Kind of Gross

Created in part by urine, these could be the building blocks of the future... One minor problem - contamination of the ground water.
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Via Gizmodo
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For the Architect or Designer in your Life

A few easy gift ideas for the creative person in your life...

Think Outside the Box
How to Start and Operate Your Own Design Firm

Senz Umbrella

Objectified

Nava Ark A4 Bag

How To Be a Happy Architect

Evolution of Architects

Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People

Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism

randL Canvas Business Cardcase

amy tavern earrings

Una Arm Warmers

Meier Smith House t-shirt

Give Green Reads

As someone who is very interested in sustainability, green technology, and the like... I generally find if difficult to find good books to read. Usually, the books seem overly simplistic (compost is good!) or overly scientific. Its hard to find a well-written and informative book for general, but well-educated reader. Luckily, I've recently had the opportunity to read two such books!

Our choice is the follow up to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Where An Inconvenient Truth was quite the doomsday presentation, Our Choice presents us with clear options for moving forward. Its not just telling us everything that we've done to screw up the Earth, but its explaining how we can fix what we've done... using both large and small scale solutions. The book is an easy read, while still explaining in detail the science behind the global warming crisis. And unlike An Inconvenient Truth, its got fantastic full color photos and diagrams to help illustrate the text. And personally, I really enjoy the immediacy of the book. Gore tells stories about current events - liking the birthers to climate change deniers - which helps root the book in the now. So, if you or anyone you know is looking for an informative book on climate change, with an upbeat personality... check out

Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis

The Whole Green Catalog is a much more interesting book than the cover would suggest... Really makes that whole, don't judge a book by its cover thing ring true. The book lists 1000 action items that individuals can undertake to improve our quality of life. The book is broken down into simple sections - homebuilding, energy, clothing, furniture, etc. Within each section are various technologies and suggestions pertaining to sustainability and a high quality of life. Products range in scale from solar powered calculators to equal exchange chocolate to geothermal HVAC. The beauty is that each product recommendation comes with a 2-3 paragraph explanation of the technology and image to help you understand. Again, this is a great book for anyone looking to improve their knowledge of green technology without reading through scientific literature. Its an easy and entertaining read... in fact, it was sitting on my coffee table during Thanksgiving dinner and everyone passed the book around and even took time out of watching football to read it! If that sounds good to you... check out

Whole Green Catalog: 1000 Best Things for You and the Earth

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Leaps and Bounds

The Fusion Solar System by Custom Bilt Metals is leaps and bounds ahead of the old fashioned solar panel systems. I don't want to hear anyone talk about how ugly the panels are on your roof anymore! The film can cover all or part of your roof... so you could even avoid the two-tone affect that we see in the photo!

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Curtain Wall Extraordinaires

You'll have to excuse me if you already know all about Permasteelisa, but I just heard about them when reading a Slate article today... I don't have much experience working on large structures, so my curtain wall knowledge is fairly limited... and its especially limited when it comes to particular manufacturers. For those of you, like me, who aren't exposed to different curtain manufacturers... Permasteelisa is basically one of the premier building envelope and cladding manufacturers, based out of Italy.

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Their list of projects and architect collaborations is pretty insane. They developed the curtain wall system for the above projects (the TU Delft Library by Mecanoo, the Heart Headquarters by Foster and Associates, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall by Gehry), as well as a whole slew of other projects (including practically all of Gehry's). Clearly, the design/engineering and fabrication technologies developed by Permasteelisa directly affect the success of these collaborative projects. I imagine that it helps to get directly involved with Permasteelisa as soon as possible in order to work together on the optimal solution for your particular project.

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Checking out their webpage is a pretty interesting look into evolution of curtain wall and cladding systems over the past 30 years. I just wish that they had their projects listed chronologically, so that we could really see the progress!

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Moving Walls

I've been looking for some interesting door/wall solutions for a room I'm trying to open up in our house. While, these won't work for our home, I'm in love with these Welter Walls. The moving walls are as much doors as walls, and add a bit of interest to the walls without too much extraneous detailing. The simplicity is really lovely...

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Via Better Living Through Design
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Seattle's Modern List

I'm having some computer troubles at the moment, so posting might be sparse this week. In the mean time, check out the Modern List Seattle, brought to you by the same guys who do the Build Blog (Not to be confused with BLDG Blog).

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Its an interesting resource for modern architecture, design, and local resources.

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I found C's Christmas Present!

Ok... so maybe I won't actually be buying this 'Litroenergy', but it sure would be helpful on his dark rides to and from work!

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Litroenergy, is a relatively new material that purports to emit lights for 12 years without any electricity or exposure to sunlight. It will be interesting to see if this product lives up to the hype or if its radioactive core proves too much for the public to handle.

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Via Ecofriend

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Way Too Excited

In our teeny tiny home, space is always at a premium. This weekend, C & I finally bought this combination washer/dryer/steam cleaner to replace the old stacking washer/dryer sitting in the kitchen. I can't tell you how excited I am to have this new appliance... It will help free up so much space in the house since we'll be able to add shelves and hanging racks above the w/d. Now we won't have to put a drying rack in the living room! I could go on and on about the fabulous nature of this washer, but maybe I'll wait until it comes and I'm sure it works as well as I hope!

Tradition in Kärsämäki

I have seen this project a few times on various websites and blogs, but until today I had really never read up on the project. I knew that this wooden church located in Kärsämäki, Finland was the result of a student competition (won by Anssi Lassila of the University of Oulu) in conjunction with the parish of Kärsämäki (and additional funding from the EU). However, until I noticed the admittedly older post on 2 or 3 things, I had never checked out the webpage for this church.

Apparently, this wooden church replaces one that was built in the 1700s, and subsequently lost in the 1800s, using traditional 18th century building processes. The church was intended not just as a place for worship, but as a place for learning, too. Using these historic building techniques, older craftsmen were able to pass on their trades to a younger generation through volunteer participation in the construction process.

This is truly a special project... incorporating a very simple, modern, and beautiful design with volunteerism, learning, and community traditions.

Light Transmitting Concrete

LiTraCon is another relatively new form of concrete, developed by Hungarian Architect Áron Losonczi. The concrete is substantially similar to Pixel Panel, but with a more organic result. Whereas the pixel panel system is formed with a grid of fiber optics, Litracon is consists of typical concrete with glass fiber optic matrices that become an aggregate in the concrete. Both of these types of translucent concrete show imagery and shadows on the other side of the wall, butthe most exciting aspect of Litracon is that its actually being fabricated and used (you can even get samples!).

Via Urbicide

Precursor to Gyp Board?

Does anyone know what type of material was commonly used for wall finishes in the United States during the early 50s? Our house was built in 1951 and gyp board was re-introduced to the general market in 1952. Its not plaster and lathe and its not gyp board... so what is it?

Ever Evolving Concrete

I was reading an article today on Treehugger that was describing a new sealant made from sodium acetate (an ingredient commonly found in potato chips) that is proving to be a cheap and efficient way of sealing concrete. The chemical seeps into the pores of the concrete and crystallizes after contact with any water, thus restricting any further water infiltration. It sounds pretty cool, but imagine what it does to your stomach!

Anyway... it got me thinking about concrete and all the new ways in which we are developing it as both a structural and finish material. Honestly, its really amazing to think about how concrete has been in use as a building material for thousands of years and yet we are still finding new ways in which to use and create it! Below are just a few examples of new types of concrete.

Graphic Concrete is a really interesting product out of Finland that provides amazing detail etched into the concrete. There are standard patterns available as well as custom designs. The designs are created by applying a surface retardant to a special membrane, which rejects the concrete in certain areas... then when the membrane is removed, the design's various shapes and depths appear.

Concrete Blond is yet another company that specializes in a variety of concrete applications. Many of their projects incorporate glass, steel, and concrete (among other materials). I'm not exactly sure how this particular 'wallpaper panel' is created, but its quite impressive to see the minute detail, texture, and sheen created by the concrete.

The image shown above is an actual sample of a Pixel Panel in which the concrete panels are actually translucent, if you can imagine that.... Via Liquid Stone

Designed by Frederik Molenschot, Solid Poetry shows its inherent design when wet...

Something tells me that these concrete innovations are just the tip of the iceberg... I can't wait to see what else the design world comes up with!

A New Source of Energy?

Two MIT students have developed a way to generate electricity by harnessing the energy of crowds... The Crowd Farm is made up of a system of sub-flooring blocks that depress under weight, creating a mechanical energy that can be translated into electrical energy.

"A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly under the force of human steps would be installed beneath the station's main lobby. The slippage of the blocks against one another as people walked would generate power through the principle of the dynamo, a device that converts the energy of motion into that of an electric current."

Its a pretty sweet idea, even after realizing that a single human step is only capable of lighting (2) 60w bulbs for a mere 60 seconds. The intent is not to generate enough energy to light a house, but rather to help educate people about energy usage.

Via Geekologie

Concrete Pavers

A slightly different take on the classic patio paver by Oldsjo Hultgren Design.

Via Oh Joy!

Could it be Pre-Fab?

I saw this great retro 1950s advertisement for pre-fab homes on Maraid Design. The graphic itself is a lot of fun, but the house is what caught my eye... because it looks very similar to our house! I'm fairly certain that our house was a builder's special in 1951 (the house next door is the mirror image), but after seeing this image I could almost imagine it as pre-fab! Its funny to think about how well designed pre-fab is considered the new big thing when people were providing great modern pre-fab design in the 50s!

Mailboxes on the Brain

Ever since Karen mentioned the great modern mailboxes she saw, I've had mailboxes on the brain. Its really difficult to find a good modern design and in my opinion, even more difficult to find ones that are modern, but not metal! Wouldn't this be a great place to use some sort of innovative material?!?! Something that would be great in small doses, but perhaps not as good on a large scale would be perfect for a mailbox.

As a sidenote... please pardon the poor image editing, as I mentioned before, I don't have consistent internet access and this particular computer doesn't have image editing software!

I actually bought this mailbox for my parents last Christmas... so although I like it, I don't think I could have it for our house.

This is probably my favorite mailbox of the bunch...

This is a nice mailbox (but seriously expensive), if you really feel the need to have it keyed...But, I have to admit that if I were to buy anything from this site, it would probably be the fire pit.

I think that this mailbox is great, too... But I can't find where you can buy it...

Any others that you can think of?