Eco-Build 2012

So Eco-Build is back!

Check out the blog for it: http://valleyinthecloud.tumblr.com/

As you can see these are the photo's of the model which we are currently making for Ecobuild 2011. All is going well and the main willow structure is up, it's just the weaving of the speedo's which is taking time.

Well, 2 more days to go till we take it to the excel centre, not long now! Here's a few photo's of the pavilion so far.

Our Speedo changing room in place at Somerset House used by From Somewhere. Hopefully it will also be used in their shop on Portobello Road. So after it's been on it's travels to Milan Fashion Week you can see it there!

LFW

We just finished our changing room partition for London Fashion Week. It is being picked up tomorrow by From Somewhere to be used by the models in their show.

Made out of all re-cycled materials : Speedo swimsuits and off cut's of wood.

It folds up into a 70x90 rectangle, perfect to be transported around or fitted in a suitcase.

EcoBuild . . .

The willow has arrived from 'Waterwillows', an organic willow supplier from Buckinghamshire. They gave us all a workshop today to get us started on the build.

Better get building, 2 weeks to go!

The Green Room

Why not visit asos's 'green room', dedicated to collections with a story to tell. New and pioneering brands with a social and environmental ethos. This amazing online shopping website just got better. Selling items such a clothing, shoes as well as beauty products.

GET CLICKING! IT'S EASY!

Green Hotel

When you next in London why not stay at 'One Aldwych' in London's Covent Garden, which won Green hotel of the year in 2008. It is also the first hotel in the UK to be awarded the Luxury Eco Certification Standard (LECS) in association with The Leading Hotels of The World.

Audited by the government-funded Carbon Trust, it saves energy with timer switches on lights, relies on a plumbing system for it's loo's that use 80% less water than normal and has swapped chlorine for PoolSan, a mineral alternative that cleans the indoor pool.

According to them the most important area for hoteliers to address is waste, whether it's electricity, water, food or material waste.

According to Campbell Grey "You want beautiful towels, yes, but you don't need 20 of them". Hotel's of the future, he believes, will need to grasp this new idea of intelligent design.

Getting the mixture of 5 star luxury and green credentials can't be easy. You have to do it without the guests feeling that corners have been cut!

The hotel has a 'Green Team' consisting of staff from chambermaids through to senior management.

5 star luxury city hotels may never be seen as truly green compared to smaller competitors, but that doesn't mean they can't reduce their impact on the planet.

Up-cycling

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD launches Ethical Fashion Africa Project, they are to produce three different, limited edition designs of Vivienne Westwood shoppers. Handmade in Nairobi, all bags are created using recycled roadside advertisement banners and safari tents by marginalised communities of women such as single mothers and widows, HIV/AIDS victims and those living in extreme poverty.

Relatively affordable at £150 each, in stores next month and online now!

We don't mind spending the money when we know that 100% of the funds raised will support the Ethical Fashion Africa project.

Eco-Chic Design

Emma Watson and Alberta Ferretti to launch eco-chic "organic clothing" design. Details like the name of the line is still being kept a secret but we can expect a 'classic, 60's, Jane Birkin' vibe. Emma put it out there that she will work with anyone for free if they are prepared to make their clothing fair trade organic.

She has already worked with People Tree on a fair trade clothing line. So we expect to see a lot more from her!

Organic Luxury

Organic can still be a Luxury, Davina Peace proves this with her luxury organic beauty products, that are truly effective. She combined her love for nature and concern for social causes with her desire for pampering without compromising ethical integrity.

Her body care products have been given the accolade of Soil Association approval and she uses fairly traded ingredients. The following beliefs underly each decision they make:

1. Responsibility- even the packaging is recycled, biodegradable or reusable.
2. Integrity- every ingredient has to pass the 3 criteria: Ecological impact, Provenance and performance.
3. Transparency
4. Quality- rich, indulgence textures, soft, feminine fragrances and recyclable packaging.

London 2012

For London's 2012, 'sustainability' is far more than being 'Green'. It's engrained into their thinking, form the way they plan, build and work, buy, to the way we play, socialise and travel; ultimately everything they do!

They committed to:

• using venues already existing in the UK where possible,
• only make permanent structures that can be used after the games,
• build temporary structures for everything else.

Towards a 'One Planet 2012' - helping us to live within the World's resources, rather than using three planets worth of resources as we currently do.

The sustainability plan focuses on 5 main themes:

1. Climate Change- minimising green house gas emissions.
2. Waste- minimising it at every stage of the project, ensuring no waste is sent to landfill during Games-time.
3. Biodiversity- minimising the impact on wildlife, their habitats around the venues,
4. Inclusion- promoting access for all and celebrating the diversity of London/UK, creating new employment, training and business opportunities.
5. Healthy living- inspiring people to take up sport and develop active, healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

Green Travel

Why not travel the city in style on this copper-plated bicycle!

It's light, durable, recyclable, corrosion-resistant and comes in a range of sparkling auburn hues, so it's no wonder copper is currently giving designers an inspirational glow.

TOM DIXON has collaborated with Brompton to develop a lustrous copper-plated bicycle (£1,359)

Ecosustainability

'VALCUCINE' is a eco-friendly kitchen designing company. It has worked 30 years for Ecosustainability by designing the best kitchen cabinets that are 100% recyclable, as dematerialised as possible, with zero omissions of formaldehyde, that guarantee a long technical and aesthetic life and that use wood that does not come from the destruction of primary forests.

An example of all this is the 'Invitrum' base units that are the utmost expression of eco-sustainable design.

For so long profit has been the main aim of industries and it is so nice to see a company that focuses on respect for the environment and for Man, which should have always been the main concern for all companies.

All factories producing consumer goods do have some impact on the environment because they use natural resources and energy, releasing carbon dioxide, and enhancing the greenhouse effect. There is only one type of industry in the World that produces without polluting: THE TREE.

"Man should not make marks in the sand that cannot be cancelled by the wind"

Speedo Furniture

I FINALLY finished making my speedo hanging chair pod. I only used offcuts of the speedo swimsuits and wire found in the rubbish tip. Keeping in line with my Re-use, Re-cycle, Re-build approach.

I used a double climbing clip to attach it to the roof and to the pod. Making them transferable to any location around Chelsea or even London.

See the photo's below of my finish 'Speedo-Pod'.

Sustainable Style

H&M are using greener materials in their clothes/goods as well as testing for new ones all the time. It's most popular green material at the moment is 'Organic Cotton' which it has been selling since 2004, it has become more and more popular as people have become more aware.

What you can do to minimise you impact on the environment? (see video clip below).

In addition to organic cotton H&M also sells clothes containing a number of other sustainable materials :

Organic Linen- grown without the use or hazardous chemicals.

Recycled Cotton - cotton made from textile remnants in production.

Recycled Polyester- made from PET-bottles or textile waste.

Recycled Polyamide- made from fishing nets or textile waste.

Recycled Wool- from worn-out woollen garments and remnants of fabric.

Tencel - silk-like renewable material.

Organic Cotton Denim- certified organic.

Sustainable Design

Qatar unveils new sustainable designs for Fifa 2022 World Cup Stadiums!

The country which has already started making preparations to host the games in 2022 and has just unveiled detailed plans for their brand new, state of the art stadiums. As well as upgrading two existing stadiums. It was conceptualised in Germany by AS&P, each of the stadiums will be built to exceed environment efficiency standards and be easily accessible by public transportation.

It provides covered seating to accommodate for over 30,000 fans within 3 hours. The new stadiums will each be assembled using modular components for easy disassembly and transport at the close of the game. The seats and pitch will be cooled using an innovative, environmentally friendly, carbon-neutral technology.

Solar panels will be used to harvest the sun's energy, in turn powering absorption chilling systems to keep everyone comfortable in the desert heat.

London Fashion Week

More from speedo . . .

For London Fashion Week in February 2011 we (platform 5 at Chelsea College of Art and Design) have been asked to design and make a changing room out of the speedo swimsuits. We are thinking of using the pop-up style tent design below used for the emergency shelter projects and expanding on it to create a full length pop-up dressing room.

Check out (above) some of the recycled speedo fashion designs by students at London College of Fashion, University College Falmouth and the University of Huddersfield.

EcoBuild 2011

This year for 'EcoBuild' 2011 we (platform 5 at Chelsea College of Art and Design) were told to design and build a pavilion using the left over speedo swimsuits we used to make the emergency shelters with.

The design which was chosen and will be built buy us, in the week running up to the 1st of march, is based on a weaving pattern. As you can see below, inside the pavilion we hope to make hammocks/chairs out of the speedo's too which will be strong enough to hold a humans body weight.

Come and see our pavilion at stand S231, at the ExCell centre in London. It's open from tuesday the 1st to thursday the 3rd of March 2011.