MS Tûranor PlanetSolar, the world’s largest solar boat, set a new record for the fastest transatlantic crossing by a vessel powered entirely by solar energy, smashing its own 2010 record by four days. The 115-foot Swiss catamaran traveled 2,867 miles (5,310 kilometers) across the Atlantic Ocean in 22 days, conducting experiments along the Gulf Stream as part of the PlanetSolar DeepWater expedition.

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Post tags: "energy efficiency", "solar energy", green transportation, Guinness World Records, marine expedition Tûranor, MS Tûranor PlanetSolar, PlanetSolar, PlanetSolar’s Tûranor, solar boat, solar catamaran, solar design, Solar Power, solar powered boat, Swiss solar boat, transatlantic crossing record, TURANOR, World speed record boat

Get ready, LEGO addicts: Now you can rent LEGO sets with Pleygo‘s innovative mail-in service. Sign up for their exclusive LEGO club by registering for one of their low-cost plans, and you’ll have full access to their wide, ever-growing collection. From Duplo to Friends to Star Wars LEGO sets, there’s something for every one in your family. And even though sets’ age limits say 5-16, who’s really checking? LEGO doesn’t have age limits! Find out more about this awesome site here.

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Post tags: Duplo, Friends, Lego bricks, LEGO building blocks, lego collection, LEGO collections, lego mail order, lego rental service, lego sets, mail-in lego, pleygo, rental lego, star wars

What has nearly 100,000 LEGO pieces, spans nearly 2.5 miles and can be used to transport a Lilliputian army? The world’s longest LEGO railway, of course! On May 10th and 11th, Lego enthusiast Henrik Ludvigsen and 80 friends got together in Denmark to assemble the longest LEGO track in the world, and for their troubles (which sound like a lot of fun), they received the Guinness World Record.

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Post tags: Guinness World Record railway, Guinness World Record train, Guinness World Record train track, Lego bricks, lego building, LEGO railroad, LEGO railway, LEGO records, lego world record, world's longest LEGO railway, world's longest LEGO train track

Read the rest of Noble Goods Unveils New Line of Sustainable Wood Furniture with Unique Resin Inlays

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Post tags: Amanda Coen, BKLYN Designs, Brooklyn, brooklyn chamber of commerce, Brooklyn Designs, Christopher Moore, eco design, eco-resin, fsc certified, FSC wood, furniture design, green design, home goods, house ware, industrial design, inhabitat, inhabitat nyc, Molly FitzSimons, new york city, Noble Goods, reclaimed wood, recycled aluminium, Recycled Materials, resin, resin inlay, salvaged materials, salvaged wood, sustainable design, west elm

When you flirt with the Dark Side, bad things can happen; lava burns you, offspring return to kill you, and giant space cephalopods attack your ships. In a massive tentacled disturbance in the Force, Iain Heath constructed a giant LEGO kraken to entwine a model of Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer. The stellar squid began as a suggestion from his boss, and it now has a permanent home at the Seattle offices of Tableau Software.

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Post tags: chris stolte, dark side, darth vader, emerald city comicon, force, fremont, iain heath, kr-kn, kraken, lego, rebel alliance, Seattle, squid, star wars, super star destroyer, tableau software

Read the rest of Casa Pentimento: Prefab Ecuadorian House Made From 900 LEGO-Like Concrete Blocks

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Post tags: Casa Pentimento Ecuador, David Barragán, ecuador, Ecuador architecture, green architecture, Jose María Sáez, lego-like home, modular building, modular housing, modular prefab, precast concrete, Prefab Housing, south america, south america architecture

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Post tags: "green furniture", design milan, eco design, eco furniture, green design, Green Design Events, Milan Design Week, Milan Design Week 2013, milan furniture fair 2013, salon del mobile, Salone del mobile, triennale di milano, upcycling

Read the rest of Tobias Tøstesen Transforms 8,000 LEGO Windows into a Dazzling Chandelier!

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Post tags: eco design, green design, green lighting, LED Luminaire, LEGO Chandelier, LEGOs, sustainable design, Tobias Tostesen, upcycled lamps

The world’s first folding wheel has been named a winner at the 2013 Design of the Year Awards presented by the Design Museum in London. The lightweight Morph wheel, created by Vitamins Design for Maddak, won first prize in the transport category and has a shot at becoming this year’s overall winner. The final results for the Design of the Year 2013 will be announced on Tuesday April 16th.

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Post tags: design award winners, Design of the Year Award, Duncan Fitzsimons, folding wheel, London Design Museum, London designers, Maddak, Morph Folding Wheel, new designers, Vitamins Design, wheelchair wheels

Read the rest of Contact 1: Incredible Space Age City Made From 200,000 LEGO Bricks

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Post tags: contact 1, eco design, green design, kickstarter, lego architecture, LEGOs, Mike Doyle, sustainable design

We’ve seen 3D printers fabricate vehicles ready to for the open road – and now California-based Signal Snowboards has shown that printers can produce quality boards for the slopes! Working with GROWit 3D, Signal was able to use a carbon-based powder to compose a board in composite pieces using a selective-laser-sintering (SLS) machine. The board has an unusual shoveled nose and wide tail, and the team tested it in its raw form in the powder of a Colorado bowl. While not the most gorgeous or speedy deck on the mountain, the board was still strong and flexible enough to handle some good carving.

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Post tags: 3d printer, California, carbon powder, colorado, growit 3d, iPad, ishred, lego, selective laser sintering, Signal Snowboards, slopes, sls, snow

Read the rest of CA Modern Home Tour: The Hidden Details of John Lautner’s Incredible Elrod House

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Post tags: alien architecture, alien-inspired homes los angeles, architecturally significant homes, architecturally significant homes california, architecturally significant homes los angeles, bambi and thumper, bob brisco, california modernism, diamonds are forever, elrod house, elrod residence, historic la home, historic los angeles homes, historic los angeles landmarks, historic modern la homes, James Bond, john lautner, john lautner LA, john lautner los angeles, la design, la home tour, la modern, la modern design, la modern home tours, lautner, lautner la, lautner los angeles, los angeles modern, modern homes la, modern homes los angeles, organic architecture, palm springs architecture, palm springs modern homes, palm springs modernism, southern california architecture, southern california modern, space architecture, space homes, space inspired home, ufo homes los angeles, ufo house

A new batch of Nathan Sawaya’s delightful LEGO sculptures recently popped up at New York City’s Openhouse Gallery and we stopped by to take a gander. Unlike some of Sawaya’s previous works, many of which have a bit of an outrageous quality to them, “IN PIECES” glorifies quieter, more mundane objects – a bucket, a cloud or a pair of flip flops – that we often take for granted. Sawaya’s LEGO creations take on an unexpected new flavor when paired with photographer Dean West’s haunting and slightly “off” photos featuring the sculptures. Take a look here.

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Post tags: dean west, eco design, green design, lego, lego art, lego design, lego dog, lego sculptures, lego umbrella, LEGOs, Nathan Sawaya, new york lego art, Openhouse Gallery

For most of us, it might be difficult to figure out what there is to see in a can of Spam. However, what there is to see through a can of Spam is an entirely different story. F295 user ‘underbyte’ has created a compact little pinhole camera made from the ham housing and a collection of household objects that he has dubbed the SpamCam. The whole contraption is complete with a square viewfinder and tripod mount, and is held together with little more than glue and a couple of rubber bands.

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Post tags: camera, can, DIY, epoxy, f295, Film, glue, holga, Photography, pinhole, polaroid, rubber bands, spam, spamcam, tripod, underbyte

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Post tags: collage art, eco design, eco-art, green design, magazine, recycle art, sustainable design, Vahge, Victorian art

Shipping containers have emerged as a popular material for building everything from backyard retreats to temporary shelters and coffee shops. Now DARPA has harnessed the giant metal boxes for use in defense and disaster relief. The Tactically Expandable Maritime Platform (TEMP) links the 20-40 ft containers together like giant LEGO bricks to form floating platforms and bridges.

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Post tags: adjustable, caat, captive air amphibious transporters, cargo, darpa, distaster, gps, grasp lab, hook-and-tether, lego, military, modular, relief, shipping container, supplies, tactically expandable maritime platform, temp, University of Pennsylvania

LEGO building blocks may arguably be the best toy ever – and they’ll soon be getting the “best museum ever”! Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the Danish starchitecture firm, and Ralph Appelbaum Associates recently won an international competition to design the LEGO House — a public museum and experience center coming to Billund, Denmark, home of the toy that’s beloved all over the world.

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Post tags: bjarke ingels, Bjarke Ingels Group, Eco Architecture, green design, lego, ralph appelbaum, ralph appelbaum associates

Talks about transforming Williamsburg, Brooklyn’s old Domino Sugar Refinery into a vibrant new waterfront neighborhood have been going on for a while now, but SHoP Architects recently released a set of daring new renderings that throw a pair of very interesting LEGO-like buildings into the mix. The new plan would create much-needed affordable housing for the area as well as public spaces, a riverside park, retail space and a school. Click through the gallery here to see more images and tell us whether you think this sugar factory redux is sweet or sour.

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Post tags: Affordable housing New York, Domino Sugar Refinery Brooklyn, eco design, green design, shop architects, sustainable design, Two Trees Management Company, Williamsburg Bridge, Williamsburg Brooklyn, williamsburg waterfront

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Post tags: Alice Finch LEGO sculptures, art sculpture, BrickCon 2012, BrickCon Exhibition, Harry Potter Hogwarts LEGO replica, Harry Potter LEGO sets, Harry Potter studio London, house of legos, lego art, lego artists, LEGO Hogwarts, lego sculptures, LEGOs

Toronto-based Cube Works Studio recently set a new Guinness World Record by building the world’s largest Rubik’s Cube Mosaic from 80,940 cubes! Standing over 13 feet high and 200 feet wide, the artwork recreates the skyline of Macau, China. It was installed on the Macau waterfront just outside Hong Kong in December.

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Post tags: Cube Works Studio, Guinness World Record, Guinness World record cube mosaic, Last Supper cube mosaic, mural macau, Rubik's cube design, Rubik's Cube Mosaic Macau, Sistine Chapel cube mosaic, Temporary Art, temporary exhibitions, Wall Murals, world’s largest Rubik’s Cube Mosaic