Australia-based architects Steven Isaacs and Lisa Saville have turned a challenging building site into an environmentally sensitive sanctuary among the trees. Located just outside Sydney, the couple’s stunning abode is a lofty duplex built around the existing nature with an ultra-light footprint - an example of how thoughtful design can translate into stylish, sustainable living.
November 30, 2007
November 30, 2007
Modular design shines in Loq•kit - an innovative, interchangeable idea of home from architect Patrick Freet. This proposed building system utilizes snap-lock components to create walls, infill, and envelope that are adaptable and affordable. Intended for easy assembly that can be customized and changed, Loq•kit technology makes building and remodeling a snap, literally!
November 29, 2007
The tale of what happens to your old, forgotten television sets is sad, shocking, and may even turn you off from the very idea of recycling your gadgets. So before we begin, let’s start out by noting that there are responsible ways to recycle or decommission your old TVs and other electronics waste that you have sitting in your garage or storage closets. We’ll get there. But first - take a look at the recent TakeBack My TV campaign, brought to you by the Basel Action Network
November 29, 2007
We all know how energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs are, and we’ve all been hearing for the past couple years how we should replace every light bulb in our house with a CFL. But have you ever stopped and wondered why compact fluorescents are just so plain ugly and unimaginative in their design? It seems strange that the design of the lightbulb, an object so synonymous with ideas, is almost entirely absent of imagination. Instead of blindly following eco-edicts and stocking up on dull CFL bulbs, London boutique electronics company Hulger is trying to re-invent the fluorescent lightbulb and create art out of utilitarianism with their evocative “plumen” designs.
Solar-Powered Citizen Eco-Drive Watch
When we discovered Citizen’s fabulous solar powered Eco-Drive watches, we suddently wondered why ALL watches aren’t solar powered. Solar power for watches makes perfect sense if you think about it - watches need to be constantly charged with small amounts of energy, watch batteries aren’t …
PICTURING GLOBAL WARMING: Greenpeace’s Photoclima
Photoclima, a new photography book project produced by Greenpeace Spain, is a call to action for countries globally to examine and address the impact of global warming and climate change both locally and internationally. Photoclima features the eye-opening photographs of Pedro Armestre and Mario Gómez as a means to highlight the varied topography and rich landscape of Spain’s agricultural, coastal resort, and national park ecosystems. The beauty of the book’s images is subverted by a series of before and after photomontage shots of regions that might be impacted by catastrophic environmental alterations.
KNOOP Rope Table from Josh Urso
Ever wondered what could be done with a 1,200 foot spool of rope? Designer Josh Urso answers the question with this marvelous innovation in table design: KNOOP (Dutch for “knot”) is his latest line of table designs, which uses resin-impregnated military-grade rope to deliver wonderful inspiration to often discarded materials.
HYMINI Tiny Portable Wind-powered Gadget Charger
We’ve seen an array of solar-powered battery chargers, but the HyMini takes wind power to a whole new portable level. This cute little personal wind turbine can be hooked up to various devices to charge your phones, cameras, and other small electronics when you are on the go: walking around, driving or even riding your bike.
Star Wars-Inspired Marine Research Facility
Star Wars inspiration and biomimicry combine for the design of the Facility at Sea, a sustainable marine research platform and feat of offshore building engineering. The concept came together in an architecture studio at the University of Texas, which evaluated potential applications of the soaring structural designs of Star Wars for a marine research facility. Designer Jason Mellard took further inspiration from the engineering acumen of Santiago Calatrava and present-day offshore oil platforms.
GIFT GUIDE: Gadgets
For the technologically-inclined greenies in your life, the best gadget gifts are those that are innovative and unique, energy efficiency, and smart. Stock up green gadget gifts this holiday season that are sure to please everyone in your family, including Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants.
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: Honda FCX Clarity
While green seemed to be the color of the Los Angeles Auto Show, only a few new vehicles could truly live up to the label. One of those few vehicles was the FCX Clarity, a fuel-cell vehicle by Honda, which is set to go into limited production for those lucky enough - and probably rich enough - to lease one. The zero-emission hydrogen powered vehicle will be the first broad distribution of the Honda developed fuel-cell platforms.
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: GE Evolution Hybrid
We’ve done bikes, cars, boats, and even planes here at Transportation Tuesday, but we never expected to see this one. As part of General Electric’s ecomagination campaign, the engineers behind this project dreamt up a way to transform one of the oldest and most powerful forms of transportation in the planet into an energy efficient marvel. Introducing, the Hybrid Locomotive!
HOLIDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM INHABITAT!
It’s that time of year again and we here at Inhabitat have big green plans for the holidays. Our Green Gift Guide is kicking off TOMORROW, and we’ll be throwing our second annual holiday party in San Francisco with Branch Home and Architecture For Humanity and Urban Re:Vision on December 14th. Read on for the latest holiday news from Inhabitat…
GIFT GUIDE: Green Stocking Stuffers!
For a sustainable holiday filled with cheer, fill your stockings with green gifts this year! Stocking stuffers start the holidays off right; your loved ones will be happy all Christmas night. Here are some of our favorite small gifts - all of which are green, stylish, well-designed, and will fit in a stocking!
THE MAGLEV: The Super-powered Magnetic Wind Turbine
Renewable energy produced from the wind has garnered much attention and support in recent years but is often criticized for its low output and lack of reliability. But now a super power wind turbine has come along that may be just what the renewable energy industry needs. The MagLev wind turbine, which was first unveiled at the Wind Power Asia exhibition in Beijing, is expected take wind power technology to the next level with magnetic levitation.
Algae Hydrogen Balloon Fuel by 20/2 Collaborative
While the hydrogen fuel cell might not be viable for commercial vehicles for years, here’s some hope for the promising element. A group of Philadelphia-based creatives known as the 20/2 Collaborative have designed a unique concept that enables on-site production and distribution of biologically produced hydrogen fuel for vehicles. This plan mixes algae ponds with floating balloons to integrate fuel production and distribution into the local landscape and allows the renewable fuel to be created and distributed from the same place. This may sound a little complicated, but the renderings sure look amazing. Who knew that fuel production could look like so much fun?
SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Noon Solar Bags!
Sure, you could pony up for a geeky/techy solar powered backpack, but does solar power get more stylish than these hot eco handbags from Noon Solar?! The Chicago company’s new line has just been released, consisting of three amazingly stylish bags that can charge everything from your cell phone to iPod while you strut. We’ve seen many a solar panel-clad bag before, but Noon Solar aren’t just your everyday energy-producing totes - they take sustainable style to the next level, proving once and for all that solar power can be a stylish accessory for men and women alike.
SUSTAINABLE STYLE WARM-UP: The Best Knit Gifts
It may be 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:
SUSTAINABLE STYLE: William Good Recycled Fashion
Nick Graham, creator of Joe Boxer, is putting a new option on the apparel menu: boxers, briefs, or good. William Good, his newly launched line of re-made fashion, is a collaboration with GoodWill, turning secondhand fashion into re-interpreted sportswear with embellishments like appliques, colorful stitching, and combining two garments into one. Each item is one-of-a-kind, earth-friendly, made from post-retail donations that have been destined for recycling or salvage, and people-friendly, training existing GoodWill employees to run every level of the business from stitching to merchandising (even the store space is located in a San Francisco GoodWill!).
Go Green This Holiday Season with LED Christmas Lights!
There’s nothing like twinkly Christmas lights to make you feel warm and cozy over the holiday season. Sure they may be cheesy, gaudy, and often way over the top on certain houses every year, but that is part of the fun, right? Well, you’ll feel even better about your Christmas lights this year if they were LED lights - which use 90% less electricity than traditional tungsten bulbs. Not only does that bring your electricity bill way down, but it lessens your carbon footprint as well, and lowering your energy consumption helps fight global warming. Finally, LED Christmas lights last much longer than traditional tungsten Christmas lights, are more durable, and never have that annoying problem where one burnt out bulb kills your whole strand.
BRANCH 20% off Sale - Today and Tomorrow Only
As a post-Thanksgiving thank you to green-minded customers, our favorite eco-design shop Branch is extending its friends and family 20% OF SALE TO ALL INHABITAT READERS.
Stock up on all your green gifts today and tomorrow (November 24th and 25th) only when you order from Branch Home. We love Branch’s entire line of sustainable, socially conscientious, and responsibly produced design goods, from its Bambu kitchenware to Josh Jakus felt bags and adorable cuddlies for your tots. New items include rubbery recycled dog bones and hanging bird ornaments (two of which are gracing my doorway right now). Enter Promotional Code branchfriend at the end of your checkout process to cash in on your holiday savings, but do it fast - sale ends tomorrow!
INHABITOTS: BABYBEARSHOP Certified Organic Skincare
As a segue from our last few weeks of Inhabitots product coverage to our upcoming round up 2007 holiday gift ideas, we are pleased to feature the very delicious organic skincare product line by BABYBEARSHOP. Founded by uber-momma Diana Lussenden Stewart, BABYBEARSHOP has set the highest standards for certified organic and nutritiously healing skincare for both baby and parents. We are totally thrilled that BABYBEARSHOP will offer an assortment of free goodies at our 2007 holiday party at Architecture for Humanity HQ in San Francisco on Friday, December 14th from 6pm - 9pm.
PREFAB FRIDAY: Construisons Demain Green Prefab
French designers continue to put the “fab” in prefab: Construisons Demain, a brilliant design from architect Eric Wuilmot, premiered at Batimat in Paris earlier this month. The system showcases low-energy living with three prefabricated wooden modules, resource and energy efficient systems, healthy finish materials, and inviting living spaces.
NYC Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Goes Green!
‘Tis the season to be jolly, and if you happen to be in New York, green! This year New York’s finest Christmas landmark is going green in the spirit of the Christmas season. For the first time in its history, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, will be getting a new set of energy efficient LED Christmas lights that will be fully powered by solar panels.
Happy Thanksgiving from Inhabitat!
Happy Thanksgiving, Inhabitat readers!It’s hard to believe a year’s gone by since the last holiday season, but it’s upon us once again. We hope you’re all enjoying delicious food and warm company today and beginning the holiday frenzy by taking some time to give thanks for the good things in your life.
COHDA: Recycling Design Factory at Dott 07
One of our favorite eco-design visionaries Cohda Design recently brought its amazing recycling design process to the public by staging an interactive event that showed off its recycling machines and allowed the public to participate in the process of turning plastic bottles into beautiful designer chairs.
INTERVIEW: Mark Wigley on Greening Architecture Schools
Buildings account for almost half (48%) of all greenhouse-gas emissions annually.
This oft-repeated statistic highlights what many architects and designers have long realized: The building industry has a profound impact on the state of our environment. But is environmental awareness really making enough inroads into the curriculum of design schools, in the places where it could potentially have the most impact on the future of the industry? As a graduate student in Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), I am both concerned and optimistic about the changes I see taking place in architecture academia. While environmental design isn’t nearly as entrenched as it should be into the core curriculums of design schools, students seem to be clamoring to learn more about this topic and are demanding new classes and are shaping their own academic paths. Recently I sat down with Mark Wigley, dean of Columbia’s GSAPP, to talk about the changes currently taking place within architecture schools to address the growing concern of sustainability. Read on to hear what Mark Wigley has to say about sustainable design….
Zero-Emission Research Station in Antarctica
If there is one place on our planet that can be said to be relatively free from human impact, that would probably be the Antarctic continent. With this in mind, the government of Belgium commissioned the International Polar Foundation to design and operate a new research station, the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. The goal? To make it the first zero-emission station in the world.
Global Warming Is Real and We Must Act Now!
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program, just released its fourth report to the world, and the message could not be clearer:
GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL, IT IS A THREAT TO HUMAN CIVILIZATION, AND WE MUST ACT NOW IF WE HAVE ANY HOPE OF STOPPING IT.
VIDEO: Grow a Treehouse with Terreform
We love treehouses here at Inhabitat and are enamored with eco-architect Mitchell Joachim’s visionary ideas about how to grow living treehouses from ficus molded around frame structures. We’ve covered these playful architectural ideas before on Inhabitat, but now we have a video from Mitchell Joachim explaining the details of how they work. Joachim does better justice to his imaginative ecological designs than we are able to do in a mere post, so if you have any interest in living treehouses (and we know you do), check out the video above.
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Volkswagen Space Up!
We last featured the Volkswagen Up! in our Frankfurt Motor Show wrap-up, but in the fast-paced field of green automotives, there’s some new news to report. It’s now known as the Volkswagen Space Up! and has gone from being a small, fuel-efficient car to a zero-emission, fuel-cell powered, solar-assisted compact car. Sadly, it is still a concept.
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: London’s EcoPod Tram Station
A UK initiative called ConnectingSouthwark.com is putting the green in public transportation with an EcoPod tram station that provides information and a great teaching tool for environmental responsibility. Made from recycled shipping containers and powered by renewable energy such as solar panels and wind turbines, the EcoPod is a great symbol of the green principles underpinning both the tram and its recent regeneration program.
Project7Ten Green House Completed in LA
Southern California is adding to its growing collection of uber-green LEED Platinum homes with the recent completion of the Project7Ten House. While the original renderings of this design looked promising, nothing inspires us more than seeing green buildings actually get built. The photographs of this recently constructed green house far surpass the original renderings we saw a few months back, and we are thrilled to see such an elegant eco-house for sale in LA.
THE SOLARROLL: The Go-anywhere Solar Gadget Charger!
Looking for an eco-friendly and convenient alternative to charging your cell phone, camera, or laptop? The Brunton SolarRoll beats out solar-powered bags and backpacks and, certainly, the hassle of trying to find an electrical outlet when you’re traveling with mobile devices in tow. All you need is a little sunlight, and you can easily charge laptops, cell phones, cameras, and even car batteries!
CLEANING UP AN OIL SPILL WITH HAIR AND MUSHROOMS?
The recent Cosco Busan oil spill in the San Francisco Bay may have just met its match in an eco-cleaning solution that uses human hair and mushrooms! A group of intrepid volunteers has embarked on a project to clean up oil at San Francisco’s beaches using an unusual, yet totally organic, method of waste removal: hair mats and mushrooms. Using mats made of hair, the volunteers are able to absorb slicks of oil on the shore that have washed up since the Cosco Busan cargo ship sideswiped the base of the Bay Bridge last week, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil.
