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Tag Archives: Sustainable design
Funky Cardboard Speakers bring music to our ears!
Despite the privacy earphones provide, sometimes you just want to enjoy playing music or listening to a podcast out loud. If this is the case, what do you use? Whether your device of choice is an iPod, Smartphone, MP3 player or a notebook computer, you will be able to create decent sound with one of GrupoVibra’s funky, recyclable and incredibly portable cardboard speakers.
The SPACK speaker
Cardboard speakers are not a new concept. Over the past few years we have seen various plain cardboard designs introduced to market. But these artistically printed speakers raise the bar somewhat. Packaged in sturdy cardboard, the first limited edition SPACK features striking designs by 3 Chilean and 1 Colombian artist. Strikingly simple to use, the SPACK requires you to insert just one 9 Volt battery, then plug it into your device. That’s it. There are no knobs, switches or buttons required, as everything can be controlled directly through your device!. Perfect for taking on picnics, out camping, strutting down the street with it on your shoulder, or simply as an artistic and functional addition to your workspace.
The SPK - mini speaker fits in your hand!
If you need to go smaller still, the soon to be released SPK mini speaker can fit in your hand! Charged by a USB device, you can plug it into your computer, and when it’s time to move on, toss it in your backpack, briefcase or handbag and use at your leisure!
Thanks GrupoVibra - your designs are music to our ears!
~~ Cardboard speaker design – GrupoVibra ~~
Posted in eco brands, eco design
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Mingus Designs will get you sorted!
Are you sick of losing things in the bottom of your bag? Phones, Pens, lipsticks, hair bands, business cards, Mp3 player, other bits and bobs ….. We’ve just come across Mingus Design’s new range which just might help you get sorted!
Forest series
Treehouse Flat Purse
Mingus Design is a small independent business run by Dear Songsuwan. Embracing sustainable design principles, she uses natural fibres – hemp, organic cotton, linen and up cycled leather – and makes every piece by hand using 100% green energy in her local studio based in Melbourne.
If you also like the personal touch and prefer putting pen to paper rather than tapping out an email, her new carbon neutral prints on 100% recycled card stock are pretty cute too……
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Lighting design uncorked
In the 1970’s – 80’s we used to see cork products everywhere – in wine bottles, coasters, hanging off hats, and even used as flooring. After a lull of sorts for two decades, we are now enjoying its’ resurgence in a range of new applications – including lighting design. In particular, we covet this very cool Float Light by the young, internationally acclaimed British designer Benjamin Hubert.
The Float Light
Hand turned, these Portuguese agglomerate cork lamps are made from waste product derived from wine stopper manufacture. Being made from a natural material, they are also biodegradable and are fire resistant too. We think these lights would look great suspended above a kitchen bench, or hung as a trio (three different sizes available) in a cozy reading corner. The Float lights are available internationally or if in Australia, you can purchase them from Great Dane Furniture.
TOP 3 Eco Design articles of 2011
It has been a top year here at State of Green. We have very much enjoyed sharing with you all some fantastic sustainable and eco design finds from Australia and its surrounds. As the year comes to a close, we thought we would share with you the TOP 3 “Most Read” articles this year – Read on to see what floated your boat in 2011!
No.1: Grown from the ground up - The Ajiro Velomobile
Local Industrial design student Alexander Vittouris wowed us all with his design of the Bamboo Velomobile. Grown over a skeletal structure, the natural energy of the fast growing bamboo plant forms its shape, and challenges the very basis of future product design. Read more about the Ajiro Velomobile here.
No. 2: Cardboard Furniture by KARTON
Flat pack cardboard furniture by KARTON clearly struck a chord! Offering an economical but ever so stylish solution to many of our furnishing needs, it has so many practical applications – student desks, guest bedroom beds, first share house – and so portable and biodegradable too! Read more about KARTON here.
No. 3: The Worlds greenest restaurant? - The Greenhouse Restaurant, Sydney
Joost Bakker has the greenest of thumbs, and the opening of the pop-up Greenhouse Restaurant in Sydney created quite a buzz about town. Drawing on the talents of various local talent, the restaurant attracted worldwide attention as it showcased how “green” design can be funky, edgy, functional and oh so very cool. Read more about GREENHOUSE here.
Wishing you all the most marvellous 2012 – If you have any suggestions for what you would like to see on State of Green throughout the year, please get in touch!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
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Not just a pretty face–the sustainable timber Grandeliers have a story to tell
How many pieces of furniture/furnishings in your home have a story behind their very being? Did your chair once belong to grandma, or did a dear friend lovingly craft a table for you? When you purchase furniture from a store, do you know what inspired the designer – was it pure commercialism or did a depth of thought and emotion inspire its’ design? Knowing the story behind a product you introduce into your home, attracts a special warmth and meaning to the piece, and today Tasmanian designer Loz Abberton does just that. Visually, her new range of sustainable timber Grandelier lights under the Who Did That label are spectacular. But it is the story Loz shares with us, regailing the inspiration behind their design, that draws out their true beauty.
The Genie 1 & 2
Essentially, Loz says this range draws on her rural background, environmental conscience and long conversations with her dad who stills lives on the land. The first of the new range is the Genie 1 Bump and Genie 2 Bump, which feature smooth organic curves and draws on modernist styling. Hung as a pair they add a highly styled touch to the room. But the story behind their design goes alot deeper;
“My dad is still on the land and a handy water diviner – which sounds like dark arts, but works for him. We talk alot about elements affecting fresh water and arable land (plus my shoe collection). Currently, top of our dance card is dry land salinity and its management in particular. About 2.5 million hectares of land is affected by salinity and there’s industrial-strength landcare needed. The website that gives a good heads-up is saltland genie. Adding some magic to reality, I created the genies -their sultry curves calling on those great water storage trees, the baobabs”.
The Hoop
The spherical curves of The Hoop is quite mesmerising and evokes a sense of calm. The beauty of this piece was recently recognised at Workshopped Sydney 2011 , where it was selected to be part of an exhibition showcasing new and emerging Australian design. The tale behind the Hoop’s design is as compelling as the Genie. Loz says,
“The Hoop was created with a tree’s growth rings in mind – the impact that external forces like drought, fire & lightning have on these annual markers and the cellular chaos that results…a tree producing more than one growth ring in a year. So the hoop records the resolute symmetry of growth and the bedlam nature can bring thru an interference pattern of superimposed ‘rings’.
Both the Hoop and Genie are available in locally sourced and accredited Tasmanian Oak and Blackwood. And now for our exciting news – At State of Green we have received this new range in our online store! Do you have the perfect spot to hang one?
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Happy Talk – Hepi Tok House: bringing cultures and ideas together
Now, we are quite remiss for not having shared with you the fabulous Happy Talk event in Sydney prior to now – however at the moment we are subscribing to the better late than never excuse!. For Sydney city workers, THIS WEEK you should take a moment away from your desk, breathe in the fresh air and take a leg stretching walk down to Hyde Park. There, you will find the fabulous Happy Talk House temporary installation which has been hosting public art projects, talks and workshops since 23 September 2011, and concludes THIS WEEKEND on 23 October 2011.
The Happy Talk project is all about resourcefulness, self sufficient design and skill sharing. Collaborating with our Pacific neighbours ,the space made from 367 timber pallets has become a hub for sharing ideas – traditional weaving techniques have been used to create bike baskets and reflective sashes from modern materials, the colourful exterior tarpaulin draws on the Cook Island Tivaivai (applique) techniques. There have even been workshops for office workers to learn how to turn office waste paper into works of art!
Inside the Happy Talk House, a ten metre long colourful Bilum (traditional bag) created by Papua New Guinean artist Florence Kamel and weavers from Goroka, makes a bright statement on the wall. Outside, local grasses are artfully placed in the garden weaving wall.
With only a few days left to enjoy the Happy Talk House, now is the time to plan your visit. Pop on down for a bit of relaxing “Bula” time. Get creative at the Lei making workshop during your lunchtime on Friday (and stun your colleagues on return to the office). Alternatively take your kids to the Poi Power making workshop on the weekend.
Happy Talk is an initiative of two seasoned Sydney based creatives, Liane Rossler and Heidi Dokulil. Together they provide a dearth of experience in the creative industries, and are planning further Happy Talk initiatives to bring people and cultures together to create new conversations on resourceful and self sufficient design – Can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
Event Schedule (just 5 days left!)
Sandringham Gardens
Address: Hyde Park North
Dates: 23 September – 23 October 2011, Wednesday – Sunday
Cost: Free
Photography: Rachel Kara.
Posted in eco design, Eco Events
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Yellow Diva launch attractive and ellen key free flatpack furniture
Have you ever opened a box of flat pack furniture and gone into a cold sweat when reading the vague instructions surrounded by allen keys, screws of varying length, and an instruction manual that requires a huge dose of lateral thinking? Melbourne based design studio, Yellow Diva, has just launched their new 2-3™ range of flat pack furniture, and refreshingly, no tools or glue are required!
In collaboration with emerging designer C K Goff, Yellow Diva have produced a range of sustainable birch plywood furniture that simply slots together, and looks great too! Not only do we love the simplicity of the design, but also the fun and colourful addition of two little cross stitches adds that extra cute punch! The icing on the cake is that each piece has been ingeniously cut from a single sheet of sustainable birch plywood, which significantly cuts down on any waste.
The 2-3™ range currently includes an Adult chair, and Junior Chair and Table set. Plans are afoot to include a bookcase to the range too. Whether you are a parent, design savvy student or first home buyer, we think this range will be enjoyed by a variety of lifestyles. Designer flatpack at its best.
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Brett Coelho makes light work of old street signs.
Are you after a statement piece for your home or office that will stop people in their tracks? Melbourne based artist Brett Coelho has managed to do just that, with his hand folded lights and bowls made from old street signs.
Speed Lights
As was their original purpose, Brett Coelho’s sign based creations are real eye catchers. The bright yellows and reds will add a vibrant dash of colour to any room. The letters and numbers which adorn the petal like shades, will also have your visitors peering just that little bit closer to identify their original form (Can you identify the light shades above? If not, check out the bowls below!).
Speed Bowls
The “Speed” range is the latest in a fascinating gallery of designs created by Brett over the past ten years made largely from found objects. Brett says his work “ is about celebrating the ordinary, finding beauty in the most unlikely of places“. And he has done just that. Fine work.
Images courtesy of Brett Coelho
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Bruce Springsteen provides inspiration for this year’s Fringe Furniture Festival 2011
If you were asked to design a piece of furniture using Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit Dancing in the Dark as inspiration, what springs to mind straight away? I personally can’t get a young Courtenay Cox dancing in the crowd and being pulled up on stage by the Boss out of my head. Thankfully our local artists and designers dug a lot deeper when presented with this challenge, and came up with an eclectic, inspiring and innovative furniture range that can currently be viewed at Melbourne’s premier independent arts event – the 27th Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Fringe Furniture Exhibition space
Creative Producer of Melbourne Fringe Festival, Neal Harvey explains “Dancing in the Dark” is a song “about frustration. About wanting something, but not knowing what that something is…. Bruce suggests you dance in the dark. It’s a small solution to a big problem – Each piece is a tiny dance step that leads us towards a smarter, greener, healthier, more sustainable and beautiful future”.
Lighting Design AND Best Fringe Furniture Design winner – Spring Collection III by Sally Hill
Sally Mill made her mark at Fringe Furniture scooping two awards for her artistic lighting made from bedsprings – Best Lighting AND Best Design Addressing the 2011 Fringe Furniture Theme Award.
Award for Sustainable and Waste-Wise Design – AIR by dale Hardiman & Andre Hnatojko
RMIT Furniture design students Dale Hardiman and Andre Hnatojko collaborated to design the AIR light made from inflated PVC and wire – winning the Award for Sustainable and Waste-Wise Design.
Emerging Designer Award – Tri by Elizabteh Bowtell
RMIT student Elizabeth Bowtell, may be one to keep an eye on, taking out the Emerging Designer Award for her angled “Tri” bench made from sustainable bamboo and stainless steel.
Many more cutting edge designs are on display at the Fringe Furniture exhibit, which continues to run to 8 October 2011.
Fringe Furniture
Dancing in the Dark: Small Solutions to Big Problems
Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
22 September – 8 October, Thursday – Sunday 11:00am – 5:00pm
Posted in eco awards, eco living, sustainable furniture
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The Australian Timber Design Awards 2011 presents an impressive lineup
Be still my heart! Have you had a look at the entrants in this year’s Australian Timber Design Awards? Now in their 12th year, this annual competition encourages builders, designers, architects and engineers to showcase their outstanding uses of timber in both residential and commercial applications. To say the gallery is impressive is an understatement – it is jaw dropping viewing.
There is something about timber in architectural applications that makes me go weak at the knees. It evokes a sense of warmth, calm, relaxation and tactile beauty all in one. Mix in some natural stonework and I’m in heaven.
The range of entries in this year’s Timber Awards covers a wide range of applications. Equestrian Centres, concert halls, and outhouses (above) are just some of the entrants, amongst some spectacular residential houses, libraries, bars, spa retreats, retail shops and more!
You can vote for your favourite design in the People’s Choice Award – With just under 100 different designs submitted, you are SURE to find one that resonates with your sense of style. Now before you click on over, get yourself a cuppa and sit in a comfortable chair, as you’re going to be there for a while …….
Photographs Courtesy of Australian Timber Design Awards 2011.
Posted in eco awards, eco living, sustainable architecture
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