With its distinct Asian inspired look, the design of what is called the, ‘Urban Forest‘ by MAD Architects of Beijing definitely has its appeal to both ‘green’ and design enthusiasts alike. A proposed commercial high-rise building in the city centre for Chongqing, China, the slightly off-centred stacked floor design mimics that of the mountainous landscapes of China. The 70 floor building acts as a facade, rising above the clutter that is of a typical city with imagery of a plant growing freely.

Each floor is covered in floor-to-ceiling glass windows allowing maximum light exposure. Levels are also distinctly unique, home to multilayer sky gardens, floating patios and minimal yet well-lit nesting spaces, providing a different experience for all who use it. As quoted by MAD themselves, “The Urban Forest will not be a piece of mediocre urban machinery, but an artificial organ that lives and breathes new life in the steel-and-concrete-filled city center.” I absolutely love the stacked almost ‘Pringles-like’ design! I wouldn’t mind working in a space like this either!

What’s even more interesting to note for residents of the Greater Toronto Area is that MAD’s design work is viewable right in our backyard! Absolute Towers (Condo building) is a five-tower glass, concrete and steel luxury condominium complex in the heart of Mississauga. I’m excited to see what other ideas MAD has brewing as this young company of two years seems to have interesting concepts to share with world!

Last year, Vidafine presented Philips Design Probe’s Biosphere Farming idea to great appeal so we’ve decided to keep you updated on what else is cooking at Philips. Their latest exploration is Multi-Sensorial Gastronomy which really means understanding how the integration of light, conductive printing, selective fragrance diffusion, micro-vibration and a host of other integrations of sensory stimuli could influence the way diners experience eating in subtle ways. In laymen terms, that means in addition to smell and taste, they want to see how incorporating our full senses to include touch, sight and sound will affect the overall dining experience. (Just a refresher, Philip’s Design Probe is a dedicated ‘far-future’ research initiative to track trends and developments that may ultimately evolve into mainstream issues that have a significant impact on business). In other words, they have created concept tableware that glows when food is place on or in it.

This time Philips and Spanish restaurant Arzak collaborate to present this creative concept at the 8th annual International Gastronomy Summit (Madridfusión). Their idea is aimed at not only delighting palates, but also evoking emotion and stimulating the senses through the bone china series which includes the Lunar Eclipse (bowl), Fama (long plate) and Tapa da Luz (serving plate) which have been designed to react (light up, emit fragrances and vibrations) when food is placed on the plate or if liquid is poured into the bowl.

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Arzak thus has created three dishes; ‘Pomez stone – the only stone that floats’, the ‘Totem and taboo of foie’ and ‘After the footsteps of the roe deer’.

Adding this interesting dimension to food presentation foreshadows the potentials of scientific laboratory equipment adaptation and the invention of new kitchen technology through collaborations that will soon present itself in our daily lives! If you want to learn more about this concept of molecular gastronomy for yourself, you can purchase this interesting kit from ThinkGeek to see what you can come up with!

No this isn’t a Mac advertisement. But remember the OOU! notebook envelope? Well, the BookBook by TwelveSouth is just as creative with a vintage twist. Your 13″ and 15″ MacBook Pro can now be camouflaged to look like a textbook to minimize your chances of computer theft. Its hard shell casing, reinforced corners and leather spine keep it safe during daily usage too. The BookBook comes in two colours, mainly black and red, but each is individually hand-distressed we’re told, ensuring that no two BookBooks are exactly alike! Dual leather zipper pulls, which at first glance appear to be bookmarks add that extra touch.

The details on the bag are exquisite along with the soft velvety padded interior. If you plan to use it with your MacBook Air, expect some wiggle room inside which can be used to store extra documents and papers. Users of white MacBooks beware, the company has issued a warning, “Long term testing has revealed concerns regarding the white MacBook polycarbonate exterior and the potential for discoloration or staining.” So be warned!

You can purchase the BookBook online at TwelveSouth for $79.99 USD with limited time free shipping.

After reading about Unplug Design Studio and their mission to improve public welfare for all human societies, I wanted to share their Dream Ball and Eyesight design with you all and get you inspired as well. Based out of Seoul, Korea, this team of Korean designers, like all product designers, hope to create something that will make life easier for some, or just give a chance for others. The Dream Ball and Eyesight are examples of just that.

The Dream Ball is a soccer ball constructed using recycled famine relief packaging. In under developed countries, a traditional soccer ball is considered a luxury as individuals can hardly afford to feed their families. Consequently, children use ropes, trash or bundled leaves and twigs as substitutes. Unplug aims to give these children a chance to experience what many in North America take for granted. Although the UN and Redcross provide the necessary commodity goods to these people in third world countries such as food, clothing and medication, the packaging that these items are usually shipped in go unused after it has served its primary purpose. By re-designing the relief packaging to do more than it was intended to, it offers children the opportunity to create various sized balls from the relief packaging by simply cutting the perforated cardboard boxes by hand and weaving the pieces together. The material is also not as stiff as it is anticipated that children will be playing with their bare feet. Brilliant idea!

In addition to the Dream Ball Project, another clever idea by Unplug are these magnified bottom drinking glasses labeled Eyesight.

This drinking glass is said to be very useful when reading small text such as newspapers, letters and product ingredients. The bottom of the glass uses a convex lens which is essentially a magnifying glass. The aim for this project is to remove the hassles of looking for reading glasses and also the unwilling nature of some to wear eye glasses. The dual purpose drinking glass helps people with poor eyesight to read and drink with ease.

Skateboard decks find that they go through short and abusive life cycles as fanatical skateboarders repeatedly perform tricks in tough environments. These decks end up fraying, cracking and wearing out rather quickly which consequently results in skateboarders going through an abundance of them in their skateboarding careers.

As new skateboarding decks are purchased, older decks end up either collecting dust in skateboarders’ basements or are thrown away. Thus, haroshi’s HARVEST project was spawned which recycles used skateboard decks to produce dazzling pop artwork. As a former skater, haroshi’s guiding philosophy is to embrace sustainability through finding new applications for used possessions.

The exhibition opened on February 18^th and commences on the 27^th of the month. If you’re fortunate enough to be in Tokyo tomorrow, you have one last chance to check it out in person. But for the rest of our readers who can’t make it, Brandon Shigeta was kind enough to share with us the photos of this exhibition at PLSMIS in Tokyo.

See the rest of Brandon’s photos on his Flickr page.

With the goal of captivating, inspiring and activating tomorrow’s thinkers to take positive action towards saving our planet from the accumulation of waste products, David de Rothschild, a 31-year-old English banking heir and environmental daredevil along with his team of hand picked scientists are on a mission, to address the issue of sustainability with the creation of Plastiki. An all around environmentally friendly masterpiece, the Plastiki is a 60-foot catamaran floating on approximately 12,000 reclaimed whole plastic bottles which have been highly pressurized. The masts are made out of reclaimed aluminum irrigation pipes, while the ropes are also made from recycled plastics.

Power, is provided by a small array of solar panels and windmills as shown above. The boat will even contain a small organic farm with fertilizer coming from, well the crew member’s natural ‘leavings’. The plan is to take Plastiki 11,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in the Spring of 2010 on an anticipated 4 month journey (see route here)

Major challenges of naval design have not only been to ensure that the boat performs well, but also to address the needs of the people on board for the extended journey. The interior cabin has been constructed using self-reinforcing polyethylene terephthalate (srPET), which is essentially ground up plastics melted down It’s then remade into fabric and foam, similar to carbon fiber (but instead it can be melted down and remade into material again and again). Equipped with sleeping, working, and cooking (see below) spaces on board, the six member crew is expected to sail comfortably while at sea.

It’s hard to say whether or not the Plastiki can withstand the harsh climates during its journey across the Pacific. But I believe what’s happening is only the first of many ambitious individuals taking a stand towards bringing issues of waste reduction to the forefront. Take a look at the video below as de Rothschild explains his philosophy for product design.

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Photos via National Geographic and Plastiki’s Facebook Page

There was certainly a lot of hype leading up to the launch of Apple’s newest gadget, the iPad which was announced a couple of weeks ago. Almost everyone was predicting Apple was going to roll out this revolutionary device. But when Apple unveiled the iPad’s specs, I kinda sat there with a somewhat dumbfounded look that read “that’s it?” It felt like a giant bubble burst above my head of all these fantastic concepts that I, and others envisioned the iPad to be and all we were left with was this giant iPhone. Nevertheless, when it comes to revolutionary and the type of applications that the iPad and iPhone has the potential for, it always brings me back to Mac Funamizu’s amazing concept, the Looking Glass.

Mac Funamizu (Mac is his nickname – no relation to Apple) is the designer of this futuristic concept. He won the red dot design concept award for envisioning a world where we can carry this looking glass around with us and it would be able to layover digital information about real world objects on a clear transparent screen that seems to act both as a camera, and a display. Some of the applications for digitally layering information are found or are being developed on the iPhone (like the stargazing one), while other application concepts are just visionary.

Contextual Information

Stargazer

Speech to Text

Time Traveler

Diet Information

On-the-Fly Translator

Yes, I know it was too much to ask of Apple to come out with this design on their first generation iPad and that we (as in the world) still have some technological breakthroughs to make first before this happens. But, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch that we will one day carry around devices that Mac Funamizu has so greatly envisioned. Who knows – maybe this is the next generation iPhone or iPad or am I just dreaming again?

via Behance

With a background in working with different materials such as steel, aluminum, bronze, ceramics and glass, Roger Borg decided upon working with neon tubing as his current medium of choice. Having seen a television program on neon, he was inspired to incorporate neon into his artwork. Essentially that’s how his company 419 NEON, which produces commercial neon signs and architectural lighting came about.

Roger Borg received his Masters of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers in 2002, and subsequently attended the world renowned Pilchuck Glass School in the summer of that year. By 2003 Roger had formed the company 419 NEON, which produces custom neon signs and lighting for the trade. He continues his art and design work through his studio, producing original artwork as well as one off and limited edition neon lamps. Roger’s artwork was exhibited at the Museum of Neon Art in Los Angeles in 2004, and his works reside in a number of public and private collections. Additionally, Roger continues his involvement with Pilchuck Glass School as a contributing artist to the annual fundraising auction held each October.

After familiarizing himself with the knowledge and technical expertise in crafting neon lights, Roger set out on his path to further explore his artistic ideas in the medium. He began to return to the foundations and history of neon, using it as a communicative tool to inscribe his own handwritten thoughts. As well, Roger delved into focusing his works on the various available colors. He lined up multiple tubes of neon next to each other on the wall, making large blocks of solid, saturated color. While at first, Roger only employed single colors, he eventually began to look at the interactions of multiple colors. The expert knowledge of his craft teamed with a strong creative background allowed Roger to pursue lamp making as a creative outlet for all the ideas he had. Each series has led him to the next, and he continues to create new and unique designs, both free standing and hanging.

The following are a couple of our favourite lamps by Roger Borg:

Open Series:

This series is Roger’s expansion of neon in three-dimensional spaces, shifting it away from flatness. These lamps trace the edges of three-dimensional shapes, but have no real solid form beyond the contours of their sides. They have open interiors, and only their edges are delineated.

Twelve Piece

A recent piece melding some of the aspects of the radial stacks’ construction with the porous nature of the open series, this lamp inlays a small triangle inside a larger counterpart. These outer triangles are then lashed together to form a sort of faceted conical shape, which hangs from above, creating a light approaching midday daylight.

Slant Lamp

The largest of the open series, the asymmetrical character of this lamp foments a certain unease and tension. When viewed from certain angles, it appears ready to topple, while from others its stability is not in question. It is in a perpetual state of both balance and imbalance, and although it’s at odds with itself, it remains merrily content to reconcile this dichotomy.

Cube Lamp

A precursor to the slant lamp, Roger used this piece to explore the regular shape of a cube. It was a way to begin to delineate and frame an area of space, and although much smaller in size than the slant lamp, this lamp provided Roger the insight to scale up the idea.

Flat Stacks:

The stacked series moves further towards addressing a solid three-dimensional shape. By placing individual hand bent neon components atop each other, a larger and vertical form emerges, growing from the individual layers. Their contours are determined by the edges and perimeter of each individual cross section. Taken together, the aggregate shape of these layers establishes the simplicity or complexity of the object as a whole.

Color Stack

The color stack evolved out of an interest in color theory, in which Newton proved that white light was the product of the full color spectrum. In deference to this, Roger decided to construct a lamp which combined an array of distinct color bands, but which produced and diffused a pure white light.

Scrap Stack

As its name implies, this stacked lamp was built using the “scraps” generated from the production of other works. These small pieces varying in color, were redesigned to form a lamp with a coherent profile. However, this regular form contains within its shape an orgy of color relationships stretching both laterally and vertically. Each side is a display of myriad combinations of color, which when taken as a whole, produce a wonderfully warm glow. This lamp builds upon the ideas inherent in the color stack, all the while adding a greater degree of complexity to the interaction of color layers.

Primary Series:

These free standing floor and table lamps explore the primary colors of additive color theory (red, blue, and green). When all three primaries combine, it forms a white light, but when only two primaries interact with each other, they form the secondary colors of yellow (red + green), magenta (red+blue), and cyan (blue + green). This series provided Roger a platform to explore color interactions, and became a seed from which many other lamps sprouted.

RG, RB, BG

As the very first free standing lamp that Roger made, it was a precursor to two different series of lamps; the radial stacks with their vertical cores of neon tubes, and the color and scrap stack. Specifically, this lamp was a vehicle to look at only the primary and secondary colors of light theory. The central core became the totality of this interaction, which then subsequently cleaved into the three separate combinations that produce secondary colors.

According to Roger, “Implicit in this narrative is the challenge of a core aspect of traditional lamps. Whereas their illumination is reliant upon an interior light source concealed and diffused through an exterior, Roger’s lamps instead generate light directly from their entire exterior surface. The light is produced and emanates from this external shell; it does not hide behind, rather it stands out in front. The need for an interior bulb is rendered moot. The bulb is now the shape, the shape is now the light.”

You can see the rest of Roger’s works at RogerBorg.com

As probably the most iconic fixation on an American dining table, Heinz ketchup has almost become synonymous with the term ‘condiments’ when referring to food. While I only prefer to use a moderate amount for my fries and nothing else, I’ve witnessed more than a handful of people who dump ketchup on pretty much everything they eat. It’s easy to see how this is possible as ketchup is readily available almost everywhere there’s food. A little over 40 years ago in 1968, the first ‘rip and squeeze’ packets were unleashed upon the fast food world – something we in the Westernized world are more than familiar with as well. It seems as though these tiny packets with the zigzag lines have gotten a bit of a makeover.

Here’s a quick look at the packaging from CBS News.

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The old package was fine to say the least. It was convenient and did its job – holding ketchup. However, in the current day and age, there’s been much more emphasis put on functionality of products, and Heinz has taken heed. The new revamped design allows for users to apply ketchup either through dipping (by peeling off the removable top) or squeezing (by tearing off the removable tip). Well sure, although this doesn’t change life drastically for people, it nonetheless makes it a lot simpler for users and shows that companies like Heinz are giving a lot more attention to what end-users want. They actually tested the packet in a mini-van to see how easy it would be to use; not that we encourage you to be doing this while driving in the first place, but you get the point.

While the current package isn’t recyclable, Heinz claims that each of the new packets contain 3 times as much as it did in the old ones thereby saving on packaging. But we definitely hope that Heinz will be continually looking towards becoming more ‘green’ (ie. using biodegradable materials vs. plastic). Although I, myself am not a big fan of ketchup, I have to give Heinz credit for examining an old product and reworking it around functionality and practicality.

Last month, Vidafine had the honour of being invited to the Blu Dot showroom opening by Urban Mode owner, Myrlene. The Toronto furniture boutique has added a permanent show floor connected to its existing store space, housing the Minneapolis-based Blu Dot line of products.

After amusing ourselves with the new goodies populating the garage-turned-store-space, we gathered around for an informal speech by Blu Dot CEO, John Christakos. After a few years in Management Consulting, John left his high-paying job to start Blu Dot with two college friends who shared a passion for design and architecture. With an aim to build affordable, but good furniture, Blu Dot was born in 1997. Since then, the three have not only created useful and affordable furniture, but also built the Blu Dot brand through fun ideas and smart marketing campaigns. Some of these include the Good Design is Good Gallery, featuring the simple things in life that are simply good; and the Blu Dot Desktop Clock, which displays on your desktop a different image for each minute that passes by.

More recently, the creative firm has partnered with mono to leverage the power of GPS and Twitter, putting together the REAL GOOD experiment. On November 4-5 of 2009, 25 Real Good Chairs were scattered around the streets of New York City, and their journeys to their new homes were compiled into a short film. Check it out… it’s real good!

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