ArchitectureWeek - 2009.0603 Brooklyn is a hub of innovative architecture and design, with dozens of young professionals commissioning or undertaking their own eco-sensitive renovations to existing brownstones and low-rise attached buildings throughout the borough. Tighthouse, a Passive House brownstone retrofit, sits at the end of a string of two-story buildings constructed in 1899 that share a tree-lined block with larger brownstones built around the same time, centrally located off Fifth Avenue in the neighborhood of Park Slope. It is the first certified Passive House in New York City and meets the standards for new construction, surpassing the EnerPHit certification. Remodeling Approach The unique retrofit of a 110-year-old house by the Brooklyn-based firm Fabrica 718 could serve as an important model for the many urban and suburban residences that need energy-saving renovations.
Ripple lightest wooden table in the world by Benjamin Hubert London Design Festival 2013: London designer Benjamin Hubert claims to have created the world's lightest timber table and is showing it off at the Aram Gallery in London this week (+ movie). Benjamin Hubert worked with Canadian manufacturer Corelam to develop the table, which is 2.5 metres long, one metre wide and weighs just nine kilograms. The structure was made by corrugating three layers of 0.8 millimetre-thick birch aircraft plywood. The edge of the table is just 3.5 millimetres thick. The corrugated wooden structure is covered with a plain sheet to give a flat top, while the A-frame legs are made from a sandwich of two corrugated layers. "Made using 70-80 percent less material than a standard timber table, Ripple can be assembled and manoeuvred by a single person," Hubert said. Ripple will be launched at the Aram Store in London's Covent Garden as part of a solo exhibition of Hubert's work taking place during the London Design Festival. Here's a project description from the designer:
Scholten & Baijings ArchDaily | Broadcasting Architecture Worldwide ~ Michella Marie ~ Blog | LeveridgeDesign It has been one of those serendipitous weeks where one product has come at me from all different angles, in this instance the ubiquitous guitar. First I made contact on Facebook with an old college friend and read about his new guitar design and build venture in the UK: Then I was contacted by a young entrepreneur from NYU, Rafael Atijas, with a really unique and very creative idea, His creative web campaign to generate seed funding to strike the first major chord into the chorus of mass producing the idea is brilliant.In the designers own words: Hello there! The Loog Guitar, that’s how we call it, is not a toy. So, why 3 strings? We love 6-string guitars, but we believe that they can be overwhelming for little kids and beginners. We also believe that building a guitar is an essential part of understanding and loving the instrument. The guitar that grows with your child So that’s pretty much it. Cheers! Rafa.
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