A new generation of gardeners are interested in growing their own food, and The Patch, a new self-watering planter, helps guide newbies through the process. The planter, which is designed for urban gardeners, solves the most common challenge for novice gardeners: over-watering. The Patch Planter is an easy, self-watering and flat-packable planter that addresses this issue by providing the plant with the perfect amount of water at all times — yielding more nutritious and delicious food. The planter is currently in the beta stage, but Let’s Patch is raising funds through Kickstarter to take its manufacturing process to the next level.

+ Let’s Patch

+ Let’s Patch on Kickstarter

The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

NBBJ unveiled plans for Amazon's Seattle Headquarters back in the fall of 2012 - but they just announced plans to add three striking biospheres to the heart of the 3-block downtown campus. Intended for employees only, the glass spheres will be filled with plants from around the world. The goal is to create a working environment that is more park-like and exciting than a typical 'vanilla' office space. Surrounding the LEED Gold-designed biospheres is a much larger and improved public park than was originally part of the plan.

 

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

The world’s largest inflatable rubber duck is back in action after springing a leak and collapsing into a yellow blob in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. A team of experts was sent in to give Florentijn Hofman's rubber duck emergency mouth-to mouth and a body repair - and now the duck has regained his famous buoyancy and will float around the harbor in Hong Kong until June 9th.

 

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

ICFF 2013 just kicked off in New York, and Team Inhabitat is on the scene to bring you the best sustainable designs from the nation's largest showcase of contemporary furnishings. Our first day of coverage turned up a great array of green design gems ranging from dazzling energy-saving LED lamps and chandeliers to furniture made from recycled plastic, repurposed propane tanks, and even salvaged bicycles. Read on for a first-hand look at our favorite finds fresh from today's show!

 

Read More >

2 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

Now in its third year, Wanted Design has risen to become one of our favorite annual events during New York Design Week. Whereas ICFF confounds the senses with hundreds of booths, Wanted Design presented an expertly curated collection of groundbreaking designers - and we were thrilled to find an abundance of sustainable designs on the show floor. Read on for some of our favorites - from David Trubridge's sparkling LED Light Rain installation to Joe Doucet's electroluminescent Hadron Light, Fabrica's fun and funky recycled furnishings and beyond.

 

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

This year the International Contemporary Furniture Fair during New York Design Week featured over 500 exhibitors, and there was far too much green design goodness to pack into just one post - so we're bringing you a second serving of the best sustainable furnishings, products and lights from this year's show. From the world's smallest chandelier to 3D printers and off-grid hot tubs, read on for our favorite finds from ICFF day two!

 

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

Bees have already done a host of great services for the human race – they pollinate flowers, cure diseases, and produce honey. Now scientists in Croatia have found another role for the intrepid insect. The country, which is set to join the European Union this July, contains thousands of unexploded landmines left over from the Balkan wars. Researchers at Zagreb University are working towards training honeybees to sniff out these underground weapons over a 750 square-kilometer area where the devices are believed to remain.

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

Scanadu, a startup based at the NASA Ames Research Center, has made the science-fiction of Star Trek a reality by creating a non-invasive tricorder that, within 10 seconds, can gather medical information about a person and then relay it to their smartphone. The device, known as the Scanadu Scout, has been in development for over two years and can measure blood pressure, temperature, ECG, oximetry, heart rate and breathing rate.

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

This morning the Solar Impulse airplane embarked upon the next leg of its sun-powered journey across the United States. The solar-powered giant has already traveled from the San Francisco Bay Area to Arizona, and at 5am it took off from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport en route to Dallas. The record-breaking flight marks a pivotal point in the team’s attempt to be the first to fly across the the country without using a single drop of fuel.

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

 

 

The Lofoten tourist route in the northern part of of Norway is a popular place to take in the vibrant landscape and never setting sun during the summer months. Along the route is the Eggum Tourist Stop, designed by Oslo-based firm Snøhetta. The firm won a commission in 2004 to roll out a site-sensitive plan that improves the functionality and amenities of the spot. Using locally sourced driftwood and gabion baskets with stones excavated from the site, Snøhetta created a space that celebrates the landscape.

 

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

Hong Kong is laying the foundations for a zero-emissions city with a brand new fleet of 45 bright red electric taxis. Manufactured by China’s BYD, which is partially backed by Warren Buffet, each five-door BYDe6 crossover sedan is powered by an iron phosphate battery that charges in two hours and has a modest 180 mile range. Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association Limited are renting the fleet as part of a six month trial period that some say will earn taxi drivers a better wage and local government officials hail the move as the right step towards a cleaner urban environment.

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

Where most people see packing material to be discarded after use, artist Bradley Hart sees a blank canvas waiting to be filled with pops of color. The New York-based Toronto native has been creating astoundingly realistic portraits of celebrities and friends using bubble wrap injected with paint. Besides people, Hart also has depicted some of his favorite places, like a square in Amsterdam, and brought to life more abstract ideas. The painstaking process involves filling each tiny air-filled bubble with acrylic pigment, making it appear as if the finished product is made up of thousands of pixels. On average, it takes the artist about 150 hours to finish each of his works. But even before he approaches his unusual canvas, Hart spends two-three days loading the paint into the 1,200-1,500 syringes needed to complete a single creation. One of his most famous works to date depicts the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. To complete the incredibly lifelike portrait, Hart injected over 16,000 individual bubbles with 89 different hues of paint to spectacular effect.

+ Bradley Hart

Via Cybergazing

The article above was submitted to us by an Inhabitat reader. Want to see your story on Inhabitat? Send us a tip by following this link. Remember to follow our instructions carefully to boost your chances of being chosen for publishing!

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

Designer Annie Evelyn from New Colony Furniture creates weird and wonderful seats using a technique she developed herself. Her “upholstered” chairs are made from hard materials but can be “squished” to provide for comfy seating. Her latest design, the Scotty Chair, is an elegant outdoor seat made from reclaimed Cypress wood.

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

A freeway overpass is not the first place you would think to look for innovative art. But if you happen to be Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock, the freeway overpass is a natural canvas for industrial elegance. The artistic duo has created an art installation underneath a San Antonio overpass called Ballroom Luminoso, which utilizes steel, bicycle parts and LED fixtures to create a brilliant chandelier display right where you would least expect it.

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this

This year at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, something menacing was lurking among the tables and chairs. D-torso brought a giant 3D T-Rex made completely from cardboard. Standing a bit taller than an average human, the sculpture dominated the exhibit. Using laser-cut technology to bring the dino to life, the sculpture appeared as a mesh between the modern and the prehistoric.

Read More >

0 email thisemail this facebook this facebook this