German Designer Revolutionizes High-end Fashion with Milk Garments. German microbiologist and fashion designer Anke Domaske has introduced a whole new chapter in high-end fashion with her garments made from high concentration of the milk protein casein.
Fashion designer and microbiologist Anke Domaske poses with a pitcher of milk, milk fiber, and milk yarn on Oct. 5 in Hanover, Germany. Domaske uses milk yarn that is made from milk protein fibers, which is extracted from milk that did not meet hygiene standards, to create her fashion. The milk fibers contain 18 amino acids that are beneficial to health, Domaske said. Hockenheimer Stool Transforms a Stack of Old Magazines into a Cool Chair. Lately we’ve seen some innovative and inspiring ways that designers are upcyling old periodicals.
German designers NJU Studio have created a way for consumers to take their own magazines and turn them into the cool and useful Hockenheimer stool. The DIY kit enables you to create a stool of varying heights depending on just how many mags you have lying around. The quirky stool would be a conversation piece in any room, and the possibilities are endless. Lawn Mower Bike is a Fun and Fuel-Free Way to Trim Your Yard. If you’ve been looking for a more exciting way to cut the grass, forget about those souped up gas lawnmowers – this clever and inventive design takes mowing the lawn to a whole new level.
Built from an old-fashioned push-and-pull mower and a folding bike, Florian Hauswirth‘s lawn mower cycle is a practical and fun design solution to keeping your garden tidy. And given the smile on the face of the rider above, we’ve gotta say: lawn mower bike races anyone? + Florian Hauswirth. UPenn Students Create Super High-Tech Motion Powered Alpha Bike. A group of five students from the University of Pennsylvania have quite possibly created the world’s most technologically advanced bicycle.
Over the course of a year, this genius crew engineered and fabricated the Alpha bike, including all of its integrated electronic systems. The resulting design may look quite similar to market available high performance cycles, but hidden within the extra-strength frame, there is actually an internalized three-speed drive train, braking system, and high-tech electronics powered entirely by the bike’s motion. Alpha’s streamlined appearance was achieved by minimizing the gear and drive mechanisms using custom machined aluminum fittings. Not only does the system allow for stellar performance, the smaller size allows it to hide inside the frame and become protected from the elements. This equates to less maintenance, and a longer life for the fragile components. Staxxon's Collapsible Containers Could Revolutionize Global Shipping Industry. The humble shipping container has truly come into its own over the last decade as architects and designers have innovated ump-teen new ways of re-purposing the standardized metal box.
But what about the container’s original and still globally predominant function– carrying millions of dollars in trade goods from Point A to Point B each year? Enter the Staxxon collapsible shipping container. A new development in the flat-packing field, these accordion-style containers vertically fold to 1/5 their original width, making for an efficient nesting system of empties.
Coachella's Human Powered DJ Booth Blasts Renewable Blips and Bleeps. Photo @ Guest of a Guest LA The 2011 Coachella Music Festival featured a DJ booth powered by an energy generating playground.
Festival goers could choose from a series of different electricity producing installations that fed into a lithium-ion battery well, which powered the entire sound system. The booth was created by Global Inheritance in collaboration with Coachella to offer a unique way for music fans to educate themselves about renewable energy, all while supporting their favorite artists. In order to use the booth, each DJ required 21 or more dedicated friends to generate enough power to play their set. DIY: Make Your Own HEPA Air Filtration System for $30! For some of us, allergens are our worst enemy — the fresh pollen of spring, fall foliage, and of course the ever present dust, mold and animal dander.
Sometimes the only solution is a high-tech air filtration system, but these complex systems can cost up to $800. But if you’re an allergy sufferer, today is your luck day as Dr. Jeffrey E. Terrell of the University of Michigan Health System’s Sinus Center shows us how to make our own easy air filtration system, for just $30! Cleaning the air in our homes, especially the bedroom, is imperative to avoiding sinus problems and other allergy related side effects.
Then head to the furnace and heating section, and pick up a twenty by twenty furnace filter. Just note that your DIY purifier will be more effective on the floor, rather than in a window, because it will then filter out air in your home, rather than from the outside. . + University of Michigan Via Newswise. Off-Grid Tropicana Billboard is Powered by Oranges! DDB, an advertising agencies that specializes in creative experiences, has harnessed the power of oranges for their Tropicana campaign.
Using the product’s very ingredients to run the electricity for the billboard that advertises it, the French Tropicana ad reads “Energie Naturelle” (Natural Energy) and is lit in neon lighting. The alternative energy resource comes from an electrochemical reaction using the acid from the oranges as the catalyst. Insanely Intricate Cardboard Columns Have 16 Million Facets and Are the World's Most Complex Architecture. So how does one go about fabricating a form with 16 million facets?
Well, the first method you might think of is 3D printing, but according to Hansmeyer, his “computational architecture” is actually so complex that most 3D printers would run away with their tails between their legs at seeing it. First Package-Free, Zero-Waste Grocery Store in US Opens in Austin, Texas. Soon to be the newest addition to the well-oiled Austin, Texas grocery store community — the town where Whole Foods was born — is the country’s first zero-waste, package-free grocery store, In.gredients.
Packaging the Future: Three Packages Worth the Resources They Use. In my column ‘Packaging the Future’, I’ve looked at the myriad ways the materials around us contribute to environmental pollution and human health issues (from manufacturing, use and disposal). I’ve suggested existing solutions to what I think of as “bad packaging”, as well as some that are only supposition. Folding Solar Catamaran.
NewspaperWood: Incredible Furnishings and Products Made From Yesterday's News. Designer Mieke Meijer gives old newspapers a new life as furniture, decorative items, and even jewelry! Her NewspaperWood material is made from stacks and stacks of discarded newspapers, and it can be cut, milled and sanded just like regular wood – it even has the look of wood grain from the newsprint. Recently the designer teamed up with Vij5 to create an innovative line of products using NewspaperWood – read on for a look!
Meijer created NewspaperWood during a class at the Design Academy at Eindhoven. Pedal-Powered Bus is Almost Too Cool for School. Attending school everyday has never more eco-friendly and fun! Dutch company De Café Racer developed a pedal-powered school bus that turns going to school into a happy, healthy and cooperative experience. This friendly and bright vehicle can accommodate up to ten kids and an adult driver, and even features a music player to blast all those sweet school bus tunes. The bus also comes equipped with an auxiliary electric motor just in case kids get tired. And if it starts raining, a sailcloth roof can easily be mounted to ensure the kids arrive at school nice and dry.
Public Urinal Planter Harnesses the Power of Pee to Fertilize Plants. While those of you who read Inhabitat on a regular basis are probably very familiar with the many powers of poo, it’s equally important that we recognize the less discussed, but equally beneficial, attributes of urine. Thanks to Eddie Gandelman and his design “When Nature Calls,” we are one step closer to having the ability to utilize pee on as a part of our urban landscaping plan. No, we are not joking. Number one, urine is packed full of phosphorus, and if separated and distributed as effectively as proposed by Gandelman’s design, it’s possible to both improve the quality of public toilets and supplement fertilizer in a green way.
With the urinals placed in groups of four, this pod format makes for an efficient use of space and privacy. Odor Eating Fabric Made from Recycled Coffee Grounds is Perfect for Athletes. Wearing a cup of coffee sounds more like a morning disaster than a fashion statement. But Taiwanese company Singtex / S. Cafe is doing just that. Boskke Sky Planters Create a Fantastic Suspended Garden. Illuminated Tables and Planters Made from 100% Recycled Plastics. Interactive 'Almost Extinct Calendar' Raises Awareness of Endangered Species. Nosigner's Lunar LED Lamp Places the Light of the Moon in Your Hands. Craighton Berman’s DIY Coil lamp. Cirkuita. Chess Caps Concept. Life-Size VW Beetle Becomes a Reef » Design You Trust – Social design inspiration! Karton Group Makes Cool and Quirky Furniture Out of Recycled Cardboard.
Do the creative wonders ever cease with innovative cardboard furniture design? Australia-based company Karton Group certainly doesn’t think so, and they’ve got complete bedroom suites, office layouts, and dining rooms made of the brown stuff to prove it. The lightweight line is comprised of flat packed, recycled and recyclable cardboard, and provides a cool alternative to conventional furniture.
In the bedroom, the versatile Paperpedic Bed with built in storage drawers is perfect for keeping things tidy. It transforms from a single bed to a large king in minutes, and Karton claims that this bed can even sleep up to ten people – comfortably. In the office, sturdy load bearing book shelves can be configured every which way, and meetings can be held sitting atop cardboard stools around the long Chairman’s table – making it the perfect “board” room meeting surface in more ways than one.
. + Karton Group Via State of Green. Autumn Workshop Transforms Birch Logs Into Beautiful Touch Lamps. Touch-activated lamps are not just for your grandma anymore! Brooklyn-based Autumn Workshop’s Birch Log Touch Lamps are beautiful, innovative and modern. Made from repurposed raw birch log pieces of varying sizes, the lamps bring an outdoorsy feel into any room. Each log is crowned with a retro energy-efficient Edison light bulb, which adds to the rustic feel (although it can easily be replaced with a more energy-efficient CFL or LED bulb!)
The Best Green Designs from NeoCon 2011! HOWTO make a Joule Thief and get all the power you've paid for. Seedbomb vending machine. Wave and Solar-Powered Robot Receives $22 Million in Funding. Solar-Powered Plastikoleum Tower Recycles Old Plastic Back into 900 Barrels of Oil a Day. World's First Solar-Powered Floating Island Opens in Seoul! Manifesto Vertical Bike Storage Adorns Urban Buildings With Bicycles. Enjoy a Cup of Solar-Roasted Coffee Hot from the Helios 4. Sprout Living Lamp Doubles as a Lush Growing Terrarium. EDWARD Electric Diwheel Makes for a Fun Commute... Upside Down. Two Mile-Long Solar Tunnel Unveiled for Paris-Amsterdam High Speed Rail Line. Pixel Qi Moving Towards Solar Powered Tablets.