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Design for a Living World: The Nature Conservancy + Cooper Hewitt

If you are in New York between now and January, make sure that the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum's current exhibit Design for a Living World, presented in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, is on your Museum Mile drive-by. The exhibit's vision was to send noted industrial, fashion and accessories designers like Stephen Burks of readymade, Ted Muehling and Isaac Mizrahi, among others, to various parts of the world let them develop new uses for the local materials/resources. What I love about this exhibit is that each designer seems to have married his or her modern design principles while leveraging the local, functional ways of doing things. For example, Yves Behar designed a micro-plane-like product that would enable locals to harvest cocoa, and collect shavings to minimize waste. Repurposeful design at its best.

(Photos courtesy of Cooper Hewitt; Design Addict)

Putting the Garden Back in Garden State

This is a great building I am lucky to work on--a LEED-registered converted coconut manufacturing and storage facility called Garden Street Lofts in none other than Hoboken, NJ. I can vouch for the functional and thoughtful design, as well as the high ceilings and space galore, unheard of by Manhattan standards. How's this for compare and contrast-- the terrace spaces alone off one of the Penthouse's is 1400 SQ FT! Now you can hear how great it is straight from Inhabitat. 

Read & Repurposed

A sampling of cute, not too crunchy, furnishings and accessories that repurpose magazines and newspapers.

The Pulp Bulletin Board from Uncommon Goods allows you to slot memos in between the magazine edges or rock a traditional push pin. Designed by Adin Mumma and retails for US$20.

Modern Furniture's Recycled Magazine Wall Mirror is chic and one of a kind, crafted by artisans in Indonesia. Hate to send you here, but since it's out of stock, you can find a similar product at WalMart that retails for US$38.88.

This Translations Wastebasket courtesy of The Container Store is kitschy chic. Let's also be clear that the fact that it's repurposed from Japanese magazines makes it super cute. US$24.99 and found in the Earth Friendly Organization section.

 

Finally, made from recycled newsprint these Recycled Newsprint Pencils from the MoMA store's Destination : Seoul collection. Designed by Hyunjung Park these pencils (US$5 for non-members) are part of a MoMA-exclusive collection highlighting designers from South Korea.

Repurposeful Tabletop: Riedizioni on auto.

 

Courtesy of auto., a unique modern home furnishings and accessories shop in the Meatpacking District, feast your eyes on the Riedizioni collection by designer Luisa Cevese Riedizioni. These "Textile+Plastic=The Material" placemats use textile scraps and recycled industrial waste to create beautiful one of a kind tabletop designs. Her use of textile scraps create interesting textures, patterns and works of art.

Gloss Marks The Spot

I know there's some scientific process by which you hang art. Maybe there's a tape measure involved? A pencil? A leveler? I'm no handyman. However, I do have a new-found trick. Take your nail hook thing, dip the tip of the nail in some lip gloss. Then steadily hanging the frame directly on the hook, place it gently against the wall where you'd like to hang it. Touch the nail to the wall, and there you have your spot. Nailed it!!!!

Trunk Show

Thanks to an Inhabitat post, I came across the UK-based &made. And how I love the retro, bold-colored updates to these tree stumps, made by combining both the salvaged trunks and vintage furniture finds.

Sustainable Salvage: Second Chance Inc. and The Doe Fund

My brother Justin pointed out a very cool company based in Baltimore with operations in Philadelphia and Washington. Not only do they deconstruct/excavate old building sites in order to salvage unique pieces, they restore and refurbish these pieces for sale. This is no small operation. They have multiple warehouses, in which you can find anything from kitchen cabinetry to custom coffee tables. BTW we're talking more Home Depot than mid-century vintage showroom here. But the part he liked best about Second Chance, Inc. was their employee training program, in which they hire and train disenfranchised, local residents to make the restorations. I like The Doe Fund, too, for hiring homeless men and women, for public clean-up, restoration and renewal efforts, not to mention building low-income housing. 

Broken Plate Reincarnate

 

I just found The Broken Plate Company courtesy of a Great Green Goods post. I particularly like these cufflinks made from, well, broken vintage plates. Reminds me of all the mismatched dishware I dug out  during that kitchen makeover I embarked on this past summer.

Looking for repurposed materials for a new backsplash

It's time to upgrade the kitchen with at least some adjustments. K and I will likely focus on the walls, cabinets and the kitchen table, a weathered country pine number acquired from a boss at an early job. I'm searching for cool backsplash ideas, kind of like these aluminum tile ones found on re-nest.

A friend, Dana, recommended Sand Hill Industries who have a great color palette of 100% recycled glass tile.

This is an '09 project, but careful, repurposeful research in this economy is my friend.

Step it Up and Furnish Green, NYC

I stumbled across this company via their inventory on craigslist  and I fell in immediate love, not least of all because of their great, under-inflated prices. Upon further research Furnish Green is a "rescue and recycle showroom" out of this dude Nathan's dance studio on Broadway and 32nd Street in Manhattan.

Says he in a post: There are many ways to be green about furniture but we believe that by re-cylcing, re-purposing and re-using furniture that already exsists that this the best way to furnish your home. Much of the pre-1970 mass produced furniture was extremely well made and will probably outlive you and any illegitimate children you might have.