The Popsicle Test

Can a child on foot get to the store, purchase a Popsicle, and make it home without it's melting?  Here is a short and bright piece about designing livable spaces from placeshakers' Scott Doyon that not only introduced me to the concept of the Popsicle Test, but also addresses the modern scourge of trying to buy your child happy.

Stunning Solar Solution in Spain

New Construction Makes Modern Rocky Ruins in Veitnam

This amazing office (by this architectural firm) in Ho Chi Minh City has stolen my heart this morning.  It's like a modernist batcave and a secret jungle hidey-hole all wrapped into one.  Thick found-stone walls and carefully placed windows keep it cool, and the playful curves keep you guessing in a soothing way.  From Inhabitat.com.

Power giants rule, or Why didn't I think of this?

Greening the Cube

Wouldn't it be great if all our privacy needs at work were this relaxing and fresh?  Jebus, I'm coveting this right now!  The oxygen alone would boost productivity.  Props to Julio Radesca de Carvalhom, a recent graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven for the design.

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London sky-scraper integrates turbines

Lately London has become the city to watch when it comes to contemporary architecture, and this 42-story tower is no exception.  Three huge turbines are embedded into the concave facade of it's uppermost section, and are projected to provide 8% of the power the building needs. . . a small percentage compared to some, and far from a carbon-neutral building -- this is at the very least what every tall building should incorporate.  If you've ever opened a window above the 30th floor of any building, you'll know that there's plenty of potential for energy whipping around up there!  Full gallery from Inhabitat HERE.
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No grime, no crime. Durban students scrub-tag their world

A group of students in Durban, South Africa have taken to removing grime from buildings and retaining walls, in what could be seen as pro-community graffitti or positive negativity.  Less is certainly more :) 

Gallery HERE from inhabitat
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Canoeing down Canal?

A design competition to envision the metropolitan areas around New York/New Jersey adapted for rising sea levels of the future opens soon at MOMA.  The five teams set out to solve the inevitable problems a 5-10 foot rise in sea water would bring to our sea-level metropolis.  Each team was given a section of New York's diverse waterfront, and tasked to birth conceptual solutions.  VIDEOS HERE of each team's work.  And more pix after the jump . . .

Great (silent) VIDEO about what it takes to feed NYC

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Penny gets a face lift! What a waste of time!

The penny is getting a cool new face-lift.  Actually, it's a tail-lift.  And who uses pennies anyway?  Well, here's the DEAL.
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Meter Mades - a bike rack revolution

New York continues in its move to make the city an awesome place to bicycle, by announcing that it will turn 225 parking meters into BIKE RACKS!  It's hardly enough, with the biker to rack ratio at 30/1, but it's an improvement, and welcome!  The hoops will aparently bolt to the existing meter posts, and replace every other meter on certain streets.  The process saves $200/meter removal and sidewalk mending, so it's a cool design decision too.
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Energy Positive Building in Austria

By researching the patterns of wind and sun in the building's location, designers have created a building with solar and turbine features that is beautiful and MAKES MORE ENERGY than it consumes.  Bravo!


Gallery HERE.
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Designs coming in for Korea's 2012 Expo - The OCEANS

Check out the slide show for this water-filled expo center by MVRDV HERE:

Levity with Sleeves.

Move over Snuggie Slanket, I've got something with fingers.  How hilarious is this?  Apparently everyone in Brooklyn has bad circulation.  I guess if it gets you to turn your heat down to a reasonable level at night, then it's a good thing.  I just think your laundry bill will go up.  Also, what happens when one suddenly decides to lie on one's side?  Douchequake!!!!
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MTA sign designer dies at 82

NYC subway signage is known the world over for its modern simplicity, Helvetica-esque Akzidenz Grotesk lettering, bold colored circles.  Yhe co-designer of the NYC MTA signage, Bob Noorda,  has died.  From Second Ave. Sagas:

"Underground, Massimo Vignelli is the superstar of the design of subway signs. He is largely credited with bringing a uniform design to the subway system shortly after the formation of the MTA in the late 1960s. Vignelli, who at the time was with the design firm Unimark International, did not work alone. He brought Bob Noorda, a leader in Modernist design with him, and Noorda was one of the driving forces behind Transit’s eventual use of its now-ubiquitious and familiar signs."

The ubiquitous signs have become a symbol of New York itself, and a lasting testiment to modernism.

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Enough with the Race to the Skies - or - The Future of Prestige is Green

While the developing nations of the world race to build spires that amaze with their glimmering glass, it might do us a load of good to remember that those kind of accomplishments also require hot water and poop to be pumped up and down a MILE IN THE AIR, which is stupid.

Check out this green Ski Resort from architect Michael Jantzen:  SLIDE SHOW HERE with a built-in slope, wind and solar power and heating, and plenty of luxury amenities.
 
Cool is what we ask for.

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Best Green Concept Products 2009

From Treehugger, their picks for best concept gadgets this year. Some great, some not so much. 20 slides HERE.

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Fire at will

Normally I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to fireplaces, but this is kinda cool, no? It swivels.

Dallas' future looks green (?)

Way to go Dallas! Check out the renderings HERE.

RE-BURBIA WINNERS. Yes! [fist pump]

The winners of RE-BURBIA have been announced. I honestly don't know when it happened, but HERE they are and they are awesome!

"After a dizzying week of heated debate and lively discussion, Reburbia is very pleased to announce the winners of our month-long competition to redesign the suburbs! The competition called for design solutions that would address the problems that plague present-day suburbia by envisioning different scenarios for the future. Proposals tackled McMansions, big box stores, strip malls, parking lots and more with design fixes ranging from community agriculture and algae-based biofuels to transplanted tract developments and zeppelin-based transit."

I can see why the people's choice winner was so popular, and I love the one that's really just a zoning change.