The Salm brothers never cease to amaze TreeHugger. The pair, behind
Mio's sustainable designs, are a great example of designers who really get it: how to design with the environment in mind; how to approach green design from a variety of angles; how to execute it with and style. Their
Origami table,
Nomad System room dividers,
Shroom lighting,
Soft Bowls,
3D wallpaper and
cork flooring tiles are all great examples of each of these, and they've branched out even further.
The "Naked Line," made from formaldehyde-free particle board, is a modular storage system that Mio left without veneers to showcase the natural beauty of the product. We also liked "Loop," their first
product service system, which is a wallpaper-like textile that comes with its own envelope, so you can simply and easily mail it back to Mio for replacement if it gets torn or just wears thin. Get the scoop on these and more from Mio in our video tour of the booth below the fold.
::Mio and
::ICFF 2008...
It was a bit out of place at ICFF, Lucy Renshaw's crafty "bespoke eco furniture and interiors." Her booth was an explosion of colour and old spoons, and, frankly, a nice break . Lucy is also bubbly and charming, and I am a complete sap for the accent.
Lucy "deliberately sets out to tackle environmental issues by working with recycled fabrics and reusing materials. She combines techniques of surface embellishment, embroidery and screen printing to produce imaginative and inspired interior products."...
TreeHugger has been a fan of Vancouver, B.C.-based
Molo for some time now. We love the way their ingenious, honeycomb-inspired paper designs, like the
softwall and
softseating, creates structure you can sit on and full, modern forms from just paper
They've outdone themselves with softlight--we
heard rumors about itlast year--which is one of the most interesting, changeable home lighting design ideas we've seen; there are seemingly infinite variations and shapes it can take as it morphs from tall to short, skinny to fat, large to small, and back again. You really have to see it to believe it; hit the jump to see how it works in our video from the floor of ICFF.
::Molo and
::ICFF 2008...
Noel Wiggins of Areaware carries a wide range of designs that we have seen on TreeHugger, chosen with a sense of humour and "an emphasis on forward thinking technologies and original expression." TreeHugger favourites in the booth included Singgih Kartono's
wooden radios and the prominent display of Strida folding bikes. (full disclosure: I bought
my bike from Areaware.)
Areaware is offering a new table made from 100% recycled plastic, with graffiti from a New York bar pre-moulded into the surface. It's in our exclusive video after the jump.
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It is really quite silly. but I could not help but be charmed by Ximena Orozco and her Jacket Pillows, made from industrial wool felt. Ximena is co-founder and Creative Director of Urbanatics, "
an independent design portal featuring unique, intelligent and expressive products," which looks like a very interesting source for good design from around the world.
Ximena describes the Jacket Pillow after the jump.
::Urbanatics at
::ICFF 2008...
Lloyd and I were interested to learn why the clouds were gathering above the booth of
David Trubridge inside ICFF. Turns out it had nothing to do with the weather; David's latest collection--called Spiral Islands--was inspired by his observation that over lone, smallish islands in the Pacific, clouds gather in the same shape as the land mass below. He translated the idea into a clever seat and lighting combination, neatly accented by some platters made from sustainably-grown pine cut from a CNC router.
David also talked to us about his plans to continually keep sustainability at the top of his design priorities, exploring new materials options while maintaining a modern, airy feel and having fun creating new designs; get the lowdown with the video and pics below the fold.
::David Trubridge and
::ICFF 2008...
TreeHugger first met Peter Mabeo
two years ago, when he and designer Patty Johnson introduced a line of furniture "that balances local traditions with a contemporary sensibility, building a local industry and a design identity for Botswana. " Our biggest concern at the time was the carbon footprint that came from importing wood and exporting furniture, but Peter tells us that new, sustainable sources of wood are becoming available as more countries begin to harvest their forests under FSC rules. The new design line from Patty Johnson looks good, too.
Peter updates us in an exclusive video after the jump.
::North South Project at
ICFF 2008...
There was a lot of student work at ICFF, but Collin and I were particularly impressed with the work of the Savannah College of Art and Design, which produced products with a purpose: to help the poor and the homeless. They worked with the Growing Hope program of Union Mission, which tries to "elevate the quality of life of Savannah's homeless through housing, job training, counselling and healthcare."
They used cheap, available materials to "embrace a definition of sustainability that looks beyond the green movement to incorporate a vision of socially constructive practice." Click below the fold to see not one, but two videos from ICFF about the inspiring project.
::SCAD and
::ICFF 2008...
We love the idea of
Design Democracy, where Bryce and Kerry Moore designers and artists can submit ideas for designs that can be built using mass-customization processes." The brought a few of the winners of the first competition to ICFF.
Joel Edmondson's DNA chair has some very interesting attibutes; it is moulded plywood, which tends to favour identical sizes and shapes. However Joel turned it into a bespoke chair, made to order in different sizes through the clever metal joint, which permits the height and depth to be adjusted. Pretty smart stuff.
Joel explains how his chair works, and the ideas that went into its conception, in our exclusive video after the jump.
::Design Democracy '08 and
::ICFF 2008...
Eve Blossom has one of the most sophisticated views of sustainability that we have seen; it is not just about being "green" or having a low carbon footprint; sustainability includes economic, cultural, environmental, and social factors. It must also demonstrate high levels of craftsmanship and use natural materials and processes.
She worked with Cameron Sinclair and
Architecture for Humanity in Vietnam after earning a Masters in Architecture from Tulane, and "discovered a passion for the hand weaving traditions of the region and realized their unparalleled talents and spirit. The creation of a sustainable market, livelihood, and wage for the weavers and their villages became a dream that eventually led to Lulan."
Eve has some great things to say about sustainability and how she really leverages Lulan as a business promoting positive change; hit the jump to see our video interview and for more pics of the beautiful textiles.
::Lulan Artisans and
::ICFF 2008...
We do love our flatpack furniture; cutting it out of plywood with a CNC machine and sliding it under a door reduces the amount of material used, the packaging, the shipping, everything is just more efficient. It can be fun too, as Dan Planko demonstrates with his new end table, which mixes traditional design elements with the latest manufacturing technologies, and even comes in its own canvas bag....
More humor in design from Karl Zahn, with his entry table made from sustainable pine, shown in the Charles and Marie booth. It is a place to put your shoes, your keys, whatever; he uses the extra wood left over to make axes and sledgehammers out of wood to use if your guests overstay their welcome.
The workmanship was lovely, and why shouldn't furniture be fun? Quick interview after the jump....
Architecture for Humanity's Cameron Sinclair is in town to speak at the Metropolis Conference at ICFF, and gigged a few hours as a booth babe for
Lulan Artisans, (as you can see, working really hard at it) handing out his favourite organic fair trade chocolate from Kallari in Ecuador.
(see Leonora's post here)
We had an opportunity to talk with him about events in Burma and China, following the jump....
I have been walking or standing for three days, and am working at TreeHugger founder Graham Hill's stand-up desk. True to his "less is more" aesthetic, Graham does not own a chair or stool, and my feet are killing me. Nonetheless, I have always wanted a standup desk, they are purported to be good for your back and for your productivity, and as an architect, that is how I used to draw.
Stilvoll of Germany makes one of the nicer ones I have seen, that has an unusual method of height adjustment, a pop-up sloping writing desk, pullouts and hidden trays, cable management and absolutely stunning workmanship. When my feet recover from this trip I want one. Video demo after the jump.
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Umbra has always been famous for promoting good design at affordable prices, and introduced Karim Rashid to the general public many years ago. That meant that Umbra sold a lot of plastic, and would not have been a prime candidate for a TreeHugger post. Not anymore; we have done a number of them recently, including one on their wonderful new
showroom in Toronto, and quite a few of their products. That's because co-founder and CEO Les Mandelbaum says that sustainability is no longer an option in design, but a necessity.
They have changed a lot of their materials and production processes, no making their iconic Garbini wastebasket out of PLA, or corn plastic; the pulp bulletin board is made from newspaper, sustainable woods include bamboo and plantation woods, and packaging has been revamped to eliminate stryrofoam and PVC.
We caught up with Les at his display outside the entrance to ICFF and grabbed a brief interview, after the jump....
While we showed
Alberto Mozó's Demountable BIP building earlier, we saved the stair for our Stair of the Week. Like the rest of the building, it is designed so that it can be taken apart and reassembled elsewhere.
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Lloyd and I were happy to see Akemi Tanaka and her new work at ICFF. After designing some
really clever transformer furniture in 2006, she's re-imagining how furniture and space is used, maximizing its function by adding some cool design touches to everyday objects like credenzas and occasional tables.
In the video after the jump, she explains how she conceived some interesting new options and great ideas to better use space in furniture, and how she incorporates sustainability into her beautiful modern work.
::ICFF 2008 and
::Akemi Tanaka...
Diane Ruengsorn believes "that you can have products that enhance your life while taking into account people and planet." While apprenticing in the furniture industry, she was shocked at the chemicals and materials that workers were subjected to every day. She produces products that are produced with "peoplefriendly materials that didn't harm anyone in the process" of manufacture, and won't hurt you in your use of it.
Catch a video of her after the jump.
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Collin and I were so excited by the student work on show at ICFF; Nick Demarco of the
California College of the Arts produced a wonderful (and surprisingly comfortable) XS chair that can be filled with anything you have in excess- old clothes, magazines or in this case, garbage and bottles. The prototype is made of vinyl, but Nick says the production models will be made of a recycled plastic mesh.
Hit the jump to see a video of Nick describing the chair, a close up of all the garbage inside it, and another video of Professor Corey Jones describing the project.
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Live from ICFF 2008
Lloyd and I are having a great time checking out the green scene here at ICFF--the International Contemporary Furniture Fair--happening this weekend in New York City. We had a nice chat with
Liz Kinnmark of Design Glut--you may remember their
clever "Crude" necklace, designed to "celebrate" when oil hit $100 per barrel early this year.
They've added some fun, provocative designs for the Fair this year; the "Hookmakers" are a modular bathroom tile system that replace standard 6"x 6" tiles with a built-in cup, to hold your toothbrush, toothpaste and whatever else you need within arms reach at the bathroom sink.
Hit the jump to see a video of Liz and to get more info on the "Slow Food Trays" that are also part of Design Glut's display here at the show, and find all of our coverage of
ICFF 2008 here.
::Design Glut and
::ICFF 2008...
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