Bernie Madoff’s Old Pants Get New Life as Limited Edition iPad Cases

Bernie Madoff’s Old Pants Get New Life as Limited Edition iPad Cases

In the fall of 2009, U.S. Marshals began a series of auctions that had everyone from art collectors and bankers to tourists and resident New Yorkers scrambling for a piece of the pie. The goods? Jewelry, clothing, wine, furniture, and pretty much every other worldly possession that ever belonged to Bernie Madoff. While most buyers wanted a little piece of history, others, like John Vaccaro, saw a business opportunity. Vaccaro, who is founder of fashion company Frederick James, snatched up a stash of Madoff's old sweaters and pants and has given them new life as iPad cases. The special collection is limited, so if you've always dreamt of storing your iPad in Bernie's pockets, you'd better act fast.
 

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Assembly New York’s Handmade Geometric Terrariums Give a New Angle to Indoor Gardening

Assembly New York’s Handmade Geometric Terrariums Give a New Angle to Indoor Gardening

We here at Inhabitat love our office's local LES neighborhood, and Assembly New York is arguably one of the district's best places to shop for vintage, and designer clothing. When we stumbled onto their new geometric glass and metal terrariums last week, we knew we had struck design gold. These handmade, custom beauties come in a variety sizes and add a touch of sophisticated greenery to any room.
 

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Aesop’s First U.S. Shop Is a Grand Central Kiosk Made from 1,800 Copies of the New York Times

Aesop’s First U.S. Shop Is a Grand Central Kiosk Made from 1,800 Copies of the New York Times

Aesop, an Australian skin-care company, recently opened its first U.S. shop – an eye-catching kiosk in Grand Central Station. Riffing on a familiar sight to many New Yorkers, the designers of the kiosk piled thousands of torn copies of the New York Times

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Talk To Me Exhibit at MoMA Examines Communication Between People & Objects

Talk To Me Exhibit at MoMA Examines Communication Between People & Objects

Are you hearing voices? Don't worry, you're not crazy. You're just living in the 21st Century. These days, just about everything talks to us. From pop-up notifications on Facebook and beeps on our smartphones to billboards on buildings and touchscreens in museums, objects, whether we realize it or not, are talking to us. Since the late 20th century, design has taken a more interactive turn, combining form and function with communication and personal dialogue. Talk to Me, a new exhibit that just opened at the Museum of Modern Art curated by the design department’s Senior Curator Paola Antonelli, explores this new design landscape through the display of nearly 200 designs. Some, like the Rubik's cube for the blind, are clever takes on classic objects while others, like the artificial biological clock, explore contemporary social issues with interactive technologies. Hit the jump for a look at just a few of the designs on display.
 

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Brooklyn-Based Designer Creates Solar Powered Bikini That Charges Your Electronics

Brooklyn-Based Designer Creates Solar Powered Bikini That Charges Your Electronics

Don't be alarmed if next time you're at Coney Island, you see the girl on the towel next to you plug her iPod right into her bathing suit. She isn't suffering from sun-delirium - she's just taking advantage of Brooklyn-based designer Andrew Schneider's new PV-powered design, the Solar Bikini. Schneider, who honed his tech skills at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University, makes each sun-powered swimsuit by hand, and has just started accepting custom orders.
 

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New Social Networking Site ‘Change by Us NYC’ Asks New Yorkers How to Green NYC

New Social Networking Site ‘Change by Us NYC’ Asks New Yorkers How to Green NYC

Have any green ideas that you think would help improve the city? Change by Us NYC, an innovative website created by Local Projects, is exactly what you need to get your voice heard. The site, dubbed “a social network for civic activity,” officially launched

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DontFlushMe Notifies New Yorkers of Waterway Sewage Overflow Via Text Message

DontFlushMe Notifies New Yorkers of Waterway Sewage Overflow Via Text Message

New York’s waterways are under a constant influx of raw sewage, often causing Combined Sewage Overflow or CSO. One ambitious start up, called DontFlushMe, seeks to implement a hyper intelligent CSO detection system that will notify New Yorkers when water

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Domestic Construction Sets the Stage at the Natural History Museum with Recycled Shipping Pallets

Domestic Construction Sets the Stage at the Natural History Museum with Recycled Shipping Pallets

Brooklyn’s very own design darlings Trish Anderson and Maureen Walsh of Domestic Construction were commissioned last May to envision a sustainability fundraising event at the Museum of Natural History for a classified client. Their “Applause Award Show” stage and aesthetics scheme transformed cardboard, shipping pallets, newspaper, and plant-life into a tailored setting that honored the deserving activists’ work within the environmental community.


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Nicole Howell’s ‘Toss With Care’ Trash Can Addresses Homelessness & Sustainability in NYC

Nicole Howell’s ‘Toss With Care’ Trash Can Addresses Homelessness & Sustainability in NYC

The Pratt Institute for Design is known for its phenomenal furniture design students as well as architects, artists, graphic designers, but for trash can designers? Yes, that’s right, recent graduate Nicole Howell turned her ‘Toss With Care’ trash can design

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Pratt Institute Supports Sustainable New York Start-Ups With Design Incubator

Pratt Institute Supports Sustainable New York Start-Ups With Design Incubator

We’re big fans of the Pratt Institute (with several of our writers hailing from the awesome institution), mainly because of the school’s dedication to sustainability, be it through green buildings or student creations. One of the school’s highly successful

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Spruce Up Your Apartment At New Vintage Store Brooklyn Reclamation

Spruce Up Your Apartment At New Vintage Store Brooklyn Reclamation

Over the past few years, Williamsburg has become a premier shopping destination for vintage fashion, independent labels and unique boutiques, and there is always room for more! Having open just a few days ago, Brooklyn Reclamation on Driggs Avenue is new to

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NYC DOT Paves a Green Path With Eco-Friendly Asphalt Made by Local Company

NYC DOT Paves a Green Path With Eco-Friendly Asphalt Made by Local Company

We’re big fans of artfully filling potholes, but yarn doesn’t exactly hold up under heavy traffic. But thanks to GreenPatch, street repairs can be both sturdy and sustainable. The new eco-friendly asphalt product, developed by a Queens company, contains no

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Students Showcase the Future of Sustainable Design at 2011 Pratt Show!

Students Showcase the Future of Sustainable Design at 2011 Pratt Show!

During New York Design Week, major exhibits that feature innovative professional design work like theInternational Contemporary Furniture Fairand the Model Citizens show sometimes overshadow smaller and less publicized events. But some of the most creative minds in design can be found in the up-and-coming ranks of design schools and their annual end of year student exhibitions. Pratt Show 2011, a comprehensive sampling of the best student work at Pratt Institute's Design School, provides the perfect opportunity to take a peek at the exciting emerging designers of tomorrow. From floating LED lights made of upcycled bottle caps to a sleek compost bin, this year's show leaves a clear message that sustainability is not just the trend of the day, but the future of design.
 

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Interior Bliss Design Fuses Personal Style & Reclaimed Materials for Eco-Conscious New Yorkers

Interior Bliss Design Fuses Personal Style & Reclaimed Materials for Eco-Conscious New Yorkers

If you’re a New York area apartment dweller or home owner looking to give your space a face lift, listen up! With a focus on environmentally inspired aesthetics, Interior Bliss Design is a conglomerate of designers, artists, architects and graphic designers

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NYC Students Cook With Solar Powered Pizza Boxes at Union Square Greenmarket

NYC Students Cook With Solar Powered Pizza Boxes at Union Square Greenmarket

Why buy a microwave when all you need is a cardboard box and a little help from the sun? Students from Edward R. Murrow and James Madison high schools presented a clever collection of fun and exciting green home designs at the Union Square Greenmarket yesterday

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BKLYN Designs Brings the Best Brooklyn-Grown Green Furniture to ICFF

BKLYN Designs Brings the Best Brooklyn-Grown Green Furniture to ICFF

It was no sleep 'til BKLYN for the Inhabitat editors at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair this New York Design week. This year, our favorite Brooklyn-grown design show set up shop at ICFF, and we were on the scene to scope out the fresh crop of locally-made furniture. From luxury chicken coops for the urban hen to beetle-eaten reclaimed tabletops, check out our roundup of the best of BKLYN Designs from the show.
 

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The Best Green Designs from the NYU ITP 2011 Spring Student Show

The Best Green Designs from the NYU ITP 2011 Spring Student Show

While we love scouring the massive showroom of ICFF and visiting the always-inspiring Model Citizens show, some of our favorite New York Design Week events are the student shows. Creativity abounds and the young designers are always so excited to talk about their work. Yesterday, we stopped by the Spring Show of the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU. From anti-security camera jewelry and personal air purifiers to wind energy producing Scotch tape and self-powered bike lights, the innovative ideas and designs spanned the spectrum. Hit the jump to see the future of sustainable design.
 

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SOFT Blimp Bumper Bus: Terreform One Designs Giant Jellyfish Buses for NYC

SOFT Blimp Bumper Bus: Terreform One Designs Giant Jellyfish Buses for NYC

We have seen the future and it is full of jellyfish blimps. In a new sci-fi like depiction of New York City’s future designed by Terreform ONE and KARV, our metal buses have been replaced by the SOFT Blimp Bumper Bus, a playful new means of transportation

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COstruction: An Eco-Friendly Installation by Nooka, SOFTlab, and Tietz-Baccon at DDC Lab in New York

COstruction: An Eco-Friendly Installation by Nooka, SOFTlab, and Tietz-Baccon at DDC Lab in New York

What do you get when you combine futuristic fashion, cutting edge technology, and innovative designers? COstruction, a collaborative art installation created by Nooka, SOFTlab, and Tietz-Baccon, three major player in New York’s design world. The forward-think

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After The Barn: Historic Furniture Made from Reclaimed New York Barn Wood

After The Barn: Historic Furniture Made from Reclaimed New York Barn Wood

As we move further and further from our traditional agricultural ways we find ourselves surrounded by underused farming materials, especially barns. After The Barn is taking the once beautiful pastoral structures that are on the verge of collapse and transforming

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Coolhaus: Architecture Inspired Organic Ice Cream Sandwiches Arrive in NYC

Coolhaus: Architecture Inspired Organic Ice Cream Sandwiches Arrive in NYC

In New York City, we love architecture and we love the finest foods, but how to make them one? Enter Coolhaus. Starting out small in Los Angeles, Coolhaus has finally arrived to NYC and it’s just what we’ve has been waiting for – an ice cream truck that

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War Craft Collection: Uhuru Design Upcycles Battleship Wood into Beautiful Furniture

War Craft Collection: Uhuru Design Upcycles Battleship Wood into Beautiful Furniture

There’s little that we like more than awesome eco-friendly products made by local designers right here in New York City, so you can imagine our delight when we discovered the War Craft Collection by Uhuru, a line of furniture created with used deck wood from

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The First American Freitag Boutique is Opening in NYC This Thursday, May 5!

The First American Freitag Boutique is Opening in NYC This Thursday, May 5!

The sustainable Swiss handbag company Freitag, which makes amazing eco-friendly bags from recycled truck tarps, is opening its first American store at 1 Prince Street this Thursday, May 5 -- just in time to entice the thousands of eco-minded shoppers who will be flocking to the Festival of Ideas. Details of the NYC's store design are limited, but Freitag is known for the innovative, sustainable designs of its boutiques. In fact, the company's Zurich store is the world's tallest shipping container structure! Click through for a look at what the new green store could bring to the Bowery.
 

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11 New York Designers Create Children’s Desks to Raise Money for Nepal Orphanage

11 New York Designers Create Children’s Desks to Raise Money for Nepal Orphanage

Kids of Kathmandu, a non-profit organization that uses photography, art, and design to raise awareness about the need of orphan kids in Nepal, will auction off 11 desks designed by New York woodworkers, architects, designers and artists at their inaugural

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Normal Projects Maximizes Space & Efficiency with the 450 Square Foot Unfolding Apartment

Normal Projects Maximizes Space & Efficiency with the 450 Square Foot Unfolding Apartment

Affordable apartments in the heart of Manhattan usually require you to give up certain luxuries such as room for entertaining or an area to eat that doesn’t double as your bathroom. But one New Yorker has succeed in making the most of his 450 square feet of Upper West Side studio apartment with the Unfolding Apartment, a smart interior designed by the owner’s friends at Normal Projects, an architectural firm based in New York. The apartment boasts a kitchen with ample counter space – which doubles as a bar area for dining – a Viking range, and a set of half-height refrigerators, plus space for a full size bed, home office, library, and closet! Thanks to a sleek custom oversized wall-unit, the designers were able to fit way more into this tiny package.
 

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