Smart Design

Paper yarn carpets, sounds disposable but it’s not. Woodnotes carpets are indeed made from paper but are so dense and durable that no dust or dirt can penetrate, making them allergen-free as well as robust. Created by Finnish designer Ritva Puotila, inspired by Finland’s rugged nature, Woodnotes is a company that combines advanced technologies and Finnish raw materials: wood and paper. It’s amazing to me what can be made from paper, these products are elegant, contemporary and in no way betray their modest origins. It started with carpets in 1987… today they make not only contemporary carpets, but blinds and partitions, furniture and a range of accessories including slippers and towels out of paper yarn.

Here are just a few examples:

My and Roo lounge chairs, winner of an Interior Innovation Award at IMM Cologne in February 2009. “Soft but sturdy, the lounge chairs are designed for casual, relaxed seating. Both are designed by Ulla Koskinen.”

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One of the most apparent themes of this year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair was sustainable design. In the space of five short years I’ve seen the proportion of designers and manufacturers showing/talking responsible design grow from a handful at this show to more than a third (at least of everyone I spoke with). Almost everyone had a green story of some sort to tell. Unfortunately much of that sustainable product was pricey, reflecting the still nascent sustainable materials industry and the fact that much of what was presented was handmade. One notable exception was Chun-wei Liao’s Transformer collection. Transformer is a modular cardboard system that, true to its name, can be made into anything from a pendant light to sit down furniture.

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Have you thought about what a residential building might look like in 2020? What a residential building in 2020 might have to look like? The world’s steadily increasing urban population probably won’t slow by 2020 which will likely exacerbate already major issues like scarcity of clean water, environmental pollution, global warming and dwindling resources.

Global conglomerate Philips has given it some thought and they see some alternative ways of designing intelligent living spaces that, “rather than increasing the burden on existing infrastructure, actually manage to function off the grid”, i.e. use only renewable resources that are captured and harnessed on-site. Their award-winning Philips Design probe project ‘Off the Grid – Sustainable Habitat 2020′ explores new ways of developing sustainable housing. Central to their approach is a fundamental shift in the way buildings are designed and constructed.

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You may have seen a designer toy figure, they’re typically two to sixteen inches high, made of colorful plastic or vinyl with a design sensibility that could labeled Japanese if you were familiar with cartoons and/or comics from Japan. Not made for kids, these figures are collectible, relatively expensive and inspired by distinctly urban archetypes, thus their aka name of “urban vinyl”. But as you may know vinyl can be a particularly toxic material, especially the making of vinyl.

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A limited edition of shoulder-strap clutch bag designed by a Fendi made of recycled venetian blinds. That last part got my attention, yes the bags are made of thin strips of aluminum that were once used to make Venetian blinds in “seven brilliant shades” (no pun intended) with interiors that are personalized with various vintage fabrics. Designer Ilaria Venturini Fendi has created these bags for Carmina Campus which are hand made by Italian craftspeople. The collection is being previewed on Yoox.com, in an exclusive preview for YOOXYGEN a new “eco” subsection of its main site.

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“Invitrum base units are the utmost expression of eco-sustainable design.” Phrases like this one normally make me numb, chock full of correctness and corporate speak. But as I read the press release and dug deeper I realized that these kitchen base units were more than a little special. For one, they actually appealed to me at an aesthetic level first, it’s mostly see-through glass, and though cleaning might be a problem, or scratching, it is nice to be able to see all your utensils and kitchen paraphernalia. But in glass you also have a material that is fully recyclable, inert (no toxic emissions) and able to resist water, steam and heat. Glass in the kitchen works, I have a set of 20 year old Corning Glass Visions Cookware that’s still going strong to this day.

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First there was the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) movement for those who wanted to save money and make things themselves for their home. Now there’s a new movement afoot, Grow-It-Yourself (GIY), for those who want to grow their own food. It’s hard to farm in the city, but it is possible to grow your own vegetables in your condo. Here’s a group of appliances that can help you GIY.

The Lightpot by Shulab Studio is a planter that has a lamp overhead, growing from the centre of the plant. The light highlights the greenery, so it is an ideal accessory for any dark corner.

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Spotted this over at swissmiss. It’s an intriguing graphic from GOOD magazine showing how much water each of us use in our daily activities. It’s the first I’ve read of water footprints (vs. the more common carbon footprint) the amount of water an individual uses.

“Water footprints can be hard to calculate, depending on how far up the chain of production you go,

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The Scrap Lab chair is made out of denim scraps left on the factory floor. The designer, Yongyut Chanapron, is part of Design Team Scrap Lab, a team created out of the Building Innovation and Technology Department of Kasetsart University in Thailand. A lab with a mission to make new products out of leftover materials, scraps, from various manufacturing processes.

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If you’ve ever owned a swimming pool you know it’s a chore, all the cleaning and maintenance, and you know the chlorine can’t be good for you nor the planet. So what to do? Convert your pool to a natural pond. If you have an existing in-ground swimming pool you can now transform it into a natural swimming pond. More on conversion in a bit. And if you’re considering getting a pool, consider getting a pond, you can eliminate expensive heating and maintenance bills, harmful chemicals, those weekly chores and allergic reactions. There is no need to fear infestations of mosquitoes or an invasion of frogs, a natural swimming pond is nature perfected, all the small creatures live in the plant zone while you relax in the swimming zone. So instead of killing every living thing that comes into contact with your pool, you can now save and encourage wildlife in your pond.

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