Informed Design

Project H

2008-06-01T12:06:00.004-05:00

Building off the success of the Lifestraw Personal water filtration device, Vestergaard Frandsen’s new Lifestraw Family system provides 15,000 liters of clean drinking water to one household. And now, you can fund the delivery of one Lifestraw Family system to a slum community in Mumbai for $25 through Project H Design, an organization founded by Emily Pilloton that promotes and delivers life improving product designs to global communities (we’ve funded 100 already and still going!). Project H will deliver the systems later this year, in collaboration with Berkeley-based Haath Mein Sehat as the first step in a bigger examination of local water sanitation issues. With more than a billion people lacking access to safe drinking water and five million people dying of water-related disease every year, here’s an opportunity to make a small but very real difference.

Donate via Paypal at Project H here.

The project is a joint venture with Berkeley-based Haath Mein Sehat (Health In Hand) Mumbai, who will be on site in Mumbai this summer to conduct testing, user acceptance interviews, and follow up visits with families receiving the Lifestraw systems.

The Lifestraw Family system is an amazing point-of-use water filtration device designed and manufactured by Vestergaard Frandsen. It does not require electricity or batteries, making it ideal for use in both rural and urban contexts in the developing world. It eliminates 99.9% of waterborne disease bacteria, parasites, and viruses, bringing clean drinking water quickly and reliably, and preventing life-threatening disease from spreading through unclean water. One system effectively filters 15,000 liters (about a 2 year’s supply) of drinkable water

The Collapsible, Flatpacked Olympic Stadium

2008-05-30T13:14:00.002-05:00

Any sustainable minded surveyor of large scale events wonders if the expense and waste associated with showpiece stadiums could be reduced, even just a little. Well, the organizers of the London Olympics have a remarkable plan that could offset construction costs, and be sure that their stadium finds a purposeful second life. Currently there are plans in place to dismantle around 70% of the proposed London Olympic Stadium, pack up the components, and send them to the host of the 2016 Olympics! Finally, flatpacked, prefab stadiums!

The concept is part of a new approach to the Olympic Games. Rather than building everything new every four years, the “prefab” stadium idea allows facilities to be built in one city, moved as efficiently as possible and be adapted to existing arenas in the new host city. In the case of London, this particular stadium was specifically designed by HOK Sport to be disassembled and sold on, preventing wasteful obsolescence. The London Olympic Stadium is effectively designed as a 25,000 seat concrete bowl that has an additional 55,000 seats placed on top of it in a temporary structure. It is this entire upper structure which can be moved and installed somewhere else.

Currently, talks are underway with Chicago, but London organizers hope that their offer is taken up by whoever wins the games. If the plan goes forward, this would be the largest amount of seats

Recycled Cardboard Sculpture

2008-05-25T12:03:00.004-05:00

With all the exploration of recycled materials in green design these days, the work of artist Chris Gilmour seems like a logical and amusing next step in terms of upcycling and eco-friendly art processes. Gilmour, an English artist based in Italy, re-creates objects and machines from our everyday lives using only packing cardboard and glue. Industrial cardboard is typically used only once for shipping materials and then wastefully discarded. Often adorned with logos and other graphics, the remnants of the material’s former use is an aspect that Gilmour wryly incorporates into his sculptural work, with an ironic wink to the viewer.

Built with stunning detail, Gilmour’s life-size replicas and sculptures leave one gazing at the sheer artistry of his work and contemplating the nature of materials in general. The dedicated energy required to cut and paste all of the intricate and exact parts of a replica Fiat 500 engine, for example, cleverly highlights the energy required to create the real thing. Whereas a car of the usual metal materials might go unnoticed by a passerby, a car constructed of cardboard leaves even the technically un-savvy reveling in its design.

Not all of Gilmour’s cardboard creations are life-sized intricacies. The artist also has a sense of humour about his medium, using cigarette and maxi-pad boxes to make little logo-covered churches in a wry statement about consumer dependency. In totality, Gilmour’s pieces force the viewer to confront the everyday objects in one’s life and our relationship to them with a kind of hilarious grace

Originally Published on Inhabitat

VISUALIZE THE WIND: With wind-powered LED light Firewinder

2008-04-05T13:30:00.001-05:00

This might not be the most practical outdoor light in the world, but what the Firewinder lacks in pedestrian utility it makes up for in sheer engaging awesomeness. Transforming wind into light, the Firewinder is a hanging, wind-powered LED light that can be powered by the smallest breeze. Unlike most wind turbines that spin vertically, the Firewinder spins in a horizontal direction, illuminating its LEDs in a spiraling helix of light. The coolest thing about the Firewinder is that it doesn’t just run on or off, but instead is visibly reactive to subtle changes in the environment. How bright the LEDs glow corresponds directly to how fast the turbine spins, enabling observers to visualize the power of wind.

Created by UK inventor Tom Lawton, the Firewinder was inspired by his desire to ’see the wind’. Lawton hopes his new design will inspire people to think about the invisible beauty, awesome power and endless resource of the alternative energies which encircle us.
Decorative as it is, we think this is a charming design which has the power to engage people with the

MILE HIGH ULTIMA TOWER: Vertical eco city works like a tree

2008-04-05T13:20:00.003-05:00

We’ve seen a whole slew of gigantic, volcano shaped, city-in-a-building towers, each promising to be the largest building in the world. First it was the wacky X-Seed design for Tokyo, and then even Norman Foster got into the game with his proposal for the massive ‘Crystal Island’ development in Moscow. Well now, architect Eugene Tsui is taking the gigantic volcano tower concept to a whole new eco level, by taking design inspiration from the natural world. His new design for the Ultima Tower – a 2-mile high Mt Doom-esque structure - borrows design principles from trees and other living ystem to reduce its energy footprint. We are always intrigued by architecture that uses biomimicry – the borrowing of principles from nature’s designs - and Tsui’s concept for this towering, ultra-dense urban development has certainly captured our attention with its thought-provoking design.

Population growth rates and rural-urban migration are creating a trend of chaotic urbanization that brings environmental, economic and social challenges. Within the next 7 years, 22 megacities across the globe are expected to have populations that exceed 10 million people, according to the UN. The Ultima Tower is an innovative green design concept proposed to resourcefully use earth’s surface and allow sustainable distribution of resources within a dense urban setting.
Designed to withstand natural calamities, Ultima Tower is highly stable and aerodynamic. Rather than spreading horizontally the structure rises vertically from a base with a 7,000 foot diameter - inspired in part by the termite’s nest structures of Africa, the highest structure created by any living organism.

Surrounded on all sides by a lake, the building would use building integrated photo-voltaic solar cells to meet most of the electrical energy requirements. The tower would also use Atmospheric Energy Conversion to exploit the differences in atmospheric pressure at the bottom and top of the tower and convert this differential into electrical power. Wind turbine energy would also be used to power the tower.

Taking a cue from the principles of transpiration and cohesion (Joly-Dixon’s cohesion-tension theory) as used by the tree to move water from roots to aerial parts, the designers are working on a method of carrying water from the bottom of the tower to the top utilizing water potential difference between the two points.
Other significant features of the design include bodies of water placed at 12 separate levels, 144 elevators at the periphery of the building, use of vertical propulsion through compressed air, specially designed windows with aerodynamic wind cowls, reflecting mirrors to bring direct sunlight into the building, open garden balconies, electric cars run by propane and hydrogen gas, complete absence of internal combustion engines or toxic pollutants. The whole building is envisioned by Tsui as a large ecosystem teeming with structures that are ‘living and breathing’.

Source: Inhabitat

Miami Art Museum

2008-03-27T20:35:00.003-05:00

When the Miami Art Museum required a new headquarters they decided to hire famous Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. They were expecting an incredible design worthy of a cosmopolitan city such as Miami. What they got from Herzog & de Meuron can only be described as the modern interpretation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - an imaginative structure that bridges urban spaces, climates and cultures.

The 120,000 square foot, three story building is surrounded by what is known as the Bicentennial Park, a 30-acre spread of green space along Biscayne Bay. Rather than creating an imposing structure which would wall off the visitors from the garden, they created a large shaded veranda and a plaza that sits below the extended roof of the main building.

The canopy roof has been perforated not only to allow light and ventilation to pass through to the plaza below, but, more importantly, to create the idea of a transitional space between the inside of the building and the park. It is also meant to assist visitors to acclimatize between the hot humid air of the Miami climate, and that of the more controlled, conditioned climate of the museum.

As visitors move from the park into the open plaza, they will be greeted by a series of trees and columns, meant to resemble a forest canopy. As they walk past this area, they will be greeted by a series of floating volumes which will house the museum itself as well as all the standard facilities that one would find in a building like this.

Recognizing the importance of this design, both the museum and the firm decided to solicit public feedback on the project. The public’s comments will be incorporated into the final design, which is expected to be revealed soon. Public participation, smart design adapted to the climate of Miami, and what looks to be a beautiful building - looks like a winner to us. The museum will be finished by 2011

Source: Inhabitat

Bone Arm Chair

2008-03-26T23:00:00.002-05:00

Dutch designer Joris Laarman has created a new edition to his Bone furniture range.

The Bone Armchair, created in a limited edition of 12 and exhibited by New York gallery Friedman Benda, is moulded from a mixture of marble and porcelain mixed with resin.

See Laarman’s Bone Chair and Bone Chaise plus an explanation of how they were made in DeZeen's story from December 2006.

Sources: Jacob Krupnick & Dezeen

Tenspace

2008-03-25T16:52:00.000-05:00

Tenspace

A motion graphics installation featuring plants and typography. We’ve interpreted the space between each number in a countdown and present it to you in a physical space. Experience a virtual landscape featuring 11 digitally rendered ikebana pieces which draw you in as you speed through time. Clinging to the camera you race through three dimensions viewing each piece one by one.

100 Chairs in 100 Days

2008-03-25T16:37:00.003-05:00

Originally Posted on DeZeen: October 15, 2007

‘There is no perfect chair’ declares the designer Martino Gamper, who has been making a chair a day in a bid to make 100 chairs in 100 days. Using a stock pile of discarded and donated chairs Gamper creates his new chairs from elements of existing ones. By deconstructing the chair he gains a new insight into its construction and use of materials which informs the creation of the new design. The process is immediate, spontaneous like sketching in three dimensions. These chairs will be displayed in the Design Museum alongside some selected by Gamper from the Design Museum collection.

As a continuation of Martino’s interest in making as well as collecting chairs, he has decided to make one hundred chairs in 100 days. He will be collecting chairs from friends, streets and skips. In a way, the whole process of ﬁnding and reconstructing chairs works more like a sketchbook he is happy to work with. It should be possible to ‘design’ and ‘sketch’ in 3D. Will any of the hundred become the model of a mass-produced chair? But more generally, what will happen to them? How can they be used? etc.

KIDDIE CARDBOARD FURNITURE

2008-03-24T23:25:00.000-05:00

Perfect for your kids (or the kid in you) is Swiss architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli’s FoldSchool furniture. His miniature cardboard pieces (chair, stool, and rocker) allow for affordable, good design for even the youngest of your family. And by affordable, I mean free! These designs are offered as downloadable FREE patterns from his website. All you need is a printer, some cardboard, and a pair of scissors, and you’re on your way to sitting pretty with your tots on some truly green, interactive, and surprisingly sturdy seating. Each piece is simple to create and would make a great eco-design crafts project for you and your little one on a rainy day

"Mass culture is run by superficiality and ecological absurdity. Foldschool supports craftsmanship as a face-to-face approach to design and brings together product and user the closest possible. The mindset of Foldschool is to restore design to one of its original missions: to provide a product at an affordable price through a smart manufacturing process.”

-Nicola Enrico Stäubli

WEBSITE: www.foldschool.com

INHABITABLE CARDBOARD ROOMS

2008-03-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

Finnish designers Esa Ruskeepää, Martti Kalliala and Martin Lukasczyk, took 720 sheets of 7mm corrugated cardboard, cut each one of them as per the detailed plans, and without any fixings or glue, stacked them together to create a really cool looking sound room for listening to music. The cardboard provides all the insulation required for this room.

WEBSITE: www.luxarchitecture.com

Floors Made From Peach Pits in South Africa

2008-03-18T17:52:00.000-05:00

Stone Fruit Floors presents floors that consist of peach pits that have been packed by hand, grinded and treated to expose the red hue of the pits and still give the natural wood feeling. Thus making the floors warm and therapeutic to walk on with or without shoes. The floor are thus unique, natural, and truely South African, providing old-world charm without the old world hassle.

Features:
Slip Resistant
Therapeutic to Walk On
Variety of Colours
Easy to Clean
Water Resistant
Does Not Warp
Beetle Resistant

Source: www.stonefruitfloors.com

For Those of You Who Think Office Design Is Boring

2008-03-18T14:04:00.000-05:00

Enjoy!!