RE-USE

Currently I am in South Africa for the Christmas Holidays and managed to get you an update on whats 'GREEN' over here. I noticed that it's only really starting the trend now, however there were a few good thing I saw.

For example I had a takeaway from 'Primi Piatti' an italian restaurant and the food came in boxes made of 100% recycled paper. The packaging is designed to be re-used as potting trays and pots to 'plant a herb'. They therefore give you a step by step guide on the back of each box.

"We are living on this Planet as if we has another one to go to."

Terri Swearingen

"There are two possible routes to affluence. Either produce much or desire little."

Interconnected Design Thinking

Urban Eco Chic Interiors

The interiors of our homes and work places play an important role in our lives and how we live! Interiors can also adopt an environmental way of living. For as much as the shell of a building can help reduce the use of resources through insulation and renewable technologies, interiors can affect direct behavioral change.

The question is - do we just stop at sustainable architecture and feel pleased with ourselves that we are making a difference? or do we not stop there and incorporate it in the interior design of our homes?

Beautiful eco interiors can reflect your environmental aspirations, make the most of sustainable resources, and encourage the use of recycled materials and recycling.

OLIVER HEATH has just written a book called 'Urban Eco Chic' which promotes the balance of technology, nature and vintage to create spaces which are functional, beautiful and as good to live in as they are for the environment.

An example of beautiful sustainable interiors is the furniture designed by Frank Gehry using cardboard. Making being GREEN at HOME easy!

Sustainable in SoHo

Canvas home boutique opens in New York. A store selling interior goods which are ethically sourced and ecologically responsible. I think we need one in London! Just walk up the Kings road and you see hundreds of interior design shops, but with the increasing demand for fair trade and sustainable products I think a shop like this one is exactly what is needed!

Are you fed up of buying thinks for your home, only having to throw them away shortly after? This 1,800 square-foot shop offers long life designs in the brands signature tableware, textiles and furniture in rich blues, soft pastels and natural tones.

Check it out at http://shop.canvashomestore.com/

TreeLife

Green Design Tree houses have become huge eco-statements in the World of design. They allow people to be 'in' nature and peace above the stressful street level below.

The Cool Hunter has invited local and international designers, architects, and artist to design a modern treehouse solely created from sustainable and recyclable materials.

Check out Sweden's TreeHotel where you can stay overnight in a TreeHouse among the forests and nature of northern Sweden. http://www.treehotel.se/en/start

Each TreeHouse/room is uniquely designed by a different designer or architect uses ecological values. They emphasize the value of the forest, rather than cutting down the trees for industrial use.

Below: The Cabin

Below: The Mirrorcube

Below: The Bird's Nest

Below: The Blue Cone

Below: The UFO

Below: A room with a View

Urban Cactus

Urban Cactus is a project in the Vuurplaat section of Rotterdam by UCX Architects Ben Huygen and Jasper Jaegers.

Architects are offering Suburban like dreams in Urban form. Eco-friendly designs that offer external green spaces are being built and our cities may never be the same!

A high rise apartment block with nineteen stories set in a rotating pattern so that all 98 residential units get a fair share of the sunlight.

Sustainable Design

Sustainable design can be split into two category's :

1. Microcosm - small objects for everyday use.
2. Macrocosm - buildings, cities, and the Earth's physical surface.

My main focus at university is sustainable architecture. This is the environmentally conscious design techniques used in architecture. SIMPLY it is a way of ensuring that our actions and decisions today do not hold back the opportunities of future generations.

Example:

NANO HOUSE - the World's smallest sustainable house.

The Nano Living System is a Swiss made "Green" pre-engineered concept for residential use. This innovative and sustainable house is based on the combination of using pre-engineered SIP's (made from cement fiberboard, recycled light gauge and polyurethane foam) creation of flexible spaces and the use of renewable energy systems.

It's used by a family of four in an area of just32 meters squared. This is made possible by the "Suspended Technology", which doubles the living area by day into two separate bedrooms by night.

Architectural Furniture

Doing research for my project Architectural Furniture I came across a Green Garden Pod made by two French designers Dainiel Pouzet and Fred Fret. They made a suspended chair called a NESTREST, designed around the idea of a bird's nest. This garden chair/pod is made out of woven Dedon fiber and offers an outdoor relaxing experience.

I have designed a hanging Pod chair based around the idea of a raindrop. My site is the porch with three arches in the chelsea parade ground (below)

I then designed a pod chair that would hang from the highest point of the arches and when someone sits in it, it extends like a raindrop.

Continuing with the theme Re-Use, Re-Cycle, Re-Build, I designed the base of the pod to be a woven wicker basket, creating a strong structure for the sitting person. The extendable sides will be made from left over Speedo swimsuits from the last shelter project.

I will also add in see-through 'windows' where the user can survey the parade ground, while still feeling the safety and privacy of the enclosed pod.

Below is my proposed pod.

New Technologies

Living Modular Walls:

'Indoor air pollution causes 14 times more deaths than outdoor air pollution', reports the World's Health Organisation. American-based Environmental Protection Agency reports 'it is also one of five top environmental threats to human health'.

Hong Kong designer Francois Hurtaud has created the P.01 modular vegetal wall to help provide a cleaner living space. The modular P.01 wall uses LED's for photosynthesis and is an attractive addition to any eco-friendly home.

“The idea is to design a modular green wall system where plants, water and light create an “interior lung” to enhance air quality and create a luminous positive effect on workers and users,” explains Hurtaud.