ECO-FRIENDLY “AIR SUIT”

I seem to have stumbled upon a theme this week: bringing industrial technology to traditional Eastern design aesthetics. Kazuhide Doi, a Japanese architect, won a Bronze award from the Holcim Foundation

THE NEW CARPETBAGGERS

In general, I have a strong aversion to carpet. I’ve always felt that wood floors are fundamental to a beautiful interior. But if you must have carpet, Interface has inarguably become the brand of

KENNETH COBONPUE

Filipino designer Kenneth Cobonpue has good design in his genes. His mother, Betty Cobonpue, founded a furniture design and manufacturing company in the Phillipines in the early seventies, where she

POLE HOUSES

With the unpleasant prediction of more devastating weather patterns over the next twenty years (and beyond), safety and resilience are becoming top priorities for builders in disaster-prone areas. A

CRAFACTOR INFINITY ARMCHAIR

In an admirable display of furniture fusion, a group of Thai designers has reinterpreted the aesthetic of traditional crafts to make use of modern technology. Crafactor utilizes new industrial production

FLOATING GATE CHASES FLOATING ISLAND

Did any of you New Yorkers see this? I went down to Manhattan’s waterfront a couple times to try to catch Smithson’s Floating Island, and both times it eluded me (I think the schedule

FIREFLY LIGHTS

I’m obsessed with slightly silly pseudo-nature designs, so Firefly Magic’s Firefly Lights immediately caught me eye when I spotted them on Popgadget.

RECYCLINE MAKES THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

As you know, we don’t usually focus on the design of small-item products like toiletries ? but I thought this merited an exception. Recycline is a company that makes small plastic items (razors,

THE LOVE SHACK

A holiday rental agency in West Wales recently opened a new accomodation and proved that 70s kitsch has still not lost its popular appeal. The Caban Cariad (Welsh for “Love Shack”) is a

BAMBOO FURNITURE

Under the design umbrella that is responsible for Moso Village, there are a bevy of other offshoot projects, including a furniture design company, Bamboo Furniture. The company sources materials from

BAMBOO VILLAGE

In China’s Guangdong province, three hours north of Guangzhou, an old military base is being turned into an eco-village. Moso Village aims to become a wireless village where rural residents can

SIMPLE DORM

Now that prefab is ultra-hip, I’ve come to expect new designs to have the modern, minimalist look that makes prefab so sexy. But outside of residential prefab, I’ve come across a lot of

ORGANIC CONCRETE

Lisbon based e-studio has recently developed an organic concrete. The Beto Organico has a permeable surface which allows plants to grow out of it. This new material exploits concrete?s capacity to trap

DESIGNS FOR FOOD

In the midst of our cries over environmental destruction and lessons in at-home chemistry, it seemed about time for a brief return to designs that highlight the simple pleasures in life. Above are two

GREEN FORTUNE STREAM GARDEN

If there’s one thing that environmentalists and developers agree on, it’s that greenery is a good thing. Foliage is an instant feng shui enhancer, not to mention its oxygen-boosting and

100% DESIGN

This Thursday, September 22, is the opening day of 100% Design, London’s annual design industry convergence, featuring some of the world’s greatest contemporary designers. 100% Design brings

THE GREEN DOLLHOUSE PROJECT

In San Mateo next week, the Green Dollhouse Project will open its exhibition of 17 winning designs from its 2005 design competition. The exhibition will show at the Coyote Point Museum (south of San

HOW TO: Brew your own biodiesel

If anyone still needed proof that world oil resources are diminishing, staggering gas prices have now confirmed it. Now, even as our wallets grow skinnier and SUV sales drop, I can’t help but wonder

APOCALYPSE NOW

I’ve seen some pretty scary things in the news recently ? and I’m not talking about global terrorism or the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Scarier even than anarchy, violence and crumbling

A LIVING HOUSE – Terreform’s Fab Tree Hab

Inspired by the ecocentric attitudes of such beloved American nature-lovers as Thoreau, Emerson, Whitman and Alcott, three MIT designers – Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden and Javier Arbona –

FLOATING ISLAND SETS SAIL IN NEW YORK CITY

We wrote about Robert Smithson’s floating island about a month ago, but I just want to remind interested New Yorkers that the floating island has set sail today. The displaced chunk of Central Park

A GREENER MIRAGE

I caught my first glimpse of Vegas from at least one hundred miles outside the city, when its giant halo of white light became visible driving westward through the desert at night. The glow epitomized

CNI FURNITURE

The Qu’bequoise CNI Furniture company has designed an overwhelmingly large collection of environmentally-friendly interiors. They utilize exotic vegetable fibers and cruelty-free upholsteries to

SEMI-PERMANENT WRAP UP

Okay, this is a bit late. I should have written a Semi-Permanent wrap up last Sunday to make things timely, but unfortunately I ran out of time, and this week is getting more and more hectic with each

ECO-FRIENDLY SHOWER RECYCLES WATER

Like most people, I care about conserving water – but when it comes to actually scrimping on shower-time, I am loathe to cut back on my morning wake-up ritual. Thats why I am so excited about a new

TURBULENCE HOUSE

Commissioned as a guest house for artist Richard Tuttle and poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, the Turbulence House is nudging a technological revolution in off-site house design and construction. The 900-sq-ft

ECOSMART FIREPLACE

Here’s a quirky design guaranteed to warm up those chilly winter nights. The EcoSmart Fireplace is a flue-less, transportable, open fireplace which is ideal for apartment and city living. Designed

DWELL LAUNCHES PREFAB COLLECTION

In a move destined to make prefab lovers drool, Dwell Magazine has just announced the launch of an exclusive collection of custom-designed, modern prefabricated homes. The publication has teamed up with

WORLD’S FIRST SUSTAINABLE CITY?

British engineering and design consultancy Arup has signed a contract with Shanghai Industrial Investment Corporation (SIIC) to plan the world’s first sustainable “eco-city” – at

PRESENTATION SUGGEREE

If you’ve never been privy to an end-of-lease battle with your landlord over how much damage falls on your shoulders, consider yourself both rare and fortunate. Almost everyone has hastily patched a

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