Philips' Impressive "Microbial Home Probe" Concept, Part 1. Philips has put together a fascinating, comprehensive and holistic green home system called the Microbial Home Probe, now on display at Dutch Design week. The conceptual domestic ecosystem tackles the issues of energy, lighting, food preparation, cleaning, and human waste disposal, embodied in a series of different components, with some impressively outside-the-box thinking. The Bio-Digester Island is moveable kitchen island that serves not only as a food-prep station, but doubles as the home's energy hub. The cutting board surface directly adjoins a vegetable waste grinder, which in turn feeds into a "digester" that uses bacteria to break down organic waste. The resultant methane gas is used to power the gas range, heat household water, and run the overhead lights. The Urban Beehive aims to restore the declining bee population for the benefit of both the planet and individual homeowners.
The glass structure contains a lattice within for bees to construct their honeycombs. Tokyo Design Week 2011 Preview: Spainalight, Stone Design. Posted by LinYee Yuan | 28 Oct 2011 | Comments (0) Sebastian Herkner for ABR, Bell Table We recently had the opportunity to attend Valencia Design Week and were witness to the beautiful landscape and a certain quality of light that illuminates this region of Spain. Madrid-based designers Cutu and Eva of Stone Designs pay homage to the Spanish passion (their words, not ours) towards light during Tokyo Design Week with Spainalight, an exhibition of 117 objects at the Spanish Embassy in Tokyo. Tokyo Design Week kicks off this weekend with events scattered around the city in addition to the two major fairs: Tokyo Designer's Week and DesignTide Tokyo. Tomás Alonso, Apple Table and Bottle Light Stone Design explains the inspiration behind the theme of the show: Antoni Arola for Santacole, Blanco White.
As an introduction to the Spainalight, the Embassy commissioned a documentary about the influence of light, "in the process of creation for Spanish creatives. " Patricia Urquiola for Ganrugs, Mangas. Nanovo's Communist-Era Vintage Objects are Retro Czech Chic. As an American it's easy for me to find websites and stores loaded with vintage American objects, and you needn't look further than our auto industry to see designers wistfully looking backwards. But I'm keen to see this vintage hankering taking place in other countries as well, particularly ones that had completely different political systems. So I was psyched to come across Nanovo, an online retailer selling Communist-era Czechoslovak design items.
It's run by Jirka Mrázek and Adam Karásek, two twentysomething Praguers who scour thrift shops throughout their country looking for ID gold from the 1960s, '70s and '80s: Furniture, lighting, tableware, electronics and more. The website currently contains nearly 150 items all photographed and catalogued; some of the designs look as if the designers were definitely peering over the Iron Curtain while others look as if they've landed here from outer space. With all due respect to Mrs. Mrázek, we want to buy it! Livescribe Echo Smart Pen. Zoetrope Animations on Wheels. An evil thought just occurred to me: What if the law mandated that all automobile rims be outfitted with zoetrope animations, calibrated to the diameter of their wheels, that held steady at 55 m.p.h.? And seemingly rotated forwards or backwards at faster or slower speeds, respectively? That way cops could tell if someone was exceeding the speed limit without using a radar gun. I know, I know, the plan breaks down when you consider that in some states the speed limit is 65 and even 75 m.p.h., plus this would do nothing to tell you if someone was speeding in a 30 m.p.h. zone.
I guess that's why I'm a blogger and not an evil scientist. Anyways, I got the idea from looking at UK-based designer/illustrator/animator/cyclist Katy Beveridge's project to get a zoetrope animation on her bicycle's wheels: This is a piece created to question whether it was possible to film animation in realtime. MAKEDO - home. Always Fresh Water Container. Nice Cube for Alternative Living. Following yesterday's white storage apartment comes another innovative design for living: A "compact mobile dwelling cube" within a large loft apartment. The Bay Area Feng Shui expert who commissioned it needed a way to cleanly separate his accoutrements of personal living from the rest of his 1,100-square-foot loft, which he uses as a classroom for roughly 30 students. The solution, designed by architecture firm Space Flavor, is this rollable steel-framed cube, eight feet per side.
The relatively tiny structure is actually two storys: Downstairs is a sleeping compartment and study area (arranged in a yin-yang pattern seen from plan view), upstairs is a meditation loft. Roller shades can close off the "downstairs" compartments, and when lit from within the cube resembles a giant lantern. The bottom step of the integrated stairway features a shoe/slipper drawer so your filthy shoes never touch the cube's flooring. The Times has got a feature on the Cube with more photos up here. Butter! Better! Dane Whitehurst's Products for the Modern Thinker. Posted by Ray | 1 Dec 2011 | Comments (2) While Dane Whitehurst has a pretty decent dayjob as the Creative Director of Burgopak, a packaging design company, the London-based designer has also been known to dabble in "Products for the Modern Thinker" on the side. The things that interest, bother, upset, delight and define my outlook on the world are what drive my personal work. Each project has a message, some obvious, some more subtle but all exist as a means to provoke thought and discussion.
He recently reached out to us about his most recent design, the "iPeace," which is easily Whitehurst's most utilitarian design: a pair of earplugs with a carrying case. "iPeace allows you to carry a set of earplugs wherever you go, and by significantly reducing background noise will help those hectic moments to be that much more... peaceful.
" The Martyr is an energy saving fundamentalist. Photograph by Nick Ballon The optical device that lets you look back in time as well as forwards. Packaging-Pro-e853-d.pdf (application/pdf Object) Grid-It | Hold all technology by Orange22. Solar Puff. Design Night · Welcome. You Supply the Design, They Provide the (Voluntary) Child Labor. Posted by Dave Seliger | 23 Nov 2011 | Comments (0) Beam Summer Camp in Strafford, NH is an 8-week program for aspiring builders, architects, designers, and DIY-ers aged 7-17. Each year the camp "commissions unique large-scale collaborative" designs for projects that are built by the campers over the course of the summer. Previous years' projects have included rolling machines, floating contraptions, aerial installations, and tree houses. Beam Camp is actively seeking proposals for next summer's project, with a deadline of December 31st.
Let your imaginations run wild! Radioball. Secret Passageway Switch. "Thirty Six," a Respirating Light Installation by Nils Voelker. Posted by Ray | 24 Oct 2011 | Comments (0) Artist and communication designer Nils Völker's latest site-specific installation "Thirty Six" isn't a huge departure from his previous work, but it definitely has enough charm to warrant at least a minute or three of online video distraction. As with "CAPTURED: An Homage to Light and Air," a collaboration between the self-proclaimed "machine artist" and his brother, a graphic designer, Nils' recent solo piece consists mostly of large, inflatable bags that are "choreographed," so to speak, to evoke respiration. This time around, the translucent plastic is suspended from the ceiling like a living, breathing chandelier, such that the cells' organization around a central axis, their gauzy constitution and the yellow light itself make for a stark contrast to the shimmering, alien balloon-field of "CAPTURED.
" The installation is made of "plastic bags, fans, aluminum, halogen light, steel," brought to life by "custom electronics and programming. " ZAL Creations' Illuminating Pipes and Bottles. Using beer bottles and plumbing fixtures, Chicago-based Etsy seller ZAL Creations produces beautiful steampunk-y lamps in desktop, wall-mounted and hanging varieties. (A variation on a theme, perhaps.) The desktop versions use the red valve knob as the on-off switch, feature removeable/adjustable shades to cut direct glare, and some of them are even swing-arms. And for all of their lamps you've got the option of ordering the bottles frosted or clear. ZAL states that all of the electrical components are UL-listed, and while there's no word on how it's done, the product copy claims "easy bulb replacement.
" Check out their full selection here. Photojojo's Newest iPhone Camera Booster. Remember Photojojo's add-on iPhone camera lenses? The company has now refined the design by integrating all three lenses (the previously standalone wide angle, fisheye and telephoto) into a rotating dial attached to an aluminum iPhone case. Collectively called the iPhone Lens Dial, the case features two tripod mounts--one for each orientation—and runs about $250.
While it seems a tad bulky, I'm guessing that if the glass is up to snuff it will be indispensable for the serious shooter looking to get the most out of the iPhone 4S's killer camera. Traditional Japanese "Toolbox" to Die For: Keiji Ashizawa's Hirosaki Knife Box. Hirosaki is a city in northern Japan responsible for the bulk of that country's apple production, meaning they've got a lot of apple trees. In homage to the region, designer Keiji Ashizawa incorporated apple wood in his Hirosaki Knife Box, produced for Wallpaper's Handmade collection of objects. The bulk of the boxes are made from Paulownia, a native Asian wood, while the dovetail-shaped connection rails are made from Hirosaki's apple trees. The individual "drawers" store forged craft knives (by local craftsman Toshihisa Yoshizawa and the Nigara Knife company) that have been made in Hirosaki for ten centuries.
Other collaborators on the project include woodwork by Takayuki Kimura of Kimura Woodwork; Urushi (lacquer finish) by Masato Kimura of Tsugaru Urushi Spirit LLC; and the beautiful photos are by Takumi Ota. Dutch Design Week 2011: Memorable Work by Tom Gottelier. Posted by Ray | 27 Oct 2011 | Comments (0) Tom Gottelier is an English designer arrived at his current post in Sri Lanka via Holland, though he's returning to the country of his education for Dutch Design Week, which is currently running through October 30, to exhibit two pieces from 2010: the "Melt-Me" table and "Candle Castles.
" The former is perhaps the more ambitious of the two projects: it's a dining table that's been coated with a layer of paraffin wax. "By placing hot items on the surface or simply by using the table you will start to leave marks upon it. The table serves as a visual repository for the events that happen on it. It's a literal take on the notion of "well-worn grooves," which make for a more elegant residue than unsightly coffee-rings. Check out the re-melting process at 1:26: The set allows you to build a construction from your own imagination and then instead of knocking it down, you can light them and watch your castle slowly melt away.
Eliodomestico Solar Household Still by Gabriele Diamanti. Posted by Ray | 31 Oct 2011 | Comments (10) Milan-based designer Gabriele Diamanti's "Eliodomestico" solar-powered eco-distiller was recently selected as one of 12 finalists for the Prix Émile Hermès 2011. The small, vat-like still is made entirely from terracotta and zinc-plated metal sheets, and, in keeping with the Italian designer's intention for "Eliodomestico" to be completely open source, "it's designed to be produced (and eventually repaired) by local craftsmen.
" The project is conceived like an household: it works autonomously during the day, just in front of people's houses. Its design is inspired from archetypal forms and materials, because it has to be highly recognizable: as a matter of facts, one of the biggest problems in delivering technologies to the developing countries, is that usually the people doesn't understand them. A New Angle on Mobile Communications.
Posted by Ray | 31 Oct 2011 | Comments (2) Last week, the so-called "Porscheberry" generated quite a bit of (mostly negative) discussion as to whether or not it could save Research in Motion. As one commenter pointed out, the sunset wallpaper was an apt metaphor for what most regarded as what might well be RIM's swan song. (I, for one, saw the P'9981, with shallow curves and sleek gunmetal finish, as a belated echo of Yves Behar's iconic Jawbone... which, of course, dates back to late 2006.) But you don't need to be Porsche or fuseproject to come up with a buzzworthy comms device (though an internship at IDEO doesn't hurt): recent interaction design grad Michael Harboun—a runner-up for the Speculative / Conceptual category of the first annual Core77 Design Awards—recently collaborated with fellow students Thomas Chabrier and Antoine Coubronne on "Angle," a clever new take on the Bluetooth headset.
Italian handmade pezzo unico. C3 Technologies' 3D Mapping Looks Freaking Amazing. What could be better than Google Maps? C3 Technologies' stunning 3D city displays, which let you rotate, zoom and pan through the city as if you'd modeled it all on your computer. The technology, which uses footage captured from airplanes and processed through a formerly proprietary military missile-guidance system, absolutely must be seen to be believed.
Check out San Francisco, starting around 2:00: C3—which was allegedly acquired by Apple last year, with the active theory being that Cupertino is seeking to trump Google Maps—is an offshoot of aerospace company Saab AB. Here's a look at how their mapping technology is captured and processed: At press time C3 Technologies' website was no longer live, suggested they've surely been absorbed by a larger entity. Flotspotting: Raul Gonzalez Podesta's Retina-Bending Renderings. Fabien Dumas' Satellite-like Ceiling Light for Marset. Smell-O-Vision, or Something Like It: "Olly" Turns Web Notifications into Olfactory Sensations. One Bottle Yields Dozens of Objects: Sarah Bottger's Juuri Glassware. Design Tide Tokyo 2011: "Souvenir" by Kobe Design University's Design Soil.
Sexy, Simple Sony: The TR-1825 Radio. Seven Graphic Novels Every Designer Should Know. Foursquare's Holiday Travel Infographic: Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Knog USB-Rechargeable "Boomer" Bicycle Lights, Road-Tested & Very Thoroughly Reviewed. Truly Unique Luggage by Williams British Handmade. "Rehilite" Kitchen Concept by AGENT for Mabe. Ready Your NURBS: A Suite Update for Geomagic 2012. Things That Look Like Other Things: "American Standards" Lamp by Peter Bristol. Art Lebedev Studio's Integralus Watch Concept. Move Over TikTok: ODDIO1 Finds a New Place to Hide an iPod. Mathieu Servais' Solution for Personal Privacy in the Office. Glif Updates Increase Its Utility. Tonight: Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club presents Nicholas Everett of Vanport Outfitters. The BARkwadraat Table: Packs Flat and Uses Magnets for No-Tool Assembly. Gravity Goes Minimal: Revel in the "Oblique" Cantilever Wine Bottle Holder. NYC Department of Transportation Presents Curbside Haiku.
Design Saves Lives Charity Auction and Gala.