California College of the Arts (CCA) and Santa Clara University recently assembled a team of over 100 students to design the Refract House, an ultra energy-efficient dwelling that promotes an “innovative and cost-effective strategy to climate-friendly building”. Taking up just 800 square feet, the Refract House is compact, energy efficient and green in just about every way imaginable, combining state of the art climate and energy monitoring technologies with solar-thermal and photovoltaic systems.

READ MORE >

In 1999, The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) set out to create a revolutionary fire and emergency services training facility that uses the newest and most innovative environmentally-conscious building standards. The result is this $13.5 million state-of-the-art training facility designed by Kleinfeldt Mychajlowycz Architects, which was awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Silver Rating. The structure not only provides a healthy place to live and work, it reduces waste sent to landfills, conserves energy and water, and reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

READ MORE >

If the walls of the Big Dig House could talk, they’d tell you that it’s comprised of 600,000 lbs of recycled materials that were rescued from the Big Dig highway project in Boston. Inhabitat last reported on the striking modern residence in 2006 when it was still in its planning stages, and it has since come a long way from being a pile of rubble and recycled materials. We may now behold what stands today — an elegant and modern private home in Lexington, MA with an exciting backstory.

READ MORE >

Julia Molloy and Taka Sarui of Brooklyn design collaborative XLXS created the GrowShelter, a highly unique living environment where humans, plants and animals may co-exist. Consisting of three spherical shells embedded with seeds, the habitat is designed to evolve with the seasons – starting the cycle in spring, the spheres are embedded in a mixture of earth/mud/seed, and as summer approaches, the plants will be in bloom and the embedded food in the mud will create a mini haven for local animals and birds. The earth should weather away by fall and winter, leaving the permanent shells ready to be packed again for spring.

READ MORE >

The Kokopo House proves that luxury, eco-minded amenities and off-grid living may co-exist. Peering over the top of the forest, the home’s open structure creates a luxurious treehouse-like escape deep within Papua New Guinea’s volcanic region. Open to the elements, the Kokopo House contains no windows, allowing for natural circulation to pass through the barrier-free house. The walls encourage wind movement and cross ventilation through geometric shapes and patterns that are inspired by the flow of volcanic lava.

READ MORE >

XTEN Architecture recently unveiled an elegantly spiraling observation tower that stands to make an incredible new addition to Dubai’s skyline. Dubbed the ZPO Tower, the structure features a beautiful latticed facade inspired by traditional motifs, and includes plans for solar film, geothermal heating and cooling, a green roof, and grey water recycling. The tower is designed to be constructed from mostly recycled materials at net zero energy, and it can generate enough solar energy to completely power itself!

READ MORE >

“What if one block in Texas became the sustainable model for the world? What if everything we knew and believed about design needed to change? What if we need to change along with it?” David Baker + Partners and Fletcher Studio answered these questions with their XERO Project, an incredible plan to connect the city of Dallas with greenways while bringing local agriculture, public orchards, community gardens, private planter boxes, and food stalls into the city. The project recently took first place in the Re:Vision Dallas design competition, and is focused around an energy efficient building that will include a rainwater collection system, solar panels and planted screens that will produce onsite energy and food.

READ MORE >

Situated within the urban depths of South Korea’s largest shopping and business district, Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park will provide shoppers, tourists and residents of Seoul with a place of leisure, relaxation and refuge when it opens in 2010. Designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize winning architect Zaha Hadid, the project infuses the city’s dense urban center with an emerald core replete with rolling grass-covered roofs.

READ MORE >

If you’re looking for unique home accessories that are environmentally friendly and have a clean and elegant design quality, you’ll want to check out Corque’s new collection crafted with – you guessed it – cork! From the fun Rolha candle holder which allows users to turn old bottles into candelabras, to funky Topography placemats, which bring rough terrain to the table, their “Designing Living Objects” line truly showcases the versatility of cork.

READ MORE >

A proposal for a £250m luxury hotel in London is aiming to bring commerce, tourism, and a BREEAM “Excellent” rating to the north banks of the River Thames. Alsop Architects has collaborated again with Blackfriars Investments after a successful partnership with the Palestra Building in South London. Designed to give distinct characteristics to the building elevations, translucent stones will be used to add texture of the exterior of the unique shape of this building, while other sides will feature a faceted façade system that will be insulated to improve thermal performance.

READ MORE >

Called “365,” Hero Design Lab’s newest line of functional and attractive outdoor sustainability solutions wowed attendees at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair this year with its eye-catching looks. 365 consists of an outdoor drying rack and rain collection system, dubbed DR-1 and RC-1 respectively, which perfectly illustrate Hero’s talent for morphing items that are typically quite boring into outdoor decor with flair. After all, if we are going to integrate these water and energy saving products into our homes, why shouldn’t they also be fun to look at?

READ MORE >

Where can one go to find breathtaking landscapes, artistic scenery and people with unique character? Punkaharju, Finland is one place, and PunkAlive goes to great measures to incorporate these qualities in their new furniture line that recently debuted at Zona Tortona during the Milan Furniture Fair. We spoke with Jukka Lommi and Jukka Rissanen on the opening day of the fair and learned about how PunkAlive is getting closer to nature by combining style with sustainability.

READ MORE >

Claudio Fiumicelli really knows how to light up a room! The Studiodsgn artist presented his futuristic C60 LED modular lighting unit at the Zona Tortona design event to critical acclaim. Resembling an illuminated transparent soccer ball, the C60 is comprised of hexagonal pieces that attach to each other in a spherical or planar structure and 360 LED lights, C60 can be hung, mounted on a wall or displayed simply on a flat surface.

READ MORE >

Zona Tortona is regarded as a sister show, or “satellite exhibit,” to the Salone Internazionale del Mobile; however, it was at Zona Tortona that I found some of the most innovative and forward-moving designs this week in Milan. Zona Tortona takes place in a neighborhood where the streets via Zona and via Tortona cross. Historically this neighborhood was an industrial area with rows of compact tenement housing placed in between factories. The transformation from commerce to creative space began in the early 80s when artists and designers were being pushed into the outskirts of the city at the same time that industry started moving further into the countryside. Today, Zona Tortona is known around the world as an art and design district and is universally recognized for the exhibit that runs concurrently with iSaloni.

READ MORE >

Designer Nicolas Cheng of Studioroom906 is presenting this beautiful set of stationary made from recycled eggshells at the Milan Furniture Fair this week. In his “Childhood Memories” collection, Cheng uses wasted eggshells that undergo a “high pressure technique” to create a new material that utilizes the existing proteins and mineral crystals from the shells. 100 recycled eggshells are used per set which includes a pencil, pencil holder, eraser and A5 paper.

READ MORE >

In his project RE:cover, Exhibited this week at the Milan Furniture Fair, Fredrik Färg takes the idea of timeless fashion and applies it to furniture to give old chairs a new and glamorous life. Färg purchases old chairs from flea markets, restores them to their original condition, and then fits a new “textile dress/structure” to the frame. His work is classy, elegant and recycled!

READ MORE >