Cool Hunting
More than just a clever play-on-words, LA-based architects Fung + Blatt's Lawnchair melds conceptual art with outdoor comfort for those who don't mind a few grass stains. Upholstered with rolled sod, a built-in "moisturizing" system helps irrigate while avoiding run off. When in production (prototype pictured), the literal lawn chair will be lightweight (at least under 25 pounds) and shipped ready to assemble. Fung + Blatt are currently working on a streamlined version of the chaise lounge that will be machined from aluminum and available in limited quantities this fall.
We think it's a great (and more practical) take on ReadyMade's clever sod sofa from a few years back, which you can check out in their archives. (You'll have to register, but on a side note it's well worth it for full, unrestricted access to dozens of their back issues.)
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Active Furniture, a project by Spanish designers Virginia Pol, Ferran Lajara and Cristina Guardiola, uses counter-intuitive design as an antidote to our increasingly sedentary lives. The three objects—a floor lamp, a desk and a wall hanger—each require a level of exertion on the user's part to function. The floor lamp must be held upright, both to illuminate the bulb and keep the lamp vertical....
OuTable, a collection of conceptual plastic utensils for outdoor dining, brings the poetry of nature to such humble items as the spoon. Designed by the clever Israeli-based firm d-Vision, the "neo-naturist" project takes inspiration from the simple beauty of eating outdoors with friends or family. With varying shapes and sizes that echo the organic forms found in nature, the collection also speaks to an...
Addressing the lack of places to rest one's feet in the modern metropolis, French designer Francois Bauchet seems to, ahem, have hit the nail on the head with a new urban seating element recently installed in front of the Saint-Etienne rail station in southern France. Named Clous, French for nail, the form of the design makes a playful reference to the utilitarian object, providing a...
For a chair prototype called the Conolounge, Chilean designers Onceneto tapped La Tercera newspaper for leftover paper printer rolls. A steel support provides structure and adds a fetching bright green accent. It's a clever example of creative reuse that reminds us of a less conceptual and more practical version of Julian Lwin's Biotube Bench. via Treehugger...
Originally included in MoMA's recent Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition, Beta Tank's Mind Chair has been transformed from a hacked polypropylene readymade into a working wooden prototype. The chair features an array of solenoids (electromagnetic coils) attached to the back and controlled by a video camera. The camera transmits information to the solenoid grid, which then inscribes the visual stimuli onto the user's...
Art Center College of Design student Jake Loniak combined motorcycle technology with an exoskeleton form for what is essentially a wearable motorcycle. Named Deus Ex Machina and branded by Yamaha, it's intended to serve as an extension of the body. Loniak found inspiration in Biomechatronics and used 36 pneumatic muscles, seven artificial vertebrae and two linear actuators to mimic human motion. He introduced the...
