Good design takes what was previously a drawback to a product and makes it a benefit. Take this fancy umbrella stand, for example. While drippy umbrellas fresh out of the rain are usually an annoying mess-maker, this stand turns the rain into a good thing. Because there’s grass underneath where the umbrellas go, rainwater keeps [...]

You’d like to take a step towards a “green” lifestyle by growing your own herbs and flowers. After all, indoor plants help clean your air, and any food you grow at home puts you one step closer to eating “local.” But sometimes it’s difficult to motivate, especially if you don’t think you have a green [...]

What started as an idea in 2002, has now been completed. The University of the Americas in the city of Concepcion, Chile. The idea behind this futuristic design was to bring a futuristic building to an urban area that is growing in logistics. The area of where the project began was once a quiet area [...]

The Eclosion pump-up sofa is an interesting take on the whole futon/sofa-bed concept. One side features a hidden air bladder that can be pumped up, turning it from a relatively small bed, to a sofa that’s suitable for a couple of people. It was designed by Olivier Gregoire and while it may seem similar to [...]

Are your objects of tactile reality not quite giving you enough depth, dimension and shading? Neither are mine and thankfully Swedish designers Front are exhibiting their “Shade” project at Spazio Rossana Orlandi during this years Milan furniture fair. Using standard silhouettes of common household items and shading them as if on paper, the designer states [...]

A light bulb that runs on solar power? Not quite… the Bulb Solar Lamp is more of a bulb-shaped nightlight that glows in the dark. Not people who would tolerate their idea being thwarted by the simple fact that anything shaped like a light bulb would have trouble standing up, the lamp’s designers encased the [...]

Going green to overt suicidal dreams is what’s for dinner at this new restaurant in Sweden called “New Restaurant.” Keeping your patrons alive and happy is good for business. In a country that has to deal with six months of winter darkness a year, design firm Architect Olssonlyckefors have created an oasis of happy thoughts by [...]

These Moonlight Orbs illuminated spheres make for a unique way to light your home, your pool or your property. Made in Germany, the polyethylene spheres (and half spheres) range in size from 13 to 30 inches in diameter and operate on standard electrical wiring or rechargeable batteries. The battery powered versions are sealed and self-contained [...]

Who’s the target customer for the Abyss Light? I’m guessing anyone obsessed with pearls, seeing as the circular strip of LEDs looks just like a strand of ‘em. And fans of sculpting might get a thrill out of the strip’s ability to curl up and hold its shape, letting you twist the light into any [...]

Yesterday I wrote about some concept Shuriken LED Lamps that were a dangerous but cool way to light your home. So in keeping with that trend, here’s a coat hook that looks like someone has simply stabbed a knife into the wall. They’re made of polyurethane and steel plates and are actually safe and easy [...]

Unlike most home fish tanks, this “refrigerator-aquarium” is designed to produce food that you can eat. Yum. The bottom of the Local River fish tank contains freshwater fish, and the top has pods for growing veggies. The plants help filter the water for the fish, while the fish fertilize the water with their, uh, dookie. [...]

It may not be something we often think about but scales aren’t exactly universally friendly - that is to say people with disabilities and handicaps. The Universal scale unfolds to all shapes and sizes to make weighing easier and less intrusive and helps patients retain a bit more dignity. A huge improvement over the current [...]

This astonishing kitchen fixture has a sculptural and artistic edge: the Kohler Karbon Articulating Kitchen Faucet. The angular, linear aspect of the Karbon is sure to be as appreciated for its futuristic good looks as for its fantastic functionality. Clever engineering means that the faucet can hold any pose – it’s great for filling [...]

When asked to design a building for a vacant lot in downtown Manhattan, the designers at Work AC went hog wild. They’re local foodies, you see, which means that they try to avoid buying produce that’s traveled from far-flung places like New Zealand. What better way to eat local than to bring the farm to [...]

It’s not quite implantable, but Insound Medical’s new Lyric hearing aid is about as close as you can get, with it designed to squeeze in deep in your ear canal and sit just a few millimeters from your ear drum. That, the company says, not only allows for the wearer to hear much more [...]

The dodgy looking Mr.@ will help you to keep cool at your desk. Simply plug the fan into your computer’s USB port, or load it with three AA batteries.
Features:

Powered by USB or 3 x AA batteries.
On/Off switch.
Quiet motor will not disturb you when working.
Soft & safe plastic blades won’t cause injury.
Flexible neck to adjust anyway [...]

There’s something appealing about seeing objects from your operating system’s desktop appearing here in the real world. Take advantage of that two-worlds-collide irony with the Icon Clock, a 3.5-inch wall clock made of plastic resin and available in the trendy colors you see here.
We’ll have to add this $55 art object to our clock collection, [...]

This chair, by Brazilian artists Fernando and Humberto Campana, is pretty much the opposite of the Outlaw Chair. It’s cute as can be and looks like one of those DIY projects that you probably wouldn’t want to bother making yourself. After all, it has the potential to get irrevocably dirty (though you could always swap [...]

As oxymoronic as it sounds, there is a parking garage that is considered “green”. “How?” you ask. Designers Moore Ruble Yudell Architects and Planners, constructed the garage, which is on its way to being the first LEED Certified parking structure in the USA. The structure provides 900 parking spaces (14 of which are devoted to [...]

If young Nick Szalinski wasn’t spotted amidst the spoonful of Cheerios in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, he’d have the same view awaiting visitors to the Corpus amusement park/museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Part of a journey through the human body, museum goers enter the body through the knee and can watch a movie [...]