It often takes an artist’s keen eye to see beauty where others do not. For Los Angeles multimedia master Sam Durant, the unassuming-but-ubiquitous monobloc chair became something of a creative muse. “I have always found them fascinating,” he tells Co.Design. “A great combination of utility and economy.” This appreciation, however, was tempered with the reality of their production materials and methods. “Unfortunately they’re completely unsustainable unless it can be figured out how to make them out of recycled material in a non-toxic process.”
A trip to China to participate in a sculpture show offered Durant the opportunity to explore, and completely alter, the origin of the chair in an entirely handmade collection. When the event was unceremoniously canceled he went forward with the project at his own expense, commissioning craftsmen at the Jiao Zhi studio in Xiamen to fabricate a series of one-off porcelain seats. The nine brightly hued specimens take on new meaning as works of form, not function, and offer a new perspective on the preconception associated with a “Made in China” label.
Melanie Porter’s showcased a warm and colorful mix of hand knit covered furniture that use found items for their bases. Her series features original cinema seats that have been given a new lease of life with a chunky knit wool. Additional works include textured lampshades, vase covers and cushions.
Furniture Magpies were back at Tent this year with a brilliant new collection that includes their first ever dining table, a series of mantel clocks and candle holders placed alongside their signature lamps. The dining table aims to give a take on some kitchen cupboard duties, with old drawers fixed below the surface to store wine glasses, plates, bowls and tea sets.
Daniel Schofield’s coat eggs are a fun take on the traditional coat peg. Made from “free-range” FSC Beech, they come in boxes of half a dozen and are design and “laid” in Yorkshire. Clever!
Studio 180 Degree delighted us with their Treasure Collection – a sofa and a stool which was born out of the desire to create an honest, handcrafted and eco-friendly sofa. Materials used include leather, natural flax, organic jute, twisted eco paper cord and wool yarn.
Anthony Hartley’s colorful designs are hard to miss, and we’ve fallen in love with his Cable Collection. This design gives ‘flat packed’ and DIY furniture a fresh new look and method, as Anthony introduces us to the cable-tie joint. You get to choose the component color combinations and can swap them around anytime by simply cutting through the table ties & replacing. Hopefully this means there is less excuse for throwaway furniture as styles and tastes change.
Sebastian Cox reminded us of the importance of the wood source in his well-crafted furniture pieces that use locally grown hazel wood that the designer himself has copiced when harvesting the wood. Coppicing is a woodland management method that provides a renewable supply of wood.
Arnolight is a fun set of three small lamps by Emanuel Franz that are made of turned waste wood and glued sawdust, shown as part of a show from students from Warsaw.
This quirky green lamp by Zuzanna Malinowska and Marcin Wronski combines a plant pot and a table lamp to make a fun combination that puts the spotlight on plant growth.
Jay Watson wants your old socks! Watson treats them with eco resin derived from sunflowers and turns them into pendant lamps! The lights even feature recycled sockets and energy-saving LEDs.
The Oree Keyboard is a clever cocktail of carpentry and technology that is crafted from a single piece of walnut or maple. The keyboard can connect to any laptop or tablet via bluetooth. You can see our full post about it here.
The WALLY bedside table is the creation of Sara Kele who exhibited as part of the Young Hungarian Designer’s Association. The table is formed from dozens of pieces of scrap timber, beatifully finished, and is supported when placed against a wall. Sara said of the design, “The bedside table is an experiment, in the spirit of eco-conciousness, to produce exciting and good quality furniture from leftover wood.”
the crystal, a sustainable cities initiative by global technology company siemens is now open in london, introducing the world's largest exhibition about urban sustainability.
The latest runaway Kickstarter success is the LIFX, "a WiFi enabled, multi-color, energy efficient LED light bulb that you control with your [smartphone]. Developed by San-Francisco-based inventor Phil Bosua and his support team, the LIFX is an iPod-like invention in that it combines several existing technologies into a novel and useful device that seems easy to use; apparently it's plug-and-play (though the demo video admittedly doesn't show how the initial set-up interface is handled).
I'm not sure how often I'd use the color-change feature, though bar owners are sure to love it. The nightlight/timer feature shown in the video looks pretty cool though, and I wonder if you can use it in reverse, slowly ramping your lights up in the mornings to wake you up.
If you think the LIFX looks amazing, you're not alone: The project easily smashed its $100,000 goal and is now up to $994,729 with 56 days left to pledge. At $69 a pop the bulbs aren't cheap, but they're meant to last for 25 years, and discounts are conferred for buying in bulk.
by: Environmental Leader, 2012-09-19 16:25:51 UTC Nearly one half of CFOs see sustainability as a key driver of financial performance and two-thirds are involved in driving strategies in their organizations, according to a global Deloitte survey of 250 CFOs, representing companies with greater than $1 billion in annual revenue . The Sustainability: CFOs are Coming to the Table survey, which was [...]
Yanko Design takes great pride in bringing to you this exclusive announcement! The 30 Shortlisted Entries for the 2012 Electrolux Design Lab have now been narrowed to the Top Ten Finalists. Each of these ten designers will be invited to Milan, to showcase and present their design concept in front of a select Jury. The event will be telecast live online and Yanko Design will be in Milan to capture the excitement for you. This is the first time that ten designers, instead of the usual eight finalists are being invited.
SmartPlate is the world’s first intelligent dish that physically understands food and transforms it into sound, completing the circle of senses by which we understand what we eat.
Impress is a refrigeration wall that holds your food and drinks for you, out in the open and not behind closed doors so you will always remember the lunch you prepared for work or find that midnight snack with ease.
The Treat seamlessly combines classic food storage techniques, such as vacuum sealing, with modern remote, mobile technology for the perfect combination of freshness and convenience that is more important than ever in our increasingly busy lives.
By utilising magnets that react to your induction stove the Easystir will literally save you time and money by never needing to be charged, batteries replaced or plugged into a wall socket.
The Spummy is the future of flavor creation. Using nano-technology the Spummy creates edible foam with any flavour or combination of flavours you can imagine.
The Aeroball is a revolutionary way to improve the spaces in which we live. In tiny bubbles that float and hover, the Aeroball cleans and filters the air while hovering in place.
London Design Festival: the family home of the future will feature mechanised floors and furniture that emerge from walls, floors and ceilings at the touch of a button, according to Yo! Sushi and Yotel founder Simon Woodroffe (+ slideshow). (more…)
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-07 08:01:28 UTC
The Ahrend 360, an ultra-light visitors' chair with a magnesium frame and a one-piece seat shell, has won a Red dot Award from the internationally ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-06 06:43:37 UTC
The IFA Berlin, on of the worlds biggest appliances fairs is coming to an end today. And how about sustainability in the latest offerings. Not bad ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-04 12:31:57 UTC
Amy Prieto, Colorado State University assisting professor, re-imagines the lithium-ion battery in a 3D solid state form, with no liquid electrolyte ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-04 09:58:41 UTC
A few years ago, while living in Shanghai, I stood in a supermarket to buy sparkling water. Since not many chinese like to drink the stuff, they also ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-03 09:10:03 UTC
And the winners are ...... again Philips for its Smart TV and Sony for its Smart Phone. Smart seems to be the clue for sustainability nowadays! :) ...
by: Design 4 Sustainability, 2012-09-03 07:29:01 UTC
You can cut wasted standby power switching off TVs and connected appliances at the power source (and back on again) with your remote control and the ...
Discarded wood furniture, bits and pieces reincarnate as irresistibly sweet birds.
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