Inhabitat

Levent & Romme’s Elegant Laser-Cut Paper Lamps

These wonderful patterned paper lamps from Brooklyn–based Levent & Romme really caught our eye at this year’s BKLYN Designs show. Realized first as pen and ink illustrations, the patterns are then cut into a single sheet of thick watercolor paper. The paper is softly textured and opaque enough to make the designs pop, and the rigidity lends itself to the shades’ intricate cuts. Upping the coolness (and sustainability) quotient, the shade fits together using a tabbed design so that it forms a tube without any fasteners or adhesives.

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Multi-Purpose toyChaise by Iglooplay

Some really great designs for kids are debuting at this year’s BKLYN Designs, like this toyChaise by Iglooplay. We think parents will appreciate it even more than the kids though, because of its storage capacity and multiple uses. It’s perfect to play on top of, use as a desk, or lean back and rest …

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Argington’s New Collection is the Stuff of Dreams

Most people view bunk beds with fondness and a sense of nostalgia. But when we spied Argington’s awesome new collection of kids’ furniture, which included a one-of-a-kind bamboo version of their Uffizi bunk bed set, our feelings were more adult — and decidedly less becoming: first we felt envy, then longing, until finally, we were just …

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Ecosystems Bada Table Transforms into a Loveseat

Whether you’re an advocate of low-footprint living or a space-restricted city dweller looking to get the most milage out of your dining room, Ecosystems‘ brand new transforming Bada table may be just the piece you’re looking for. Crafted entirely from reclaimed walnut, the slick table features an ingenious design that transforms into a loveseat with a flick of the wrist, saving on both the space and materials consumed by multiple pieces of furniture.

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Tennis Ball Chair by Hugh Hayden

What do you think of when you think “green design?” Probably not a chair made entirely of recycled tennis balls! This fun and unexpected take on recycling by furniture designer Hugh Hayden is precisely why we named his enormously playful FUNATURE Tennis Ball Chair the winner of our BKLYN Designs Most Innovative Use of Materials Award. Not only is his choice of medium (297 repurposed tennis balls) smart and simple, it’s also fun and engaging. And when it comes to getting people talking about sustainable design, the Tennis Ball Chair is the perfect eco conversation piece.

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Balancing Buoy Chair by Evan Dewhirst

This year the Pratt booth at Bklyn Designs showcased an impressive body of creative work by students, making it clear that the budding designers view sustainability as integral to the development of a design, not as an afterthought to be accounted for later. We were particularly impressed with the Evan Dewhirst’s ergonomic Buoy Chair, and we’re excited to announce that it won our Best Student Design Award! The Buoy Chair is made up of a water buoy, an aluminum body and a cork top, all held together by a harness inside the chair, making it free of glues and epoxies. Sitting upon the stool encourages active balance, upright posture, and is a lot of fun!

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Ecosystems BADA Table Transforms Into a Love-Seat

We viewed dozens of innovative, noteworthy designs at BKLYN Designs last week. In fact, we were so blown away by the caliber of work we encountered that we wondered how we’d EVER single out 5 selections for our Editors’ Choice Awards. When it came time to choose our Best in Show honoree, however, we reached a consensus pretty quickly: EcoSystems. The green-to-the-core design firm’s two newly unveiled offerings — an innovative collection of ready-made furniture and one awesome transforming table — just blew us away.

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Inhabitat Editors’ Choice Awards @ BKLYN Designs

DRUMROLL PLEASE…

We are excited to announce the Inhabitat Editor’s Choice Awards for BKLYN Designs 2009! As we walked through the BKLYN Designs show this year we were thrilled to see fresh new faces and established designers alike unveiling an inspired assortment of locally-sourced designs made from recycled materials, elegant energy-efficient lighting solutions, and beautifully crafted furniture of every fit and form. Read on for our picks for the finest trends in future-forward furniture design!

MOST INNOVATIVE USE OF MATERIALS: FUNATURE BY HUGH HAYDEN
Hugh Hayden’s fresh new line of FUNature repurposes plastic balls into a bright bunch of furnishing solutions. We were particularly impressed with his tennis ball chair, which is composed entirely of recycled tennis balls that have lost their bounce.

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN: PAPER LAMPS BY LEVENT & ROMME
Levent & Romme’s elegant lamps consist of a single sheet of paper that has been laser-cut to let light shine through in beautiful patterns.

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Inhabitat Reports from BKLYN Designs 2009!

Yesterday morning, the Inhabitat team gathered in DUMBO for the opening of BKLYN Designs our favorite locally-grown furniture design show. In its seventh year, the annual showcase of locally-designed furniture provides visitors with sampling of the best in the borough. We saw lots of our old green BKLYN favorites such as Brave Space and Uhuru as well as plenty of exciting new faces and designs — and were especially excited to see what this year’s Pratt students had in store for us. This year’s show, while smaller than last year, proves once again that functionality, eco-sensitivity and beauty can come together under a smart designer. If you live in New York City, we hope you make it out to DUMBO before the weekend is over, to catch our BKLYN Designs Editors’ Choice Awards – which will be given out on our green design walking tour at 3pm on Sunday. To entice you, here are some of our favorite designs from the show…

And don’t forget to check out our photo album >

Hugh Hayden’s FUNiture Tennis Ball Chair

UHURU Booth 2009

Hugh Hayden showcases his colorful FUNiture

Recycled Sweater Stools by Sara Ebert (at the Pratt booth)

Buoy Chair by Evan Dewhirst (at the Pratt booth)

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BKLYN Designs: Rockabye Storage Rocker from CASAKids

BKLYN Designs starts today, and we can’t wait to see this sweet Rockabye Storage Rocker from CASAKids. Tots can hop on the eco-friendly bandwagon in this multifunctional rocking chair that features a lift-up seat and doubles as a storage space for books, art supplies and other treasures. Made of Baltic Birch Plywood and non-toxic painted MDF, this rocker for the pint-sized …

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BKLYN Designs Starts Today!

BKLYN Designs starts today!
BKLYN Designs starts today and we couldn’t be more excited! Running from May 8-10, this awesome showcase of local furniture design kicks off NY Design Week, and is one of our favorite events of the year. The inhabitat team is here right now, walking around the showroom to try all the fabulous eco-friendly furniture on display, so we can report it back to you guys this weekend.

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BKLYN DESIGNS STARTS TOMORROW!

HEY DESIGN LOVING NEW YORKERS! BKLYN Designs starts tomorrow and we couldn’t be more excited! Running from May 8-10, this awesome showcase of local furniture design kicks off NY Design Week, and is one of our favorite events of the year. We’ll be pressing our noses up against the glass bright and early tomorrow morning and – as soon as doors open – racing around to see all the fabulous eco-friendly furniture on display, so we can report it back to you guys this weekend.

This year at BKLYN Designs we’ll be doing something new: we’ll be giving out ‘Editors’ Choice Awards’ to recognize our favorite green designs from the show during our annual Mother’s Day Green Design Tour this Sunday. We’re looking forward to seeing fresh new furnishings, great green products, and energy-efficient lighting solutions, so stay tuned for more coverage to come and if you’d like to join us at the event you can pick up tickets here!

And if you’re not in NYC, keep it tuned to Inhabitat this weekend and next week for all the latest on BKLYN Designs 2009

+ BKLYN Designs 2009

+ Inhabitat BKLYN Designs Coverage

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BKLYN DESIGNS SNEAK PEEK: Argington Toy Box

Brooklyn Designs is one of our favorite design shows, and one reason why is that it boasts an amazing array of eco-friendly kids’ furniture. Today, we’ve been fortunate enough to sneak a peek at one of those pieces, the Fuji Toy Box from Argington. Long a classic arbiter of good, green …

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Inhabitat Giving Out Awards at BKYLN Designs 2009!

DRUMROLL PLEASE! New York Design Week is about to begin and we’re kicking things off this weekend with our first ever Green Design Awards at BKLYN Designs! Running from May 8-10, this incredible showcase of locally-sourced design is one of our favorite events of the year, and we’ll be giving out ‘Editors’ Choice Awards’ to recognize our favorite pieces during our annual Mother’s Day Green Design Tour this Sunday. We’re looking forward to scores of fresh new furnishings, great green products, and energy-efficient lighting solutions, so stay tuned for more coverage to come and if you’d like to join us at the event you can pick up tickets here!

+ BKLYN Designs 2009

+ Inhabitat BKLYN Designs Coverage

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BKYLN Sneak Peak: EcoSystems’ Snug-it! Desk

One of Inhabitat’s favorite eco-design posses, EcoSystems, will be unveiling its new line at next week’s BKLYN Designs showcase, but for you lucky readers we have an early offering: their new ‘snug-it!’ collection of affordable eco furniture, named after the brand’s innovative hardware connectors. One of our favorite pieces from the snug-it! collection is this desk, made from bamboo and FSC Appleply, both with natural oil finish.

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BKLYN Designs Sneak Peek: Uhuru Designs

Lots of up-and-coming and established designers will present new collections at BKLYN Designs this weekend, and we don’t want to miss a single, solitary piece of work—which is why we love getting an advanced look at what’s to come! Bill Higendorf, co-founder of Brooklyn–based furniture company Uhuru Design, sent us a sneak peak of the three new locally and sustainably produced designs he and partner Jason Horvath are debuting at BKLYN Designs this week. While they’re every bit as functional as Uhuru’s previous products, the limited edition Stitched Table, Standard Chair and Metal Stoolen have a little added oomph that sets them apart.

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BKLYN Designs Sneak Peak: Hugh Hayden’s FUNature

We’re gearing up for the start of BKLYN Designs next week and are excited to offer a few sneak peaks of some amazing and talented designers who are focusing on green design. First up is FUNature, a furniture line created by Hugh Hayden, a relative newcomer in the world of design. Hayden’s new line of chairs and tables was inspired by the messy yet imaginative and comfortable experience of ball-pools (like the kind you played in at Chuck E Cheese, but without the gross unknown at the bottom). His environmentally conscious line is perfect for adults as well as children and is sure to bring back fun memories.

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BKLYN Designs Begins Next Friday!

Heads up East Coast design junkies! BKLYN Designs, New York’s preeminent showcase of locally-sourced green design is kicking off next week from May 8th through the 10th, and Inhabitat will be on the scene to bring you all of the latest from the show. Based upon the tremendous success of last year’s event we’re looking forward to another weekend filled with brand new releases by an acclaimed set of sustainable designers, enlightening lectures, and our very own Jill Fehrenbacher will be hosting another Mother’s Day Green Design Tour. We’ll also be kicking off our first ever Inhabitat awards, where we will carefully vet all designs on display and give awards to our favorite green designers at this year’s show. Check out our BKLYN Designs coverage from last year and don’t miss out on this groundbreaking event – buy your tickets today!

+ BKLYN Designs 2009

+ BKLYN Designs 2008 Coverage

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BKLYN DESIGNS 2009: Call for Entries!

Save the date NY Design Fans! BKLYN Designs will be kicking off its annual exhibition of exquisite locally-sourced design May 8-10, 2009. Now in its 7th year running, the event will feature an incredible selection of furnishings, lighting, and accessories, and this year Inhabitat’s own Jill Fehrenbacher will be participating in the jury panel! The deadline for exhibitor registration is December 12th, so if you’re interested in showing off your  designs at this prestigious event, head to the BKLYN Designs website for an application.

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Digitally Fabricated Inversion Bowl by Desu Design

Desu Design displayed their sleek surface line at this year’s BKLYN Designs, but their real show-stopper at the show was their cutting edge Inversion bowl. Composed of a single slab of eco-friendly, renewable Richlite, the bowl’s functional form resides in that which has been carved away. The simple and sustainable tabletop monolith was a big hit for its beautiful sheen and smooth, tactile feel.

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Urban Driftwood Stools by Ian Collings

One of the show-stoppers at this year’s BKLYN Designs was the Pratt Institute’s student exhibition. There’s no better place to catch great new work by young designers, and we were particularly impressed by Ian Collings’ reclaimed wood “Urban Driftwood” stools. They’re beautiful pieces that balance reclaimed natural and man-made materials in a design that is simultaneously rough and refined.

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LED Constellation Chandelier by Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn

This stunning LED chandelier lit up this year’s BKLYN Designs with a stellar low-energy lighting solution for light emitting diodes. Recent Pratt graduate Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn wowed attendees at the BKLYN Designs show with his constellation chandelier, which takes the form of a gorgeous starburst, breaking LEDs free from their circuit-mounted domain.

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COFFIN TABLE: Memento Coffee Table Casket

Worrying that you don’t think about death enough in your day-to-day life? Pratt student Charles Constantine is looking to change this and inject a bit of morbidity into the daily routine, with his new design for a coffee table coffin. On display in the Pratt Institute student design booth at BKLYN Designs, this ‘Coffin Table’ is a typical coffee table which packs a punch when it comes to storage. Not only can it store books and other knick-knacks like personal mementos, but its ultimate goal is to store YOU – or what remains of you – when you pass on to the next life.

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BKLYN Designs – Inhabitat Reports

Inhabitat was on the scene all three days of BKLYN Designs this weekend and we have a lot of great finds to report back to you. The BKLYN Designs furniture exhibition, which is held in DUMBO every year in May, is not a large event by any means (unlike the upcoming International Contemporary Furniture Fair at the Javitz center this weekend). However, what the small, carefully curated show lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in the quality of the work on display. Every year there are a handful of designers that knock our socks off, and the best part is that they are always local designers, using locally-sourced materials, sustainable production methods, and high-quality hand-craftsmanships.

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BKLYN DESIGNS: Iglooplay Tea Pod Collection

We love our wholesome kid-friendly furniture here at Inhabitat. A modernist sensibility combined with the fun of living with a versatile, ‘growing system’ of organic pods equals the best in green design and family-friendly solutions. Iglooplay Tea Pods by Lisa Albin are unmatched when it comes to children’s furniture pieces that integrate organically with home décor as well as engage the ever-curious peeps. Sculptural, space saving, and moveable, we love that Iglooplay is all about eco-friendly design via dynamic and ergonomically modules at play. We are visiting Iglooplay’s display at BKLYN Designs today during our Mother’s Day Green Design Walking Tour to highlight how Iglooplay is all about the best in sustainable design and true organic versatility.

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BKLYN: Mother’s Day Green Design Tour Today at 2pm

We’ve been having a great time at this year’s BKLYN Designs discovering new eco-friendly designs from inspired Brooklyn-based designers. Today, we invite you to join us for a unique event, a green design walking tour in celebration of Mother’s Day. Inhabitat editors Jill Fehrenbacher and Abigail Doan will be at BKLYN Designs today at 2pm to lead a Green Design Walking Tour of kid and family friendly furniture, décor, and much more. If you are looking for a great way to celebrate Mom, gain green design insight and meet some of the Inhabitat team, join Jill and Abigail for this wonderful event!

We only have a few spots left for the tour, so if you are interested in joining us, please email us at inhabitat at gmail.com, so we know to expect you.

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Inhabitat reports from BKLYN Designs!

Yesterday’s rainy weather did nothing to deter our spirits as the Inhabitat team of Jill, Abigail, Mike and Ali headed to BKLYN Designs to check out this three day local design extravaganza.

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THIS SUNDAY: BKLYN Designs Mother’s Day Walking Tour

HEY NYC INHABITAT READERS!

Any of you looking for something fun and designy to do this Sunday? Wanna meet the faces behind the Inhabitat blog, and check out some hot green furniture design in the process? This Sunday, at 2pm, in honor of Mothers Day, Jill and Abigail from Inhabitat will be leading a Green Design walking tour at the BKLYN Designs furniture fair – and it is sure to be a lot of fun.

We’re taking a limited number of people on the tour, so if you are interested in signing up, please email us at inhabitat at gmail.com.

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BKLYN Designs STARTS TODAY- Inhabitat is here!

BKLYN Designs STARTS TODAY!!
We are thrilled to be on the scene at this year’s BKLYN Designs – it is one our favorite springtime events, and we couldn’t be more excited! Locally sourced and inspired, the BKLYN Designs furniture fair captures a side of sustainable design that is near and dear to Inhabitat’s mission – drawing local designers together into a familiar, yet fresh, environment to celebrate design innovation. This year is especially exciting as four of our Inhabitants (Jill, Ali, Mike & Abigail) have converged upon Brooklyn to scope out the scene and partake in eco-conscious events during this design extravaganza. We will be here all weekend reporting back with the best in sustainable design from BKLYN Designs 2008!

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BKLYN SNEAK PEEK: Ayres Trundle Bed by Argington

Named after one of the world’s most treasured natural wonders, Argington’s new Ayres Twin Bed tucks in your little treasures with the sleek signature style of this next generation minded furniture maker. We’ve featured many of Argington’s modern children’s pieces, but are particularly pleased by this sweet, sustainable, timber trundle bed. Presenting at BKLYN Designs this weekend, the Ayres Twin Bed upholds this sustainably-grounded company’s commitment to beautifully crafted children’s furniture made with the earth in mind.

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BKLYN SNEAK PEEK: Uhuru Recycled Bourbon Barrel Furniture

We’ve long been fans of Brooklyn green furniture team Uhuru Design. Every year at BKLYN Designs we eagerly look forward to seeing Uhuru’s latest work, from the beautiful recycled scrap wood Stoolen series that we spotted in 2006, to the clever Cutoffs Table from 2007, both of which utilize reclaimed wood as the main design concept. In fact, Uhuru’s most recognizable style seems to be their unique sensibility in finding innovative ways to turn old wood scraps into stunning pieces of contemporary furniture. So, what are we keeping an eye on for 2008? The answer is Bourbon Barrel Furniture. Uhuru will be launching a brand new line of furniture at BKLYN Designs 2008, featuring a chair, bench, table and stool, all made from reclaimed bourbon barrels.

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