Did you know you can power a clock with dirt? Dutch designer Marieke Staps has figured out a way to grow time, instead of killing it. Her soil-powered bio-clock (is that like a biological clock?), showcased at Dutch Design Week in 2008 and most recently at Dwell on Design’s Kitchen Ecology Show last week, keeps time by plugging into mud!
Here at Inhabitat, we never tire of finding new chic products that reclaim everyday industrial materials. Some of our favorite finds are industrial or utilitarian objects that, with some brilliant creativity, have been repurposed into gorgeous goods for the home. Our latest trash-to-treasure discovery are these beautiful seatbelt cushions. Hand crafted in Europe by sustainable design company TING London, these cute and colorful pillows are made from reclaimed seat belts!
Paper is a marvelous material with a complex character – at times a vessel for banal documents and stale legalese, it is also capable of much more expressive forms with a bit of creativity. Case in point: these gorgeous recycled paper lamps recently released by Jordy Fu. Her cloud-sheathed creations break free from the two dimensional realm with dreamlike textures and elaborately layered wisps. Evoking the precise paper-cuts of Rob Ryan and Nikki Mcclure, Fu’s designs are made with a distinct style that is all her own.
This lightweight, portable cardboard table aims to assist on-the-go creative types like designers and students, who are often limited to work on low desks or floors. Made by Sruli Recht from flatpack cardboard pieces, this lightweight, sturdy design offers creatives an ergonomic plane on which to cut, fold, draft or design. Adding even more appeal to this smart and useful design, the table is biodegradable and can easily be folded up to pack into a portable carrier.
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.
When we made our way through the Tuttobene show at the Milan Furniture Fair this year, we initially thought Manon Juliette’s ‘Feliz’ leather rug was simply a delightfully tactile creation. However, closer inspection revealed that sustainability enters the design story at almost every stage of this charming creation. As well as looking at the ecological impacts, the Dutch designer has incorporated social benefits, considering everyone involved in the lifecycle of these decorative pieces.
If only plants could speak, it would be so much easier to take care of them. Thats why our faces lit up when we spotted this awesome Digital Pot by Junyi Heo. Designed to relay the needs of individual plants through an interactive display of simulated plant ‘facial expressions’, this idea just might make green thumbs out of the most challenged window gardeners. Trying to make plants speak might be a bit challenging, but with such a cute face on this design, we couldn’t resist learning more.
Furniture designer Cliff Spencer couldn’t resist when he heard about a Napa winery discarding wine-stained oak. An avid user of reclaimed materials, Spencer now regularly reclaims oak staves from California wineries and transforms them into these stunning one-of-a-kind pieces for residential and commercial use. (p.s., you don’t have to be a wine aficionado to enjoy them).
One of the great virtues of modern design is simplicity. Adrift Mobiles achieves this beautifully with their line of bamboo and wood veneer mobiles. The designs are delicate and organic looking, available in five different variations, each with a silhouette suggestive of its name, like “flight,” (below) which looks like a trio of water birds, and “flow,” which resembles a whirlpool. Mobiles aren’t just for the baby’s room; these slow-drifting creations could lull even the most caffeinated adult into deep relaxation.
What is it about the Dutch and design? Why is it that most witty and thought-provoking designers these days all seem to be coming out of the Netherlands? Tord Boontje, Jurgen Bey, Hella Jongerious, Droog… Its hard to put a finger on exactly what it is that unites these different designers ? but there seems to be a certain playfulness to Dutch design which makes it uniquely compelling.
Maverick design star Tom Dixon is a household name in England, where they take design more seriously than us yokels accross the pond. Dixon is most famous for being the creative director of Habitat, the UK-based home-furnishings shop.
Recently, Dixon has been experimenting with biodegradeable plastics made from compressed natural materials such as byproducts of coconut, rice and bamboo processing. He has created a line of biodegradeable plates, bowls and cups dubbed Eco Ware . This elegant line of sustainable tableware is 85% bamboo bound with a water-soluble polymer.
Brooklyn based Vinylux fashions tableware from old records. Artist Jeff Davis started hand?making these symmetrical, stepped bowls from non-playable LPs as part of his graduate thesis project. The product has taken off in such a big way that Vinylux has blossomed into a full-scale sustainable design business. His fabrication process keeps the original label intact by protecting it with a clear seal. Vinylux is a recent recipient of an International Design Resource Award for excellence in eco-friendly, sustainable design. The company should win an award for fair pricing as well, as these LP bowls are only $14 from Vivavi. That’s less than you would likely pay for a playable LP!
For those DIY types out there (and I know there are lots of you) ? you can make your own record bowl in your own oven, if you so desire. Just make sure to use an old Billy Joel LP rather than the Beatle’s Butcher Cover album. And don’t expect it to turn out as pristine and symmetrical as the Vinylux version. Apparently there is a lot of shrinkage in process. Readymade Magazine has a detailed description on how to make a bowl out of your old LP:
Something about Matt Gagnon’s work is just indefinably superb. He seems to have a penchant for design feng shui; an innate sense of the alchemy of form and material. Whatever it is, Matt Gagnon’s pieces are striking, elegant and original.
Gagnon opened Matt Gagnon Studio in Brooklyn in 2002, after working for Frank Gehry, Gaetano Pesce and other renowned designers. His work spans a range of media, from furniture and lighting to architectural design and theater sets. Each of the ten objects available for viewing at his site struck my fancy for a different reason, but the Paper Table stood out for its sustainable attributes. This coffee table cum magazine rack is as earthy and organic as it is urban and contemporary. It looks a bit like a chunk of driftwood, with smooth fissures worn away by the elements, or like an abstract cityscape strewn with tilted skyscrapers.
I have mixed feeling about candles. On the one hand, candles are simple, pretty, and can the soft glow of one can enhance the mood of any space. The scented kind can be particularly soothing, if the scent is something you like (such as vanilla or lavender). On the other hand: candles don’t last long, they can decrease the air quality in a room with their smoke, and they are prone to wax spillage. The biggest downside, however, is that they are a fire disaster waiting to happen. I have a friend whose apartment building recently burned down because someone left unattended candles burning in his room.
Recognizing the on-going candle dilemna, electronics company Philips has launched a series of electric candles. But fear not – we’re not talking those tacky candle-shaped tungsten bulbs from a decade gone by. Philips is hip to the LED future, with their new series of LED candles call “Aurelle”. The Aurelle LED Candles combine the warm glow and gentle flicker of a candle without the risks and nuisance associated with open flames.
Okay, so this is a little off-topic for this blog, but I just wanted to give a shout-out to one of my favorite things from ITP 2005: the Needies. Designed by Emily Ryan, and created by Amos Bloomberg, Daniel Perlin, and Brett Schultz at NYU’s ITP, these clingy, codependant toys have “complex relationships” with their owners. In otherwords, they act exactly like the other immature, high-maintenance people in your life!
They come in a …
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