Australian designer Craig Arnold has captured the beauty of contemporary design and sustainability with his latest bracelet collection, re:vision. Made from discarded camera parts, these bracelets are a must have accessory for photographers and eco-accessory fans alike. We are of course big proponents of recycling obsolete gadgets into new fashion statements, but Arnold’s fresh take on this eco-fashion principle is a great new idea, one from which we can all draw inspiration.
April 30, 2008
April 30, 2008
The field of sustainability appears to be sending up new shoots these days with the rise of skyscraper farming and floating solar barges as possible solutions for urban food production and efficient civic greening. Meanwhile reports on shortages in our global food supply are making front-page news along with evidence of climate change and steep fuel prices. Bands of urban citizens are digging in at the grassroots level, though, to consider the possibilities of seed sharing and seed swaps as a plan for reinvigorating and diversifying our food base. ‘Tending to one’s own backyard’ is vigorously taking on new dimensions with enviro-sculptor, Leah Gauthier’s Sow-In Project. Gauthier’s citywide micro-farming undertaking is one person’s initiative to tackle food supply issues as well as our ability to ‘grow collectively’ via creative urban agriculture.
April 30, 2008
The Water + Life Museums complex in Hemet, California, has just become the first museum to break the LEED Platinum barrier, beating out the California Academy of Sciences and scores of other hopeful projects. The stunning $40 million campus runs 72,000 square feet and was constructed by LA based Michael Lehrer Architects. The iconic cultural complex has done an incredible job of keeping a light footprint while adapting to a challenging desert climate that runs from freezing in the winter to more than 100 degrees in the summer.
April 30, 2008
The Salone Satellite, an event featuring young talent, is probably one of the most exciting sections of the Milan Furniture Fair. It features some of the most inventive prototypes and pieces, and is a must see for all visitors and furniture lovers. This year, students from the University of Belgrade presented their work made from industrial wood, and we happen to love the designs that these students brought to Milan. It’s been hard to pick our favorite, so we’ve decided not to even try. Instead, we leave the decision to you, which is your favorite piece?
NATURAL RETREATS Luxury Eco-Getaways in the UK
Combining the highest levels of luxury and sustainable development with beautiful locations, Natural Retreats offer a chance to explore beautiful national parks, bask in luxury, and feel confident that your holiday has a low environmental impact. Built with sustainability in mind, these eco-getaways can be found within four of the UK national parks, with plans to acquire sites in, or alongside, ten more. At current, green-minded travelers can escape to Yorkshire Dales, Snowdonia, Lake District, and North York Moors - all beautiful landscapes and perfect settings for an eco-friendly nature retreat.
DINKINS GARDENS: Harlem’s First Affordable Green Housing
Spring is off to a fresh start in New York as Harlem’s first affordable green community blossoms to life. Situated on West 153rd Street, David & Joyce Dinkins Gardens offers 85 units of affordable housing in addition to a 25,000 square foot youth center and a community garden. Jonathan Rose Companies and Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement developed the $19.5 million community to help repair the “physical, economic, cultural, and spiritual fabric of the neighborhood.” Towards these goals the project has kept costs low while integrating a noble set of social and environmental ideals governed by principles of diversity, interdependence, and environmental responsibility.
Super Durable Tyvek Wallets by Dynomighty Design
New York-based Dynomighty Design has perfected a long-lasting way to keep your currency in order. Their fun, postal packaging-inspired wallets are made from a single sheet of Tyvek, making them seamless, nearly impenetrable and super durable. Constructed with 25% post consumer content and 100% recyclable materials, Dynomighty wallets are a lightweight solution to on-the-go billfold wear and tear. While the wallets will become comfortably worn-in, the durable Tyvek material won’t break!
TRANSPORTATION TUES: Toronto’s Emission Free EcoCabs
Photo by Roger Cullman
Next time that you are in Toronto and need a quick ride, you might be able to call upon one of the city’s new EcoCabs. Starting May 1st, Go Mobile Media will introduce 28 EcoCabs throughout the city to provide eco-friendly transit to weary travelers and in-city commuters. And, in addition to being an emissions-free form of transport, Toronto’s EcoCabs are provided free of charge!
TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: Hy-bird Solar Hydrogen Plane
This solar-hydrogen plane might just be what Transportation Tuesday heaven looks like! The Hy-bird, by Lisa Airplanes, is a lightweight, hybrid plane made out of lightweight carbon fiber - it’s final weight will be just 1.1 tons. Lithium-polymer batteries will provide the plane’s main power source and solar photovoltaics, covering the plane’s 20-meter-long wings, will provide about 10% of its power. Those of you who find this innovation familiar may recall seeing a computer animation of the Hy-bird in the 11th Hour documentary. But this eco-friendly flying dream machine will soon be taking flight for real! The Hy-bird is set to travel around the world early next year!
NO MORE GAS Personal Electric Vehicle
With a name like ‘No More Gas’, you can bet that this cute little personal electric vehicle is as good to the environment as it is to the user. Its size, weight and fuel make it much better for the planet, while its look and driving experience make it great fun for the driver. Looking like it’s dropped straight out of an episode of The Jetsons, this tiny car can achieve speeds of over 75mph for a cost of $0.02 per mile. All this eco-goodness earned Myers Motors’ NmG vehicle kudos at this year’s Well-Tech Awards exhibit in Milan.
GRASS-ON Green Lamp by ITLab
We love the idea of this green lamp that blends natural textures with recycled materials to bring a bit of nature indoors. Conceived by three Venetian architects for a charity competition, the Grass-On Lamp by ITlab is made entirely of recycled materials, including the synthetic grass, and completely recyclable. The cube structure of the lamp gives it added versatility, letting it rest on the floor, on a table, or suspended from the air.
Los Angeles Passes Ambitious Green Building Law
The past month has seen shock waves resonating throughout the world of sustainable architecture with two monumental reports on green building backed by some serious changes in public policy. First, the CEC released “Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges”, which lauded sustainable buildings as the quickest, cheapest, and most substantive way to cut down on North American greenhouse gas emissions. Next, CoStar released a comparison report stating that LEED buildings consistently outperform their peers in terms of occupancy rates, sale prices, and rental rates, with demand far outnumbering their supply. And, last week on Earth Day, Los Angeles approved a green building ordinance that signifies a significant shift towards a policy and market-driven era of economically and environmentally viable building.
VOTE NOW & Judge Student Eco Design Competition!
We love our design competitions here at Inhabitat, and today we are partnering with The New School Sustainable Design Review (SDR) in NYC, to help judge a student design competition for the much loved NY skincare company Kiehls. This year’s New School SDR design competition is being organized in partnership with Kiehl’s- the old-world apothecary founded in New York’s East Village neighborhood. In this post (below) you will see all of the competing sustainable designs of the 2008 student finalists, and want to hear YOUR feedback on which projects you find to be the most compelling and worthy of the competition’s grand prize award of $2,500!
We really want to hear your thoughts, so please comment, and VOTE HERE >
AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Building Projects of 2008
Every year we look forward to the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment’s (AIA/COTE) top picks for the best green building projects of the year. This year’s selections are a showcase of sustainable design approaches that balance functional aesthetics with environmental consciousness. Each winning design has been evaluated under a comprehensive list of measures from community connectivity, to energy efficiency, to longevity of purpose. Those that have risen to the top of the AIA/COTE list for 2008 are examples of successful programs that, through extensive collaboration, have achieved low-impact structures that fuse architectural excellence with environmental stewardship.
ECO FRANKEN FURNITURE: Jetske de Groot Multiple Family
We never thought the Frankenstein approach would work for eco-design, but Dutch designer Jetske de Groot shows that it works beautifully. A refreshing change to all the super-slick design at the Milan Furniture Fair, de Groot’s chairs and tables are as sustainable as they are appealing. The project, entitled ‘Multiple Family’, is driven by a brilliant, simple approach: take two or more broken chairs or tables, and fuse the non-broken bits together to produce a new, functional and completely unique design.
PROJECT EARTH DAY 2008: Student Fashion Competition
The annual Project Earth Day Student Fashion Competition was held this past Thursday as part of the Project Earth Day fashion event, and featured an impressive mix of young designers from schools such as Parsons, Pratt Institute, Colorado State and Savannah College of Art & Design. Given that many of these students are interning with both eco-label designers as well as conventional fashion houses, we are optimistic that the future of sustainable style looks impressively strong as the next generation of students coming out of design programs seems geared up to truly make a difference in an industry and a commercial sector that is increasingly becoming aware of the importance of going green for good!
PROJECT EARTH DAY 2008: EGB Eco fashion event
Eco-fashion loving New Yorkers came out in droves last Thursday night for the annual Project Earth Day green runway show/fashion design competition. The turnout was even more impressive than last year’s event, and the
MILAN 2008: Green Design Highlights from Milan
We’ve covered many of our favorite designs from Milan Design Week 2008 this past week, but there was lots of intriguing eco design that we still haven’t touched on yet: Steven Burks’ eco-minded ‘Cappellini Love’ tables, lots of LED oriented lighting, waste-diverting floor coverings made from scrap materials, and innovations for portable functional spaces are just a few of the highlights we don’t want to leave out from our Milan Coverage. From Tuttobene, Satellite and around town, here is a selection of great green designs we spotted while out and about in Milan last week.
Reverse GMO Eco-art by Critical Art Ensemble
It would be logical to think that buying organic soy milk is to buy non-GMO soy milk. The guidelines for keeping weird science, in this instance genetically modified organisms, out of your body would seem intuitively straightforward. Yet with current product packaging there is no label for “Now with extra GMOs!” Given that the grains even look the same, how might one critically go about addressing the genetically modified food onslaught? Critical Art Ensemble says to ‘de-modify’. With eco-art as a tactical weapon, the collaborative five-artist ensemble addresses issues of rampant biotechnology using everything from live performances, to installation art, to controversial counter science.
Milan 2008: Best of the Well-Tech Awards
One of our favorite stops during Milan Design Week, last week, was at the Well-Tech Exhibition, where we found the Well-Tech organization’s mission in full green design form. Founded to encourage design that focuses on sustainability, inclusiveness and improving quality of life, Well-Tech’s 2008 exhibit featured some of our favorite humanitarian and social design products, such as the Bogo solar light, as well as some innovative new eco-design ideas, like the ‘No More Gas (NmG)’ personal electric vehicle. Read on for our highlights from Well-Tech!
MILAN 2008: Moroso’s Bouquet Chair by Tokujin Yoshioka
The recent furniture fair in Milan has certainly made us appreciate how some of the simplest furniture pieces, like chairs, can be reinterpreted in any number of ways. Tokujin Yoshioka’s Bouquet chair, part of the Moroso collection at Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week, is an extraordinary example. With a thin, chrome metal tube supporting a simple egg shaped shell, Yoshioka has applied a bouquet of fabric squares to create an incredibly snug, and beautiful, chair. While our sustainable side is a little on the fence, we can’t help but be intrigued by this amazing design, which was easily one of the most talked about innovations in Milan this year.
PREFAB FRIDAY: PLUS HOUSE in Sweden
Tending away from the industrious (and eponymous) prefabricated square, the Plus House embraces its Nordic roots and rural setting as a thoroughly modern take on the Swedish barn house. The two-story prefab is situated in Tyresö and was designed by the award winning Claesson, Koivisto, and Rune architects for Arkitekthus. We love how their distinctive design melds a classic wood-paneled profile with ethereal day-lit interiors, synthesizing traditional structure with the best in ultra-efficient modern construction.
PROJECT EARTH DAY IS TONIGHT!!
Get ready eco-fashion loving New Yorkers! Project Earth Day - the fabulous green runway show / fashion design competition that we love so much is coming to the Teknion showroom TONIGHT, from 7-8pm. Anyone who likes sustainable fashion and/or Project Runway (since this is like an eco take on Project Runway), should definitely try to make it down to the showroom tonight to see it.
For those of you who are interested but can’t make the event, don’t fear! Check back with Inhabitat over the weekend to see our followup coverage. We will be documenting all the designers, and winners of the competition here on Inhabitat in our regular Sustainable Style Sunday column, so be sure to check in on Sunday to see how the whole thing went down.
SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Loup Charmant’s PURE Collection
Loup Charmant (the charming wolf) is a purely seductive and eco-dreamy intimates collection. Kee Edwards, the designer for Loup Charmant, will be showing selections from her latest PURE Collection at the Project Earth Day Eco-Fashion Show here in NYC tonight! We are anticipating a stunningly beautiful ‘force of nature’ to sweep down the runway as the lights dim and the stars come out. Romantically crafted and historically inspired, PURE collection will no doubt demonstrate the poetry of sustainable style – with its respect for the integrity of organic materials with a real connection to the unleashed, free-spirited imagination.
SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Alyson Fox’s A Small Collection
For eco fashion fans, what’s not to adore about Alyson Fox’s A Small Collection? We have covered Alyson before on Inhabitat, but we were totally excited to see her name in the designer line-up for tonight’s Project Earth Day Eco-Fashion Show at the Teknion Showroom in NYC. A Small Collection is proof indeed that small ideas can make a big impact when it comes to original, eco-friendly designs being shared with like-minded folks. Crafted from vintage wares and sustainable add-ons like buttons made from fallen branches, Alyson Fox’s creations really make you feel like you have arrived at the surprise birthday party that you always dreamed of, or at least pined for, with a few simple elements thoughtfully assembled together for all to enjoy.
PROJECT EARTH DAY IS TONIGHT!!!
Get ready eco-fashion loving New Yorkers! Project Earth Day - the fabulous green runway show / fashion design competition is coming to the Teknion showroom TONIGHT, from 7-8pm. Anyone who
Anyone who reads Inhabitat with any regularity knows that we love our eco fashion almost as much as we love green architecture and new technology. We believe in the interdisciplinary nature of design innovation, and love to see sustainable design collaboration across different industries. Thats why we are such big fans of ‘Project Earth Day’ - the annual NYC sustainable fashion event put on by the Emerging Green Builders (EGB) NYC chapter within the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). Although it is put together by architects and interior designers, this inspired green take on the ‘Project Runway’ design competition always features interesting up-and-coming designers, and can hold its own with any fashion industry event. This year’s line-up features all new designers, and yours truly as a judge on the student fashion competition! I can’t wait..
MILAN 2008: David Trubridge Spiral Island Collection
David Trubridge, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated green designers, reincarnates natural forms as light fixtures and seating in his latest work, which he presented at Salone Internazionale del Mobile last week. Tracing the curvilinear forms found in the island’s landscape, his Spiral Island collection evokes a sense of natural wonder in viewers, and garnered a line of eager spectators at the Salone show in Milan. Despite their large volume, the lighting fixtures float delicately overhead, giving new emphasis to the Maori name for New Zealand, Aotearoa, meaning ‘land of the long white cloud.’ Meanwhile, the colorful ‘Island’ seating will have your rear grounded in comfortable spiral bliss, mimicking the organic forms of the island in eco-sensitive style.
MILAN 2008: Droog Design ‘A Touch of Green’
Celebrated Dutch design collective Droog Design pushed green design ideas to the forefront this year with their ‘A Touch of Green’ presentation in Milan. Echoing this Inhabitant’s focus on the boundaries of sustainable design, Droog brought together a whole host of designers - some new, some familiar - to showcase a range of approaches in an effortlessly curated, but typically stylish show complete with a buzzing 48 hour shop. Among our favorites are Tejo Remy’s furniture made from collected components, SMAQ’s take on thermal comfort and Jens Praet’s functional, waste-diverting pieces, but the Droog show offered exciting new design perspectives at every turn. Read on for more highlights!
PROJECT EARTH DAY 2008 is tomorrow! - April 24th
Anyone who reads Inhabitat with any regularity knows that we love our eco fashion almost as much as we love green architecture and new technology. We believe in the interdisciplinary nature of design innovation, and love to see sustainable design collaboration across different industries. Thats why we are such big fans of ‘Project Earth Day’ - the annual NYC sustainable fashion event put on by the Emerging Green Builders (EGB) NYC chapter within the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). Although it is put together by architects and interior designers, this inspired green take on the ‘Project Runway’ design competition always features interesting up-and-coming designers, and can hold its own with any fashion industry event. This year’s line-up features all new designers, and yours truly as a judge on the student fashion competition! I can’t wait..
SUSTAINABLE STYLE: Species by the Thousands Shoes
Keds-style shoes might be easy to come by pretty much anywhere, but how often do you find designs this cute, and this original, that are also eco-friendly? Brooklyn design duo, Species by the Thousands, has created a whole new eco-freaky spin on Keds with their hand-painted canvas slip-ons featuring silhouetted critters and funky flora and fauna. Designers Erica Bradbury and Michele Colomer have a pretty dark sense of humor, too, with their quirky tag line, “How do crazy people go through the forest? They take the psycho path.” If you are obsessed with finding and sporting the latest in edgy green fashion, look no further, as Species by the Thousands will be presenting their designs at the Project Earth Day Eco-Fashion Show here in NYC on April 24th (that’s tomorrow kids!) Inhabitat’s Sustainable Style team is really looking forward to this parade of exotic species on the runway – as sustainable style gets a bit wild for the crowd.
MILAN 2008: Photoreactive Sun Canopy by Christoph Klemmt
Visitors to this year’s Salone del Mobile were in for a treat when they strolled through Zona Tortona into a quaint, Italian courtyard on Milan’s Via Borgospesso to encounter Christoph Klemmt’s stunning vortex-shaped OR installation. Composed out of polygonal, photoreactive segments which respond to ultra-violet light, OR’s captivating powers lie in its capacity to correspond its appearance to changes in weather and daylight. Its ’skin’ emits flourishing hues of blue and green when exposed to sunlight and maintains a subtle translucency when the installation is overcome by shade. Best of all, OR’s effects are not limited to daytime - at night, it generates ample atmosphere by becoming a ‘chandelier’ which lavishly floods its surrounding areas with a dramatic dispersement of light.
MILAN 2008: FUORI SALONE in Zona Tortona
With blue skies and sunshine to greet us, this past weekend in Milan took us to the Zona Tortona, an area in Milan outside the fair. We started the Zona Tortona journey with a brilliant, blue, photosensitive sun canopy, and found lots of sustainable design surprises from hand-printed wallpaper (on paper made from responsibly harvested sources) to a new take on eco-burial. From emerging young professionals to innovative design students, our highlights will give a taste of the scene ‘Fuori Salone’ - the off site exhibitions.
Earth Day, China, and the Trouble with Leading by Example
I have mixed feelings about Earth Day as a holiday. The various gestures and campaigns it incites often seem hastily cast towards a brief window of opportunity during which people care about the environment. Fortunately, it’s more obvious with every passing year that the window doesn’t close on April 23. In fact, since last Earth Day, we’ve become obsessed as a culture with quantifying and comparing our year-round ecological impacts, as well as those of our cities and countries, and the companies to whom we’re loyal. We salute the pursuit of a tiny footprint.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON EARTH DAY?
Happy Earth Day! This Earth Day, we find our Inhabitat team has grown to span nearly every corner of the globe. Since Earth Day is supposed to be about finding a global perspective on the state of our environment, we thought we’d take a poll of our contributors to see what Earth Day means to each of them. These unique perspectives are a driving force behind this blog and a welcome presence in our shared outlook of environmental stewardship. As we turn the page on the 38th annual celebration of the planet that we all call home, we asked our writers to share their plans on how they plan to spend April 22, 2008. From Hong Kong, India, Australia, Uganda, Germany, the U.S. and more, here’s a look at what Earth Day means to different Inhabitants. We’d love to hear from you. How do you plan to spend YOUR Earth Day, and what does this holiday mean to you?
The Human Powered Mercedes-Benz Trailblazer
Today, on Earth Day, we wanted to celebrate alternate modes of transportation, and what better way to do so than showcasing a beautiful bike from Mercedes-Benz. Starting in May, MB Accesories GmbH will add the Trailblazer mountain bike to its bicycle collection - the latest in the growing range of the Mercedes-Benz line of high-end bicycles. Perfect for going out to the trails or for trekking around the city, this bicycle has all the high-quality components that you would expect from a company like Mercedes-Benz.
