Visitors to this year’s Salone del Mobile were in for a treat when they strolled through Zona Tortona into a quaint, Italian courtyard on Milan’s Via Borgospesso to encounter Christoph Klemmt’s stunning vortex-shaped OR installation. Composed out of polygonal, photoreactive segments which respond to ultra-violet light, OR’s captivating powers lie in its capacity to correspond its appearance to changes in weather and daylight. Its ‘skin’ emits flourishing hues of blue and green when exposed to sunlight and maintains a subtle translucency when the installation is overcome by shade. Best of all, OR’s effects are not limited to daytime – at night, it generates ample atmosphere by becoming a ‘chandelier’ which lavishly floods its surrounding areas with a dramatic dispersement of light.


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Post tags: eco design, green design, I Saloni, Milan 2008, Milan Salone de Mobile, Milan Salone Internazionale de Mobile, OR Photoreactive Sun Canopy by Christoph Klemmt, OR Project, Photosensitive Sun Canopy, Via Borgospesso, zona tortona

Think a luxury pillow has to be made of silk? Think again- African-born, London-based designer Bridget West crafts gorgeous housewares, pillows, and throws, from vintage labels and tags that critique the throw-away nature of our consumer existence in a really beautiful way. Her Handle With Care pillow is made from clothing tags, while the Delicate Cube and Made in Cube pillows are quirky and comfy, featuring inked graphics and organic cotton or hemp.

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Post tags: bridget west, clothing tag pillows, clothing tag pillows" title="pieces of you, eco design pillows, ecycled houseware, handle with care pillows, organic cotton pillows, Pieces of You, PIECES OF YOU Pillows Made from Recycled Tags, Reclaimed Materials, reclaimed pillows, recycled houseware, recycled pillows, Vintage tag design

Finnish company Artek is no stranger to innovative, eco-conscious design. Pioneered in 1935 by legendary Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto, Artek’s design philosophy has always been about combining the systematic workings of the natural world with the clean-lined aesthetic of modernism. Shigeru Ban’s partnership with the company, then, makes perfect sense. The Japanese architect teamed up with Artek to build an eco-friendly pavillion for the Milan Furniture fair — made almost entirely out of recycled sticky labels. Recently reconstructed in Helsinki, the meticulously designed pavilion features a wood-plastic composite called ProFi.


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Post tags: Artek Pavillion, eco-conscious design, shigeru ban, sustainable design

If you are looking for a cool alternative to your average, run-of-the-mill upholstered furniture, the latest buzz (and one of the stunners of the HauteGREEN show) is the Emir chair by Lars Urheim of the Norwegian design house Trokk16. A beautiful specimen of classic Scandinavian design, the Emir chair is constructed out of natural latex foam, sustainable wood, wool fabric and woolen felt. The biodegradable Emir is as much about form as it is about substance. According to Urheim, the chair’s components can easily be separated and reused or recycled after its initial use has run its course.

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Post tags: 100% Norway, Bergen designers, eco furniture design, green furniture design, Haute Green, Lars Urheim, norweigan design, Sustainable Norweigan Furniture Design, Sustainable Upholstered Design, Sustainable Upholstery, Trokk16 Emir Chair

During the week of Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile, we put a call out for eco-loving, freelance correspondents to help us out with our coverage. Our plea was met with much enthusiasm from, among others, a design class from Kansas State University, who braved the ruckus of the event to bring us some exciting reports and tips from Salone. Read on for a run-down of some of their favorite and ‘greenest’ finds…

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", DIY Kyoto, home energy meter, wattson energy meter

Biomimicry proved to be all the rage at the Salone Internazional del Mobile this year, with designers drawing big-time inspiration from the wonders of the natural world. Though Finnish textile design studio Woodnotes falls in the same category, their apparent love of ecological structures doesn’t render their work any less unique than that of other eco-emulators. An eye-catching aspect of their booth at the Salone was the Flake Blind which hung delicately amidst their designs. As implied by its given moniker, the Flake Blind was inspired by memories of wintertime bliss and the geometric qualities of a snowflake.

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Post tags: Flake Blind, Tyvek design, Tyvek partition, Woodnotes, Woodnotes Flake Blind

After being alerted to all the Inhabitat-worthy designs that had yet to be uncovered in the Tortona district of Milan during the week of the Salone Internazionale del Mobile, we made our way towards the site of the Zona Tortona Design Event. An initiative of Recapito Milanese, the event was inspired by a smaller affair organized by Giulio Cappellini from Superstudio in April 2001. Last year, Zona Tortona generated 60,000 visitors with over 194 companies from all over the world displaying their wares. For the design community, the event has become synonymous with ‘alternative’ or ‘independent’ design garnering a reputation for more experimental work than the mainstream-oriented Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Read on for more details of all the great stuff we found!

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Post tags: Add new tag, Milan, Milan Furniture Fair, Zona Torta

The veteran furniture manufacturer Swedese is notoriously associated with classic Swedish style in their Scandinavian homeland. Since its founding in 1945, Swedese has run in the same circles as fellow Scandinavian design pioneers such as Arne Jacobson and Alvar Aalto in its quest to create sensible and ecologically-evocative design. At the Salone Internazionale del Mobile this year, their simple yet stunning work proved that the initial appeal of ‘Scandanavian Modern’ had yet to fade into the sidelines. A particularly notable piece in the exhibit this year was their Breeze side table designed by Monica Forster.


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Post tags: Breeze Table, Milan 2007, Scandinavian Furniture Design, Swedese

At Salone Internazional del Mobile’s Euroluce in Milan, designers fearsomely competed for attention by decking out their booths with high-tech light displays. But the one that caught our eye and held our attention was a series of innovative light structures from the always creative Ingo Maurer. And this year, Mr. Maurer’s fixtures were particularly green, integrating an array of everyday and reused objects including toothpaste tubes. Leave it to him to make Colgate beautiful.

+ INGO MAURER

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Post tags: ingo mauer tube light, ingo maurer's TU-BES lights, recycled toothpaste tube lights

From April 18 to 23, Milan IS the Salone Internazionale del Mobile as designers, tourists, and journalists flock to the trade fair for the most anticipated design event of the year. On Day One, Inhabitat made its way to the Rho-Fiera fairgrounds on the outskirts of the bustling Italian city where the latest international designs were being unveiled before a crazed, but decidedly stylish, public. We’ve seen some great stuff and have tons to report- read on for some highlights!

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Post tags: Adele Chong, Milan Design, Milan Furniture Fair, Milan Salone Mobile

[Re] design, the non-profit organization established by designers specializing in sustainable design, hit Bluebird restaurant in London recently with a showcase of quirky, smart designs snagged from their previous exhibition during London Design Week last year. One of the show’s highlights was without a doubt, the Anglo-Italian design studio, Studiomold who won approving looks from the restaurant’s fascinated clientele by raiding the recycling box and crafting beautiful lamp bases out of used plastic, fizzy drink bottles. Sustainable and aesthetically pleasing, Studiomold’s Big Crush and Little Crush table lamps instill the notion of creating ambiance with a sense of humor.


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Post tags: BIG CRUSH PLASTIC BOTTLE LAMPS, eco design, Studiomold, sustainable design

As a nod to childhood treehouses and those good old days of youthful splendor, Dustin Feider obsessed himself with developing the perfect eco-friendly version of the tree sanctuary. After much trial and error, the 23-year old freelance furniture designer came up with a unique and green take on the conventional kiddie sanctuary which he dubbed the O2 Sustainability Treehouse. Inspired by the construction of Buckminster Fuller’s infamous geodesic dome, Feider discovered that by following Bucky’s lead, he could use less material and construct a more stable structure than that of the ‘traditional’ treehouse – most importantly, without at all harming the tree.

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Post tags: Dustin Feider, eco design, eco treehouses, Eco-friendly geodesic treehouse, Geodesic Treehouse, green design, green treehouse, Sustainability Treehouse, tree house, treehouse

If you happen to be in London, you should hightail it over to the Barbican Art Gallery where one of the most talked about architectural shows in the city, Alvar Aalto Through the Eyes of Shigeru Ban, is being showcased from now until mid-May. Beautifully curated by world-renowned Japanese architect Ban, the exhibition traces the life and work of legendary architect Alvar Aalto whose modernist designs made him a national treasure in his native Finland and put him on par with the likes of Le Corbusier and Mies Van der Rohe.


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Post tags: Alvar Aalto, courtesy of the Barbican Art Gallery, Finland, Finnish Architect, Finnish Architecture, Finnish Modernism, Helsinki, Humanism in architecture, Humanistic Architecture, Kalevi A. Makinen, Scandinavian architecture, shigeru ban

If you’re a greenthumb in spirit but just can’t keep your favorite leafy pets alive, fret not – the answer to your problems has arrived in a clever new human/plant communication project. Four students from NYU’s infamous ITP program – Robert Faludi, Kate Hartman, Kati London and Rebecca Bray – have recently devised a brilliant solution to keep you from throwing in the trowel on gardening altogether. Dubbed Botanicalls, the innovative concept establishes a way for thirsty plants to effectively communicate their needs to humans – by placing phone calls to their owners.


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Post tags: automatic plant watering, Botanicalls, interactive botanicals, interactive plants, ITP School, NYU Interactive Telecommunications, phone your plants, plant watering system, Talk to your plants with Botanicalls

Marie-Louise Gustafsson specializes in creating interior designs that fuse utility and humor. Recently shown at the Salone Satellite furniture fair in Milan, the Stockholm-based designer’s unusual creation, Table of Trash quirkily references the relationship between the workstation and the waste-basket by introducing an element of fun into an activity that one would normally consider completely mundane. The slide-like table top allows one to literally push those useless papers to the side and straight into the bin – forgoing the loathsome task of crumpling and searching under your desk for that bin.


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Post tags: Marie-Louise Gustafsson, table of trash

The phrase “A la lata,” translates as ‘to the can’ in Spanish. A commonly uttered phrase in Colombia, the expression itself also refers to the act of doing something spontaneously, with a great deal of enthusiasm. With Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos’ beautifully constructed A La Lata Chair – the concept of executing something amazing on the fly, using whatever available means, definitely takes on a whole new meaning. Meticulously assembled using 1739 recycled aluminum can tabs, Hoyos’ unique lounge chair incorporates traditional handicraft techniques with cutting-edge contemporary design, much like the chair version of the fabulous Escama bag. Durable and ideal for exterior use, the real beauty is in the fact that the chair is entirely recycled.


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Post tags: A La Lata, A La Lata Lazy Chair, Carlos Alberto Montana Hoyos, recyclable chair, recycled can chair, soda can chair

When you first feast your eyes on one of Stuart Haygarth’s quirky designs, the first thing that becomes immediately ingrained in your memory is his apparent talent for juxtaposing color with form. His recent design, the Disposable Chandelier, is no exception to the rule. Humorously crafted out of 416 disposable plastic wine glasses, the chandelier is lit with a pink fluorescent light source. Incidentally, a smaller version made with 280 glasses is also available. While the atmosphere created by this piece is elegant enough for any posh dinner party, its unusual construction also provides ample material for after-dinner conversation!


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Post tags: Diposable Chandelier, Foudn Object Lighting Designs, green chandelier, green lighting, Recycled Material Lighting Designs, Stuart Haygarth, Wine Glass Chandelier

Tom Dixon deftly combines smart green design with old school chic in his recent contemporary take on Lacoste’s iconic polo shirt. Primarily concerned with the ‘provenance and craft’ of manufactured materials, Dixon’s visits to Nigeria and India and the unique hand-dyeing techniques he witnessed there reportedly helped inspire his innovation versions of the polo shirt. Eco Polo relies on chemical-free indigo dyes and rougher edges on its sleeves for its hip, slightly ‘distressed’ appeal, whereas his other new polo design: Techno Polo is composed of lurex fibers and cotton amalgamated with high-tech weaving techniques to create a look that’s just right for either breaking out the tennis racket or hitting the a nightclub.

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Post tags: eco-friendly polo shirt, Ecopolo by Lacoste, green polo, Lacoste's new Eco Polo, sustainable polo shirt, Tom Dixon Eco Polo pour Lacoste

Evoking a gallery of stars, Robin Carpenter’s eye-catching LED chandelier, Spiralight, demonstrates how good those little light emitting diodes can look when they are used in a clever way. This is what LED lighting should be all about. The creative LED Chandelier recently made waves at the IMM Cologne design fair 2007 . Delicately suspended with 216 LEDS meticulously interwoven into a single twisting strand, the stunning Spiralightis typical of the Berlin-based designer’s signature aesthetic – in evoking a sense of the organic by way of obstructing symmetry in linear production via algorithms.


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Post tags: Designer LEDs, green lighting design, Haute LED Lighting, IMM Cologne Design Fair, LED Chandelier, LED lighting, Robin Carpenter, Spiralight, sustainable design

Participants from the Urban Curators project recently transformed derelict areas of downtown Providence into an outdoor gallery space when they took to the streets and indulged in a little impromptu ‘curating.’ Passing residents were pleasantly bewildered when they stumbled upon a series of gold-painted frames haphazardly taped to graffiti-covered walls and the crumbling exteriors of abandoned sites. The intention of the group, which initially assembled as a collective after participating in RISD’s Semiotic Disobedience workshop last fall, was to highlight the urban ‘beauty’ of locales that most would condemn as decrepit and unsightly.

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Post tags: Street art, urban art, urban curators, Urban Curators 1