Almost all furniture once possessed a life elsewhere before it became an object in your home. It might have been a tree, or a metal, or a fluff of cotton, or any other of the multitude of resources harnessed from nature and then tossed in the cycle of urban living. Artist Hongtao Zhou, in his [...]

Our good friends at Dwell Magazine recently conducted an excellent interview with director Gary Hustwit (of Helvetica fame) about his upcoming film Objectified. Whether you’re an industrial designer, a design junkie, or just eagerly anticipating the coming film (we are!), their extended conversation offers an insightful look at the nature of good design, the objects [...]

Eric Mathew and Andrew Ooi’s origami light fixtures are made of printed Japanese paper. The print is of wood grain and though the lamps are made of paper they are surprisingly robust, as wood would be. My guide at CUTMR, show curator Jeremy Vandermeij, had this to say about Andrew and Eric; “[they] share a common interest in the elegant versatility of paper as a design material. Their work utilizes paper as a valuable commodity, in contrast to its popular public conception as a ubiquitous disposable resource. Drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese uses of paper in the production of items of everyday use, their work has evolved to include lighting, furniture, and ornament.”

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Ugh, for those of us that are single, even if fabulously so. But who says that we don’t also deserve an extra dose of lovin’? Which is why this week, we want to show our appreciation for your faithful readership here at Inhabitat by sharing the cute and quirky design ideas [...]

MAC meets Hello Kitty for a new collection of cosmetics. Wow! I want all of them!

Green renovations like this one in London are really exciting, because they show how much potential there is for taking something you already having and making it so much better, through the application of smart design. Crawford Partnership, a London based architecture firm, was responsible for this remodel and extension. They replaced a dilapidated lean-to [...]

A mass of pressed wool strips makes up Yvonne Ip’s Knot seat. A giant overhand knot illustrates how form follows function when the structure becomes the object. The result is a hybrid seat and floorcovering. Deanne Lehtinen’s Solar Bench is made of acrylic off-cuts, solar-powered light and reclaimed wood to exist as a quietly elegant bench by day and a glowing light sculpture by night when a skeletal from is revealed, emerging from its dark wood surround. The Loyal Loot Collective presented the Make A Mend furniture patches that revive old, damaged furniture. This repair hardware takes on the role of repair jewellery cover unsightly corners and edges in a useful and ornamental way.

+ madedesign.ca

Green Gadget fans have been waiting for the holy green grail of gadgets for awhile now: the solar-powered mobile phone. And now it seems that Samsung has finally delivered on this promise with their brand new Blue Earth phone. Blue Earth is a gorgeous green touch phone that has a full solar panel [...]

Elegant Corruptions is the second edition of MADE Design’s curated Radiant Dark exhibition. Julie Nicholson and Shaun Moore presented work from 33 Canadian design studios in a setting that allowed the works’ creativity to shine. The theme was one of juxtaposition. The designs were simple and effective, but with a twist that played up the notion of decay, flaws or breakdown. The result was elegance via an unexpected journey. Stay tuned as we focus on the highlights of a tightly curated and very stimulating exhibition.

+ madedesign.ca

+ Staffan Holm and Dan Sunaga are the designers of the Newton coffee table, which uses two rings of pressure-molded wood as a base. The edges of the rings are forced towards the centre, creating curves that became the table’s signature.

+ Joy de Vivre has come up with a new concept for modular latticework suitable for urban dwelling. Cellule is made from UV stabilized polypropylene and can be used indoors and out. A system of snap legs and pegs allow the lattice wall to expand or be moved. The modules can be attached to most surfaces with ease and there is a tidy cap to hide all hardware. The curved surfaces allow climbing plants to weave in and out quite nicely.

+ The IScreen from Li-Rong Liao is a modular screen composed of laser cut units of plywood and Masonite. This pattern is made up of the letters in LISA, but eventually patterns will be customized from any characters.