Saturday 3 March 2012
meltdown chairs - tom price
Tom Price has created a new way to sit when designing his newest series named Meltdown Chairs. He uses the same technique of heating and pressing a seat-shaped former into a ball, using different materials for each chair including polypropylene rope, PVC hose, and a stack of common plumbing tubes. All the materials begin to melt when in contact with the heated former, and when cooled a seat is made. All the chairs use no additional material and come just from the rope, hose, or plumbing tubes. Who knew something so simplistic would turn out looking so neat.
Heat reactive tile
Lately there have been some very interesting products for the home improvement segment and the NewUltraBloom Heat-Reactive Tiles by UltraGlass are no different. These new tiles use a special heat-reactive coating to allow the tiles to change into a variety of colors depending on the temperature, eventually cooling off and returning to their original color. These new tiles come in a wide variety of colors and textures to fit any design. Currently pricing is unknown.
fibre optics tablecloth
Looking for a new way to spruce up your dinner party? Lumigram is a hand washable fiber optics tablecloth that will make your dinner shine.
Concrete Cloth
When a disaster strikes, it’s often difficult to get shelters up in time for displaced residents. Enter Concrete Canvas‘s new Concrete Cloth, a durable waterproof building material made of cement sandwiched between fabric. The cloth, which won Material ConneXion‘s Material of the Year 2009 award, can be molded into any shape when bonded with water — and it takes just two hours to set!
Read more: CONCRETE CLOTH: Flexible Material Makes Durable Disaster Shelters | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World
http://inhabitat.com/concrete-cloth-flexible-material-makes-durable-disaster-shelters/
Perhaps the most useful application for Concrete Cloth is in disaster relief, where the material could be used to quickly and efficiently house both people and food. Since the cloth has a life span of 10 years, it can be used in situations where displacement is prolonged. Concrete Cloth’s durability also makes it ideal for military use.
There’s just one drawback to Concrete Cloth: the material contains PVC, a plastic that leaches toxic chemicals. If Concrete Canvas could figure out a way to replace PVC with something else, we’d love to see Concrete Cloth used around the world.
Print lighting
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9891842-54.html
The ability to "print" organic light-emitting diodes could bring down the cost of flexible, energy-efficient lights.
The ability to "print" organic light-emitting diodes could bring down the cost of flexible, energy-efficient lights.
Your next lightbulb could come off a printing press.
General Electric's Global Research organization said Tuesday that it is the first to demonstrate roll-to-roll manufacturing for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)--a move that can dramatically lower costs.
OLEDs have been touted as the next generation of lighting and displays for consumer electronics like TVs.
They are very energy-efficient, are made out of flexible material, and can be tuned to give off different colors of light.
As part of its Ecomagination initiative, GE is investing in the technology in an effort to make it a viable replacement for incandescent or fluorescent bulbs.
The demonstration of a roll-to-roll production, similar to how a newspaper is printed on rolls, has the potential to lower the manufacturing costs and make the end product cost-competitive with existing lighting, according to GE.
This printing process is being pursued by solar manufacturers as well, including Konarka, which is making solar cells from plastic.
GE demonstrated a transparent OLED, made at its research lab, to reporters last October and said it hoped to have OLED lighting devices available by 2010. (For a photo gallery of OLEDs and GE's Global Research lab, click here).
The roll-to-roll manufacturing machine will be used for further research, company said.
Monday 16 January 2012
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Ian McDougall, Melbourne Theatre Company
“The robust sculptural facades have already become iconic and the changes to traffic and pedestrian patterns at an urban level have transformed the area into an active domain,” praised the jury.
Tuesday 10 January 2012
Monday 9 January 2012
Nature Factory Store, Tokyo
http://cubeme.com/blog/2010/12/10/nature-factory-store-by-suppose-design-office/
'Tree' design to bring nature to the retail space, made out of recycled pipes.
'Tree' design to bring nature to the retail space, made out of recycled pipes.
‘Café Day,’ Japan
For their renovation of this Izakaya (Japanese style bar) based in the quiet residential area of Numazu-shi, Shizuoka Suppose Design Office have taken inspiration from car parks, a driving school and a road. Benches designed to emulate bus stops and car seats transformed in sofas accompany the startlingly unique painted asphalt flooring complete the sensation that a road runs right on through this thoroughly unique space.
The former Izakaya was easily transformed into the Café/Day without betraying any element from the former program. It has incorporated socializing and gathering over a mug of coffee with a now new bolder effect. The architects used the power of a ‘word’ in a paradoxical manner and found a new approach in the renovation works’ design process of. Suppose Design Office has stated that they would like to start out their design process without giving a particular ‘name’ to the program, but by defining the space through the program.
http://cubeme.com/blog/2011/11/16/cafe-day-japan-by-suppose-design-office/
The former Izakaya was easily transformed into the Café/Day without betraying any element from the former program. It has incorporated socializing and gathering over a mug of coffee with a now new bolder effect. The architects used the power of a ‘word’ in a paradoxical manner and found a new approach in the renovation works’ design process of. Suppose Design Office has stated that they would like to start out their design process without giving a particular ‘name’ to the program, but by defining the space through the program.
http://cubeme.com/blog/2011/11/16/cafe-day-japan-by-suppose-design-office/
Saturday 7 January 2012
Plywood
- The Eames brothers: Charles Eames and Eero Saairnen entered a 1940 MOMA design competition and win two awards for moulded plywood pieces, setting the stage for the Eames brothers influential career of modern design using plywood
- The chair: The chair is the most popular form in molded plywood furniture with stackability remaining an important design component
- Tables, desks and stools: Contemporary plywood coffee tables, end tables and desks are gaining in popularity
- Interiors: Plywood’s perception as an honest and modern material makes it a natural choice for contemporary interiors, including panelling and kitchen cabinets
- Whimsical wood: Past and present designers have used the simple shapes of moulded plywood to express a sense of modern whimsy and the material lends itself to designs for children and pets
- Furniture and beyond: Designers have taken plywood outside of the realm of simple furniture, including Tapio Wirkkala who created plywood bowls and sculptures, and Grete Jalk who designed nesting tables and stools. Today, the Benjamin Stool by Ikea is a DIY pop culture icon
- Plywood 2.0: Plywood offers attainable and modern design and relies on historical elements like stackability and cutting from a single piece while incorporating new cutaway/layering and patchwork veneer techniques
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