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.

Think a luxury pillow has to be made of silk? Think again- African-born, London-based designer Bridget West crafts gorgeous housewares, pillows, and throws, from vintage labels and tags that critique the throw-away nature of our consumer existence in a really beautiful way. Her Handle With Care pillow is made from clothing tags, while the Delicate Cube and Made in Cube pillows are quirky and comfy, featuring inked graphics and organic cotton or hemp.

Finnish company Artek is no stranger to innovative, eco-conscious design. Pioneered in 1935 by legendary Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, Artek’s design philosophy has always been about combining the systematic workings of the natural world with the clean-lined aesthetic of modernism. Shigeru Ban’s partnership with the company, then, makes perfect sense. The Japanese architect teamed up with Artek to build an eco-friendly pavillion for the Milan Furniture fair — made almost entirely out of recycled sticky labels. Recently reconstructed in Helsinki, the meticulously designed pavilion features a wood-plastic composite called ProFi.

If you are looking for a cool alternative to your average, run-of-the-mill upholstered furniture, the latest buzz (and one of the stunners of the HauteGREEN show) is the Emir chair by Lars Urheim of the Norwegian design house Trokk16. A beautiful specimen of classic Scandinavian design, the Emir chair is constructed out of natural latex foam, sustainable wood, wool fabric and woolen felt. The biodegradable Emir is as much about form as it is about substance. According to Urheim, the chair’s components can easily be separated and reused or recycled after its initial use has run its course.

During the week of Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, we put a call out for eco-loving, freelance correspondents to help us out with our coverage. Our plea was met with much enthusiasm from, among others, a design class from Kansas State University, who braved the ruckus of the event to bring us some exciting reports and tips from Salone. Read on for a run-down of some of their favorite and ‘greenest’ finds…

Biomimicry proved to be all the rage at the Salone Internazional del Mobile this year, with designers drawing big-time inspiration from the wonders of the natural world. Though Finnish textile design studio Woodnotes falls in the same category, their apparent love of ecological structures doesn’t render their work any less unique than that of other eco-emulators. An eye-catching aspect of their booth at the Salone was the Flake Blind which hung delicately amidst their designs. As implied by its given moniker, the Flake Blind was inspired by memories of wintertime bliss and the geometric qualities of a snowflake.

After being alerted to all the Inhabitat-worthy designs that had yet to be uncovered in the Tortona district of Milan during the week of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, we made our way towards the site of the Zona Tortona Design Event. An initiative of Recapito Milanese, the event was inspired by a smaller affair organized by Giulio Cappellini from Superstudio in April 2001. Last year, Zona Tortona generated 60,000 visitors with over 194 companies from all over the world displaying their wares. For the design community, the event has become synonymous with ‘alternative’ or ‘independent’ design garnering a reputation for more experimental work than the mainstream-oriented Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Read on for more details of all the great stuff we found!

The veteran furniture manufacturer Swedese is notoriously associated with classic Swedish style in their Scandinavian homeland. Since its founding in 1945, Swedese has run in the same circles as fellow Scandinavian design pioneers such as Arne Jacobson and Alvar Aalto in its quest to create sensible and ecologically-evocative design. At the Salone Internazionale del Mobile this year, their simple yet stunning work proved that the initial appeal of ‘Scandanavian Modern’ had yet to fade into the sidelines. A particularly notable piece in the exhibit this year was their Breeze side table designed by Monica Forster.

At Salone Internazional del Mobile’s Euroluce in Milan, designers fearsomely competed for attention by decking out their booths with high-tech light displays. But the one that caught our eye and held our attention was a series of innovative light structures from the always creative Ingo Maurer. And this year, Mr. Maurer’s fixtures were particularly green, integrating an array of everyday and reused objects including toothpaste tubes. Leave it to him to make Colgate beautiful.

+ INGO MAURER

From April 18 to 23, Milan IS the Salone Internazionale del Mobile as designers, tourists, and journalists flock to the trade fair for the most anticipated design event of the year. On Day One, Inhabitat made its way to the Rho-Fiera fairgrounds on the outskirts of the bustling Italian city where the latest international designs were being unveiled before a crazed, but decidedly stylish, public. We’ve seen some great stuff and have tons to report- read on for some highlights!

[Re] design, the non-profit organization established by designers specializing in sustainable design, hit Bluebird restaurant in London recently with a showcase of quirky, smart designs snagged from their previous exhibition during London Design Week last year. One of the show’s highlights was without a doubt, the Anglo-Italian design studio, Studiomold who won approving looks from the restaurant’s fascinated clientele by raiding the recycling box and crafting beautiful lamp bases out of used plastic, fizzy drink bottles. Sustainable and aesthetically pleasing, Studiomold’s Big Crush and Little Crush table lamps instill the notion of creating ambiance with a sense of humor.

Image by Kalevi A. Makinen, courtesy of the Barbican Art Gallery

If you happen to be in London, you should hightail it over to the Barbican Art Gallery where one of the most talked about architectural shows in the city, Alvar Aalto Through the Eyes of Shigeru Ban, is being showcased from now until mid-May. Beautifully curated by world-renowned Japanese architect Ban, the exhibition traces the life and work of legendary architect Alvar Aalto whose modernist designs made him a national treasure in his native Finland and put him on par with the likes of Le Corbusier and Mies Van der Rohe.

As a nod to childhood treehouses and those good old days of youthful splendor, Dustin Feider obsessed himself with developing the perfect eco-friendly version of the tree sanctuary. After much trial and error, the 23-year old freelance furniture designer came up with a unique and green take on the conventional kiddie sanctuary which he dubbed the O2 Sustainability Treehouse. Inspired by the construction of Buckminster Fuller’s infamous geodesic dome, Feider discovered that by following Bucky’s lead, he could use less material and construct a more stable structure than that of the ‘traditional’ treehouse – most importantly, without at all harming the tree.

If you’re a greenthumb in spirit but just can’t keep your favorite leafy pets alive, fret not – the answer to your problems has arrived in a clever new human/plant communication project. Four students from NYU’s infamous ITP program – Robert Faludi, Kate Hartman, Kati London and Rebecca Bray – have recently devised a brilliant solution to keep you from throwing in the trowel on gardening altogether. Dubbed Botanicalls, the innovative concept establishes a way for thirsty plants to effectively communicate their needs to humans – by placing phone calls to their owners.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

Participants from the Urban Curators project recently transformed derelict areas of downtown Providence into an outdoor gallery space when they took to the streets and indulged in a little impromptu ‘curating.’ Passing residents were pleasantly bewildered when they stumbled upon a series of gold-painted frames haphazardly taped to graffiti-covered walls and the crumbling exteriors of abandoned sites. The intention of the group, which initially assembled as a collective after participating in RISD’s Semiotic Disobedience workshop last fall, was to highlight the urban ‘beauty’ of locales that most would condemn as decrepit and unsightly.

Acclaimed in the design world as a ‘champion of the supernormal,’ Naoto Fukasawa once again proceeds to wow us – this time with his exciting lighting design for Swarovski , the all too well-known purveyor of crystals. Aptly dubbed Cosmos 1 and 2, Fukasawa’s electroluminescent lights generate the impression of illuminated ‘after-images” when one utilizes them to draw circles in the air. The effect was literally blinding when Fukasawa lit up the Swarovski Crystal Palace in London during Design Week last year by studding the route of the ‘after-images’ with, what else, a line of Swarovski crystals. Fukasawa, who was reportedly pleased with the results, said “It is as if the light comes from the stick of wizards.”

Like something plucked right out of a 1960’s sci-fi flick, the model of a Driverless bus wowed visitors at the Science Museum in London – where it is currently on exhibit – with its claims of reducing air pollution and traffic congestion, wrapped up in a slick, futuristic package.

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Classical, highbrow lighting is given a modern twist with Neues Licht’s exciting new optical chandelier, the Scintilla 60. Utilizing energy-saving fibre optic technology, designer Simon Brunner draws upon the cool simplicity of state-of-the-art materials in order to conjure up the heightened intimacy of an atmosphere historically associated with the presence of a traditional chandelier. Elegant and fragile, this design is also available in a larger version, Scintilla 100.

Hundreds of young student hopefuls entered the Electrolux Design Lab industrial design competition this year for a crack at the big-time. Finally the results are in – Metin Kaplan, an industrial design student from Istanbul Technical University has snagged the grand prize for his innovative take on the conventional lunchbox. Kaplan’s design cleverly addressed the competition’s running theme – solutions that provide the 2016 consumer with healthier eating habits. Kaplan’s creation, which he dubbed Nevale, was inspired by an antique food container with layers called ‘sefertasi’ which was used for centuries in Middle-Eastern countries.

Belgium-based design shop Materialise has developed their signature style by combining digital manufacturing processes with organic forms inspired by nature. This juxtaposition yields beautiful designs such as Creepers LED lighting, concocted by UK designer Lionel Theodore Dean. Drawing inspiration from the growth patterns of ‘creeper’ vines, Creepers incorporates low-energy LED lights within plastic flower-shaped appendages that hang delicately from the ceiling to create a sort of organic chandelier. When refracted through the translucency of the polyamide petals, the LEDs produce lovely patterns and variances of light.

Folding chairs are great in theory, but most traditional designs are often bulky and unwieldy in both folded and unfolded form — defeating the whole point of impromptu seating. Now Belgian design company Materialise.MGX has solved this folding chair dilemma with their beautifully designed One Shot Stool. With a little help from rapid prototyping production, they’ve created a chair that gracefully twists from a narrow staff into a functional stool in a matter of seconds. In the folded position, the One Shot Stool is barely larger than a walking stick, making storage and transport a breeze. Once unfolded, it provides a sturdy little seat that is as functional as it is engaging.

If you are feeling the chill at home this winter, why not consider a more eco-friendly form of insulation instead of the hazardous fiberglass standby? We’ve raved about Arizona-based company Bonded Logic in the past but we just can’t get enough of their superb product Ultra Touch. Comprising of 100% recycled denim, Ultra Touch proves that you don’t need to sacrifice your health in order to reap the benefits of efficient insulation. Unlike its toxic candy-floss-like alternative, the cotton material is safe enough for your kids to enjoy a tumble in, being entirely free of carcinogens and formaldehyde.

This past week, pedestrians passing the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore were happily surprised by periodic bursts of precipitation falling from a nearby Angsana tree. Many innocent passers-by gawked in wonderment, but those in the know recognized it as an art installation conceptualized and executed by Dutch-born artist Iepe B. T. Rubingh in conjunction with the first annual Singapore Biennale. Rubingh, known more familiarly as IEPE, says he uncovered the Singapore Miracle tree’s supernatural powers after ‘talking’ to it for three weeks. Inspired by traditional folklore, he believes that the rain from the tree cleanses one’s sins, cures diseases and acts as a kind of fountain of youth. Even without the rhetoric, we love the simple beauty and poetic imagery of a raining tree in an urban setting.

There is something special about bicycles. Any bike enthusiast will tell you that their bicycle is not merely a means of efficient transportation, but practically an extension of their body. But what happens when that once cherished two-wheeled friend has outrun its course? Swedish designer Frida Ottemo Kallstrom resolves this dilemma with unique designs that will keep the cherished memories of your favorite bicycle intact even after its well-worn parts have deteriorated. She debuted her collection of recycled bicycle furniture at the Salone Satellite show in Milan this past April.

Recycled cardboard has enjoyed a fair bit of action as far as the sustainable furniture circuit is concerned – but how often is it that you a see a lamp being fashioned out of the stuff? Employing his signature technique of ‘fluting’, which involves the alternating the angle of the corrugation in the cardboard to produce varied designs and patterns on its surface, UK designer Giles Miller manages to whip up an intriguing design that emphasizes the softer, diaphanous side of a rough-and-tumble material which isn’t normally regarded as delicate or sophisticated. Sustainable and chic, Miller’s lamp not only looks good, it creates instant atmosphere with one flick of the switch by peppering the room with light and moody shadows.

We just can’t get enough of innovative Dutch design here at Inhabitat and here’s one more great furniture design to add to our catalog. Libraries all over The Netherlands have suddenly found it essential to stock up on Daan Roosegaarde’s Variant shelves. Deftly hand-constructed out of recycled cardboard, the curious constructions were initially conceived at AKI art academy in Enschede where Roosegaarde studied sculpture. The Rotterdam-based designer soon found himself starting up a production line overnight after library bigwigs got whiff of his class project.

With the overwhelming number of generic black laptop totes flooding the market these days, it was refreshing to have a close encounter with Giles Miller’s unique Corrugated Cardboard Laptop Case at London’s [re]Design exhibit this fall. Sturdy, stylish, and completely sustainable, the cardboard lining the front of Miller’s tree-loving creation is 100% recycled, and the unique fluting gives its wearer the option to personalize it with custom designs such as one’s initials (or an apple logo — as shown here).

Sustainability is wholly integrated with home life with Thailands first Bio-Solar House, a completely self-reliant abode in Bangkok where nothing goes to waste. The brainchild of Soontorn Boonyatikam, a professor of architecture at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand who is also the designer and occupant, the Bio-Solar House was developed in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team comprised of students and faculty from architecture, engineering and science departments. Although the exterior features of the house differ little from the average middle-class Thai dwelling, its true powers lie in the installed functionalities that course through its interiors.

At the [Re]Design 06 exhibition in London, the hip British design team ww.modcons explore the issue of disposability with their subtly ironic Shelves for Life. The artfully assembled slats of wood begin their existence dutifully propping up books and knick-knacks, but when their time is up, instead of getting kicked to the curb, these shelves convert into a coffin!

Feel like taking in a film at your favorite theatre but can’t find enough energy to move your caboose from the comfort of your cozy domestic den? Now you don’t have to. Guy Arzi’s bright and fun Rocky Chair, which is made from reclaimed cinema seats, sets the stage for the ultimate home viewing experience by directly channeling popcorn-infused good times at the local movie palace.