We have to give a shout out to Sydney-based architecture student/blogger Linda Bennett over at Archi-Ninja for her cool and clever comic: Top 9 Ninja Characteristics of Awesome Architecture Blogs, in which she gives an animated nod to us! We’re honored that Linda cartoonized us amongst great company like ArchDaily, Dezeen and Designboom. Thanks so much Linda! 

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Post tags: blogs, top 9 ninja charcteristics of awesome archtecture blogs

As the trees begin to lose their leaves, once full and leafy branches grow increasingly bare to create suddenly spooky shadows in our windows — just in time for Halloween. Halloween is tomorrow and we’ve been admiring the green and ghoulish as well as just the plain weird. Take a look below for some of the best stories on Inhabitots and Ecouterre.

We’re curious to know if you would wear these LED eyelashes as part of your Halloween costume.

Sometimes a fashion faux-pas can be as frightening as a zombie, so take a look at these six howlers that will make your blood run cold.

We are seriously disturbed by these taxidermy accessories made of preserved rat heads, guinea pig feet, pigeon feathers and whole mice.

These spooky and eco-friendly lights are the perfect thing to provide light for your Halloween journey.

If you are thinking about doing some Halloween face painting, be sure to read this article about lead and other harmful toxins in paint.

And if you haven’t already, be sure to enter our Halloween costume contest on Inhabitots. There are great prizes!

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Post tags: eco-friendly Halloween, ecouterre, green costumes, green halloween, halloween, halloween costume, Inhabitots

Halloween is almost upon us — and we hope that your’s will be as ghoulishy green as it is delightful. Not sure how? Well then, check out some of the best in green goodies for this Halloween featured on Inhabitots.

First, the costumes: Oeuf’s bat hat is an eco-friendly costume piece that will last even after the Halloween festivities are over.

But if you are looking for more, Oeuf also creates these wildlife-inspired animal knits for the adventurous child in your life. If your tyke is still too young for those, try these adorable hat & booties sets.

If you want to keep this year’s Halloween costumes DIY, take some advice from Vickie Howell or take a peek at Alison Jenkin’s book of wacky knitted costume designs.

Dressed up in cozy and eco-friendly costumes, you’ll probably want to treat your kids (ahem, yourself) to some Halloween candy , but if you’re not crazy about chemicals and artificial additives, try these healthier Halloween treats.

These Halloween crayons, perfect for creating spooky art, are the perfect answer for a non-sugary night.

Ah, and last, but certainly not least — check out these green options for stowing away that Halloween booty: a Jack on Black Halloween fabric bucket and ghastly casette tape sculptures that could make anyone squeal if asked to reach in for their treat.

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Post tags: children knitwear, costume designs, diy costumes, eco-friendly Halloween, green halloween, halloween, halloween candy, halloween costumes, halloween knits, halloween treats, healtheir candy, natural candy

The winner of the Solar Decathlon Competition was announced today — congratulations Team Germany! We’ve been following the competition happenings all week. Our friends have been as abuzz as us, and we’ve noticed that everyone is in a flurry of excitement about solar technology and energy efficient building. Check out what we saw this week!

Treehugger annouced the architecture and market viability awards on Tuesday.

GreenOptions reports on Steven Chu’s decision to spend an additional $87 million on solar technology.

JetsonGreen, our favorite green home expert, highlights the 20 beautiful, solar-powered homes of this year’s Solar Decathlon competition.

NYTimes comments that the students are proving that solar living doesn’t mean compromising lifestyle.

Clean Technica shows us 10 solar technologies to be exicted about.

CleanTechnica also reports that California will be giving more money to small-scale solar projects.

And of course, don’t forget to check out our coverage.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", built environment, energy efficient buildings, policy intiatives, solar decathlon 2009, Solar Power, solar powered homes, solar technology

It’s finally the week of the Solar Decathlon competition! From Thursday, October 8 to Friday, October 16, 20 multi-disciplinary students teams made up of architects, engineers, and designers will participate in 10 contests to determine the winner. You can take a peek at each team’s standing here. Taking place at the National Mall, all the homes will be open for public viewing from October 9 to October 13 and October 15 to October 18. Inhabitat has been on the scene of the competition, so take a look at our up-to-date reporting today — and check back next week for more coverage.

We’ve also been scouting to see what the interwebs have been buzzing about the Decathlon:

Treehugger snaps some photos of the students re-building their homes on the National Mall.

CNET News takes us on a tour of the houses that feels like a tour around the country.

CNET News also reports that Energy Secretary Steven Chu plugged solar and building efficiency, announcing $87 million of funding for DOE for solar energy.

We also stumbled upon US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon flickr feed.

And to get some in-depth perspective on the event check out our coverage of competitions past, take a peek at our photos of the Solar Decathlon this year taken by Jill and Rebecca who visited the National Mall this week and read our on-the-scene coverage of Rice University’s ZEROW House.

And remember — Check back for more next week!

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "solar energy", energy-efficient homes, reneweable energy, solar decathlon 2009, Solar Power, Sustainable Building, US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon

Last week, Geoff Manaugh of BLDGBLOG asked Mason White of InfraNet Lab for his thoughts on the growing interest in infrastructure and planning. White reflected that designers today that are looking to positively impact the built environment, and are subsequently thinking about the bigger picture rather than object-orientated thinking. So if you love architecture, and are curious about the larger systems at work at the city scale — and you want make sure it is environmentally conscious, take a peek at the initiatives and innovations that were covered this week below.

Mother Nature Network tells us about a program in New York City that will train building managers in the latest green building practices.

Good Magazine reminds us that there are several components to creating more livable cities.

Treehugger is cautious about a substance that enables concrete to remove nitrogen dioxide from the air.

Green Options says that England and China have new transportation projects: ecowordly says England has a dual plan that include bikes and trains. cleantechnica says China is funding a high-speed rail.

(Oh, and Happy Birthday, Worldchanging!)

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Post tags: city planning, design advocacy, green infrastructure, urban planning

For years, we have been trying to control our interior environments — by putting up four walls and a roof, and then by stuffing insulation into walls and painting coats of funny chemicals on the outside. Today, we know that environmentally-sensitive indoor climate control will require re-wiring of buildings and the way we think. Lightening a building’s carbon footprint is a challenging task, but one that promises product innovation and creative design. It all starts with baby steps, and this week we’d thought to highlight a few initiatives that look at roofs and walls.

Treehugger spotted PNC Financial Service’s GIANT green wall. Jetson Green says that the south-facing wall is 25% cooler behind the verdant wall.

Clean Technica tells us about a solar paint that could fight climate change even better than white paint. (Did you know you could volunteer to paint roofs white in NYC?)

Bus-Tops is a blog devoted to tracking the results of a campaign to beautify bus tops.

Archinect showcases a vegi-tecture project that proposes a vertical garden as part of a cathedral in Los Angeles, California.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", building renovation, Green Building, retrofitting, roof top garden, vertical gardens

Living in New York City, I’ve lost touch with the concept of affordable housing. However, after competition finalists were announced for an affordable student housing complex in the historic center of Athens, Greece, I felt inspired to seek out other exciting developments in the world of affordable design.

Jetson Green reports on net-zero energy homes nestled into an idyllic setting among evergreen trees and grasses.

gbNYC tells us that Connecticut is getting its first LEED-certified residential building that also happens to be the first affordable housing developing in downtown Hartfood. Woot!

And I am having mixed feelings about Curbed that Milstein Properties exporting their affordable housing development to Bronx and Staten Island.

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Post tags: affordable housing, Green Building, real estate development

Today, we were proud to announce that Project H, founded by former Inhabitat editor Emily Pilloton, received an Adobe Foundation Grant. Emily is proving that design can make a positive impact on our world and society. So this week, we took a look into some other ventures that combine good design and doing good.

Notcot spotted these yummy drinks that also give back.

Green Options tells us about Clothing with a Cause.

Archinect links to an article on Flores en el atico about a non-profit called City Repair that is currently working tearing up asphalt to replace it with greenery.

Re-nest suggests plugging into Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems to check in with the latest in building innovations.

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Post tags: cause design, charity design, design advocacy, design non-profit, urban greening

This week, we’ve been seeing lots of climage change news around the interweb and none too soon, as the UN Climate Change Conference is coming up in December. It will be crucial for our world leaders to come to an international agreement to protect millions of people from the effects of climate change. And as Treehugger reminds us, YOU can make a difference by signing the online petition for that urges governments to reach an agreement.

The Guardian reports that the future is beginning to look bleak for an international agreement on climate change when the US stalled on a climate change bill this week.

Green Options shares a new study that finds that global warming is much worse than previously thought. Yikes!

Worldchanging tells us that evena 1 degree increase temperature will mean a significant increase in risk of wildfires.

Treehugger alerts us that the latest report says that developing nations around the world will need $500 billion dollars in order to combat climate change.

Reuters reports that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for swift action on a climate change treaty, based on studies that indicate that the sea level may rise 2 meters (6.5 feet) by 2100.

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Post tags: Climate Change, climate change activism, climate summit, copenhagen climate summit, no impact man, political activism, United Nations

Last Sunday, Nicolai Ouroussoff at the NY Times wrote that New York City needs new heroes for architecture. He reminiscences about the New York Five of the 1970s who wanted to “reassert the importance of architecture as art form” and we couldn’t help but recognize how drastically different that kind of thinking is compared to the demands of architecture today. Nowadays architects are asked to address climate change, habitat destruction, the housing crisis AND make buildings that are aesthetically pleasing. All this certainly sounds like a job cut out for no one less than a hero.

Luckily, Andrew Bernheimer at The Design Observer points out that there are already many eager and responsible architects who are courageous stewards of the built environment and valiant defenders of public space. Bernheimer says, “The work and teachings of many of my colleagues is mostly lacking in self-promotion but overflowing with substance. This is what makes them influential and, at times, heroic.”

If substance is what makes a hero, what definition does Ouroussoff have of substance for New York City architecture? “[NY5's] greatest contribution, in retrospect, was its assertion that architecture had not reached a dead end. The architects saw themselves as artists and thinkers — not activists…” So does Ouroussoff feel that art should take precedence over social change? “Real change will first demand a radical shift in our cultural priorities,” he says. But how can we respond to contemporary culture without being an activist of some sort? A Design Observer reader says the argument is between “object- versus fabric-oriented architecture,” with New York City architecture needing to fit into a restricting urban grid. So what do you think? Where do you stand in this debate?

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Post tags: Architecture, design activism, los angeles architecture, new york city architecture

The New York International Gift Fair was this week and we are sorry to say that we missed it, which is why we paid extra attention to the buzz around it — and just like Design Week, we are hearing that there is no shortage of good green design.

Mother Nature Network provides a round-up of the latest green products at the fair.

Habitually Chic creates some online buzz for a new company at the fair this year, oomph!

Treehugger reveals an extremely wasteful aspect of giant expos: the booths — and shows us one example that is doing it with salvaged materials.

Re-nest spotted Ronel Jordaan’s stunning hand-dyed and hand-felted blankets, pillows, and curtains at the fair.

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Post tags: "green furniture", green design, green gifts, green home goods, green products, new york international gift fair, nyigf

Suburban sprawl has become the problem of our generation — that’s why we partnered with Dwell to sponsor, Reburbia, a design competition to re-imagine the suburb. We posted the finalists earlier this week, and we’ve already seen a huge response to the entries. Everyone is voting in on their favorites, so take a peek at what’s hot…and what’s not.

Fast Company asks us to think about the modest and realistic solutions rather than the futuristic stuff that leaves them wanting more.

The authors of Freakonomics give Reburbia a shout-out on the NY Times.

Wired shares a snarky review of the contest and the finalists’ solutions.

Apartment Therapy gives Re-burbia a shout-out, commenting on the range of the entries.

BLDGBLOG has a special soft spot for the solutions rooted in converting suburban land into green-scapes or useful filtration systems.

PopSci.com reports on what is popular and their favorite tech-y solution.

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Post tags: re-design competition, reburbia, reburbia competition, suburb re-design, suburban design competition

Through the end of August, the Museum of Arts and Design is hosting a weekly evening of good drinks, food and art on Thursdays starting at 5:00 PM. Big fans of pay-as-you-wish admission to museums, the Inhabitat team went on the first night. As we wandered around the museum, we were easily enamored with the objects on display. And then we wondered — in an eco-world, are these objects responsible? What about functionality? Is creating something just for the sake of looking at it, a waste of resources? So this week, we’ve been scouring for designers who have a knack for creating objects that inspire us with great curiosity, but are created with eco-responsibility.

Designboom has us wondering how many components you can subtract from a chair and still make it structurally sound with Timothy Lile’s Less Chair.

Designsponge inspired us with the simple rustic look of these lamps by Zeke Leonard.

Atelier29 talks about a tree trunk bench that proves any tree trunk can become seating — in fact, Jurgen Bey only sells the chair backs, ready to be installed into any tree trunk.

Design Milk features the Barnacle Chair, a comfy chair perfect for small spaces, made of reclaimed industrial felt and sustainably-harvested ash.

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Post tags: "lighting design", Decorative Objects, furniture design, museum of art and design, Recycled Materials

Summertime is fun, but can be tiring — and all you need sometimes is to sit your tush down on some nice, comfy seating. And if you are like us, you want to be locating yourself on a nice bench or stool that is sustainably sourced and constructed. There is certainly no shortage of functional and eco-friendly furniture to be found out there, and this is what we noticed this week in the blog-o-sphere.

Notcot features a modular and biodegradable lounging chair made of plywood, and a stool made of chopsticks and steamer trays.

Core77 tells us about a hand-woven aluminum chair.

Re-nest is highlighting chairs made from recycled whiskey barrels.

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Post tags: "green furniture", eco friendly chairs, eco-friendly furniture, eco-friendly seating, green furniture, recycled furniture, Seating

Now that we are spending more time outdoors, we thought we’d take a poke around the internet to see what interesting public art projects are taking place around the world. Look what we found in this week’s content!

Notcot features this curvaceous plywood structure located in Bedford Square, London.

We also liked this grass planted temporarily in a train station — from a milk commercial filmed in New Zealand!

Pruned highlights a shimmering “wave garden” that we would love to stumble upon in San Francisco.

Core77 proves that you don’t have to waste gas on going away with a structure designed for urban camping in Copenhagen.

Treehugger reports on the latest guerrilla gardening effort in Toronto.

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Post tags: art installations, city art initiatives, public art

It’s about that time when we all start to think about getting away. However, getting away might not be an option for everyone this year, not to mention that traveling can be extremely bad for the environment from the plane’s carbon emissions to all those little knick-knacks that end up cluttering the house. But even if you are thinking about a staycation in your very own backyard, roof or terrace — it should still feel extraordinary! So if you are looking for some inspiration to spruce up your space, try starting with what we found:

Re-nest shares this functional NYC rooftop that we can becoming the ultimate hang-out spot in the summer.

CubeMe found this forest-inspired walkway that was also featured on Materialicious and Re-nest.

Designboom features these lawn lounge chairs that blend right into their grassy surroundings.

PicoCool loves these recycled sun and moon jars — just like us!

Treehugger offers for you to “get away from it all” with a change of scenery with these prefabs perfect for camping.

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Post tags: garden design, garden improvements, new york city rooftop, nyc green roof, staycation, vacation

It officially became summer this week, and in anticipation of the heat we have talked about keeping cool, and why wind is important. This week we are thinking about water, because who can argue how refreshing a cool glass of water can be on a hot summer day? In the past, water often had to be moved across miles to get to its consumers. It seems, perhaps more so with a looming water crisis,  that water continues to fascinate people because at times, it can be an obstacle to overcome while at other times,  it is a giver of life. We wondered how contemporary designers respond to man’s relationship with water and this is what we found:

MoCo Loco tells us a little about these natural water filtration systems for aquariums that make a nice little garden too.

New York City has been rainy! Fortunately, Treehugger features these raincoats made of potatoes.

ENN covers a rather exciting innovation: water-cooled computers that can double as heaters.

Green Options shows us how to make our own rain barrel.

Designboom highlights a tree-inspired water barrel for the home.

Notcot features a soon-to-be completed Hoover Dam Bypass Bridge — although we think it is quite nice to look at, we do wonder about its eco-friendliness.

And here’s a combo of last’s week and this week’s roundup: Notcot shares this new and interesting way to travel that uses water for stability and wind for propulsion

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Post tags: natural cooling, natural resource conservation, rain barrel, rain water, water conservation, Water Issues

We’ve been reading here and there that research is beginning to show that wind speeds are slowing down due to climate change — making wind-powered energy less promising. Some would simply call this incredibly ironic, but we consider this a call-to-action to change the way we think and behave in an on-going effort to preserve the environment we live in. Wind is a precious resource that has inspired generations of designers, inventors, and architects, who have created objects and structures that continue to capture the imagination of the public. Think of windmills, or pinwheels — and as our understanding of wind has strengthened, so has the sophistication by which we try to use it to enhance our experiences in the built environment. See what we have been reading this week:

Treehugger reminds us that fabulous design can happen right at home with this DIY Wind Turbine.

Designboom features a sleek-looking wind turbine that was showcased at Berlin Design Week.

Designboom also shares this building design by Foster + Partners that includes a roof that acts as a wind scoop to help ventilate the interior.

Jetson Green’s review of entries for Urban Re:Vision’s challenge reveals that a super sustainable block in Dallas, Texas should include the harnessing of wind.

Notcot highlights a building in Utrecht with a facade that is responsive to the wind — making a glistening and constantly moving surface.

Treehugger reports on a new design that could transform NYC rooftops into wind-gathering stations.

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Post tags: "clean energy", "wind power", renewable energy, wind energy, wind tubines

If you live in a city, you know that the apartments are tiny and there isn’t a lot of green. That means you have to rely on the public, open spaces for a little breathing room. We <3 public space because it means we are sharing space, which means we are building a community that cares about its neighborhood. This week, we are looking back on some pretty cool initiatives, and looking forward to something immensely exciting — the OPENING OF THE HIGH LINE ON JUNE 9TH! We absolutely can’t wait, look for coverage next week!

Designspotter ponders how this colorful public seating would change our perception of public space.

Re-nest reminds us that you can rent a bike for free in Downtown New York City all summer long, courtesy of Bike Around Downtown!

The NY Times covers the Bike in Style Challenge sponsored by LVMH, asking students at FIT to design activewear for urban bicyclists.

We’ve rather been enjoying core77‘s coverage of metropolitan/municipal design, especially London’s Design Museum’s latest exhibition which examines how interventions can be made to enhance the experience of Londoners on public streets.

Yours truly was excited to see that Treehugger supports these NYC block parties.

Core77 features this unusual and thought-provoking eye candy on the High Line.

And, what is this? Curbed reports that Frank Gehry’s design for Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards is being ditched and replaced by something simpler. Read the full story at the NY Times.

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Post tags: atlantic yards new york city, bicycling, bicyclists, bike in style, gehry atlantic yards, high line new york city, open space, public space