Design Green

September 14, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

Last week, Architecture for Humanity announced the winners of their 2009 Open Architecture Challenge, which asked designers to envison the classroom of the future- a greener, more beautiful, more engaging learning environment for children worldwide. The winning entry comes from Idaho- and Colorado-based firm section eight design, whose scheme for the Teton Valley Community School is as innovative as it is friendly and feasible. The design for the school, based in Victor, Idaho, takes into consideration clim...Read More

September 10, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Photo by Michael Stravato

Amidst all the glitz and high-falutin' glory of the usual sleek green prefab designs, here's a man whose application of reclaimed materials is personal, smart, and even sentimental. Dan Phillips, a builder whose quirky homes are made from entirely reclaimed materials (including everything from found doors and hardware to old picture frames like in the roof above), has been erecting arguably the most sustainable homes for decades.

His most recent initiative, The Phoenix Commotion, is taking such building strategies to a low-income market. This low-income construction will prove that every home can and should be str...Read More

September 8, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (1)

While the cultural appropriateness of this concept might be debatable, the science isn't. It's a known fact that the high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphate found in urine can come in very handy in the production of (natural and organic) fertilizers. So why, then, do we dilute and flush it so quickly? Designer Joa Herrenknecht's Pee Tree concept does 2 things: it provides a means to catch and use undiluted urine for greener purposes, and also makes public urination less of a taboo and more of a sustainable act (or at least that's the goal!). While we may not see Pee Trees lining our sidewalks anytime soon, the idea is surely provocative.

September 7, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

Last year, I attended the Better World By Design conference in Providence, organized and hosted by students from Brown and RISD. Last year's speakers ranged from Architecture for Humanity's Cameron Sinclair to Paul Polak, Jocelyn Wyatt of IDEO, and other high-caliber design thinkers. The premise of the conference is clear: let's work as designers to make the world better, rather then to pollute it with the unnecessary. This year's conference, which runs from October 2-4, has a new roster of keynote speakers including Kigge Hvid of INDEX, Nathan Shedroff from CCA's Design MBA program, and Michael Braungart of McDonough/Braungart Design Chemist...Read More

September 3, 2009 | Link This | Email this | Comments (0)

The Danish group INDEX, which supports design to improve life, recently hosted an award ceremony in Copenhagen to announce the winners of their 2009 competition. Winners from 6 categories (body, home, work, play, community, and people's choice) ranged from a clean-burning locally made stove for the developing world to an infrastructure for electric vehicles. INDEX is an amazing company, which has brought awareness and community to design that matters. View details on all the winners here, or watch the entire award ceremony video online!