TempoHousing and completed last year, this is a great example of large-scale shipping containers serving as functional and comfortable space.
Architect Michelle Kaufmann has become known around the country for her innovative green prefab homes, and now the talented designer is launching a new line of green lighting products, starting with a brilliant 2-for-one vase lamp that holds flowers (or whatever else you want), while also lighting up your room in a sustainable, energy efficient way.
Green skyscrapers seem to be all the rage these days, and now India is jumping on the bandwagon with FXFowle Architects’India Tower, currently being built in South Mumbai to house a new Park Hyatt Hotel. According to the designers, India Tower will be the greenest skyscraper in the entire country, boasting rainwater harvesting, green materials, and a possible US LEED Gold rating.
While the concept of dry-cleaning isn’t foreign, a waterless (and detergentless!) home washing machine sure sounds too good to be true for the green-minded consumer. Enter Airwash, the “waterless washing machine for the home of 2020,” one of the winners of the recent INDEX Awards: Design To Improve Life Competition. Innovative in both form and function, the design was submitted by two students from Singapore, Gabriel Tan & Wendy Chua, after it won the prestigious ElectroLux Design Lab Award back in 2005. Using negative ions, compressed air and deodorants to clean clothes, the gracefully shaped and eco-friendly appliances will have your whites whiter and colors brighter in a matter of minutes.
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