the art of chess

Exhibition of artist made chess sets at the Rejkavik Art Museum.

reuse: cup and saucer light

Available in Germany from Connox, the literal tea lights made by Bernhard Stellmacher are so Alice in Wonderland.

paul villinski: mobile artist studio

Emergency Response Studio
Paul Villinski makes art from found object, sculpting beer-can butterflies, work-glove wings, and scrap-metal flying machines. Villinski gutted a formaldehyde-ridden trailer, similar to the ones issued by FEMA, to create his sustainable, productive mobile artists studio, which he envisions as a symbol of hope for areas affected by natural disasters and war like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

knitted lighting: craft in design

Ania Bauer, Jacob Brinck, Lena Hirche, Ramon Toshiro Merker together form German design studio llot llov.

design a bridge structure across the bering

What a great contest I read about over at BldgBlog! Design a bridge across the Bering Strait, connecting the U.S. to Russia, and you could win as much as $80,000 ($20,000, if you're a student).

From the competition website:
This project is a dream project attempting to connect two continents. In a wide sense, it includes building a tunnel or a bridge at both ends of the strait, extending [the] existing railways of the United States and Russia, and laying a world highway around the coasts of the world, which require a massive amount of construction.
Your only two requirements are to design "a peace park with a bridging structure using the two islands, Big Diomede and Little Diomede at the Bering Strait," and a "proposal of how to connect two continents."

bamboo as building material

This sounds a bit 'behind the times', but at least CNN is reporting about bamboo and its sustainability.

interesting documentaries

Folk Streams

obama plans new high speed railroad

Sheesh, its about time! Obama's green part of the stimulus includes constructing a major high speed railroad. Maybe we can be as cool as Europe someday........Read more about it here.

thanks sandja

black sheep & prodigal sons: ivory piano key pendants

A very unfortunate fact is that there are alot of vintage fur coats and illegal animal products still around from a time when humans were more ignorant to their destruction of the environment and of endangered species. It is nice to reuse these materials- like the pendant ivory piano key necklaces from Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons. They need a second life and not the trash bin.

pen guy: assemblage art

Love the Pen Guy's marker mercedes.
via AFHW

jamie ward furniture: reclaimed design

Jamie Ward Furniture from UK, shows fun ingenuity with his designs like this stool made from two chair backs or the decoupaged leg table.

green grin: surplus fabrics

Beth Grim of Green Grin uses repurposed/recycled materials to make gloves, pincushions, softies, hot water bottle cozies, etc. Check out her blog Spiral & Sprout too.

elizabeth gilbert: ted talks

recycled hearts: felt so good

Recycled hearts just in time for Valentines Day by Felt So Good.

recycled sweater bunny: palomino morgan

Palomino Morgan sews some cute little recycled bun buns.

greenest museum: academy of science

Wonderful green architecture at the California Academy of Science--but I thought that the exhibits left a whole lot to be desired. The flow of the building when it is crowded is awful--especially going upstairs to the upper levels. I thought that the De Young Museum across the park had fantastic exhibitions.

jet pack pilot

Please find this guy a new fuel source RIGHT NOW!

biggest solar farm: ever

The largest series of solar installations in history, more than 1,300 megawatts, is planned for the desert outside Los Angeles, according to a new deal between the utility Southern California Edison and solar power plant maker, BrightSource.

The momentous deal will deliver more electricity than even the largest nuclear plant, spread out among seven facilities, the first of which will start up in 2013. When fully operational, the companies say the facility will provide enough electricity to power 845,000 homes — more than exist in San Francisco.

This conversion technology isn't the familiar photovoltaics — the direct conversion of sunlight into electricity — but solar thermal power, which concentrates the sun's rays to create steam in a boiler and spin a turbine.

More at Wired

stitch & swash: recycled leather handbags

Stitch & Swash leather reuse.

top 100 organic blogs

Haute Nature made another top organic blog list: here.

rob southcott: community chest

Reclaimed wood 'Community Chest' by Rob Southcott.

recycled ski bar stool

Huset Shop recycled skit stool. Sorry about the teeny tiny photos....

alabama chanin: organic fashion

Lovely organic cotton dresses by Alabama Chanin

homlifestyle: green furniture

Sustainable seating, dining tables, beds, lighting, textiles and accessories by HomLifestyle.

metaform studio: eco lighting

Metaform Studio fashions lovely lighting from reclaimed and FSC wood. The husband-wife team of creative types Khader Humied (architect and furniture maker) and Chris Randolph (artist), result in some fabulous eco designs.

nguyen la chanh: moss bathmat

Just what I need, a moss bathmat! The moss housed in plastazote foam is watered after your showers as you step onto it drippy and clean.
Nguyen La Chanh, the Swiss designer of the moss mat sais, "The idea was to find a new way of having your plants inside." Her other imaginative designs include: 'Tasty Frame' and 'Kitchen Garden'

nude alphabet: type font

What could be more au natural than naked type font? Looks like nudes are a popular medium:

Anton Beeke is the fabulous designer behind nude ladies alphabet font-which he orchestrated in 1970.

Another more contemporary take on the nude alphabet is Body Type by design studios Smart Head and Red Keds. This set is nice because the incorporated red converse into the photo shoot.

wire & twine: wool sweater reuse

Gorgeous recycled sweater scarves by Kelley Deal of Wire & Twine.

via the always rockin it, Swissmiss.

matt & nat: vegan handbags from recycled plastic

For years now, I have loved the stylish vegan handbags of Matt & Nat. Each season, the bags just keep getting better--a bonus for anyone, man or woman who wants a great vegan & repurposed handbag. Depending on the size, 15-55 recycled plastic bottles go into the material used to make each bag.

Around $300, Matt & Nat bags can be purchased online or at department stores like Nordstroms, Fred Segal, Neiman Marcus, Saks and Bloomingdales.
Matt & Nat has lots of different designs for women and men - shoulder bags, clutches, weekend bags, computer bags, etc..

The bags are 100% vegan, and don't use any leather (According to the UN, raising cattle generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined).

greenhouse house: hiroshi iguchi

Love this greenhouse I saw on Eco Friend by designer Hiroshi Iguchi. This house within a greenhouse has been designed as a part of the Fifth World project, which aims to promote ecofriendly and sustainable architecture.

Made from natural materials that include wood for floors and traditional Japanese panels for compartments, it integrates humans and plants together -- leaving open spaces in between the ceiling to let trees thrive in the open.

nancy dong: eco footwear founder

Nancy Dong, is the founder and designer of Kailia Footwear and Do-Ni. The footwear company's are dedicated to making shoes that are stylish, wellmade, vegan and ecological/ethical.

The Kailia Label is high end, Italian made and super stylish...while Do-Ni is a project that is intended to share the retail profits with non-profits that are involed with helping animals, the environment, and those who are disadvantaged with no voice.

Currently Kailia is distributed in Paris, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Germany...recently introduced to the USA market. Soon will be available online--good news for me since I am swooning over all the styles. The DO-Ni flats are delicious!

lotus bleu design: refurbished furniture

Lots Bleu Design, is a San Francisco boutique upholstery shop that takes midcentury furniture and chairs--transforming them with bright, cheery fabrics.

tres birds: 21+ prefab structure

Tres Birds workshop has designed and engineered a building for you. The 21+ is a modular structure that is available for purchase through tres birds workshop design/build.
-the intention of this structure is to provide an inexpensive dwelling/work space for North Americans.
-the structure’s materiality and energy engineering result in a space that makes more energy then it consumes.
-the unique structural engineering of the building allows for varied placement conditions; it may be settled onto cleared land, atop an existing building, connected to an abandoned foundation, intergrated into urban voids.
-the structure is modular in both construction and deconstruction, allowing this building to become a temporary dwelling in a location to be developed in the future.
-all building materials are American made.
materials:
-beetle kill lodge pole pine wood (main frames,interior)
-structurally integrated panels (exterior structural wall system)
-galv-alum t-panels (exterior cladding, roof)
-low-e insulated glazing
energy engineering:
-each proposed site will be analyzed for sun / weather conditions and the 21+ window apertures will be adjusted for peak annual heating and cooling loads for that particular region.
-roof mounted photovoltaic panel array will provide 120% of annual electric energy consumption of the 21+. excess energy can then be used for electric car recharge, carbon offset credit, or cash back from regional energy provider..
-thermal infiltration is limited by the 10inch foam exterior walls and the siting/architecture.
-heating is provided by in floor radiant panels.
-cooling is provided through evaporative cooling system.
costs:
$140k with no future energy bills
create CHANGE while investing in America: order your 21+ today

bill gross: new energy

Bill Gross, great TED talk on new energy.

beekden bouwers: repurposed wool lamp shades

Beelden Bouwers is a Dutch design studio, reusing surplus wool to create light shades. So warm and cozy.