Salone Satellite 2010: Young Designers Go Green

One thing we love about <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2008/04/18/milan-2008-highlights-from-salone-satellite/">Salone Satellite</a> is that the budgets for booth design are considerably lower than what you can see in the main hall, so creativity is often amped up and a bit more raw. Instead of meeting people in marketing and sales, in SaloneSatellite you can often meet the designers themselves. We left the exhibition feeling really inspired and positive.

One thing we love about SaloneSatellite is that the budgets for booth design are considerably lower than what you can see in the main hall, so creativity is often amped up and a bit more raw. Instead of meeting people in marketing and sales, in SaloneSatellite you can often meet the designers themselves. We left the exhibition feeling really inspired and positive.

<a href="http://www.d-vision.co.il/">D-Vision</a> showcased a brilliant little LED lamp made from soap at their ON/OFF exhibition. It comments on how-low energy lighting opens the door for new lampshade materials -- the heat from the bulbs will not cause soap to melt.

This umbrella stand by <a href="http://www.innovo.jp.com/">Innovo</a> is sowed with seeds that grow when your umbrella sheds raindrops!

A lot of people use a humidifier all winter long, but I hate to have that ugly piece of plastic plugged in all the time. So I loved <a href="http://www.innovo.jp.com/">Innovo</a>'s humidifier at first sight. You fill the interior reservoir with water, which is absorbed into the wood, which is released into the air. It's poetic, and very pleasant to look at... and to smell! It will fill a room with the scent of cedar.

One of the show-stoppers at this year's Salone Satellite was this tiny <a href="http://inhabitat.com/2010/04/15/table-lamp-powered-completely-by-tomatoes/">LED table lamp</a> that is completely powered by real, edible tomatoes. Designed by <a href="http://www.cygalle.com/#about">Cygalle Shapiro</a> of Israel-based <a href="http://www.d-vision.co.il/">d-VISION</a>, the design not only explore advances in lighting technology – it's also an art piece that sends clear and powerful social-conscience messages about where and how we receive energy.

<a href="http://swedishninja.com/" target="_blank">Swedish Ninja</a>'s design objective is to avoid the current disposable trends. They want to create products that last. The bases of their colorful seating are made from eco-friendly strand board beams.

This zu_tisch side table designed by <a href="http://formentwicklung.de/" target="_blank">Wolfram Behrend</a> is composed of a typical European paper boxes from the supermarket and three plywood parts. It's easy to construct, plus it cleverly reuses a material that is (too) often discarded. The boxes I saw at SaloneSatellite were made from recycled materials, so this one product covers the three Rs!

<a href="http://malafor.com/" target="_blank">Malafor's Blow Sofa</a> is made from 100% recycled paper dunnage bags that are filled with air and combined with a metal rack and rubber straps. Very portable!

<a href="http://www.kobe-du.ac.jp/english/menu.htm">Kobe Design University</a> took a plain, boring plastic bag and developed a process to transform it into a new kind of bag. One that's gorgeous and unique and perfect for transporting, say, apples. 

All the materials used in <a href="http://lisahilland.com/" target="_blank">Lisa Hilland</a>'s "My Granddaughter's Cabinet" are natural, environmentally friendly, and carefully chosen for their ability to age beautifully. All of Lisa's designs were elegant.

This pretty little LED lamp by EUGA features a lampshade made out of a circuit board.

When designing the <a href="http://booksbooks.jp/" target="_blank">Books</a> Net Chair, Jun Hashimoto sought to create a design that required minimal processing and materials. One might assume that the chair is flimsy or uncomfortable, but both assumptions would be far from the truth. Because of the design and material used, it even had a slight bounce when I took a seat.

<a href="http://www.ecopreziosi.it/" target="_blank">EcoPreziosi's Biodegradable Urn</a> made me smile because it was completely unexpected. Granted the market for it might be small, but at least it got me thinking about the similarities between landfills and cemeteries...