sustainable design

INTERVIEW: We Talk to Futurist Melissa Sterry About Earth 2.0 and the Bionic City

INTERVIEW: We Talk to Futurist Melissa Sterry About Earth 2.0 and the Bionic City

Last week we reported on the groundbreaking new media platform Earth 2 Hub which aims to create a space for the world's most creative artists, designers, scientists, and storytellers to explore and share

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TOFU CHAIR – Leonardo Talarico’s Durable Chair Tests The Structural Limits of Tofu

TOFU CHAIR – Leonardo Talarico’s Durable Chair Tests The Structural Limits of Tofu

Vegetarians of the world rejoice — the world's first TOFU chair is here! Designed by Leonardo Talarico, the Tofu Chair lives up to its name and is made entirely from tasty soy bean curd. Using

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What are the Worst Examples of Earth Day Greenwashing You’ve Ever Seen?

What are the Worst Examples of Earth Day Greenwashing You’ve Ever Seen?

Earth Day is tomorrow - and our inboxes are already filled to the brim with marketing gimmicks and greenwashed products. In a sad turn of affairs, the environmental message behind Earth Day has been

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Groundbreaking Lifewrap Saves Thousands of Women from Obstetric Hemorrhaging

Groundbreaking Lifewrap Saves Thousands of Women from Obstetric Hemorrhaging

Every four minutes a woman dies from obstetric hemorrhaging usually caused during childbirth. Appalled by these statistics, Dr. Sullen Miller, Director of Safe Motherhood Programs at UCSF Bixby Center for

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Aellon Gives Shipwrecks New Life in Unique Furniture Pieces

Aellon Gives Shipwrecks New Life in Unique Furniture Pieces

When it comes to finding unique materials for their gorgeous handcrafted interiors, New York-based design firm Aellon has carved out a special niche - with shipwrecks. Although their team uses regular

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Enter to Win an Earth Day Cuff from Wrecords by Monkey

Enter to Win an Earth Day Cuff from Wrecords by Monkey

There are many ways to celebrate Earth Day but next year you can do it in style with your very own cuff from Wrecords by Monkey. Enter our drawing and you could be one of six people to receive this cool

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Urban Chandy’s Funky Recycled Chandeliers Coming to BKLYN Designs 2013

Urban Chandy’s Funky Recycled Chandeliers Coming to BKLYN Designs 2013

If you're bored of seeing the same old bulbs, Urban Chandy's brand of funky chandeliers can add some light to your life. Made in Brooklyn using recycled and reclaimed materials, these unique lighting

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Oji Masanori’s Hemisphere Piggy Bank Can Be Used as an Indoor Planter Once Broken

Oji Masanori’s Hemisphere Piggy Bank Can Be Used as an Indoor Planter Once Broken

This tilted "piggy" bank doubles as an awesome planter once broken. So, now after saving up all your nickels and dimes, you can put your hard-saved cash towards growing a little tree! Designed by Oji

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CASA Kids Will Bring Their Awesome Transforming Bed to BKLYN Designs 2013

CASA Kids Will Bring Their Awesome Transforming Bed to BKLYN Designs 2013

Transforming furniture has become quite popular these days but many people don't know where to source these types of pieces. If you're in the New York area and have been hoping to try out a murphy bed for

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Hotello is a Pop-Up Hotel Room That Fits Inside a Trunk

Hotello is a Pop-Up Hotel Room That Fits Inside a Trunk

The foldable hotel room concept was meant to be constructed anywhere, with flexibility of use from a private place to sleep, to a pop up work space or meeting room. The light metal frame extends to give

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Stunning Prefab Northcote Home Combines Minimalist and Passive Design in Australia

Stunning Prefab Northcote Home Combines Minimalist and Passive Design in Australia

The three bedroom modular residence was carefully arranged on the site to avoid excess solar gain in summer while making the most of winter daylight. Extensive floor to ceiling glazing on the lower level

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Gorgeous Glass Shino House Soaks Up Daylight on a Mountainside in Japan

Gorgeous Glass Shino House Soaks Up Daylight on a Mountainside in Japan

The Shino House features plentiful glass walls and skylights, so artificial lighting is not needed during the day. From the sink or couch, the family can enjoy views of the mountainous landscape outside

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Spherical Ekinoid Shelter is a Self-Sufficient, Disaster-Proof Prefab Home

Spherical Ekinoid Shelter is a Self-Sufficient, Disaster-Proof Prefab Home

An Ekinoid Home is 34 feet in diameter and sits elevated above the ground on supports. Accessed via a spiral staircase, which also doubles as the hydroponic garden, the home provides 2,500 sq ft (239 sq

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PIH’s Solar-Powered Mirebalais Hospital Opens in Haiti, Merging Innovative Design and Healthcare

PIH’s Solar-Powered Mirebalais Hospital Opens in Haiti, Merging Innovative Design and Healthcare

Not only is HUM Central Haiti’s first-ever teaching hospital, it is the largest hospital in the world to be powered primarily with solar energy. In an area where power outages last for an average of 3

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Rooftop Helipad Transformed into Garden and Co-Working Space in Mexico City

Rooftop Helipad Transformed into Garden and Co-Working Space in Mexico City

Foro Ciel is a transformative renovation project on the top of a Coca-Cola company building in Mexico City. The project, which was designed by Rojkind Arquitectos and AGENT, serves as the home of the

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Brilliant Ginkgo Umbrella is Sturdy, 100% Recyclable, and Made from Interchangeable Parts

Brilliant Ginkgo Umbrella is Sturdy, 100% Recyclable, and Made from Interchangeable Parts

Forecasters predict 2012 to be a record-breaking year for tropical storms - and a truly sturdy umbrella is essential for dealing with pouring rain and gusting winds. A new crowdfunded umbrella called the

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The Nourishmat All-In-One Gardening Tool Makes Starting a Garden Easy

The Nourishmat All-In-One Gardening Tool Makes Starting a Garden Easy

The Nourishmat is an all-in-one gardening tool (complete with built-in drip irrigation and a pre-spaced planting guide) that acts as a weed barrier and simplifies the gardening process while maximizing

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Student-Designed Chaac Ha Water Collector Can Harvest 2.5 Liters of Drinking Water from Dew Each Night

Student-Designed Chaac Ha Water Collector Can Harvest 2.5 Liters of Drinking Water from Dew Each Night

World Water Day may have come and gone, but the importance of preserving water remains. There are some amazingly innovative ways to harvest water out there, like this award-winning Chaac Ha Water

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World’s Largest Tropical Ice Sheet Took at Least 1,600 Years to Form and Only 25 to Melt

World’s Largest Tropical Ice Sheet Took at Least 1,600 Years to Form and Only 25 to Melt

The Quelccya ice cap in the Andes Mountains of Peru took upwards of 1,600 years to form, and it could have formed as long as 6,000 years ago, but it took just 25 years to melt away. Scientists from Ohio

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High-Flying Elevated Bikeway Proposed for London’s Regents’ Canal

High-Flying Elevated Bikeway Proposed for London’s Regents’ Canal

The pathway along London’s Regent’s Canal can be treacherous, as pedestrians and bicyclists struggle to move along without bumping into each other and falling into the waters below. To alleviate the

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H&P Architects’ Bamboo Homes Float Above Rising Flood Waters on Recycled Oil Drums

H&P Architects’ Bamboo Homes Float Above Rising Flood Waters on Recycled Oil Drums

Bamboo was chosen for the homes not just because it is plentiful in the region, but it is also versatile, durable as well as traditional.  Bamboo frames, roofing and walls are arranged between long steel

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Designers Unveil Dazzling Low-Energy Lights at Euroluce 2013 During Milan Design Week

Designers Unveil Dazzling Low-Energy Lights at Euroluce 2013 During Milan Design Week

The 2013 Euroluce exhibition during Milan Design Week featured striking light installations that balance high technology with emotive aesthetics and intangibility with functionality. These might seem like

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Schmidt Hammer Lassen Breaks Ground on the International Criminal Court in The Hague

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Breaks Ground on the International Criminal Court in The Hague

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects won the international design competition to design the permanent ICC complex back in 2010. They have since been working with the organization, The Hague and the

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180,000-Year-Old Candlelit Ali Barbour Cave Offers Unparalleled Fine Dining in Kenya

180,000-Year-Old Candlelit Ali Barbour Cave Offers Unparalleled Fine Dining in Kenya

Tracy Barbour told Inhabitat that when her grandfather first purchased the property in the 1950s, he had no idea that the cave was there. But one day about three decades ago, her parents were clearing

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Bowerbirds Members Record New Album in Self-Built Green Music Studio

Bowerbirds Members Record New Album in Self-Built Green Music Studio

Members of the indie band Bowerbirds have been trying their hand at sustainable design with this fantastic self-built studio project. Since 2007, Beth Tacular and Phil Moore have been constructing their

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Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali Unveil Plans for the Motion Picture Academy Museum in LA

Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali Unveil Plans for the Motion Picture Academy Museum in LA

The Motion Picture Academy Museum will take over the space previously inhabited by the LACMA West and what was previously the May Co. Department Store, which opened in 1939. The original façade of the

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Greenpeace Launches Competition to Design New Look for Iconic Survival Pod

Greenpeace Launches Competition to Design New Look for Iconic Survival Pod

Flip through our gallery and you'll see past Greenpeace survival pods in action. Used to fight drillers, whalers and other environmental "villains" in often extreme conditions, these compact pods keep

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Mo Ventus is a Futuristic Net-Zero Home With a Retractable Skin

Mo Ventus is a Futuristic Net-Zero Home With a Retractable Skin

Fix imagines the home to be perched on a Cliffside, facing the sun for optimal natural lighting. The retractable screens serve as both form and function; each have their own design as well as opacity.

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Magical Dome House in Remote Thailand Constructed in Six Weeks for Just $8000!

Magical Dome House in Remote Thailand Constructed in Six Weeks for Just $8000!

Truth be told, rules are a little lax in Thailand, so Steve wasn't required to obtain building permits for his 500 square foot home, which naturally shortened the process. Then he added his own finishing

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Tobias Tøstesen Transforms 8,000 LEGO Windows into a Dazzling Chandelier!

Tobias Tøstesen Transforms 8,000 LEGO Windows into a Dazzling Chandelier!

LEGO lovers and design fans alike can agree that Tøstesen’s lamp goes beyond the traditional use of the toy blocks. Tøstesen used the children’s toys to create a practical (and even opulent-looking)

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