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.

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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.

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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.


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Post tags: Design Lush New York, eco-fabrics sofas, EKLA sofas, EKLA sustainable design, Emily Kroll EKLA furniture, Emily Kroll green furniture design, Emily Kroll sustainable design, fsc-certified furniture, fsc-certified sofas, ICFF 2008, International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2008, sustainable materials sofas

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.

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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.

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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.

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Post tags: "sustainable furniture", CCA Chair, CCA design, CCA eco design, CCA Musical Chairs, eco chair, eco design, eco furniture, green chair, green design, ICFF 2008, inhabitat, Inhabitat Furniture Fair, International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2008, jill fehrenbacher, Magazine storing chair, new york design week, Newspaper Chair, NY Design Week 2008, recycled design, recycled newspapers, sustainable design

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Post tags: "lighting design", La Feliz, La Feliz Collection, new york design week, New York eco-friendly design, Patricio Lix Klett, reclaimed design, recycled basket lamps, Recycled Materials, recycled wicker, sustainable design exhibition, Touch, Touch Collection, TOUCH New York, woven plastic furniture

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.

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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.


Read the rest of ICFF 2008: Fabulous Felt ‘Flip’ Chair by Cate & Nelson

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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.

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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.


Read the rest of ICFF 2008: Inflatable Garbage Chair by Nick Demarco

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Today is the last day of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NYC, and we are madly going through all of our photos of the furniture, products, and of course the parties from the past few days. If you missed the NY furniture fair this year, don’t fear – you can catch up on all the best new green design right here at Inhabitat.


Read the rest of ICFF 2008: Inhabitat Reports

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