Tara Donovan, Genius of Little Things
Tara Donovan is an inventive young sculptor whose installations bring wonder to the most common objects of everyday life. Donovan’s site-specific, sculptural works transform ordinary accumulated materials into intriguing visual and physical installations. Choosing a single object – such as a transparent drinking straw, scotch tape, a Styrofoam cup, or a paper clip – Donovan experiments with assembling it in different ways. Sensitive to the specific needs of her materials and the nature of her exhibit spaces, her installations are often arranged in ways reminiscent of geological or biological forms.
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Solar Forest Concept by Neville Mars
The Solar Forest concept from Neville Mars is a crafty design solution for charging electric vehicles and generating solar energy in previously underused parking lots. Instead of having parking lots filling the urban landscape, the Solar Forest offers shade, free EV charging, solar energy generation while simultaneously greatly improving the appearance of the urban landscape.
Citadel Floating Apartment Complex by Koen Olthuis
The Citadel Floating Apartment Complex, a 60-unit luxury apartment complex designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthuis for Dutch firm Waterstudio, defies the tides while cutting energy use by 25 percent Waterstudio. The Citadel will rise and fall with the changing water levels.
The Citadel will be comprised of 60 luxury apartments, a parking garage, a floating roadway, and boat docks as well as a garden terrace and many greenhouses.
FlipWing Turbine Generates Hydroelectricity Without Dams
Hydrovolts, Inc. has developed a new technique which can be used to generate electricity from water without the use of dams. Rather than damming mighty rivers or installing turbines in unpredictable oceans, Hydrovolts has aimed its sights on a much smaller target: placid canals and other managed-flow water courses. Even at low flows, a predictable and reliable current is more than enough to power the company’s unique Flipwing Turbine.
Recycled Shipping Containers Converted Into Trendy Homes by IC Green, Inc
The idea of living in an old shipping container is fascinating, especially if it looks like one of these structures from IC Green, Inc. The company reuses trashed shipping containers and converts them into a wide range of structures, from 320 square foot studios to 2400 square foot homes.
Domsai by Matteo Cibic
With each product being unique, the Domsai designed by Matteo Cibic features a cactus in its own special glass housing which is tailor made. Made in Nove, the Domsai looks way too good to resist with each cactus looking as like a slightly warped version of a person because of the base which literally stands on its own feet.
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Digital Pot by Junyi Heo Lets Plants Tell You Their Demands
Digital Pot by Junyi Heo is designed to takes the guesswork out of keeping your plants healthy by expressing on an LCD display exactly how they are feeling and what they need from you.
The vessel is filled with moisture, temperature and soil sensors that can determine whether or not the plant’s basic need are being properly met. While a simple red light could’ve done the trick, Junyi went a step further and added an LCD screen to the side of the pot than lets the plant’s status be told by different facial expressions.
Wood Sliced Walkway
This wonderful wood sliced walkway was photographed by Katy Elliott during a trip to the Portland Flower show earlier this year. Assuming you had some rot resistant wood, this would be a great use of old or found material.
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HONBACHI, Planter Kits by Tara MCGinley
Called Honbachi and created by Tara MCGinley from Japan, this planter kits contain the plant, soil, and a hollowed-out book. Looks like it would be fun and easy to DIY too!
Link Via [Boing Boing]
Air Forest, Pneumatic Pavilion by Mass Studies
Mass Studies designed the Air Forest as a temporary public pavilion installed in City Park, Denver, Colorado, USA, for Dialogue:City, an arts and cultural event during the Democratic National Convention 2008.
Lotus Electrive Concept by Diseno-art.com
Diseno-art.com designers have designed a sports car aimed towards the Lotus brand – The Lotus Electrive. The sports car is not designed as an everyday office vehicle, but has been tailored to meet the demands of all those who need a much powerful ride on their sunny weekend outings.
Michel Bussien’s Growing Chair
Swiss designer Michel Bussien’s Growing Chair evokes pertinent ideas for the 21st century: nature trapped within the confines of man, manicured at his whim, or a specimen preserved behind glass – like fossils in a museum.
“Floating Garden” by Benjamin Graindorge
The fish tank is a microcosm that reflects human concerns: within the finite space of its architecture the main issue that conditions the well-being of its inhabitants is waste management.
“Floating Garden” by Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio brings an innovative solution to the daily maintenance constraints of freshwater aquariums with a filtering system that is 100% natural: a cushion of sand + plants that adapts to each and every model. Its recycling principle based on hydroponics does away with the chore of regular water changes and proposes a new domestic- scale typology, between the decorative glass vase and the water purifying plant.
DIY Amphibious Bicycle Made from Recycled Water Gallons
Li Jin has designed this ingenious human-powered bicycle, with which she rides on the water in Wuhan of Hubei Province in China.
Creative Units, Aberystwyth, by Heatherwick Studio
The eight new Creative Units, designed and built by Heatherwick Studio have already established themselves as new landmarks for Aberystwyth and go to further enhance the Art Centre’s reputation as one of the leading venues for contemporary arts and culture in the UK.
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The Plastiki, Sailing Boat Made of 12,500 2-Liter Plastic Bottles
Adventure Ecology founder David de Rothschild is getting ready for a summertime sailing trip. The Plastiki Expedition is the brainchild of David de Rothschild, and the goal is audacious: to sail 12,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a boat made entirely out of plastic bottles and recycled waste products.
De Rothschild has built a team he calls the Smart Collective to combat inefficient design. He brought together a group of intelligent folks who had never built a boat before to design the Plastiki….
When finished, the Plastiki will be made of 12,500 2-liter plastic bottles collected by Waste Management, will weigh 9 tons, and will have a crew of six. The Plastiki will have a composting toilet, onboard renewable energy and a garden. “People are so shocked that we’re going to grow food on the boat,” de Rothschild mused.
Follow the Plastiki Expedition here
Harvest Green Project by Romses Architects
Winner of “The 2030 Challenge” organized by the City of Vancouver “to address climate change plans and to guide greener and denser development, reducing carbon emissions for the future,” the “Harvest Green Project’ by Romses Architects will grow vegetables, herbs, fruit, fish, egg laying chickens, and a boutique goat and sheep dairy facility through the vertical farming. Featuring a green design, the structure will harvest renewable energy with photovoltaic glazing and small and large-scale wind turbines to support the solar and wind-farm infrastructure.
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Green Pockets Tiles by Maruja Fuentes
Maruja Fuentes has designed green pockets using recycled materials. Spotted at the 2009 Milan Furniture Fair, the super-cool ceramic tiles attach to any wall to create the illusion that whatever’s inside—herbs, plants, a flower or two—is growing directly out of a room’s surface.
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