In contrast to our most trafficked posts of 2005, here are our personal favorites from 2005:
1. Floating Homes (Jill)
2. Greenroofs (Sarah)
3. Loveshack (Nicki & Kyle)
4. Skyscraper Farming (Gretchen)
5. Lovetann Modular House (Evelyn)
6. PARANS Sunlight Transportation Device (Jill)
7. Sunlight Table (Sarah)
8. Expanding Table (Evelyn)
9. All of the HOW-TOs (Jill)
10. Scrapile Interview (Sarah)
Based on reader traffic and comments, here are the most popular (or the most controversial?) Inhabitat posts of 2005:
1. Tetris Shelving – 66 comments
2. Hansa Canyon Colored LED Faucets – 55 comments
3. HOW TO: Brew Your Own Biodiesel – 26 comments
4. Ingo Maurer LED Glass Table – 22 comments
5. Grancrete – 17 comments
6. HOW TO: Make your own terrarium – 16 comments
7. Cargotecture – 15 comments
8. RE:Form Energy Curtain – 8 comments
9. Green Roofs – 4 comments
10. Floating Homes – 4 comments
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Kids love the holidays- for the cheer, the joy, the abundance of cookies, but mostly, for the gifts. This year, why not give green gifts that are healthy, educational, and eco-friendly. The little ones will love them, and you’ll feel great about giving them. Warning: excessive cuteness ahead…
Let’s face it: we live in a gadget culture. And around this time of year, gadget consumption peaks as people head to Best Buy and Sharper Image to pick up shiny new gifts for their friends and families. Since we can’t fight this trend, we thought we’d suggest some cool eco-friendly electronics for your favorite gadget geeks this year.
Today we continue our Green Gift Guide with clever suggestions for the woman in your life: green versions of a girl’s favorite gifts including chocolate, fuzzy sweaters, and jewelry. Indulge your girlfriend, mother, sister, or best friend this holiday season….
It’s that time of year again, and today marks the start of our Holiday Gift Guide here at Inhabitat. Our first installment is Cheap Gifts Under $30- wallet-friendly green gifts that are great for co-workers, stocking stuffers, or the yearly white elephant party. Read on for the best cheap gift suggestions, and stay tuned in the next few days for more gift ideas for her, him, pets, and more!
Micro Dwellings is a moveable, modular system which can be configured in an infinite number of ways due to its geometry. They can be built onto existing construction, submerged, or mounted on wheels to create the basis for personalized social settings. The system allows for changes that might occur in lifestyle, such as having children, separation, or family stays. The system is capable of growing, shrinking, and dividing, mimicking a natural cellular organism.
The end of the year is rapidly approaching, and in the spirit of New Year’s reflection, we’re going to be looking back at some of the year’s highlights. We’d love to hear from you guys, and learn what you thought made the most interesting, striking or inspiring articles on Inhabitat this year.
Monday marked the one year anniversary of the South Asian Tsunami, which killed nearly 300,000 people and left many others homeless. In August, we (here in the U.S.) saw first hand how catastrophic events could change our lives and our landscape forever. Compelled to help persons like those who were rendered homeless by Hurricane Katrina, architect Carib Daniel Martin and builder Rob Bragan developed a prototype dwelling to provide disaster-relief housing.
Called HELP, which stands for “Housing Every Last Person,” their prototype will house three people (or six, if it is a double unit.)
In Japanese, the word “Futaba” means two leaves sprouting from one seed. That sounds like a less violent version of the expression “killing two birds with one stone.” I love the way that just one word in Japanese sums up the whole thought of multi-functionalism in a much more elegant, refined way than the horrible English bird-killing idiom. Futaba is the perfect word to describe Akemi Tanaka’s beautiful, ecofriendly, convertible furniture.
A rug can pull disparate parts of a room into one cohesive space. The Barcelona-based rug company, Nanimarquina knows this, and they make a rug for almost every kind of interior. Each of their two dozen or so styles is hand-tufted, hand-loomed and hand-knotted. And while such delicate and exacting work is often done in grueling conditions, Nanimarquina is fully committed to fair and just labor practices for the manufacturing of all of their rugs.
The third piece in today’s tryptic from Grand Idea Studio is the seasonally-appropriate Recycled Steel Pipe Menorah (or Candelabra if you want to be secular about it). Made from recycled galvanized steel pipes, the menorah has a raw, industrial appearance.
As a kid growing up in suburban California, I was obsessed with the Pacman table in our local Chinese restaurant. I could care less about the myriad stand-up video games in the nearby arcade, but I couldn’t get enough of the table Pacman – where instead of playing by yourself you squared off directly against your opponent (in this case, my sister). Technology company Grand Idea Studios clearly harbors a similar nostalgia for vintage table arcade games, and has created this Pacman Dining Table, by recycling an old machine into a new use.
We love efficient, multi-tasking furniture here at Inhabitat, so we were excited to discover Grand Idea Studio’s Hard Drive Coffee Table. The design recycles an original hard drive from an early storage device into a circular, industrial-looking coffee table. The center hub of the hard drive platter and the custom-created pedestal are both solid aluminum, covered with standard 1/4″ table glass.
Although the Hard Drive Coffee Table is not for sale (yet), we found the creative reuse of old technology inspiring. We hope this clever idea motivates DIYers, recyclers, and other fans of technology and space-saving furniture to begin thinking about ways to combine home computing with home decor.
UM FELT BAGS- $38-$114
We love these UM felt clutches, totes, and wallets from Branch Home. The 100% industrial felt accessories are handmade in Oakland, California, and are perfect for your style-savvy and environmentally conscious girl friend.
Its hard to buy gifts for certain people in your life, but you can never go wrong with knit accessories like gloves, hats and scarves. Everyone likes to keep their appendages warm in the winter: men, women, young and old – and you’ll be hard pressed to find something that will be more appreciated than a cozy scarf on chilly winter days. Happily there are a lot of stylish and sustainable options out there in the realm of knit accessories. Here are our top picks:
If you’ve ever dreamt of retrofitting your tiny apartment with an all-in-one space-saving life-changing furniture solution, you have a friend in Andrea Zittel. Currently based in Joshua Tree, CA, Zittel is an artist who has been blurring the line between fine art and design for over a decade.
Well before prefab and customization became the hot topic of today’s design circles, Zittel was creating compact living structures and all-in-one home furnishings that combine modular parts and mixed used components. Her work investigates notions of individualism, urbanity, and the home, while also bearing an obvious and compelling resonance with many contemporary design trends. It’s no surprise, then, that she has received increased critical acclaim recently.
Well it’s December 25 already, so you’re either opening presents or ordering Chinese. For those of you partaking in the Christmas revelry, you’ve already got your tree decked to the nines. But for next year, here are a few thoughts about new ways to do the old tree that might be just a little friendlier on the environment, the landfills, and the health of your loved ones – or at the very least, might add a little novelty to a long-honored tradition.
In the Urca neighborhood near the base of Sugarloaf mountain and the shores of Rio de Janeiro, architect Alexandra Lichtenberg tackled a remodeling project that demonstrates that being green isn’t the exclusive domain of high-cost, luxury residences and backwoods off-grid dwellings. A good green remodel is within reach of the average well-intentioned homeowner in the average urban neighborhood anywhere in the world, and the EcoHouse proves it.
If you think design for take-out is just about plastic forks and chinese paper cartons – think again. The Mealbox by Igland Design is furniture design for take out. It allows you to bring your table and chairs anywhere, along with your take-out food, for a complete dining experience on the go. Primarily
composed of Birch Plywood that has been reinforced with carbon fiber, the Mealbox is easier to assemble and disasemble than a 15 piece puzzle (it’s only made-up of 14 pieces).
What is with Australia and prefab? With the recent Modabode, the Deck House, and now eHabitat, its beginning to seem like the locus of Prefab has moved down under. Whats going on?
Whatever the case, we love the new prefab “eHabitat” – and not just because the name goes so well with ours. This latest Australian prefab is beautiful, simple, inexpensive and distinctly eco-friendly, incorporating passive solar principles and energy efficient materials into its design. The modular, customizable eHabitat allows limitless individual configurations, enabling the owner to design a unique layout, which can be easily expanded at any time. Additional features include built in storage, climatic control devices and built in furniture options. The minimalist, almost Japanese aesthetic is modern without being stark, and the superlative local materials (such as Tasmanian kiln dried hardwood) make for a high quality, well-insulated structure.
If you ever made model airplanes or cars when you were a kid (and you are over 30 now) – then you might remember Revell kits, the quintessential 50’s-era modeling kits where the pieces all came attached in a plastic frame, and you had to break each little piece out by hand.
Buildings account for:
+65.2% of the total US electricity consumption
+30% of the total US greenhouse gas emissions
and
+136 million tons of construction and demolition waste in the U.S., roughly 2.8 lbs per person, per day.
In an effort to raise awareness and combat the waste and toxins emitted by today?s buildings, the American Institute of Architects has issued several position statements supporting sustainable building and resource conservation. Partnering with national and international organizations, as well as the scientific research and public health community, the AIA hopes to reduce the current consumption of fossil fuels used to construct and operate buildings in half by 2010.
UNDER $50
TOM DIXON ECOWARE – ?14.95 ? ?69.99
(Sarah)
Everyone needs dishes, and while the floral frippery of classic china may not appeal to the most masculine types, dishware can’t be written off as girly. Maverick design star Tom Dixon, has been experimenting with biodegradable plastics made from compressed natural materials such as byproducts of coconut, rice and bamboo processing. He has created a line of biodegradable plates, bowls and cups dubbed Eco Ware. This line of sustainable tableware is 85% bamboo bound with a water-soluble polymer. The best part is that after a long functional life (5 years give or take), the Eco Ware objects can be recycled into plant pots or simply composted back to the earth.
EGGLING – $8.95
(Jill)
Want to turn your little one into a green thumb? The adorable ceramic Eggling looks like Japanese lovechild of a Kinder Egg and Garden In a Bag. Crack one open, add water, and within no time, a little plant will pop up. Each comes with a terra cotta tray and seed pack. Growing is simple ? plants thrive for months in their shell and can be replanted in soil. Fun for kids and adults alike.
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If you are still at a loss for holiday gifts, have a look at the MoMA Store. It’s a great place to find one-of-a-kind items sure to please any design lovers. Here’s a little gem I discovered on the MoMA Store website.
Seizing upon the wasted remnants of fabric generated by Milan’s textile industry, Italian designer Luisa Cevese developed a technique that sandwiches lace scraps between layers of translucent plastic. The random nature …
Here’s a great gift for the holidays (hint hint family and friends). I love this clever re-appropriation of the ubiquitous plastic water bottle. The Full/Fill series, designed by Luis Royal and Damaso, celebrates the industrial aesthetic of plastic packaging by recycling a familiar shape into a striking glass vase. It’s perfect as a vase for flowers, or a carafe for water or other beverages. Best thing? The vases are very …
As the chill of winter settles in, some of us can?t help but look forward to spring, when flowers burst into bloom and the air holds a certain hopeful anticipation of warm days to come. The blossoming of certain flowers indicates not only the time of year, but the time of day. Morning glories, for example, open and close like clockwork. It?s this poetic relationship between plants and time that inspired the Esby Sarah Clock. The Sarah Clock is a labor of love from conception through production. Designer Jim Doan named both his company and his signature clock after his wife, Sarah, because he believes they both embody natural beauty. This romantic idea is lovingly manifested in the delicate design of his flower-like Sarah Clock.
Australia bring us another good example of how beautiful both small and prefab can be. The deck_house, by noek_design, was officially launched at “Sydney in Bloom 05″ as an outdoor experience environment. Not only does it make a great outdoor room, but this little shed would also be perfect for a guest room, office, or even a personal habitat, should you be so inclined. Measuring at 5.4 meters square, its tiny footprint is designed to contain little more than a double bed; however, an outdoor shower or kitchen can be accommodated into your plan. Additionally, the layout can be modularly expanded to fit your needs.
Bent plywood has made a huge impact on contemporary furniture. From the original Eames chair which introduced us to the concept of using molding plywood, designers have since been inventing new ways to exploit the economics of the material.
While it seems like every modern furniture company has released their version of the bent plywood chair, we tend to lean towards those which are simpler in form. The Bodyform Chair by Danko Persing is one such rendition, formed of one single piece of material. It is an extremely efficient use of wood, as the process requires less raw material than would traditional solid wood construction. Additionally, the plies for this (as with many of Persing’s pieces) are adhered with non-toxic, water based adhesives.
Eleek Inc. brings an environmentally friendly approach to hand crafted, high quality metal work. With a diverse portfolio from large scale architectural lighting to intricately detailed hardware, founder Eric Kaster imparts an elegant and artistic touch to all of his pieces. The Portland Oregon company boldly states: “Our aluminum and iron products are 100% recycled. Our bronze products are at least 90% recycled.” While a custom sconce may admittedly be out of our budget, Eleek’s product line also includes many reasonably priced, custom-cast hand-patina drawer pulls, switch plates and other irresistible items.
Contemporary sophistication and environmentally-friendly design have made Nusta Spa the first spa to achieve LEED Gold Certification for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI). Located in downtown Washington, D.C., Nusta Spa has found an edge in spa design by integrating sustainability not only into their products and services (which has been done for ages), but into their overall building and site design. In doing so, they can offer truly comprehensive health and wellness to their employees and clients.
Who knew lawns would go from epitomizing the American dream to embodying all manner of evil? Blaming both human and natural failings, many homeowners have embraced the idea of lawn-eradication. Last week, it was the lawn-pavers; this week, it’s the lawn-eaters.
Edible Estates is the brainchild of Fritz Haeg, who has made it his mission to replace the water-guzzling, pesticide-drenched grasslands of American front yards with functional, fruitful plots filled with all things edible.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
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