Art + Architecture + Design
Environment
Philippe Stark’s Rooftop Windmill is Beautiful, of course
Aug 5th
Yes, he’s a pain in the a**, but at least he’s starting to walk the ‘green’ talk. Have a look at this rooftop wind turbine for residential use. If he can pull it off, even half of it, it will be his best work to-date:
From IHT:
"Take Starck’s claim to have "invented a concept called Democratic
Design," which, he says, gives everyone high quality products at
affordable prices. Sounds great, but didn’t the modern movement try to
do that for most of the 20th century? And how can he claim to have "won
the battle" by designing "a chair that sells for less than €100," or
$157, when that’s still too expensive for most people? Let alone the 90
percent of the world’s population who are too poor to afford the
basics? What has Democratic Design done for them? "Oh please, I’m not
God," pleads Starck. "I’m just a designer, and I’m doing my best.""
read the rest after the jump…
Dream Holiday: Bucky Fuller, Chris Burden and David Byrne
Jun 14th
If I were not going to be floating in my father’s Arizona pool week after next, here is a list of the things I would be seeing on my [imaginary] trip to NYC. [not that I in any way take for granted my father's generosity...]
Erector Set Skyscraper at Rockefeller Center Is Adult Fantasy: …a sweet, old-fashioned tribute to boyhood optimism…Chris Burden’s "What My Dad Gave Me"… [images]- Bloomberg News
Dymaxion Man: The visions of Buckminster Fuller: By staging the retrospective, the Whitney raises—or, really, one should say, re-raises—the question of Fuller’s relevance. Was he an important cultural figure because he produced inventions of practical value or because he didn’t?- New Yorker
and of course…
[David] Byrne’s new installation produced by Creative Time, “Playing The Building,” is located downtown in the Battery Maritime Building, which was built in 1909, closed in 1938 and hasn’t been open to the public for 50 years.
Sugar Cube City: Floating New Orleans by Kim & Stayner
Jun 3rd
It’s pouring rain here today which lends poignancy to this project by Kiduck Kim and Christian Stayner of Harvard’s GSD. Utopian in the best sense of the word, the project serves to highlight the reasons it could not work, rather than the reasons it could; class, capitol, private property, and common sense.
What a wonderful world it would be if we could rise above these limitations and enter a new era of urban development, a world of sweet sugar cubes floating without malice in a sea of good will. Kudos to Kim and Stayner for imagining such a future.
From Inhabitat:
It’s been almost three years since New Orleans weathered Katrina’s
wrath, and debate still rages over plans to reconstruct the sunken
city. Myriad options have surfaced ranging from rebuilding the levees to designing storm resistant structures to not rebuilding at all. Here’s an approach that endeavors to ride the river rather than stem it’s course. Harvard Graduate School of Design students Kiduck Kim and Christian Stayner have conceived of a Floating City that will “rise safely in an Archimedean liquid landscape.”
Reclaimed Lumber Bookshelf by Blankblank
May 21st
Anything that makes me laugh out loud must be shared.
via Inhabitat
Giant Toasted Leafcutter Ants from Edible.com
May 13th
So we’re having a BBQ here in the burbs for Memorial Day and I’m thinking these little guys should be a big hit. Giant toasted leafcutter ants from Colombia, the largest species of ant in the world.
From Edible:
"Hormigas Culonas are harvested in the Colombian Amazon by the Guane
Indians, during the short rainy season between March and June. They are
then toasted in a mud pot over an open fire by the Indians.
The Guane Indians believe that these Ants have youth giving and
Aphrodisiac properties and they are often served as fertility giving
marriage food during nuptial ceremonies. Hormigas Culonas taste similar
to crisply fried bacon with an earthy taste, and make the perfect
alternative party snack instead of nuts or olives!"
YUM!
Get yours here.
Natural Retreats, UK: Stylish Eco-tourism
May 2nd
I will be staying here next time I visit Little England…
"Combining the highest levels of luxury and sustainable development with beautiful locations, Natural Retreats
offer a chance to explore beautiful national parks, bask in luxury, and
feel confident that your holiday has a low environmental impact. Built
with sustainability in mind, these eco-getaways can be found within
four of the UK national parks, with plans to acquire sites in, or
alongside, ten more. At current, green-minded travelers can escape to Yorkshire Dales, Snowdonia, Lake District, and North York Moors – all beautiful landscapes and perfect settings for an eco-friendly nature retreat."
H1 by Brio54, Knock-out Sustainable Residential Design
Feb 19th
I fell in love with the creative simplicity of the design of the new H1 residence by Brio54, a new Arch. firm made up of partners Gernot Bruckner and Philip Macari. These are still in design development with construction slated to begin later in the spring. Be sure to check out their site for detailed descriptions of all the mechanicals and such:
from the always fabulous Inhabitat: "As soon as we saw them, we instantly fell in love with Brio54’s new set of prefab residential prototypes. A young, design-driven development firm, Brio54’s
mission is to provide sustainable, affordable design while delivering
high quality construction. Home buyers of all types will delight in Brio54’s
wide variety of offerings – whether you live in a suburban area, are
looking to refurbish or rehab, or have an empty urban infill lot.
Brio54’s first prefab prototype, the H1, (pictured above) is currently
in the final stage of planning, and construction is slated to begin
production in the spring of 2008.
T-POST
Oct 30th
Great idea, can’t wait for my first issue:
From Cool Hunting: "The world’s first international news magazine on cotton, T-post is a subscription t-shirt service based in Sweden. Silkscreened onto American Apparel tees, subscribers get a new "issue" every six weeks with a design about a current news item on the outside and a short article on the topic printed inside. Many of the stories covered by T-post are outside the radar of the traditional news media—like conversations overheard on the subway or microchips implanted in butterflies—but that is precisely why the editors at T-Post think they’re important. Available worldwide, each edition costs €26 including shipping and back issues are not for sale—"you can’t go trying to buy one like ‘you was with it way back when.’"
TAGS: Clothing, Fashion, Limited Edition, Sweden, T-Shirts,
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