Here is the optimal solution after a house party… Garbage Lamp by the student Peter Castellucci, an efficient and creative way to illuminate and pollute less, all at once.

[via Core77]

A dash of ingenuity, a slight retouching with some irony and a lookout for the environment… and you’ve got Klypsos!

The “plate chalice-carrier” clip to enjoy an aperitif or a standing dinner with freedom of movement and practicality, effective ingredients for a contemporary conviviality, less formal and more relaxed.

Simple but acute solution by the young and creative Jacek Ryn and Paulina Krauza, the Polish duo from the Razy2 studio.

+ Razy2

[via DesignSponge]

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Maybe it’s because today is Monday, maybe it’s because it’s cold and/or that Turin is really grey in this season, but today I feel a particular need to be cuddled by color… and obviously some pleasing design!

Here is a cartful of brightly colored objects with the ability to warm and stimulate the psyche, please the eye and wake energies… Dedicated to all the people who feel a bit down in this period.

Gloji the “illuminatingly” packed juice…

The fun Moving  Stool by Gabriele Pezzini, conceived by Max Design.

The Snack & Stack silicone and metal cutlery by Winnif Pang.

RbG Rainbow Glasses by the young  Luis Porem, to (literally) look through color!

The versatile and multiuse NapBook by the Icelandic designer Hafsteinn Juliusson.

Pencil Tree or how to graciously put away color…

… and finally by the young student James Beattie here is Pantime, time that ticks to the rhythm of Pantone!

Translated by Silvia — Surfing around the Internet yesterday looking for solutions for sustainable furnishings, we fell upon FLEXIBLE LOVE. We immediately liked the name and, indeed, it sums up in two words the philosophy which hides behind this project. It is, in fact, a fantastic example of social, ecological and philanthropic design that manages to mix concrete utility and love for the environment and for others.

It is born from a very simple but effective concept: a flexible chair that uses fully the structural properties of honeycomb, applied to the working of an accordion. An incredible result of extensibility, resistance and rigidity, considering that the material used is nothing more than… paper!

A myriad of used sheets of paper that are recuperated, recycled and reused in a completely new way by the new Taiwanese designer Chishen Chiu for an extendible chair that can also be compact and multiform to host anywhere from 1 to 16 people! A group of good friends, a soccer team, a school class…

Take a look at the 2 videos and the images you will find below and in the cut.

The birth of FLEXIBLE LOVE chair was greatly influenced by Chishen Chiu’s personal experience from when he stumbled into a cardboard factory in the suburbs on Taipei. Immediately intrigued by the use of the bee’s nest structure in the industrial production of cardboard panes as substitutes for wooden ones, the young Taiwanese student developed in just a few days the concept of a chair, transformable from a seat to a bench, exploiting the huge resistance and rigidity that this material can take on in this specific structure.

Using only eco-friendly materials such as recycled paper, post-industrially rejected wood (plywood panels, chipboard panels, OSB) and ecological glue matched with pre-existing production processes, FLEXIBLE LOVE chair is thought out, from its very existence, to be a chair with a low environmental impact.

It can take on different shapes: linear, S-shaped, etc. for an almost total interactivity and adaptability with the user. Produced in 5 versions (other than the 16-person model, there’s also the one for 12 people, for 8, Couple for 2 and Mini, a 25:1 scale rendition of the Flexible Love 16) its first editions were immediately snatched out of stores.

It deserves another few words for its dimensions: 64cm tall and 56cm wide, its extendibility goes from 22.5cm in the compact version to 720cm open to the max. It weighs only 25kg, but can take a load of up to 1920kg!

An interesting piece of social and democratic design: you just need to coordinate yourself with your seating companions so as to avoid unfortunate capsizings.

+ FlexibleLove.com

An interesting presentation (in Chinese) by the designer Chishen Chiu.

Translated by Silvia — The creativity of the so-called “Reuse Design” lately is forever more appreciate from an earth-friendly and “NON Useless” design point of view, but more importantly even of “RE-useful”.

Here is for you a selection of interesting projects born from the creativity of sensible designers looking for ecologically sustainable solutions, selection which goes to show the fact that reusing is an effective solution and can also be aesthetic. 12 propositions which come, in the most part, from discarded objects, rethought and modelled into a new existence, for a renewed and original desirability.

A source of inspiration and encouragement for our daily recycling.

All details in the link below.

We’ll start with lighting design. Above you will find the original suggestion made by the designers of Toronto’s Castor Canadensis: a suspended lamp which resuscitates those terrible discarded neon bulbs which we never know how to get rid of for lack of a proper disposal solution and usually end up throwing in the communal bins against our ecological good will. [via Inhabitat]

Another chandelier which most certainly won’t leave you indifferent: this time because, if you look at it closely, you’ll see a whole lot of used biro pens (exactly 347 in this image, but there’s another version with 895!) elegantly arranged in circles to create exhilarating light plays on the walls of our houses. It is called Volivik 347 and was imagined but the Spanish design studio Enpieza [via WebUrbanist].

For vintage lovers (and not only) here are table lamps Made in Italy made by a passionate Italian creator, Maurizio Lamponi Leopardi: the Lamponi’s Lamps are born from the reusing of real car parts and electro domestic appliances, literally made to shine in a new light!

We couldn’t, in this post, not speak of Reestore, the English studio which has made Reuse Design its own philosophy and company mission. From Max McMurdo’s creativity have been born bizarre yet functioning objects with the added appeal which hangs between eco-chic and boho: like the Annie chair which you can see in the above images: a shopping cart re-thought to a new utility…

…the Max couch, a bath tub transformed into a chaise for some dry relaxing…

…and Silvana, a post-industrial looking coffee-table obtained from the drum of a washing machine.

These here are Andrew Gregg’s coffee tables, gotten from the wheels of old bicycles: compositions with elliptical lines, original and dynamic at once. A nice example of Bike Furniture Design.

Another original suggestion for home décor is this collection of seat, bar stool and armchair conceived by Amir Zinaburg from Israel and entirely obtained from used soda cans, artfully compressed to offer a new and durable support function. A robust and colourful solution which would help even our beaches, too often disfigured by beer and soda cans abandoned there without shame.

One particular chair which re-suggests and gives a new nobility another of the most common elements of our waste these days is “Panda Chair”, suggested by Belen Hermosa from Spain. It’s an original way of reusing old CDs which aren’t used anymore or have been scratched. For those wondering about the odd name, the young designer explains that it’s made from the initials of the 5 friends who gave her a hand to build it and to whom, as acknowledgement of their participation, she dedicates this creation of hers: Pedro, Arantza, Nagore, Diego, Aritz. A fun product of eco-design and friendship! [via TechnaBob].

From Turkey we get this very special luggage: Sit Bags by MayBeDesign, old luggage which ends its journey not in the trash but in our houses, giving itself a new utility [via Treehugger].

Keeping with the theme of travelling and flights, here is a curious and practical suggestion to program for another destination, on Earth this time, the airplane carts. Bordbar is the collection created but the German designer Stephan Boltz to give us a new and super customisable cupboard on wheels. Adaptable to any kind of use, it is usable anywhere one may need to put things away with order and a touch of style [via Ecoble].

And finally, as grand finale, the eccentric and refined limited edition from Toni Grilo, the young French designer from Objection Design who signed, for Christofle, a collection of accessories and an incredible coffee table, the “Precious Famine”, entirely made from silver cutlery. Thought of controversial utility, it is without a doubt a flighty application of creativity to such common objects which enhances the beauty and artistic workmanship. It will definitely have an effect! [via Casasugar].

Translated by Silvia — Here’s a new episode of extremely creative Street Marketing courtesy of the biggest Swedish Furniture giant: after having revolutionized the benches, telephone booths and bus stops in New York (see link below) this time the strategic novelty was thought out to penetrate the Country of the Rising Sun and involves nothing less than a monorail train, completely redone inside and out to travel in perfect IKEA style, spreading the latest colourful collection of fabrics and furnishings of the Swedish house for the launch of the new Japanese store.

The train will circulate until May 16^th and connects Kobe in Japan to the man-made Port Island on which the new dealer, inaugurated on April 14^th, was constructed. It is most certainly a clamorous advertising strategy, totally in sync with the Swedish giant’s idea that all revolves around home, the most important place in the world. IKEA wants to communicate that through the furnishing giant, home can be recreated anywhere, even on a moving train. Indeed, one cannot negate that its products transmit a strong sense of domesticity and that its democratic design is really a contemporary phenomenon of indisputable success.

All images of the train on the link below.

Transmitting the IKEA label going over and above the conceptual borders of houses to the streets and public means of transportation, where the common man lives most of his day, is a great tactic which has positive effects on the visibility of the company, but also on the people who can appreciate, even if for a short period of time, more welcoming and comfortable public environments.

IKEA’s new decorative themes include warm and happy colors (which remind us a lot of the motifs from Marimekko, another big North European name – from Finland – for furnishing fabrics and clothing lines) certainly give an informal and entertaining touch to the wagons of a train that, however elegant and modern it may be, generally comes across as cold and aseptic. Also, seeing such a bright means of transport run between grey palaces in the city is guaranteed to bring warm and positive feelings.

Imagine if your trains were the same. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind, and may actually appreciate it. Not only the children would be more stimulated by travelling immersed in a thousand colors and bright designs!

[from pinktentacle and culture-buzz]

Street Marketing – IKEA furnishes the New York benches

Translated by Silvia — The Orange22 studio says yes and strikes again.Founded in the year 2000 by Dario Antonioni in Los Angeles, this Californian laboratory of creativity immediately gained itself some illustrious clients and recognition. Last year, it launched Botanist, a collection of indoor and outdoor furniture, the first of which is tainted pink with the “Pink Limited Edition” in favour of the battle against breast cancer (all images under the cut). The latest issue is “Blank Canvas”, a social design project in which 8 world famous designers were involved for the first edition, from Milton Glaser (the creator of the iconic logo “I heart NY”) to the omnipresent Karim Rashid, from Ives Behar (an idol of ours) to the Italian duo of Massimo and Lella Vignelli.

You will find the images of the Botanist collections and more information in the cut below.

Botanist ‘Pink Limited Edition’

To the basic Botanist collection and the “Pink Limited Edition”, composed of 3 Flora series (une sheet of aluminium decorated with water jet cuts), Flow (without decorations) and Natural (coated with a plate of precious wood, only for indoors), Orange 22 joins, as from this year, the personal suggestions of Yves Behar, Margo Chase, Milton Glaser, Kahi Lee, Karim Rashid, Joe Ricchio, Massimi and Lella Vignelli and Claude Zellweger. The are the first 8 illustrious names to have collaborated with the Californian studio for the “Black Canvas” project, bringing in their own creative contributions in a line of furniture which actively contributes to social works thanks to funds gathered from the proceeds of the sales.

In 3 very colourful formats, Bench, Cocktail and End Table, Botanist is entirely produced with eco-friendly materials and manufacturing. It’s grand debut in the public eye will be during this year’s ICFF edition, that will be held from the 17^th to the 20^th of May at the Javits meeting Center in New York City.

A great example of Social design in which creativity is altruistic.

+ Botanist ‘Blank Canvas’ Project

+ Botanist ‘Pink Limited Edition’

+ Orange22

 
Botanist Bench ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Yves Behar

Botanist Cocktail table ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Margo Chase

Botanist Cocktail table ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Milton Glaser

Botanist Cocktail table ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Kahi Lee

Botanist Cocktail table ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Karim Rashid

Botanist Bench ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Joe Ricchio

Botanist Cocktail table ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Massimo e Lella Vignelli

Botanist Bench ‘Blank Canvas Edition’ by Claude Zellweger

[via Neu Black]

Translated by Silvia — Considering the growth rate of the world population and the tendency towards unbridled urbanization, the estimation is that by the end of next century, almost all of the surface of the Earth will be covered in houses, residences, malls and industrial plants. Projects such as ULTIMA Tower take on even more value and seem like concrete solutions towards the respect of the natural environment and the future generations.

An impressive building in the shape of a volcano, 3.2km high and capable of hosting 1.000.000 people is indeed the concrete answer given by the architect Eugene Tsui against the problem of uncontrolled urbanization that foresees, within the next 7 years, another important increase in urbanization that will bring to 22 the number of metropolises with over 10 million inhabitants, as said by the United Nations.

After being impressed by architectonic suggestions such as the Moscow City Tower and the Crystal Island, devised for Moscow by one of the most prestigious architects studios in the world, Fosters & Partners; or by the new tower scheduled to be erected in Tokyo, the X-Seed 4000, which recalls Mount Fuji from the Taisei Construction Corporation; here is today’s ULTIMA Tower that, in the world of bio mimetic architecture, is surely the most representative suggestion.

In the cut below you will find more information and pictures.

Translated by Silvia — From Treg Bradley’s inventive mind and Karim Rashid’s biomorphic creativity was born Grobal, an innovative vase for the failed green thumbs out there, colourful, self-watering and… “techno-organic”.

Translated by Silvia – Designers of Frank O. Gehry’s calibre (since the beginning of the 70’s) and recently ever more representatives of the new generation of industrial designers from the whole world have brought forward new materials like cardboard, scruff paper and polystyrene for creative experiments in the field of furniture, often winking back to sustainability.

And it is to their seating solutions, obtained from economic or recycled materials, that we are dedicating this post.

Easy Edges Wiggle Side Chair. Photo: Courtesy of Frank O. Gehry & Associates.

Cabbage Chair by Nendo

Old News chair by Ezri Tarazi

Paper Mache Arm Chair by Majid Azif

Soft Polychair by Max Lamb

Styrofoam Sofa by Kwangho Lee