We spotted a lot of great designs at ICFF this year, but one of the gems that really stopped us in our tracks was this gorgeous eco Echo Lounge Chair which boasts a customizable ergonomic cushion system and a sustainable attitude. The Echo Lounge Chair, designed by Carlos Fierro of Plug Design, is a simple, beautifully crafted metal framed chair that is built entirely without fasteners or adhesives. Timber slats fill the frame, and adjustable wool pieces inserted between each slat provide built-in cushioning. The best part is that the user can customize the profile of the woolen pieces to provide a plush, personalized fit to meet any ergonomic needs.
The best work on display at New York’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair this year came from student designers. BVD Collective, a student project from Appalachian State University, proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt by debuting a stunning collection of lighting fixtures made from recycled plastic utensils. Made from 100% post-consumer plastic utensils (yes, that means dirty forks collected from waste-bins), the ‘Waste Not’ line of lamps highlights just how elegant and inspired recycled design can be. The gorgeous Go Go Ghost table lamp (shown above), by Corey Daniels, is made from 121 recycled plastic knives collected over the course of countless BVD group lunches from a fried chicken restaurant.
A confessed dumpster diver always on the look-out for abandoned treasures and grand-daughter to both a furniture designer and a scrap metal recycler, Emily Kroll was destined to launch EKLA Home. With a fresh new brand of sustainable sofas, Kroll’s green-minded design endeavor takes its eco-mandate very seriously. If you didn’t catch the Los Angeles-based designer’s off-Javits East Coast debut at Design Lush during ICFF, here’s a quick and delicious recap.
If you are a coffee drinker with a hard-to-kick habit, you are probably all too aware of how many coffee stirrers are wasted at places like Starbucks every single day. Day in and day out, millions of these single-use sticks go straight into the garbage and off to the landfill after a quick 10-second swirl of cream or sugar. You may have even wondered - like we sure have: “Isn’t there something that we can do to get better use out of all these toss-away coffee stirrers?” Well we are happy to report that there finally is answer to the java-waste woes: Portuguese design group Studio Veríssimo has just debuted a gorgeous eco-luxe chandelier that not only provides a glimmer of hope for discarded coffee sticks, but also created quite a stir at the recent Touch | NY exhibition during New York Design Week.
This spring’s ICFF brought some stunning new treats from one of Inhabitat’s perennial favorites, Iannone Designs. The star of Iannone’s ICFF booth was this wonderful Cork Mosaic Credenza that features a charming woodland tableau formed from variegated layers of sustainably harvested cork. Its sprightly reliefs of birds, deer and branches secures Iannone’s spot as the epitome of eco-chic.
Dozens of rolled up newspapers found their way back to functionality in the cleverly designed Newspaper Chair by Kimberly Kulka, a student at California College of the Arts. We love the smart thought process behind this chair - store your magazines and newspapers underneath the form for added structural stability and cushioning (and storage space of course). This is one of the most inspired takes on the magazine rack idea that we’ve seen in awhile.
Philadelphia-based design studio MIO unveiled their innovative rubber stool collection at ICFF this week. Fashioned out of recycled tires with a clean-lined steel frame, the Rubber Stool is ingeniously simple and surprisingly comfortable. The rubber seat is woven into the frame without any hardware and simple traction keeps it in place. No assembly required, just sit! Made from hardy materials, the Rubber Stool is perfect for either indoor or outdoor use.
We found many innovative designs at ICFF last weekend, but we were particularly impressed with the concept behind this beautiful table from MIO. Its streamlined form uses a waste reducing pattern that can be cut with little leftover material, and packed flat for efficient shipping. Dubbed the Origami table, the design was inspired by its namesake art form. Through an exploration of folding materials, MIO has created a functional and efficient eco-friendly structure that is self-locking and hardware free.
One of our favorite finds at this year’s ICFF were these beautiful geometric tables wrought from scraps of reclaimed sheet metal by Brooklyn based Nine Stories Furniture. Each table is painstakingly crafted of material harvested from old automobiles found in salvage yards. The metal is cut, formed, and pieced together into a durable patchwork that proudly displays the patina and history of its disparate parts.
As continuation of our TOUCH | NY coverage of eco friendly furniture, lighting and accessories design from this inspired Brazilian collective, we were excited to discover the handcrafted work of Patricio Lix Klett and his La Feliz Collection. We love the organic and clean functional vocabulary of his designs, and particularly like that his latest plastic wicker creations now come in a recycled version. Part sculpture, part durable furniture and retro style lighting, La Feliz is an extremely stylish collection with a luminous personal touch.
Sick of rain-slicked slippery floors? Looking to take your rainwater recycling to the next level, while simultaneously improving your green thumb? This Umbrella Plant Pot by Kyouei Design offers a beautiful solution to the soggy umbrella dilemma, and allows you to turn that excess, unwanted rain water into nourishment for a plant! It’s a simple ceramic umbrella jar with an ingenious twist - watershed from your soaked brellies collects in a pot at the bottom of the vase to sustains a tiny potted plant.
This super smart chair design from Cate & Nelson was one of the most clever ideas we found at ICFF this year. The Oz Lowchair, by designers Nelson Ruiz-Acal and Cate Högdahl, is an exercise in design versatility. Multiple layers of felt fill the chair and can be flipped like the pages of a book to create a new color combination. Mixed or monotone, the felt ‘flips’ allow the user to adjust the cheerful assortment of colorful fabric to fit a multitude of moods.
Nori Morimoto’s light sculptures were on display at ICFF in a stunning booth that showcased this master craftsman’s attention to delicate details. Crafted from local, sustainably harvested wood from around his Vermont wood working studio, Morimoto’s work was a truly refreshing sustainable design find at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair this past weekend.
Turn your garbage into something useful with Nick DeMarco inflatable garbage sofa chair. The more trash and recyclables you can stuff into this clever chair - the more puffy and comfortable it becomes. A California College of the Arts student, Nick DeMarco exhibited his ‘XS Chair’ at ICFF this weekend. Industrial plastic sheeting filled with Oakland’s excess garbage and recyclables turns into an overstuffed sofa chair giving reuse and recycling a new face. DeMarco’s XS Chair is a part of ‘Sustainable Design for Mass Production’ presented by CCA, a exhibition of eco-chair designs and environmentally-minded ideas.
Who couldn’t use more shiny, sparkling, pointless things? This Celebrity Lamp may lack subtlety, but it makes up for it with countless opportunities to check yourself out. I imagine it would also do a fine job of scaring away birds, or signaling for help in an emergency. The shade is made of brand-new silver mirrored sunglasses, creating a glittering paparazzi effect that’s sure to forever immortalize your living room, bath, or any other place where a disco ball just won’t do.
Inhabitat is at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in NYC, and we’ve been scouring the show all weekend for the hottest sustainable design finds. We’ve had a great time catching up with some of our all time favorite designers, and discovering a bounty of fresh ideas from this year’s new innovators. We’ve been most inspired by the work coming out of students and recent grads from the CCA (California College of the Arts) Eco-chair competition, as well as BVDcollective’s Waste Not collection made from recycled materials. Trends we’ve noticed so far include intricate lasercut lighting, lasercut aluminum tables (does the world need any more of these, really?), and eco-friendly children’s furniture. We will be bringing coverage on all of the exciting designs we’ve found from this four day design extravaganza, so keep it tuned here for the best sustainable design coverage from ICFF.
Metropolis Magazine is hosting a unique humanitarian-focused design conference at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair. On Monday, May 19, Metropolis will present Design Entrepreneurs: Make Good and Prosper from 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. With a focus on political, social and personal aspects of design, this event is sure to be a stimulating design forum filled with future forward ideas towards a more sustainable world. Moderated by Metropolis editor in chief Susan S. Szenasy, the conference will “explore the many and varied ways that successful business ventures can be good for the environment and society, as well as the individual’s body and soul.”
We first discovered the stunning recycled jewelry of MANA back in January. Brazilian eco designer Mana Bernardes works with a collective of young women in Rio De Janeiro to refashion bits of urban detritus - plastic bottles, circuit boards, hairpins, phone-cards - into gorgeously thought-provoking jewelry. Now the fabulously eco-chic Mana Collection is coming to NYC with the launch of the TOUCH | NY exhibit this weekend, and we can’t wait to check it out at the opening reception tonight.
There is a lot of design innovation being served up during this weekend’s ICFF furniture fair, but as serious sustainable style scouts, we are perhaps most excited about the inaugural TOUCH | NY exhibit curated by Zoë Melo. This LA based sustainable art, design, and fashion collective has created a stunning line of artisan-crafted, fair made products including furniture, home décor items, ceramics, tableware, jewelry, and limited edition accessories. Their interactive sustainable design showopens today in Chelsea, and we love that TOUCH has created a green alternative to ICFF with their showcase of gorgeous, handcrafted designs made from recycled and repurposed materials. With collaborators and art friends working around the globe to expand their eco-friendly network, you can rest assured that the designs featured in TOUCH | NY are going to make the right kind of stylish impact during New York Design Week.
Domingos Tótora’s natural fiber creations are some of the most imaginative and inspired designs we’ve seen. Driven by a passion for preservation, Tótora draws inspiration from natural landscapes to create a collection of home decor pieces from natural fibers and pigments. His work embodies sustainable ideals with natural materials, and reflects organic processes and cycles within a fresh, contemporary context. Previously exhibited at Maison & Objet and part of the TOUCH collective, these imaginative designs are one of our favorite sustainable design springtime finds.
While we’re looking forward to all of New York Design Week this year, there is one event in particular has piqued our interest. We’ve got our eye on TOUCH | NY, a three day design exhibit that will showcase sustainable works made from recycled materials by up and coming Brazilian designers. The TOUCH | NY exhibit begins this Sunday, May 18, in Chelsea, with an opening reception at 7:00 PM. If you are in town, be sure to join us at what is sure to be one of the most interesting highlights from New York Design Week 2008!
Spring may have sprung, but we’re still captivated by the lofty lilt of this “Mora” fallen leaf mobile by San Francisco based Brian Schmitt. We’ve been longtime fans of Brian’s work, ever since we first discovered his beautiful eco-friendly Adrift Mobiles back in 2005. His lighter-than-air creations perfectly balance sleek forms with sustainable construction, and he’ll be exhibiting a collection of pendants and mobiles for the first time at this year’s ICFF.
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.
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.
