What if you could design your own lighting fixture in the time that it takes to unscrew a light bulb? That’s the premise behind Daniel Becker’s Spark system, a series of energy-efficient LED bulbs that can be linked together to form beautiful light sculptures.
Seoul, South Korea is filled with blinding light-up displays and headache-inducing neon screens. But residents of the city who want to see these displays put to good use need only take a trip to the World Cup Stadium’s Peace Park, which is where this beautiful Living Light sculpture blooms. The permanent outdoor pavilion and glass canopy projects up-to-the minnute information about local air quality, and locals can send it a text message to receive a report from anywhere.
Clothes hangers are clogging our landfills at a rate of nearly 8 billion per year. We’ve recently brought you designers who have been developing brilliant ways to tackle the problem through eco-friendly materials and innovative new designs. Now industrial designers Alex Witko and Courtney Hunt at Organelle Design have hit upon another great idea — Hangeliers, wonderful chandeliers made from off-the-shelf plastic and wood hangers.
The serene back-and-forth movement of a rocking chair is nothing if not relaxing. It can also be useful and productive, according to Rochus Jacob. The designer’s Murakami Chair, a winner in designboom’s Green Life competition, uses the kinetic energy produced by rocking to power an attached OLED lamp.
Despite lasting longer and being more efficient than both incandescent and CFL bulbs, LEDs haven’t caught on because of their sky-high prices. But now Panasonic wants to bring LEDs to the mainstream — at least in Japan — with a 60-watt household bulb that the company claims can last up to 19 years, or 40 times longer than incandescent bulbs.
Wow those around you by transforming any old household object into a lamp with this “LED Pin” by Korean designer Sungho Lee. To create this subtle, yet awe-inspiring illuminating accent Lee stylized and whitewashed the form of a traditional clothespin. The refreshing take on a familiar design successfully turns the object’s dollar-store stigma into a museum store find, but it’s the techy twist that makes it even more notable.
Today is the first day back to school for kids all over the country, and now you can get in the back-to-school mood with a rewritable ‘chalkboard’ lamp. With John Beck’s ingenious lighting solution, all you have to do to get some “mood lighting” is to scribble whatever you feel like on these fun lighting fixtures. Made of 95% recycled steel, they’re …
Shortly after Al Gore debuted An Inconvenient Truth the general public started giving a damn about climate change — at least superficially. And in a massive wave of effort to show off our new enviro-consciousness, every apartment, townhouse and megamansion from Norway to New Zealand swapped their incandescent light bulbs for more energy efficient CFLs, or compact fluorescent lamps. Watt for watt, there’s no question whether or not CFLs save energy as compared to their predecessors. But with the concerns of toxic mercury and the recent developments in LED technology, CFLs may not be the smartest choice for long-term sustainability. Read on for our in-depth report!
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) recently announced a breakthrough in OLED technology that shatters all prior efficiency standards, reducing the ultra-thin lights’ energy consumption by 75%! That’s no small number – the development stands to raise the bar for energy efficient lighting by leaps and bounds. Literally (and figuratively) a cool technology, we are already enamored by the skinny profile of organic light emitting diodes, and we can’t wait to see their further integration into our everyday appliances.
Energy-efficient LED light bulbs may be more expensive than CFL’s, but Sharp’s new DL-L60AV LED could be worth the high cost. The tricked-out bulb comes with a remote control that features a dimming function as well as the ability to select seven different shades of white… so your guests can never complain that they don’t like the ambiance.
Philadelphia-based design team MIO has upped the ante for end-user creativity yet again with the introduction of their first LED light fixture. Called Trask because it can switch from being “track” or “task” lighting, the function of this ingenious flatpack lighting system is completely up to you! The modular units can form everything from desk lamps to linkable suspension lights, giving this eco-centric product the option to snake its way across your entire room.
Would you believe that this eye-catching lamp was made for under one dollar? ‘Sleeve’ by Sara Ebert is a lampshade made from a Salvation Army sweater and a discarded apple juice bottle. Showcased as part of Pratt’s ‘Design for a Dollar’ exhibit at ICFF 2009, ‘Sleeve’ was crafted with an eye toward minimizing energy, labor, materials, and transportation costs and waste. It’s beautiful, smart, and straightforward–exactly the way good design should be.
Far and away our favorite exhibit at this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair was Design For A Dollar. With one dollar to work with, students from the Pratt Institute of Design in NYC were challenged to design something worthwhile. Through the design process not only did the students from the Department of Industrial Design learn the meaning of a dollar, but many incorporated cast-off items upcycled into new and intriguing designs. 80 undergraduate and graduate students entered the contest and 15 of the best designs were chosen to exhibit at ICFF this year. Here we highlight our favorites for their eco-friendly design, creative reuse and their affordability.
DRIP PLATE by Catherine Merrick
The Drip Plate by Catherine Merrick is an ingenious reuse of an antique ceramic plate. Originally featuring a winter scene in blue, Merrick renewed the thrift store find by dripping wax onto the plate and then sandblasting the rest away to create a new design. The diner will ponder while cleaning his plate, what the design used to be. The cost depends on the price of the plate and patience of the shopper.
Designed by Daisuke Hiraiwa, these elegant echidna-esque Stamen chandeliers elevate an everyday material into brilliant expressions of found design. Each one is created by gluing hundreds of toothpicks together to form a flexible disc that gives their bristling points a fluid form. The pointillist pendant lamps recently debuted at ICFF 2009, where they wowed onlookers with their complex folding curves and innovative use of materials.
Made from stacked rings of corrugated cardboard, Graypants‘ pendant Scrap Lights (which we’ve long admired) are a prime example of the transformative power of good design. The ceiling lamps‘ elegant construction utilizes leftover scraps of cardboard to create a semi-translucent shade that gives off a muted, soft glow. The overall effect is elegant, understated and as far from trash as you could possibly get.
Ikea showcased its brand new PS Collection at this weekend’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and one of our favorite designs on display was this beautiful pendant lamp made from carefully folded palm leaves. Designed by Wiebke Braasch, the Vava lamp is inspired by an image from her childhood of dried sea urchins. Braasch wanted the spiky weave of the palm leaves to create a contrast to the soft discus shape of the shade.
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.
We saw quite a few environmentally-conscious trends at the Milan Furniture Fair’s bi-annual showcase of lighting products, Euroluce. With energy use in mind, LEDs showed up from almost every company. As an extremely efficient and small bulb, the LED allows its surrounding fixtures to morph into innovative forms that highlight the beauty of light. Also in hot demand at Euroluce this year are shades made from natural or recycled fibers, whether strung, woven, or draped — or some combination of the above. The shades help to create soft, glowing light — thanks to their translucent material — but they are also nice to look at when the light is off. Euroluce is showing a variety of lighting options that differ in aesthetics and innovation, and we are happy to report that many of the designs are evidence that environmental responsibility is an important agenda item.
San Francisco’s James Sampayan offers up a bright idea for the Spring Greening DIY Contest that combines old and new to create a lovely pendant lamp that gives the lowly light bulb a second life during which to “live long and prosper.” James’ design snaps ten standard bulbs between two acrylic plates along with a single CFL bulb that illuminates the rest. Simply crafted using bulbs, scrap acrylic, and miscellaneous Ace Hardware bits and bobs, this pendant is functional and economical. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!
Looking for another inspired reuse for all of those egg-cartons left empty after Easter? New York designer Fanny Chen’s “Chesta Egg Carton Vase” gives them a creative second life. The cartons that make up the vase are broken into sheets of intersecting polygons. Pieces of symmetrically-arranged carton are connected with hand stitches, and a coat of varnish makes the vase extra-tough. Chen says that her project is inspired by the overlooked beauty in everyday objects as well as a desire to highlight our environmental problems. We think that she has succeeded in turning trash into industrial-chic treasure – if you agree, be sure to vote for her project in our Spring Greening Contest!
With Easter on its way, those of us who engaged in egg-dying festivities are likely to have lots of empty egg crates lying around. Rather than tossing them in the trash (or compost bin!), why not follow Federico Otero’s example and transform them into elegant examples of DIY design. One of fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening Contest, the Origen lamp is formed from several 30-pack egg crates interlocked around a light bulb that gives off a soft, warm glow. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!
So we know MIO’s Bendant chandelier has been around for a while, but like all good things, it’s worth revisiting—especially now, when embracing well designed, American-made products is more important than ever. The idea behind this pendant lamp, which comes flat-packed and ready to customize, is simple: leaf-like petals surround a central fixture and can be moved and arranged to suit individual tastes and lighting strategies—fan the petals out completely for maximum illumination, or stagger for more shade.
Ben Light’s namesake shines through in this brilliant lamp born from his resolve to salvage his grandfather’s old Electrolux vacuum cleaner. One of fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening Contest the project is based upon the original casing and retains the vacuum’s automatic cord return while providing an extra cool retro vibe to any interior space. The remainder of the wood is built from oak scraps from a variety of his old woodworking projects. If you’re a fan of the Vacuum light, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!
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One of our fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening Design Competition, this clever DIY project takes two types of plungers and transforms them into a stylish table lamp. To create it, New Jersey-based industrial designer Michael Andrulewich wired a normal black rubber plunger with an electrical socket and then added an accordion style plunger on top to act as a shade. If you love this plunger lamp as much as we do, vote for it now in our DIY Spring Greening Competition!
Have an extra blender, toaster, or waffle maker lying around? Why not reclaim these old appliances by turning them one into lamps like Virginia-based Melinda Merinsky does. One of fifteen finalists in our Spring Greening Contest, her functional updates on vintage appliances range from toasters to cameras and waffle irons, but this blender table lamp is one of our favorite finds. It takes a 25-watt bulb, and its base has been rewired so that the on/off switch controls the lamp. If you’re a fan of this design, be sure to vote for it in our contest post!
Drumroll please…
After a week of spring crafting and much anticipation, we’re thrilled to reveal the top entries in our Spring Greening DIY Design Contest! We received over 100 inspired entries, and we were super impressed with all of your clever, skillfully executed examples of recycled and reclaimed design. It was a true challenge to narrow all the entrants down to 15 finalists, so now we’re turning to you, dear readers, to help us choose which designer will receive a grand prize gift certificate of $200 to the Inhabitat Shop and which three runner-ups that will receive an eggling of their choice! You can vote as many times as you want (limited to once a day) and of course we encourage you to tell all of your friends and get them to vote for you! So read on for the top 15 designs, and cast your vote today!
One of fifty top entries in this year’s Greener Gadgets Design Competition, Vincent Gerkens’ Blight offers a brilliant twist on staid venetian blinds. Rather than serving simply to block the sun’s rays, the design re-envisions blinds as sun-soaking solar panels that store energy during the day and illuminate your interiors at night.
This year’s CES is showcasing some great green products, and we were particularly impressed by this new solar powered outdoor lamp by miniWIZ, who brought us the Hymini Portable Wind Charger. The Solarbulb is a brilliant solution that provides light while making use of old plastic bottles. Simply attach it to any ordinary bottle and the 0.18 W solar cells will provide up to 6 hours of continuous night lighting.
Recently the OLED research team over at General Electric unveiled the world’s first OLED Christmas Tree! Forging ahead of the usual end-of-the-year slowdown, GE’s Global Research Center headquarters in Niskayuna, NY rang in the holidays with a 6-inch-by-15-ft. OLED system all rolled-up into the form of a tree. The radiant source of holiday cheer provides a glimpse of how OLEDs can transform the future of the lighting industry.
What do you get when you take an average vertical blind (the kind found in practically any rental apartment across the United States), outfit it with special mini photovoltaics and LED pixels, then add a healthy dose of creative inspiration? The surprisingly chic and witty Solar Vertical Lamp designed by Yoon-Hui Kim and Eun-Kyung Kim. By creatively applying existing technology, Kim and Kim transform the lowly blind into a sustainable, sexy, and dramatic lighting system. Finally, a blind that has truly seen the light.
Perfect for emergency preparedness and cute to boot, this adorable penguin eco flashlight would make an excellent addition to any home. The bright light eschews a landfill-bound battery for a pump powered kinetic charger that provides an hour of light for each minute spent pumping. Capable of …
What if we could light our homes with glowing wallpaper rather than having to rely on electric lights? Swedish designer Camilla Diedrich has asked this exact question, and in response, created a stunning line of luminescent wallpaper that is lit by fiber optics. Her Nature Ray Charles Wallpaper features a delicate assortment of floral motifs that shine through in lucid lines, adding a touch of energy-efficient ambiance to any room.
WEmake’s beautiful Beryl and Friends lamps are composed from cast-off bases and lampshades that have fallen out of favor. The designers carefully refinish each component and then recombine them to eclectic effect, re-wiring and re-stocking them with low energy bulbs. Beryl and Friends were included in (re)design’s ‘Lighten up‘ exhibition at 100% Design at this year’s London Design Festival.
Many of our readers have already switched out their incandescent light bulbs in favor of energy-efficient CFLs, and for this we applaud you! However for those out there who have not made the switch, it may be due to concerns over the bright glare that these bulbs emit. Enter the Bright Idea Shade, a beautiful open-source bulb shade composed of interlocking polygonal pieces. It was created at the Eyebeam OpenLab, an art and technology center in New York that encourages creative thinking and open-source designs.
LOTS MORE GREAT GREEN DESIGN STORIES HERE... KEEP READING!
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