June 29, 2012

– Stunning salad farming installation.

– Cool and hilarious OMG Eye Chart cocktail shaker.

Don’t Make-Up and Drive, a compelling and unsettling Volkswagen ad – just won gold in Cannes.

– How clever is this? Spray juice directly from a citrus fruit! Wishlisted.

– Gorgeous hand-cut minimalist maps.

– Ant-free elevated picnic platters – make all those al fresco efforts more civilized.

– This is currently the wallet of my dreams.

Mrs. Doubtfire recut as a horror movie – chilling.

– An iPhone case that keeps glare from ruining your pictures – pledge on Kickstarter to get yours.

– And don’t forget – tomorrow a leap second will make the day one second longer! Watch it happen here. (via @zomgmouse)

Have a fantastic weekend folks!

This beautiful and flexible work table is a creation of Spanish designer Tomás Alonso. The piece is built to host a set of accessories – different lamps and dividers – that can be customized by the user. Here is how Alonso describes it: “The project explores the idea of the work table as a microsystem with separate elements that can be combined into an array of possibilities. An object of common use, the table is broken down into its basic components to which a series of functional accessories can then be added. The configuration of all these elements is left to the user who can arrive to their own solution in response to their own functional and aesthetic needs.”  The frame itself can be individualized – the design of the aluminium profile used to secure the legs to the table allows for both aluminium and wooden legs, or a combination of both. Various colors and wooden finishes are also available.

(via fastcodesign)

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I’m all for flat things, they are cool and sensible in tiny spaces. Add to that a bit of designy humor – and you get ColoredShape, a lamp from Florence based designer Sabrina Fossi. The piece, made from plastic, echoes the shape of a classic abat-jour. The center and a focal point of the lamp is the source of light itself – the bulb. Everything else is built around it. “The shape of this table lamp is born from the idea to reduce the space occupied by the object.” – says the designer. Amen to that! The ColoredShape lamp is compatible with most standard light bulbs and comes in a variety of colors.

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June 27, 2012

This house in Bruxelles, Belgium, did not boast a generous square footage. Which is why the team at Vanden Eeckhoudt-Creyf Architectes decided to expand the place vertically. This contemporary loft was created for a couple with no kids, so the design could get away some adventurous elements. Namely, several sets of minimal floating staircases were used to access each level, and a classic fireman’s pole to easily get down to the bottom floor from any of the upper three floors. How cool is that! The house incorporates a kitchen/dining area, a small living room, a dressing room co-joined with the powder room. A beautiful sleeping loft (my favorite detail) is finishing this dwelling.

(via inthralld)

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June 26, 2012

Here is a great gardening idea from designer Joey Roth – a self-watering planter. Made from naturally porous unglazed earthenware, the piece retains water in its clever central chamber. This water then seeps into the surrounding soil and hidrates the plant. The designer claims that the concept has been inspired by the Olla, an ancient irrigation tool that farmers still use to conserve water in arid climates. Although the item is not particularly compact, it is capacious and can fit up to three herbs or six succulents. An excellent contender for an indoor/outdoor garden in a pot.

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June 25, 2012

As If From Nowhere is the name of this innovative collection by Orla Reynolds. She offered her witty answer to a design problem of having a set of dining furniture in a small space. Her solution is to incorporate the pieces into a bookcase. The item houses four chairs and two tables that when placed together become a dining table. “It is intended for small living spaces or for those who wish to cater to the unexpected guest,” – says the designer. The bookcase is modular and can be assembled into various configurations. Watch the video below to see the collection unfold.

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June 22, 2012

– 32 innovations that will change life as we know it.

– A magic wand remote – I know just how silly it is, but I want it anyway.

– If you are nostalgic about old technology, you’ll love this – Museum of Endangered Sounds.

– Probably the coolest installation I’ve seen in a while – Tube, a giant tunnel of magnetic tape from VHS Cassettes.

Welcome to Life – probably a realistic prediction of a digital afterlife story.

Analog ice-cream making – minimalist and stunning.

– Gorgeous film about the high-speed camera technology – the beauty of the unseen.

iPhone case made out of recycled skateboards? Yes, please!

– FlatPackables came up with a new item – PITA, a clever slide-in frame.

– And finally, an astounding video that puts all things in perspective – The Known Universe.

Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

This clothes rack from Danish designer Jakob Jørgensen made me gasp. That’s how clever, simple, elegant and useful it is… The piece is based on a straightforward principle of wedge assembly, that can attach a horizontal element to a vertical load-bearing element. In its collapsed state, the piece is reduced to a number of wooden sticks that can be stored with ease. In seconds these sticks can be put together and form various configurations (depending on your clothe-hanging needs and space requirements). Perfect for small apartments, dinner parties or temporary clothes storage.

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June 21, 2012

The Transformer Table by Quentin Kelley is an ultimate small space hit. In its folded state the piece is only 12″ wide and can be used as a console or sofa table. But when the dinner party is in formation, it unravels into a 36″ wide, spacious dining table. The piece is quite a looker too – made from solid wood and elegantly shaped, it requires no compromises between beauty and function. It quite simply offers both. Wishlisted for a future dream shoebox…

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June 20, 2012

This small  (approximately 409 square feet) apartment in Sidney, Australia, initially had an open loft-like floor plan. Which posed an obvious problem for the owners, a family of three, – privacy was desperately needed. The solution, suggested by Anthony Gill Architects, was ingenius. They’ve built a partition from book shelves and closed storage, and divided the place in four sections – living room, child’s bedroom, dining room and kitchen. To accomodate parents’ bed, the clever sliding compartment was invented. Thus the bed is hiding underneath the child’s room when not in use and rolled out when needed. Designers elaborate: “The aim was to create a space that would suit a couple with a young child. The existing joinery (not original) was demolished leaving only the masonry walls to the bathroom which remains untouched. A new joinery element was inserted to re-configure the space, addressing the issues of privacy, storage and a lack of living space inherent in an apartment of this size.”

Photography by Peter Bennetts

(via design-milk)

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