Mimosa coffee table - style and simplicity

We’re used to see tables as a relatively conventional furniture - a board and legs. The Mimosa coffee table from designer Matt Carr is a fresh diversion form that stereotype, displaying a rather unusual design for a table. It seems like Mimosa is made of an endless plank, kinked on several points to form a board, supported by a W-like shaped detail. The lower W-shaped volume can store lots of magazines, books or newspapers, so the main merit of a coffee table is preserved. With its simple yet elegant lines, Mimosa fits well into any space. Umbra store.

Eco Cars: Rinspeed to debut shape-shifting iChange car at Geneva Auto Show

Eco Factor: Car powered by solar energy.

Out-of-the-box thinking brought Rinspeed into the limelight during last year’s Geneva Auto Show, when the car designer launched the diving car sQuba. Having a similar aim this year too, Rinspeed has unveiled a new car which will be showcased at this year’s Geneva Auto Show. Dubbed the iChange, the car will carry solar panels that will be able to charge its batteries on the go.

Beautiful and tranquil eco lights made out of green bamboo

The modern caption is not just ‘Let there be light’, but also ‘Let there be light in a green and clean way’. That is exactly the reason why modern lighting industry is now way passed the CLF technology and is fast moving forward towards a future filled with LEDs and plenty of other green innovations that promise to reduce the usage of power and also maximize lighting. But then, there is till nothing like amalgamating the new technology with old design to give it both style and substance.

Solar Lampion

• Damian O’Sullivan has created a solar lampion you use inside (or out). “Most solar lamps today are of the type that you ‘plant’ in your garden and then leave unattended. They store energy during the day and release it in the form of light at night, which is nice. But what if we could bring this light with us, into the home? The Solar Lampion is such a lamp. It is composed of an array of 36 ’standard size’ solar cells (held together by an open spaced frame), each of which is connected to an LED bulb, which is fed by one rechargeable battery. The solar cells store the sun’s energy during the day and release it at nightfall wherever you need it.”. Thanks Damian!

Click thumbnails to enlarge pictures:

50 Ways to Green Your Business

• “Imagine asking today how the Internet affects business. It’s an absurd question, like asking how electricity changed business. Asking the same about sustainability, it turns out, is equally absurd. Like the Internet, sustainability spurs innovation in everything, from how you see your business model to whether you see your employees (why not let them work at home more?). Here are our favorite ways companies today are greening up–and saving money and making better widgets in the process.”

See the 50 advices HERE

New project :: eosméxico

Approaching the wind energy Mauricio and Sebastian Lara, has design this amazing moving sculpture called VELETARIO. Was specially design for the CARLSBERG introduction campaning in Mexico.
The beer label, select just 8 designers for create the CARLSBERG collective.

Designers :: Mauricio and Sebastian Lara

website

Designboost introducing Boost Cast

The vision of Designboost is `sharing design knowledge´. To make this vision come true we have created a platform of integrated formats were people can meet and interact. Now we are proudly introducing a new format to the platform which we call Boost Cast; a film format that from now on will allow us to share design knowledge online as well. During 2009 we will produce a series of Miniboosts in different cities around the world were the design community meet up for prestigious event occasions; Milan Design Week, London Design Festival and so on.

The first Miniboost for this year took place at the Stockholm Furniture Fair/Stockholm Design Week. We met up with twelve acknowledged personalities from the design industry; Alfredo Häberli, Ineke Hans, Inga Sempe, Michael Young, Monica Förster, Claesson Koivisto Rune (Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto and Ola Rune), Michael Sodeau, Ilkka Suppanen and Apocalypse (Petra Lilja and Jenny Nordberg). We asked them the same ten questions which originate from Designboost 2008 "Long Live the City" in Malmö around the theme of sustainable cities.
The questions are written by different boosters like Jennifer Leonard, Sante Poromaa and Kristina Dryza and this series of Miniboost Boost Casts can be seen as a relay race with questions as batons passed on to new boosters.

The Boost Cast from the Miniboost at Stockholm Furniture Fair/Stockholm Design Week 2009 is now online at http://designboost.se/miniboost

Sediagraf :: Raffaele Petruzzelli

A clip becomes a chair. A chair that has the simple form and usefull function of a clip.

Designer :: Raffaele Petruzzelli

Contact :: petruzzellidesign (at) yahoo.it

www.casaidea.com

James Dyson Award

...The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering...

Closing date for entries 6/15/2009

Registration

Birdtreehut :: Maandag meubels

A real birds paradise, this birdtreehut made by Maandag meubels. A comfortable home for breading, a feeding place and branches for food. Not only fun for birds, also enjoyable for people. Who doesn’t like birds in garden, balcony or terrace? This birdtreehut attracts them all year round! The house will be used in spring. When you put a bowl with water on the shelves, birds will bathe in summertime. During fall and winter birds will eat from the feeding place and food you can hang in the branches. The birdtreehut is made of corten steel and can be left outside whole year round. The birdhouse is already assembled; the tree is easily put together without the use of tools. Let the birds come!

website

Eco-Seat Series design by Hakan Gürsu :: Designnobis

A new environmental friendly chair design set consisting of plywood and rope, assembled without nails or adhesives. The wooden parts are plugged and fixed by rope maintaining a comfortable seat with a simple and sculptural geometry. You can download do it yourself kits in Designnobis’ website and easily make, repair, disassemble and recycle these playful chairs.

Designer :: Hakan Gürsu Dr. Ind.

website

Studio Bossa

We are the Studio Bossa , a laboratory of conceptual and ecological design from Brazil, we use recycled and natural materials.

Currently we were selected to represent the Brazilian design production in the Diseño con Acento Fair (Córdoba - Argentina), and Designmart Tokyo (100% Design Tokyo).
To transpose for objects the Brazilian creativity is the profile of our work. We are promote our first collection of lamps.

bardot re use of light bulbs, with leds. pack light reuse of old tins.

Marina Perelló and Thiago Souza

website

Unexpected Spatial Experiences

Hua Museum by URBANUS Architecture is located in Shenzhen, China. The architects explain: “The site has had a rather unremarkable history. Originally made for a laundry facility for Shenzhen Bay Hotel in the early 80’s, it is situated along the main road, between a Spanish-style OCT Hotel and the Hexiangning Gallery. Over many years, the warehouse itself remained unaltered while the city around it rapidly transformed.▪

Considering the significance of its location, the owner decides to remodel the warehouse in a meaningful way. For Urbanus, the remodelling of the site poses difficult questions of how to address the existing urban condition, and how new interventions would relate to it. The main architectural gesture is to wrap the entire warehouse with a hexagonal glass curtain wall. The pattern is created from 4 different sizes of hexagons. As a result, the new wall becomes a lively theatrical screen. The geometric pattern is more than just surface deep. It is actually a three-dimensional matrix of intersecting elements that project into the gallery spaces, structuring the building’s interior design. The result is the creation of delightful and unexpected spatial experiences.”

Project: Hua Museum

Location: Shenzhen, China

Client: Shenzhen OCT Real Estate Co., Ltd

Architects: URBANUS Architecture & Design. Inc.

Project: 2006-2008

Construction: 2008
Size: 2,620 sq m

Images: URBANUS Architecture

Design Apparat at Temporary Museum for New Design 2009

In a preview at the Temporary Museum for New Design 2009, Design Apparat presents its first collection of furniture for the home inspired by a renewed look at Bulgarian design in the second half of the twentieth century. The stylistic traits of Bulgarian interiors of the 20th century provide the starting point for the design approach initiated by a new brand in the furniture sector, Design Apparat. The objective is to elaborate new forms and designated uses, starting from this scenario, in line with the expectations and tastes of the 21^st century

Design Apparat is a brand created by Nido –the leading importer of Italian furniture in Bulgaria- and by Valiyan – a manufacturer of both mass-produced and custom furniture for the local market. The collection is designed by Mirko Tattarini, designer and professor at ISIA Florence. The strategic design activities are handled by the Lagos Design Studios, an Italian design consultant that has followed all the phases of the creation of Design Apparat: from the initial concept to the definition of the brand, all the way to the creation of the coordinated images and the design of prototypes, contributing consolidated design methodologies taken from the tradition of “Made in Italy” design.

The Design Apparat products are born of combining elements of local charm with a working method as close as possible to the tradition of Italian design, in what amounts to a local rationalism crossed with a series of later, updated traits of identity. The combination of factors influencing the design is unique, bringing together the privileged situation of local availability (limitation of costs and consumption of the sector) and a painstaking selection of materials – whose points of origin and manufacture are found in the furniture districts of Bulgaria- with technological execution that meets the highest standards worldwide, so as to satisfy the highest expectations of the best possible duration over time, in such as way as to lengthen the lifecycle of the entire project.

Bansko-Boo Collection

Bansko-Boo – Arm Chair & Ottoman

Plywood, chrome steel legs, and polyurethane foam. Available in natural flax, grey corduroy velvet, grey with eco-leather stripes, orange with eco-leather stripes.

Bansko-Boo – Chair

Plywood and tubular steel.

Secret – A Multifunctional Wall Panel

Plywood panel covered with polished, button-padded eco-leather, with special buttons provided with LED internal lighting. A series of accessories get additional features such as clothes hanger, umbrella stand and wall pocket.
Available in white, cream and grey.

Bansko-Boo – Arm Chair & Ottoman

Bansko-Boo – Chair

Images: Fabio Luciani Comunicazione D’impresa

Modern Porch Swing

This one will stop you in your tracks. The artist-designers certainly deliver to the tag line "modern furniture that hasn't forgotten where it's come from. " The founders of Woodia La Piccolo, Jermey Sisto, Eric Michael Cole and Bruno Acalinas share a love of functional art and a dedication to fine craftsmanship and eco-friendly materials. This modern porch swing is constructed using Forest Stewardship Certifed reclaimed teak and stainless steel components. Stay tuned for an entire line of unique home, office and commerical space furniture.

Clever Cardboard

Some of us need a little help keeping our homes in order. Especially when some of us live with messy musical types who manage to cover any available surface with a combination of spare change, crumpled receipts, cords, keyboards and the occasional guitar.

Whilst I'm not too sure how to handle the stray musical instruments that plague my apartment, I suspect the other usual suspects could be taken care of with a few pieces of cardboard and a very clever design.

Wallpockets are the creation of Shea Springer and Tim Karoleff, both industrial design students who are already making a name for themselves as Ampersand. Inspired by clusters of barnacles and simple geometric shapes, their die-cut cardboard Wallpockets are part wall art, part ingenious storage solution.

With the ability to be manufactured in any combination of colours, these little guys are also designed with a flat pack adhesive-free assembly. What's not to love?

"Garden and Sea"

Architecture by Takao Shiotsuka

The home was built on an angle to make the most of water views. Very minimalist and modern.

Source: Shio-atl.com

JUXTAPOSED:Religion

5,084,000,000 people 5,360 pages 3,700 years 243 countries 7 books 1 shelf. San Francisco designers Mike
and Maaike have created JUXTAPOSED:Religion the first in a series of Juxtaposed curated bookshelves for
blankblank. The shelves hold the world’s most influential religious texts.
Mike and Maaike Website

Free plans for eco homes

Incorporating green design principles into new or existing homes is increasingly de rigueur among the growing masses of eco-minded consumers, but figuring out the logistics isn't always straightforward. Working on the belief that green design should be available to all, FreeGreen is a new site that offers free, downloadable green house plans.

Free Green's team of engineers and designers works with industry-leading product manufacturers to create home designs that incorporate different combinations of products, materials and vendors. It also provides 3-D images, energy simulations and written descriptions to help consumers find the right fit for their lifestyle. Two models are currently available on the site, with more coming soon. The first, called the Healthy Family model, combines comfortable contemporary living with superior indoor air quality and low energy bills. With functional options such as mudrooms, homework nooks and home offices, Healthy Family homes are intended for young, three- to five-person families in cold to mixed climates. The modern Suburban Loft, on the other hand, features open floor plans and high ceiling loft spaces. Intended for first-time buyers or downsizing baby boomers, the Suburban Loft plan is designed to perform efficiently even in cold northern climates. Coming soon is the Smart Box, which FreeGreen aims to make a 1,200 to 1,400 sq. ft. home that can be built for less than USD 100 per square foot.

Consumers who download FreeGreen's plans get not just the very detailed plan set, but also an energy report specific to the town or city they select and a welcome packet with additional information, tools and resources. FreeGreen's team can also modify or customize any of its plans. Launched just a few weeks ago, FreeGreen relies on paid placement from product manufacturers, but it takes pains to be transparent about the products it displays, offering users ratings from established third-party green certification programs such as LEED and NAHB and research performance data through its own energy modelling reports.

With the clean, eco-friendly look of FreeGreen's designs, there's no doubt they'll fit nicely into what our sister site trendwatching.com would call the new, eco-iconic world of consumers eager to flaunt their greenness. Besides the obvious advertising opportunity for green product manufacturers, the next logical step is to focus on implementation. Builders around the globe: Who will be first to align with FreeGreen as your town's local green building expert...?

Website: www.freegreen.com
Contact: info@freegreen.com

Reuben Wood Salon - Manchester

Peter Masters of Burned Toast Design is known for his elegant bent-wood and curved-acrylic tables and chairs, but the Manchester, UK-based furniture designer can be big, bold and public, if required. A recent re-vamp of the funky Reuben Wood Hair Salon in Manchester’s city centre shows that Masters has the talent to create an entire environment that is eclectic, electric and elegant. Using simple curved mirrors, he created the storage units necessary to hide the day-to-day paraphernalia of a busy hair salon. The creation of the large mirrored surfaces dictated that everything else needed to be streamlined and toned-down so that the space would not appear too busy or scattered when clients and staff would populate it. The long blue table in the middle of the salon is an industrialized version of Masters’ Horse design. The mirrors in this station are removable which makes it easy to change the look of the space without destroying the overall feel. Dashes of pink, green and blue play off the larger surfaces of black and white, and create focal points in the mirrored environment. When making and designing furniture, Masters plays with a large variety of materials, methods and technologies. Laminating plywood, casting resins and metals, fabricating plastics and upholstery are all familiar to Masters, as are using a machine created for violin manufacture or hand-crafting custom pieces from sustainable materials. - Tuija Seipell Source: www.thecoolhunter.net