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Swarovski Sparkling Lake of Shimmer

So you’re at Baselworld 2009, just walking around, taking note of all the lovely items. Now, just imagine you’re weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses. Are you there? No. You are at the Swarovski stand, and you are experiencing the “Lake of Shimmer:” hundreds of free-swinging mirrors remotely controlled to remind the viewer of of the brilliant beauty of the crystal. Sooo very glamourous.

Designer: Tokujin Yoshioka

No Green in Los Angeles

Not for long, anyway; not at this rate. According to the design group in charge of this project, 60% of urban water consumption goes toward landscaping. Quite simply, this is because of what’s called “traditional lawns,” aka, lush green grass that doesn’t naturally grow well in untended-by-humans California. The alternative is “California native gardens,” those which are easy to tend to, cheaper than the alternatives, and don’t suck up the H20 supplies at anywhere near the current rate. Here’s the campaign to save LA.

Designer: CalArts Design Team (see post for list)

Paris Hilton Eaten by Bullet-Proof Tiger

Here’s a concept closer to advertising than Yanko usually likes to get, but it’s for an extremely important cause: endangered wild animals. Animals that, given the chance, would rip your freaking head off! But they are endangered. So do not kill them, please. Instead, ADDI design group wishes for you to design products for those deadly beasts who need to be saved for extinction.

Won’t you design?

Designer: Addi Design Group

Too Soon? Seemingly Recession-Proof Aston Martin Presents the Luxury “One-77″

Literally hand-crafted features, production of only 77 units (that’s 77 cars made, ever,) and cost around a couple million dollars. Is this for real? Aston Martin creates a designer dream-car that defies the imagination of the middle class and acts as a masthead for the company:

“all [the] beauty we could bring to a car.”

Designer: Marek Reichmann + Aston Martin Design Team

Bend to your will design

Origami is one of the oldest forms of Japanese design. The Japanese origin began in the 6th century when Buddhist monks from China carried paper to Japan. Maybe they just wanted to annoy the Japanese by paying them in folded money that was nearly impossible to unfold, who knows. The planning and genius use of a single material to create a an intricate silhouette or design is probably one of the most challenging for any designer.