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Category Archives: eco awards
The Ajiro bamboo vehicle is home grown in more ways than one
How cool is the Ajiro – a bamboo tricycle created by Monash University industrial design student, Alexander Vittouris? On looks alone it is impressive, but upon delving a bit further its whole design approach may just revolutionise the way in which products are made in the future.
Rather than using energy intensive processes to bend sustainable bamboo into shape post harvest, Alexander’s unique approach involves manipulating the bamboo stalks during the plant’s growth process. Tension is applied to the bamboo stalks as they grow over a reusable skeletal sub structure, that forms the structural basis of the vehicle. The natural energy from the plant does all the rest!
The Ajiro is functional too – Part bike, part vehicle, it provides a roof over your head to protect you from the elements, there’s a storage section in the under carriage and your legs provide the pedal power.
Whether the Ajiro is accepted as a viable mode of transport is not important. What makes the Ajiro a winner in our book is this new approach to product design, taking the full cradle to grave product lifecycle thinking to a whole new level – Can’t wait to see farmlands full of bamboo manipulated over various structures!
The Ajiro is a current finalist for the James Dyson Award, as part of the Australian Design Awards. The winners will be announced this Friday.
(Images courtesy of Australian Design Awards)
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Posted in eco awards, eco design
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The Joeycan offers a simple solution to save and reuse water
We are all familiar with the jerrycan – the steel or plastic receptical used to store fuel or water. But have you heard of the Joeycan. It may soon become part of the common vernacular, particularly in hot drought ridden zones where water is a precious commodity. Part bucket, part watering can, the joeycan collects that first freezing cold spray of shower water, ready for re-use wherever you please.
Every morning, how many of you stand outside your shower for the first minute adjusting the temperature and waiting for the water to warm up? My hand is up-guilty as charged. The Joeycan is designed to be placed on the floor of your shower, to collect those precious clean drops. With a capacity of 6 litres which weighs 6kg when filled, all members of the family can put it to use after their shower – fill up the kitchen sink, water your pot plants, fill the kettle or even pour yourself a refreshing drink! Remember, this water has no soap or shampoo in it – just clean fresh water.
A lot of thought has gone into the design of the Joeycan. No valves or doors are incorporated into this piece. Instead the curved spout which is integral to the design allows the Joeycan to lay whilst collecting water and stand for storage and pouring. The catchment area with protruding ribs help to direct water follow, and the large handle helps displace the weight when full and allows two hands to carry if required.
The Joeycan has been nominated as a finalist in the Australian International Design Awards – It is a big winner in our book. What do you think?
(Images: Courtesy of the Australian International Design Awards, a division of Good Design Australia.)
Posted in eco awards, eco living
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GIVEAWAY: Wrapped By House Mouse
The award winning Melbourne based design studio House Mouse, have it all wrapped up when it comes to designing and printing eco friendly paper products. In addition to their design consultancy, directors and grahic designers Nancy Bugeja and Miguel Valenzuela design a funky range of eco friendly wrapping paper that will make you say WOW even before you open the present, and they are kindly giving away a set of their range to a State of Green reader!
Apart from the stand out design, the Wrapped by House Mouse range has a wonderful designer tactile feel – Printed with vegetable ink onto uncoated recycled paper it does not possess that glossy plastic look of many other wrapping papers. House Mouse go that extra step in earning environmental design points by using a printing company who use wind and hydro power, making this range attractive in SO many ways.
The Wrapped by House Mouse range is available in three colours: Orange typography “Wrapped in Type; Cyan Symbols and Magenta Symbols.
More than just a wrapping paper, we think Wrapped by House Mouse would look great as poster art (841mm x 594mm) on your wall, and if you’re brave enough a dress too! (see below)
++GIVEAWAY: SET OF WRAPPED BY HOUSE MOUSE WRAPPING PAPER++
To go in the running to win a set (3 pieces) of the Wrapped by House Mouse Range please pop on over to the Wrapped by House Mouse Facebook and “Like” their page, AND leave a comment on our blog below letting us know what you would do with the set!
Winner will be drawn at random on Monday 30 May 2011 after 7pm.
Posted in Competition/Giveaway, eco awards, eco brands, gifts, stationery
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Phillip Johnson Landscapes set global benchmark for vertical garden maintenance
Everything Phillip Johnson Landscapes touches seems to turns to gold – with an incredibly good dose of green. At the 2011 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show last month they won the Most Sustainable category, and bronze for their Show Garden. Just six weeks later, Phillip Johnson Landscapes have clinched the industry’s highest award for Commercial Project Maintenance at the Australian Landscape Excellence Awards.
The award was not provided for the maintenance of the usual horizontal garden variety. Instead it was awarded for the maintenance of the tallest green wall in the world, which just happens to be on the TRIO apartment building in Camperdown, Sydney. Designed in collaboration with famed vertical wall designer and botanist Patrick Blanc, Phillip Johnson Landscapes have been responsible for the incredibly challenging task of maintaining this garden wall since its inception in 2009.
From the outset, it is easy to see this is no normal clip, prune and fertilise job. Stretching across 12 stories, the 33 metre high and 5 metre wide living wall features 4,528 native Australian plants. Requiring an innovative approach to maintaining such a huge vertically challenging site, Phillip Johnson Landscapes have incorporated impressive features into its design. A bespoke dripper-irrigation system draws water from a 36,000 litre tank that collects the building’s storm water run off. Fertiliser can be tested and fed through an automated process, and the irrigation system can be remotely accessed.
Phillip Johnson says “TRIO was our most challenging project to date and we are thrilled to be recognised as leading the way in developing systems that increase the sustainability of green walls“.
Setting global benchmarks with the TRIO vertical garden maintenance system, it will be fantastic to see more of these walls adorning concrete structures around town!
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Posted in eco awards, eco design
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Stuart Williams sustainably focused designs draw on the wonderment of nature
What is in the air and water in Tasmania? Incredible talent just keep coming forth, with our latest being environmentally conscious designer Stuart Williams. Since completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (major in furniture design) at UTAS in 2004, he has exhibited his beautiful eco sensitive furniture pieces at leading design events from Tasmania to Milan, has been shortlisted and won a number of design awards and has been commissioned to design a number of public pieces. You may well have sat on one of his bar stools at the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, at one of his reading tables in the State Library of Tasmania or on an outdoor table at Baker D.Chirico Bakery in St Kilda.
Lake Burbury (2009): Hoop Pine Marine Plywood, celery top pine, biodegradable organic oil
(Personally, I am coveting the Lake Burbury sideboard).
Buttongrass Tallboy (2010): Celery Top Pine, Marine Ply, biodegradable organic oil
Stuart Williams affinity with nature and focus on sustainability is evident throughout his work. Sustainable timbers and biodegradable organic oil are used in his designs, and he says his “work is about finding a sense of place within the urban landscape… it is the wonderment of the natural world that inspires my creativity. For me it’s about reminding people to think about their environment, their place, the space they live in, and about finding peace”.
Standing Lamp (left) and Light 67 (right)
We have been hounding Stuart Williams for a little while now, and he recently caught some precious spare moments during an exhibition in Hobart to answer our questions (for which we are very gracious!):
1) What inspired you to use salvaged and sustainably sourced materials in your designs? Well firstly I find it hard to justify making anything in a world full of so much all ready… the only way I can is to try and be as responsible as I can, be conscious of the materials I use, how much I use and how much waste is created or minimised.
2) Your most recent designs are your Lake Burbury sideboard and tallboy – Can you share with us your design philosophy behind these pieces? These cabinets are a way of documenting my relationship with Tasmania and its wild places – of capturing the wildness that I love, and the wonderment that it conjures in me. This enormous fear of the unknown draws me into it repeatedly, building anticipation, and holding me in its isolation, they are about finding a sense of place within the urban landscape and reminding people to think about their environment, their place, the space they live in and about finding peace.
3) What has been your career highlight so far? I guess it would be exhibiting in Milan and realizing that Australian design is just a good as anywhere else! Then it would be my first solo exhibition in 2007 where I got some great positive feedback and enough confirmation to believe in myself.
4) What can we expect to see from Stuart Williams in 2011? A new house! I am currently building a new house in South Hobart and should be completed by the end of May 2011. I also have a solo show at Handmark gallery in Hobart in November 2011.
5) Please share with our readers your easy eco living tip! Think before you buy!
You can check out Stuart Williams current exhibition at Designed Objects Tasmania online. And if you are reading this Stuart, we think if your sustainably focused designs are anything to go by, your soon to be completed house must have some special features too …. we’re giving you lots of warning – photos hint hint …..
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Posted in eco awards, eco design, eco living, Interviews, sustainable furniture
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BVN Architecture claim the 2011 Sustainability Advancement Award for the Puckapunyal Military Area Memorial Chapel
Last week internationally renowned Australian architecture firm BVN Architecture came away big winners from the 2011 Australian Interior Design Awards. Winning the top spot in four categories, BVN Architecture won three - the Sustainability Advancement Award, Public Design Award AND Best Of State Commercial Award (Vic) for just one building: the Puckapunyal Military Area Memorial Chapel.
Formerly an outdated and plain 1970’s Chapel, BVN Architecture have turned a drab building into an inviting multi-denominational space that invites human interaction and reflection.
The sensitivity and thought that has gone into the design of the Chapel is evident throughout. In a covered courtyard, three large circular light shafts shine upon a Flanders field poem written on the wall. A glazed pavilion prayer room for non Christian faiths is wrapped in a stunning field of poppies cut into metal panels. Three separate courtyards have also been created, providing privacy for the different religious denominations that use the space.
The Interior Design Award jury commended BVN Architecture’s design for the way it “highlights how sustainability can be expressed without an explicit “eco” aesthetic” and further stated “Achieving an interior of this type in a military area set a new precedent for public design”.
The sensitivity of the design coupled with careful consideration of materials used, really does show how well thought out sustainable design can also be leading smart cutting edge design too. The Award is also made even sweeter with ANZAC Day being celebrated next Monday on 25 April – a perfect time for reflection.
FOOTNOTE: If you were wondering what the fourth award was that BVN won, it was it was for their own BVN Studio fitout in Sydney!
Photography by John Gollings and courtesy of 2011 Interior Design Awards.
Posted in eco awards, eco design, sustainable architecture
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Inspiring designs in The Great Hall of Flowers
In the last of our series on the 2011 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, we are sharing with you some of the stunning, and sometimes unusual floral designs being exhibited in the Great Hall of Flowers. In this post, we are keeping the narrative to a minimum – Instead just drink in the designs, and I hope you experience some of the visual sensory overload we did as we marvelled at the imaginative genius that went into each of the designs.
Love the brown bottles – Simple but effective. I would love to line these along my kitchen window.
Not only is the physical building absolutely stunning with arched ceilings and decorative walls, but it was hard to know which way to look as one amazing artistic display followed another.
That concludes our coverage of the 2011 Melbourne International Garden and Flower Show – We have provided you with just a small peek, as there were so many wonderful displays and installations – If you like what you have seen over the past week on State of Green, do try and make it next year – we don’t think you will be disappointed.
Posted in eco awards, eco design, Eco Events, eco outdoor
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RMIT Fashion Design students flaunt their creations at the 2011 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show
Continuing with our theme this week of sharing with you stunning designs coming out of last weeks 2011 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, were the jaw dropping creations designed by RMIT Fashion and Design Students. Each year, leading design students from RMIT are invited to showcase their fashion designs in The Great Hall of Flowers based around a central theme – this year’s theme being “Floriferous”.
The intricate details in each of the designs can only really be appreciated in person. Apples and eggplants, dried beans, garlic cloves, moss and flowers were all used to dramatic effect to form elegant flowing gowns, headdress and accessories.
All designs submitted by the RMIT fashion design students were commendable and we think fitting for any future Tim Burton-esque movie costume department!
We can’t wait to see these budding fashion designers graduate – looks like we have both elegant and a little bit wacky designs to look forward to on future high fashion catwalks!
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Posted in eco awards, eco design, Eco Events, sustainable fashion
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