Inhabitat

THE OFFICIAL ECOUTERRE LAUNCH PARTY IS TOMORROW!

CALLING ALL NEW YORK ECO-FASHION CONNOISSEURS!

In about 24 hours, you could be nibbling on delectable vegan morsels by Rabbit Mafia, sipping refreshing organic drinks courtesy of 44 North Vodka, shopping the racks of sustainable fashion at KAIGHT NYC (15% off everything for one night only), and discussing the future of eco-fashion at …

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THE OFFICIAL ECOUTERRE LAUNCH PARTY IS THIS THURSDAY!

CALLING ALL ECO-FASHION FOLLOWERS IN NYC!

Just in case you haven’t heard by now, the official launch party for our new eco-fashion website Ecouterre is THIS THURSDAY! That’s right, in just two more days you could be indulging in yummy vegan cookies and snacks by Rabbit Mafia, enjoying organic cocktails courtesy of 44 North Vodka, perusing sustainable fashions at KAIGHT NYC (15% off everything for one night …

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ECOUTERRE LAUNCH PARTY: October 29th at KAIGHT!

CALLING ALL ECO-FASHION MAVENS IN NYC!

We’re gearing up to ring in the launch of our fabulous eco-fashion site Ecouterre with our first official party and we want YOU to be there! Join us, the Ecouterre editors, as we munch on vegan cookies and snacks, sip organic cocktails, peruse green goods at KAIGHT (15 percent off everything for one night only), and of course, talk about the future of …

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Crowd-Sourced Initiatives to Create a More Livable New York City

City governance and open-source programming never seemed like a likely marriage. However, emerging initiatives have been working towards it, and have received a boost of popular support through Obama’s call for open government. When NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg launched the Big Apps competition this past June, he invited individuals and groups to program applications that make government data sets accessible to the public — solidifying that technology can contribute to improved quality of life. Applications created in response to Bloomberg’s decisions will join the crowd-sourced initiatives that already exist in New York City, and already explore methods that can offer residents not only information, but a place to gain a sense of community, to exchange ideas and to visualize space digitally.

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Flood Harvesting Housing Brings Tidal Power to New York City

The concept of harvesting energy from river waves to power New York City just got more enticing. Earlier this year we brought you GRO Architects notable concept, which stood out among the entries for Metropolis Magazine’s 2009 Next Generation Design Competition. Brian Novello, one of the partners in the project, also has a beautiful design to expand these modular docking stations in energy-collecting floating houses, and it looks so cool that we had to spread the news.

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DUMBO Archway Beautification Complete!

For those New Yorkers who look forward to the first Thursday of each month for the DUMBO Gallery Walk, now there is even more reason to head that direction: the DUMBO archway renovation is complete! Although the archway has been open since the fall of 2008, the DUMBO Improvement District and NYC Department of Transportation recently invited pedestrians in to view the structure’s upgraded interior. Designed by Rogers Marvel Architects and Jim Conti Lighting Design, the “beautification” project introduces wooden benches, lighting, and street improvements.

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Inhabitat New York Launch Party is TOMORROW!

Hey New York Inhabitat Readers!

We’re having our official Inhabitat NYC launch party tomorrow night, and for all our readers who RSVP’d we hope to see you there! We’ll be celebrating the launch of our new local source for green New York news and events with a cocktail soirée at Green Depot, so come join us to chat with the Inhabitat editors about sustainable design while enjoying delicious organic drinks and chocolate. We’ll also be having a raffle with some great prizes donated by our generous sponsors, so don’t miss out!

WHAT: Inhabitat New York launch party

WHERE: Green Depot NY Flagship Store, 222 Bowery, New York, NY 10012

WHEN: September 24, 2009 from 6-9pm

WHO: Inhabitat editors Jill, Yuka, Olivia, Rebecca, Kevin, Jasmin & YOU

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REMINDER: The Age of Stupid Opens Nationwide TONIGHT!!!!

We’ve been raving about British dystopian climate-change docudrama The Age of Stupid ever since we previewed the provocative film this summer, and today, we are thrilled to say that the film is OPENING IN THE U.S. TONIGHT! The film is highly entertaining, inspiring and provocative – certain to make you think, whatever your politics and your opinions on climate-change – so get yourself to a theater tonight to see the premiere! As you know, the success and box office run of any film has a lot to do with how many tickets are sold on opening night, so lets all try to help this indie film succeed! The Age of Stupid has a CRITICAL MESSAGE that we should all support, so do your part and go see the film tonight – you won’t regret it! Look for tickets in your area here >

The Inhabitat team will be attending the New York premiere tonight at Chelsea Cinema with the two lucky winners of our ticket giveaway: Be Veg Go Green and simple411. There are still tickets to the screening available, and we’d like to invite any other eco New Yorkers who want to see this film to join the Inhabitat team tonight!

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PARK(ing) Day 2009 Transforms Parking Spaces Into Public Parks

Park(ing) Day! Parking space invasion day! The day to roll out some sod, fire up the barbeque, and set out in the street like it’s your front porch. If you didn’t hear about it from us, from the event site, or from last year’s awesome photos, then you must not have gotten the telegram, ’cause this is the best reason to cruise around the city on bikes since you were 10 years old.

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Conflux Festival is this weekend!

It’s remix-the-city-time: the Conflux Festival is back. This annual NYC-based festival of psychogeography promises some great urban tinkering, featuring the work of several artists we’ve featured here on Inhabitat. From Eve Mosher to Swimming Cities to Reverend Billy, the artists of Conflux use technology to explore public space in the city — re-defining the city and its proper use and maintenance.

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PARK(ing) Day is TODAY!

HAPPY PARK(ing) DAY!
Keep your eyes open today for impromptu public parks popping up in parking spots around the world as hundreds of peeps take part in PARK(ing) Day! Wow, that was a tongue-twister if we ever heard one. This annual event, started by San Francisco art collective REBAR, is meant to encourage creativity, civic engagement, and interaction and is open to anyone who wants to set up their own park. The Inhabitat Team …

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PARK(ing) Day 2009 is This Friday!

This Friday impromptu public parks will be springing up around the world for PARK(ing) Day 2009! Created by San Francisco art collective REBAR, this one-day celebration of public space encourages people in cities around the globe to transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks. From pavement-faring pirate ships to mobile meadows we’ve seen some incredible …

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urbanSHED: Design a Better Sidewalk Shed and Win $10,000!

Heads up all engineers, architects, and designers in NYC! The urbanSHED design competition is looking for a better sidewalk shed, and they’re giving away $25,000 in prizes plus the chance to construct the winning design! Anyone who’s every visited a dense city is likely to be familiar with these unsightly scaffolded spaces – sure, they may protect your head from falling construction debris, but they tend to be plastered with posters, …

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John Patrick Organic Spring/Summer Eco Fashion 2010

We’ve been fans of trailblazing eco fashion designer John Patrick Organic for years, and were thrilled to get a sneak peek at his latest collection at New York Fashion Week last Thursday. Summed up in two words, JPO SS 2010 is classic Americana. These are clothes that would have looked oh so right on Faye Dunaway in Bonnie and Clyde – flowy and flattering organic cotton and silk dresses cinched with structured recycled polyester trenchcoats and organic cotton twill seersucker blazers. Read on to see pics of our favorite pieces and a special celebrity guest!

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INTRODUCING: Inhabitat LOCAL!

HEY NEW YORK & SAN FRANCISCO READERS!
We’ve got some exciting news for you! Recognizing that many of our readers (and many of our writers) are concentrated in New York City and in the San Francisco Bay Area – we’ve decided to launch city-specific versions of Inhabitat to those of you interested in local green design news and events: InhabitatSF and InhabitatNYC! We’ve been covering San Francisco and New York politics, events and green design initiatives more and more on Inhabitat.com, and now there is a way to find all this great local coverage in one place. So check out our brand new websites: InhabitatSF and InhabitatNYC, and if you’d like to stay up to date on all the latest green developments and eco design events in your city, be sure to subscribe to our San Francisco and New York City newsletters!

+ Inhabitat San Francisco

+ Inhabitat New York City

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Inhabitat New York Launch Party: Sept 24th at Green Depot!

Calling all New York Inhabitat readers!
We’re having a party this September to celebrate the arrival of fall and our BRAND NEW NYC WEBSITE INHABITATNYC, and we want YOU to join us! Come join us to sip organic cocktails, taste delicious organic chocolate, peruse eco goods at Green Depot, win green goodies in our raffle, and talk about sustainable design with the Inhabitat editors and readers. …

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THE AGE OF STUPID is coming to NYC – Sept 21st!

IF YOU SEE ONE MOVIE THIS FALL – THIS IS THE ONE TO SEE!
Everyone knows that hindsight is 20/20, but will we regret our lack of action on climate change in the year 2020? That’s what The Age of Stupid, the groundbreaking film epic from McLibel director Franny Armstrong, wants to sink into the minds of everyone in the world. This brilliant movie, which will kick off UN Climate Week, is opening nationwide on Monday, September 21 at 450+ cinemas simultaneously — and we urge all Inhabitat readers to go see it as soon as you can!

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New York Mandates That All New Government Buildings Go Green

As you may already know, New York is the home of Inhabitat’s main headquarters and we are super proud to announce that Governor Paterson has just signed the State Green Building Construction Act mandating that all government-owned new construction and major renovations must meet green building guidelines! We think it’s highly commendable of Governor Paterson to lead our state towards a more sustainable future by setting this momentous example. Hopefully, we will soon see a day where all buildings in New York, government-managed and otherwise, will meet sustainable standards.

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NYC SUMMER STREETS: LAST DAY!

Photo by Seth Holladay, via Flickr
Today is the last day for NYC’s Summer Streets 2009!
NYC DOT has been closing Park Avenue from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park on Saturdays, from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to all motor traffic so that NYC residents can walk, run, or bike along city streets. This is the third and LAST Saturday for this great initiative, so we hope you are planning on getting out there. Why, …

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A Wind-Power Vision for the Bronx’s Grand Concourse

Is it possible that the designers of NYC’s city seal peered into the future to see how important wind energy would be to us in the year 2009? Most likely not, but their decision to include a windmill in the city’s crest did provide the perfect inspiration for Philadelphian firm Austin + Mergold LLC to rethink the Bronx’s Grand Concourse in a recent architectural competition held by the Bronx Museum of the Arts. The project envisions the wide, urban avenue as New York’s newest monument to clean energy, lined with an army of powerful weblike wind turbines – a.k.a. The Grand Resource.

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TEICH: We Check Out NYC’s Newest Green Boutique

New York Editor Olivia Chen and Storeowner Allison Teich

Teich, a new sustainable fashion boutique, has taken NYC by storm and the Inhabitat fashion team was lucky enough to be on the scene for a trunkshow there last week showcasing eco-fabulous designer Ryann! In addition to the very delectable line of handbags for which the shop is named, there was plenty of eye candy in the form of floaty organic dresses, delicate recycled jewelry and, my personal favorite, exclusive NYC name pendants (see storeowner Allison Teich’s neck in the pic above) that Junkprints custom-made for the store out of old records!

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Links Roundup of the Week: Eco Furniture

Through the end of August, the Museum of Arts and Design is hosting a weekly evening of good drinks, food and art on Thursdays starting at 5:00 PM. Big fans of pay-as-you-wish admission to museums, the Inhabitat team went on the first night. As we wandered around the museum, we were easily enamored with the objects on display. And then we wondered — in an eco-world, are these objects responsible? What about functionality? Is creating …

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LOT-EK to Build Pier 57 Made of Shipping Containers!

Committed to opening up NYC’s waterfront to the public, the Hudson River Park Trust transforms the West side’s old shipping docks — once used to bring in cargo into the city — into elongated recreational spaces, connected by a green promenade. With several piers already completed, the park board recently chose Inhabitat-fav LOT-EK’s design for Pier 57, located outside Chelsea. The architecture firm proposed a waterfront attraction to be constructed of refurbished shipping containers, and decked out with a rooftop for watching films, flexible green space, open-air public market, and underwater educational and exhibition space.

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Students Design Shelter for High Bridge

This past spring, New York City’s Architecture for Humanity chapter (AFHny) partnered with Parsons School of Continuing Education in the spirit of volunteerism to offer a design studio for high school students. Under the tutelage of Parsons teacher, Nick Brinen, and several AFHny volunteers, the students developed concepts for two park shelters located at the entrances of the soon-to-be-reopened High Bridge. Having gained real-world experience and an appreciation for public service, we weren’t surprised to hear that several of the participating students earned scholarships for various design majors at Parsons, FIT, and Pratt. Read on to learn more about their designs!

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Making Public Places: Forum on Placemaking in Cities

On Monday, July 13, 2009, Diana Balmori and her NYC-based landscape and urban design firm hosted a forum that was part-academic discussion, part-social media experiment. The forum, called Making Public Places, was hosted in the Meatpacking District (MPD) while it streamed live online via Twitter and Ustream. The design firm was joined by 40 landscape architecture and urban design students from the Netherlands. Photos and tweets were updated throughout the event and yours truly was there to see it in action and provide you with highlights. But for more in-depth information, you can check out Balmori Associates‘ recently launched blog focused on public places.

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NYC ART TOMORROW: Burning Ice by Chin Chih Yang

Melting ice: it’s the metaphor of our age. Here on Inhabitat, we’ve seen melting penguins, melting furniture, and melting little men. In case you missed theses visuals of climate change, in case those images of ice holes from An Inconvenient Truth are fading from memory, in case you’re bored on August 1st around 11 am, Chin Chih Yang has a not-so-gentle reminder for you. He’s bringing 21,000 lbs of ice to Union Square in New York City. As it melts, it will be raising flashing red hell with emergency lights triggered by the melting, protesting its own demise.

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Truck Farm is a Roving Veggiemobile

“How do you grow your own food in the big city if you ain’t got no land?” Easy – do what these Brooklynites did and start a Truck Farm! True, you don’t usually think “1986 Dodge Ram when you think “green vehicle“, but this pickup with ripe rows of arugula, lettuce, broccoli, herbs, tomatoes and habaneros thriving right in its flatbed, is definitely an exception. To make matters even more awesome, “four-wheel farmer” Ian Cheney and his partner Curt Ellis of Wicked Delicate, have even been documenting their automofarm in a series of musical, lyric-accompanied, video shorts (”The recession was upon me, my health was slipping away. I decided what I needed, was more vegetables everyday.”) resulting in both hilarity and a cult-like following as they spread love (and broccoli) around New York City.

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US Postal Service Delivers Plan for Huge Green Roof in NYC

The US Postal Service can now add another notch to their sustainability belt – a huge green roof on top of their Morgan mail processing facility in NYC. The roof taps in at 2.5 acres of native, drought tolerant vegetation and is one of the largest green roofs in the nation. The seven story facility built in 1933 was originally built for the roof to serve as an extra mail processing location, and because of this was deemed strong enough to support a green roof. The new roof not only serves as a park and open space for employees, but will also save energy for the USPS and reduce stormwater runoff.

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The Roof, the Roof, the Roof is a Farm!

Like the rest of the Inhabitat crew, I get to spend a good part of my day ogling the finest futuristic farming fantasies that the interwebs have to offer. From towering vertical agriscrapes to vegetation-packed geodesic domes, my eyes are bombarded with images of the perfect urban farm daily, but when it comes to actually growing anything myself, I must admit rather sheepishly that I don’t know my sugar snap peas from my snopeas. Well, all of that is about to change because Rooftop Farms, a real-life 6,000 square foot organic vegetable farm with a view of the Manhattan skyline is now open to anyone who wants to lend a hand. Luckily for me, that hand need not be blessed with a green thumb…yet.

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Tidal Docks Use Waves to Power NYC’s Streetlamps

The Big Apple’s known for its bright lights, but the city’s iconic luminescence also sucks up huge amounts of power every year. Luckily, a team of designers came up with a plan to keep the city’s lights burning bright by harnessing the power of its massive rivers. One of the most exciting entries into Metropolis magazine’s 2009 Next Generation Design Competition, Richard Garber and Brian Novello’s design provides a way to power street lamps using tidal power.

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Dumpster Dive LITERALLY Into a Guerrilla Dumpster Pool!

Just in time for warm summer weather in NYC, we came across this AWESOME guerrilla design project: swimming pools in Brooklyn — made out of old dumpsters! We’re salivating at the thought of diving into one of these re-purposed trash receptacles to take a swim. (Certainly, a phrase we never thought we’d utter). No word on the pool’s exact location, (if we knew we would be there right now swimming), but read on for more insight into its creation!

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