– Magic Carpet – a mesmerizing American Beauty-esque video.
– Typographic history to the “@” symbol – fascinating.
– Got a free afternoon?.. The 20 most watched TED talks.
– Beautiful light show – flying synchronized quadrocopters.
– Cool photographs of shaking dogs.
– Lovely DIY project – book planters.
– Freelancers, check this out – an app that tells how much to charge for services.
– Made me chuckle – a bunny handbook of 1968.
– An eye candy, The Sartorialist Dinner.
– MoMA audio tours, narrated by kids.
Have a nice weekend, guys!
This is just delightful. The Lovebird tables by Japanese designer Yuki Matsumoto can be leant against each other to create one. Ideal for small apartments, this arrangement gives you a dining table when you need it and two small desks (or consoles) when you don’t. The most innovative feature in this design is the link between the parts. It is achieved via drawers that come out and turn 90 degrees to form a bridge between two halves. How neat is that? I also love the clean and minimal look of the pieces. The drawers come in a veriety of subtle colors that can be easily mixed and alternated.
(via dezeen)
Leaf House is an ingenius little dwelling, built by small housing enthusiast Laird Herbert from Whitehorse, Canada. His inspiration came from buildings of Hornby Island, on the west coast of British Columbia.
“One of the most magical of these buildings is the Leaf House, – Laird says, – It is a whimsical and airy cabin, seemingly balanced precariously on one driftwood beam. In my mind, the leaf house epitomizes the creativity of the owner-built home. It is what happens when we look at building beyond the conventional norms – beyond stick framing and vinyl siding; beyond the real estate market; beyond housing simply as a means to make a buck. I only just got to see the leaf house (the location is not well known) a couple of years ago and it inspired me to start building and designing tiny homes.”
The current model features a living area with sofa bed, raised sleeping quarters, fully functional kitchen, bathroom with a compact bathtub and an open dining area. There are also self-sustaining elements, such as a composting toilet, propane tankless hot water system, propane GE range half fridge, Ecoheat electric baseboards, LED and halogen lighting and a 35-gallon (132-liter) water storage unit. After selling his first two homes were successfully, Laird is planning new versions.
Who can resist a clever compact indoor garden? Definitely, not me. Auxano hydroponic system by Cardiff based designer Philip Houiellebecq incorporates all essentials of a full-cycle setup in one sleek low-maintenance package. The Auxano garden is window mounted, so that every bit of sunlight is used for growing herbs and veggies.
In the designer’s words: “Auxano was designed to enable the ever increasing amount of city dwellers to grow their own produce effectively and efficiently within the space constraints of city living. Auxano provides very economical vegetable and herb growth rates through maximising exposure to the commonly ignored natural resource in many city flats; sunlight. Its innovative oxygenating pump system further enhances its green credentials in that no electricity is needed for the product to operate.”
Sounds promising. Follow Auxano on Facebook for latest developments and purchasing information.
(via core77)
If you think rocking chairs are a space-consuming luxury in a limited urban setting, you’re in for a sweet surprise. The Cleat chair by Vancouver based designer Tom Chung is a clever piece that folds flat for storage and moving purposes. Here is how the designer describes it:
“‘Cleat‘ is a knockdown rocking chair inspired by the harbours surrounding both Vancouver, Canada and Stockholm, Sweden. The first prototype was designed and built while studying abroad in Stockholm with the intention to bring it home to Vancouver in my carry on luggage. The chair is constructed from massive birch and is held together with zero stretch climbing rope.”
A prototype at this point, the chair is a beautifully minimal, well-thought-out object. I really hope it sees the light of production.
Lovely readers, pardon the silence this week. The entire editorial staff of Shoebox Dwelling (me) is rigorously packing due to a long-awaited move to Manhattan (read – even shoeboxier dwelling). Wish me luck, and I’ll see you soon!
– An amazing house with stairs for dogs in Vietnam.
– Gotta love the French… what a delightful space cooking animation!
– Intricate salt installations by Motoi Yamamoto.
– Possibly the best thing I’ve read today – Interview with Federico Fellini by Robert Ebert.
– Popular science books that changed the world.
– Some amusing Google deliberate “bugs” to help us procrastinate.
– You don’t think typography is important? Check out this vid – If Movies Had Crappy Fonts (HT @zomgmouse).
– Adorable OCD sea otter stucks cups.
– Great vintage ad – Points of View.
– And finally – Creative Mornings Kickstarter project. Many awesome things are still up for pledging.
Have a spectacular weekend, everybody!
Netherlands based designer Ruben der Kinderen is the creative force behind this beautiful collection. Inspired by bushcraft (survival) techniques, these objects are assembled without screws or glue, but purely by using the forces of nature.
“I’m fascinated by survival and the things you can use in nature to make your stay comfortable,” – says Ruben. – “I went for 2 weeks to Sweden (into the wild-style) with a tent some food and my knife. By using different bushcraft techniques, to make my stay comfortable, i came to the conclusion that nothing in our own home interior has to by screwed or glued. Just by designing and making clever solutions everything can be of wood and rope.”
The system is modular. The tops of the tables are interchangeable, which provides for great flexibility. The simple and clever tripod construction is at the core of this project. At the bottom of the tabletop there is a chamber where the legs fit in. If there is a force on the tabletop the legs will spread, but as far as the walls of the chamber. Thus, the piece stays bendable and stable at the same time. A bright and elegant idea…
We’ve seen lighting fixtures imitating natural light before. But this one is a new and rather refined take on the idea. Daylight lamps by Philippe Malouin come in various shapes and colors and look just like closed shutters with the sunlight shining behind them. This beautiful concept has recently been introduced by the designer at the Design Miami exhibition in Basel. Driven by the lack of natural light in London, Malouin created an item capable to improve any dingy space by adding faux windows wherever they’re needed. A clever idea that urbanists everywhere can appreciate.
London- and Verona-based designers Daniel Debiasi and Federico Sandri of Something Design created Club, a clever hybrid of a mirror and a coat hanger. The piece was made for German manufacturer Schönbuch. Club is a freestanding item, so it can be used anywhere in the house where you need to have a reflection and a holding place for a few pieces of clothing. Minimalist and multifuntional, it wins many space-saving points. Club comes in solid oak and walnut.
(via design-milk)
