Category: green

B(h)uis / Hoogte Twee Architecten

“Through the centuries architects have used small construction works to experiment with spaces of limited form, scale and extent, but also to experiment with material and details.

As there’s a lack of well-equipped research laboratories, the research of material by architects focuses on potentials of existing (construction-) products in which mainly is sought for possibilities of improper use of materials. Our temporary residence is such an experiment. PVC tubes have inspired us to a design of a special object in which this material is no longer seen as a tube but as a hollow building stone.

The material is researched by its spatial characteristics and escapes its standard application. The transparency in the along-direction and the fixed wall in the cross-direction determine the spatiality.

By parallel stacking of the tubes as building stones a mass has been created which represents itself closed from four sides, but which is transparent, seen from the head sides. By hollowing out this mass a special residence will be created which will be provided by light seen from the head sides.”

via archdaily

more pics mirrored after the jump

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Minimalist House

Wow, check out this space in japan.. makes me want to be at peace with nature,  relax, an live a very simple life… though it needs a small pool or Onsen somewhere.

“The Minimalist House in Itoman-shi, Okinawa, Japan, was designed by Shinichi Ogawa & Associates / Urbanist Architect. Just have a look a the floor plan and you’ll understand why it’s called the minimalist house.”

More images mirrored via todayandtomorrow after the jump.
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Designverb post 1001

I started Designverb on January 18th, 2006 as a quick experiment to jot down the many things I found to share with my friends and anyone else curious. Today, August 1st, 2010,  marks my 1000th post, and this one being the 1001’st.

I’ll admit the the opportunities, friendship, community, and insights I’ve received throughout the years has been amazing and it has surely kept me busy after a long day of work and on weekends.  There are times where I’m flooded with work and have very little time to post, but I started a Facebook Fan page where I post quick  fun links and have recently found some extra contributors to help find more great things to post about.

The Above picture is of sushi at O Ya here in Boston. I tend to eat sushi to celebrate  so maybe I’ll go there this week again.

Anyhow, I had no plans to really celebrate, but I thought I’d share some of the most popular posts since starting Designverb.
1. Tunnel House
2. Stuck At Heathrow Airport
3. Paint Chip Card Holder
4. Red Bull Headquarters
5. Mark Khaisman Brown Tape Art
6. Stefans Stormtroopers a Day
7. Heineken World Bottle: Beer to Bricks
8. Creepy Snow Globes
9. Color Changing Mini-Cooper
10. Burj Al Arab: Tennis Court in the Sky!
11. Non-Metric Countries
12. Shoes That Make Everyone the Same Height
13. How 315 Billion Dollars Looks
14. GadgetOff 2007 and 2009 Recaps.
15. TerraCycle Inc

And one of my fun little trips came from GM here.

TEDxCambridge: How do you eat? May 16th

I’ve been incredibly busy helping organize the TEDxCambridge event occurring May 16th at the MIT Stata Center. The theme “How do you eat”  is based off of this year TED prize winner Jamie Oliver in regards to Food and education. If you are in Boston May 16th, apply to get an invite and let me know. We can only invite 300 attendees and registration will close soon. You can learn more on tedxcambridge.com

Also, if you are in a position to sponsor any food, funding, or gifts for the event, please contact me asap. (now! =) ).
We will have 2 break sessions followed by an evening event in eating, drinking, and idea sharing!

Lots of awesome speakers in the line up!
– Wylie Dufresne: WD 50
– Chandler Burr: Times Scent critic
– Dan Ariely: Behavioral Economist
– Richard Chisolm: Filmmaker
– John Gertsen: Mixologist
–  many more!

update: Photos on flickr, via eddric(350),Tino(40), JB (60), millie(16)

Cardboard Furniture

I’ve mentioned  1 sheet cardboard furniture studies as one of the RISD freshmen foundation projects, but one other great project was making furniture with lots of cardboard. I do not have any pictures from my time there, but Lazerian Studio has a great example with similar results. Oh the memories!

via inhabitat

Lazerian Studio

Manga Farming

Pretty cool idea. Replace a flower vase with a manga book placed inside a little tray. Water and insert seeds inside the book for some pretty cool results.

Many images mirrored after the jump via pinktentickle

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Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish

One of my favorite talks at TED this year was Dan Barber talking about ecology in food, and in this talk, the amazing eco system of a fish farm. Watch it above or here.

“Chef Dan Barber squares off with a dilemma facing many chefs today: how to keep fish on the menu. With impeccable research and deadpan humor, he chronicles his pursuit of a sustainable fish he could love, and the foodie’s honeymoon he’s enjoyed since discovering an outrageously delicious fish raised using a revolutionary farming method in Spain.”

Also while watching this talk, I twittered out about his amazing talk on humane foie gras which is a pretty amazing story behind the history to foie gras and that it isn’t a French discovery… it’s Jewish. Watch the talk here.

Gary Lauder’s new traffic sign: Take Turns

“Fifty percent of traffic accidents happen at intersections. Gary Lauder shares a brilliant and cheap idea for helping drivers move along smoothly: a new traffic sign that combines the properties of “Stop” and “Yield”—and asks drivers to be polite.”

via TED Talks

Bill Gates on energy: Innovating to zero!”

Incredible talk by Bill Gates about his vision to solve the worlds energy crisis at TED2010:
“At TED2010, Bill Gates unveils his vision for the world’s energy future, describing the need for “miracles” to avoid planetary catastrophe and explaining why he’s backing a dramatically different type of nuclear reactor. The necessary goal? Zero carbon emissions globally by 2050.”

via TEDtalks

Happy Holiday!

tadpole.sleeping.bag

Happy Holiday to everyone. I’ll be out in Hong Kong for the break and will be back with some goodies to post most likely dealing with food, shopping, and culture.

If you have not already, please join the Facebook Fan page here which I post to often but write less and it’s open for fans to post to as well. I’ll post a few goodies I shared on the fan page below recently for the holiday break:

Tadpole like sleeping bag (pictured above) Reminds me of Selk bag.
Newspaper laptop sleeve holder. I’ve gotta get this!
TED launches Best of Web.
Cool jacket..I like asymmetric clothing which is hard to come by for guys.
LED lights save energy, but don’t melt snow
Ping Pong office convertible table
Awesome silloutte clock!
xylophone table

JOIN THE DESIGNVERB FACEBOOK FAN PAGE HERE!