Yanko Design » Outdoor

Shadow Walls and Sunshine

Chris Burns — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:05:37 +0000

If you’re heavy into design, like you’re an addict, you basically can’t stand to see much in your environment that ISN’T put in place by a human being, you’re basically guaranteed to be at least generally alright at both interior and exterior design, the arranging of elements in your environment. And if you are, and you’re a generally make-your-own-profit sort of person in our modern world, you also like to find ways to conserve energy and make things less expensive for yourself. How about harnessing the sun for all of this?

Woo yes! Sunlight! It’s up there shooting out energy and we’ve not even really begun to delve very deeply into the ways we aught to be able to use it. Well let me tell you something. Drzach and Suchy are sticking their fingers into it, and they ain’t getting burnt! Nay! Let’s look at this!

What they’ve created here is called “Piksol,” and it is made to both collect solar energy and create arbitrary patterns and images on a building’s facade. Win? Yes.

Then, in combination with Shadow Casting Panels, these Piksols can be used to create fabulously lovely images that can change dynamically throughout the day as the sun changes positions.

Quite simple, quite smart.

Designers: Drzach & Suchy

None More Fierce A Bow

Chris Burns — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:02:52 +0000

Hello there archerists. I know that word is wrong. But you wouldn’t be telling me it was wrong if I had a BOW and ARROWS would you? No way! Having a bow and arrows is totally intense. Completely fierce, and not just Beyonce fierce. Like really wolflike and cougarlike. Comin at ya! And you know this bow is wild if we’re featuring it here on Yanko. We only feature the most fierce! This bow is a Recurve Bow, the kind they use in the Olympics. And you know they only let wolves in that.

This bow is called the “INNO CTX”, designed by a couple of intense designers by the names Won-Jae Lee and Won Jung Shin. Made of X carbon, aka the of the aviation sort, with according to these statistics I read before me in the information provided by the designer, is an 40% increase in intensity over the strength of any other carbon, while at the same time is thinner than any that’s come before it. That, and the elasticity’s increased over 190% compared to the general carbon used today. Whats this do?

It raises the intensity of the handle.

It strengthens the role of the bow as a shock absorber.

And it totally gives you like 100+ points to your archery skills.

Designers: Won-Jae Lee and Won Jung Shin for Win Archery

Massive Agricultural Urbanism

Long Tran — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:38:09 +0000

One of the biggest challenges in architecture is to create homes that provide more than just shelter. We’re on a slow march of strip mining our resources so the question is, can a home benefit the community and in turn, the environment? Agricultural Urbanism is a proposed residential project that combines thousand year old terrance farming with modern construction.

Each level has its own terrace where a number of crops can be grown privately and communally. Harvests can be shared and sold to supplement incomes. The irregular shape was designed to follow the way the sun moves across the sky to give plants the most amount of sunlight. The substrate not only provides ample grounds for farming, but a natural insulating layer keeping the entire building cool in the summers and warm in the winters. The benefits of vertical farming are two fold. Pests don’t like this kind of structure and runoff is minimized since the entire system is self regulated.

Designer: Greg Chung Whan Park

Stub The Butt On An AshPlate

Radhika Seth — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:03:58 +0000

Question to all smokers out there…how do you normally put out your cigarette? Most people I know just stub it under their foot, and obviously mess up the floor. Keeping this natural motion in mind is the AshPlate, a manhole-esque cover for public smoking zones. The hollow beneath the cover collects all the stubs, while giving the smoker the satisfaction of stamping his light. The floor plate form was finalized after a study of smokers’ postures (sitting, standing and squatting) was taken into consideration. The pole with the hole looks practical too.

Designer: Kang Kyeyoung

Air Cones For Road Safety

Radhika Seth — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:05:28 +0000

Road Cones can be a pain sometimes, for the driver a safety hazard and for the guy who has to place them on the road, a back breaking job. Not many must have thought of redesigning this thang, but innovation is really called for. Interim let’s look at the Air Cone Concept; it’s this flattened balloon strip that you lay on the road. Inflating it causes Air Cones to pop up, but care has been taken to ensure a sturdy design. Only hope that crazy kids with pins in hand don’t go popping it just for fun.

Designers: Hoyoung Lee, Youngwoo Park & Junkyo Lee

Deep Sea Exploring

Long Tran — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:14:17 +0000

Fluke is a diving robot designed for the deep abyss. The data collected serves to deepen our understanding of the ocean as an ecosystem. The research probes are equipped with flexible, pressure-resistant carriers suitable for holding various sensors in order to prepare for the respective missions. Extremely effective and featuring reduced energy consumption, the low-complexity drive system concept is based on the movements of a fish and can be manufactured affordably.

Designers: Ralf Kittmann & Annalisa Koch

Swinging The Other Way

Radhika Seth — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:10:35 +0000

Most of the time you’re nudging your co-bench partner to give you more seat space. So essentially sitting on benches really sucks. Generally they’re hard slabs of wood or concrete and do nothing much for your posterior or fun! This is the reason why we need more of the Swing Together Bench; I don’t need to say much…just have a look at the video and you’ll get the full picture. Google Offices can do with this swing!

Designer: Hanyoung Lee

Light Tree

Long Tran — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:05:31 +0000

The title of this post is pretty boring but it describes exactly what this concept is; a Light Tree. The artificial tree is covered in solar cells that power ultra-bright LEDs at the base. The light diffuses thru water which fills the entire cavity of the tree for that “glowy” look. The upper extremities hold seeds to REAL PLANTS, like OMG! I was getting worried about the total artificiality of this concept but at least you’ve got some green shrubbery in there.

Designer: Omar Ivan Huerta Cardoso

Lighting The Oceans With Wave Power

Long Tran — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 09:22:29 +0000

The Wavelight concept coverts mechanical energy captured by ocean waves into electrical energy to illuminate a series of LED lamps. Each lamp is tethered to its neighbor with a weight anchored to the sea floor. The lights are designed to attract attention for rescue operations or to warn passing ships to steer clear. A very intriguing design but are LEDs powerful enough? What happens if the anchor isn’t long enough to reach the sea floor?

Designers: Zhang Yakun, He Siqian, Zhu Ningning, Chen Chen & Mu Zhiwei

Smart Street Lights Know How To Bloom

Radhika Seth — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:44:06 +0000

The street lights in my area have a mind of their own and flicker into life on whim. So when I hear of concepts like the Sustainable City Lights, it makes me go green with envy. It’s not asking too much for an intelligent lighting system that harnesses the solar and wind energy for itself. Lampposts intuitive enough to beam up the LEDs only when people are around, else emit a soft glow! Ah, Wishful Thinking

Adapting itself to the environment, Sustainable City Lights mimic the opening and closing of a flower bud while harvesting the energies. Any surplus accumulated goes back to the main grid for powering other city things…

Designer: Philips Design