Interior Design Sense

Calling all crafty Inhabitat readers!
Win $200 in our DIY Spring Greening Contest!

Our Spring Greening Contest is almost over, and there is just ONE DAY LEFT to enter our fabulous competition! To enter, simply send in your best example of refurbished, recycled, or reclaimed design. We’ll be featuring our favorite entries in an online voting competition next week, and the winner will receive all of the fortune and fame of being showcased on Inhabitat in addition to a $200 gift certificate to the Inhabitat Shop! So break out that dusty dresser or busted chair, give it a brand new life, slap on a fresh coat of (eco-friendly) paint, and let it shine for a chance to win!

The deadline for submissions is TOMORROW, March 27th at 11:59 pm EST

All you have to do to enter the contest is:
1. Sign up for the inhabitat newsletter
2. Send a photo and description of your project to editor at inhabitat.com

Read the rest of SPRING GREENING CONTEST: 1 Day Left!!

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Post tags: inhabitat spring recycling contest, Inhabitat spring reuse contest, Recycled Materials, refinish, repurpose, reuse, Spring Cleaning and greening Contest, spring cleaning contest, sustainable design, Waste reduction

Zagreb-based 3HLD has just won an international closed competition to design a new private medical center in the seaside town of Split, Croatia. With the keen eye of design surgeons, 3HLD has taken what we think of as the typical monolithic medical structure, incised key exterior sections, implanted the voids with green gardens, and finished by wrapping the entire building in bandages of protective sunscreen. The result? A light and airy medical facility that patients may actually enjoy visiting.

Read the rest of 3HLD’s Marvelous “Bandaged” Medical Center

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Post tags: “sustainable architecture”, 3hld architects, brise soleil, daylight, energy efficient architecture, Green Building, green design, green medical center, natural light, split croatia, sun screen

From the manicured forms of French estates to the sculptural gestures of Japanese gardens, the adjectives we use to describe a garden are often subject to the characteristics of the plants (or lack thereof) that grow there. No wonder horticultural research and experimentation have long been a fascination of scientists and gardeners alike. Which is why The World Horticultural Expo, slotted for 2011 and located in the city of Xi’an in China, will gain tremendous attention. The commission of designing the event’s masterplan was recently given to winning design team, Plasmastudio and Groundlab. The project, entitled The Flowing Gardens, was inspired by the convergence of the different types of expertise that will be brought together by this event; principally horticulture and technology, and landscape and architecture.

Read the rest of The Flowing Gardens of the World Horticultural Expo

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Post tags: garden design, landscape architecture, master plan horticultural expo, masterplan xi’an, world horticultural expo

Soon, the water in Gijon, a harbor in Northern Spain will be monitored by robotic, battery-powered fish. These mechanical, articulating sea creatures were designed and tested by the Robotics Department at the University of Essex. At a cost of $3.6 million, through a European Union grant, these fish will test the water for oxygen levels, detect oil slicks and other contaminants pumped into the water. This is the first monitoring program of it’s kind, and the retrieved data could be very important, with implications for global warming and the state of our water sources.

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Post tags: biomimicry, pollution fish, pollution monitoring, pollution-detecting robots, robotic fish, Robotics Department University of Essex

Sarah Turner’s beautiful ReDesign lighting collection imaginatively recycles plastic water bottles into stunning lampshades. With some clever cutting Sarah Turner has mastered the art of turning waste drinks bottles into decorative shapes, which form the basis of her beautiful ceiling, table and floor lamps. This and other creative design objects made from recycled materials are currently being exhibited in a competition at the Ideal Home Show London. The ReDesign Lamp shades are competing against 25 other designs for the title of Concept Product of the Year, so if you like this innovative example of ‘reclaimed design’ show Sarah your support and vote for her here: http://www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/ideas/innovation-nation/concept-products-2009-vote/

+ Sarah Turner ReDesign Lampshades

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Post tags: recycled bottle lamp, ReDesign, ReDesign Lighting, sarah turner

Studio Crank’s Chuck trash basket is a vessel for paper waste, made from paper waste. A waste-less waste paper basket, Chuck is constructed of 100% recycled cardboard, printed with low VOC based inks and is totally recyclable. The eco-ficient design is in perfect keeping with the desires of the environmentally savvy lifestyle that believes and lives the concept of ecological sustainability. What better way to walk the walk than to dispose of your trash in a can made from the same material?

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Post tags: Chuck waste paper basket, recycled home accessories, recycled office supplies, recycled trash basket, studio CRANK, waste paper basket

Calling all crafty Inhabitat readers!
Win $200 in our DIY Spring Greening Contest!

Our Spring Greening Contest is running strong after a refreshing weekend of creative submissions, and there’s still time left to submit your DIY designs! To enter, simply clean out your closets and remake your dusty old furnishings, appliances, and household items into inspired examples of found design. We’ll be featuring our favorite entries in an online voting competition next week, and the winner will receive all of the fortune and fame of being showcased on Inhabitat in addition to a $200 gift certificate to the Inhabitat Shop! So break out that dusty dresser or busted chair, give it a brand new life, slap on a fresh coat of (eco-friendly) paint, and let it shine for a chance to win!

The deadline for submissions is this Friday March 27th at 11:59 pm EST

All you have to do to enter the contest is:
1. Sign up for the inhabitat newsletter
2. Send a photo and description of your project to editor at inhabitat.com

Read the rest of SPRING GREENING CONTEST: 2 Days Left!!

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Post tags: inhabitat spring recycling contest, Inhabitat spring reuse contest, Recycled Materials, refinish, repurpose, reuse, Spring Cleaning and greening Contest, spring cleaning contest, sustainable design, Waste reduction

Photo courtesy of Luc Bollen

Housing crisis = fewer houses being built = less wood = better for trees, right?

Not so fast says a new report published by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO warns that although American loggers are cutting down fewer trees because of the drop in demand for them, the economic downturn might actually be bad for the future of the world’s trees. Apparently, simply cutting down fewer trees is not the only—nor the best—way to fight deforestation. Deforestation is a problem that must be tackled on a global and a local scale. A decrease in American logging may be good for redwoods in Northern California, but because American wood manufacturers practice much more sustainable production methods than their counterparts in other areas of the world, the economic downturn might fuel the rise of cheaper and more environmentally caustic techniques in other countries.

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Post tags: deforestation, forests, housing crisis, reforestation management, sustainable forest management, tree maintenance, tree research

In what is clearly an attention-grabbing move, Daimler today has just unveiled the F-CELL Roadster, a wacky-looking vehicle that is a ‘hybrid’ in more ways than one. Literally the roadster is fitted with a 1.2 kW hybrid drive – one that allows the F-CELL to reach a top speed of 15 mph and achieve an operating range of 217 miles. But the roadster is a ‘hybrid’ in a more metaphorical sense as well: drawing design inspiration from a diverse swath of automotive eras. The F-Cell Roadster provocatively merges design elements from the most futuristic Formula One racing cars with the most old-school, turn-of-the-century, original Benz motor car.

Read the rest of Mercedes Announces Crazy Hybrid F-Cell Roadster!

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Post tags: Daimler Mercedes, F-Cell Roadster, Franken-Benz, FrankenBenz, Hybrid Benz, Hybrid Mercedes, Mercedes Benz F-Cell Roadster, Mercedes Hybrid Roadster

We’ve seen LEDs as great green lighting solutions in many cases, becoming more ubiquitous in lightbulbs, lamps, and more. And now a new use for LEDs: as performance art for sheep! Artistic collective BaaaStuds recently strapped thousands of LEDs to the backs of hundreds of sheep, and choreographed their movements for some pretty impressive visual arrangements. Gives new meaning to the term ‘Environmental Art’! We’ll let the video speak for itself.

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Post tags: BaaaStuds, extreme sheep LEDs, LED art, LED performance art, LED sheep