(image from Sandra Espinet)

(image from lobster and swan)

(image from Saipua)

(image from oh my gosh blog)

(image from Saipua)

(image from newspaper taxi)

(image from newspaper taxi)

my colors chosen based on the inspiring images above: (all from Benjamin Moore): 

There's a fungus among us..

Everybody hates styrofoam peanuts...right?  They're messy and accumulate in our landfills without any hope

of degrading and dissapearing over time.  

Now, the company Ecovative has come up with a packaging material that uses the inedible by-products from grains, and adds a fungus that feeds upon it (without any water). This fungus creates a dense fiber after 5-7 days that is then dried using high temperatures and Voila! you have a strong packing material that will biodegrade over time.

Ecovative is now working with Ford-- who is coming out with a car that will replace it standard bumpers, side doors and dashboards with a similar fungus based biodegradable foam that will  replace all of their petroleum base plastics. 

Now, this maybe a little in left field as far as your next furniture purchase --but this modern wooden bench by Shinwei Rhoda Yen  has it's own built in non-toxic, biodegradable mechanism.

How you might ask? It's actually has mushrooms growing on it..

(images from Tree Hugger)

Hmm.. Maybe as an outdoor garden bench.

On another note, I don't know how comfortable this chair is, but I really love this idea.

(image from Grass Roots Modern)

And lastly, this lamp is created from the empty cartons found in Toffifay candy.

Looks cool doesn't it? I wonder if it still smells like chocolate when you turn it on...

(Toffifee Lamp from We Upcycle)

Tree House and Dovecoat Studio

This is a ten story tree house in Tennessee  built by Horace Burgess, a landscape architect. It is currently the world's tallest tree house to date. Constructed over 14 years, the tree house is built around an 80 foot tall white oak tree with a diameter of 12 feet, with 6 other trees that act as pillars supporting the structure.   The house itself is built with only salvaged materials. (source: inhabit)




This is the Dovecoat Studio by Haworth Tompkins. The Dovecote is part of Tompkin’s phased extension of the campus for Aldeburgh Music and inhabits the ruins of a dovecote (a structure intended to house birds or doves) overlooking the marshes and greenery on the site.











The single volume of the studio will be used by artists in residence, there is a second level for a possible sleeping area, and a small kitchen on the first floor.  This can also be used for musicians to use for rehearsal or performance space as well as for meetings or as a temporary exhibition space.

Schools of Fish- and how architecture shaped music

Check out this beautiful irridescent glass installation meant to mimic the movement of a shoal of fish.
The installation is in the Corus building located at Toronto’s Waterfront, Queens Quay East.


TROIKA_SHOAL from Troika on Vimeo.

This video takes music to new levels - literally as a stepped xylophone built in the middle of a forest.



And last, but certainly not least, David Byrne from Talking Heads talks about how Architecture has shaped music...






And just because it's an old favorite:

Micro Homes

Last Friday at work a designer from Guelph dropped in and introduced himself as a designer of Microhomes: really small but efficient homes that are being used around the world for low cost housing. This got me interested, so I looked around and found Tumbleweed Homes that has a similar type of micro homes that are all no larger than 837 sf.

Here's an example:

The Popomo at 127 sf. is clad with hot-rolled corrosion proof steel:

The interior is quite minimal:

The Floor plan:

The Tarleton Home is clad with corrugated aluminum siding, to build it yourself the cost for this house is

$21,250, or to have it built for you is $49,995:

The kitchen:

The dining area: 

The Sebasterosa is one of the larger homes at 750 sf.:

The Loring is 261 sf with a loft bedroom.:

The Pornography industry expands...

I was recently looking for images of stairs for work and found a site called, Stair Porn, and to see so many images of stairs redefining what staircases were meant to look like or do was pretty gratifying to see. Then I thought who else in the world of architecture and design has gotten into the pornography industry?? Then I happened to find bookshelf porn as well as furniture porn, (which was hilarious and i will not link to... you go find it yourself), but anyway...

Please take a look at the following images and enjoy a few moments sheer undulterated, viewing pleasure...:)

(images from Stair Porn)

                        

(images above from Bookshelf Porn)

On a side note, Musashino Art University Library made completely from Bookshelves...

and lastly, because it just looked too funny, what I can only think to call: The Weeping Bookshelf:

 

(image from Bookshelf Porn)