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Crystal Fight Club

Inspiration can come from anywhere. A book, a dream, a news report and occasionally some deeply dark and disturbing places in our society. Take for example this crystal collection that showed at this years Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan. Designed by Koncern Design Studio for Rückl Crystal, this collection dubbed “Domestic Violence – Golden Edition” abstractly commemorates violent moments with these crystal designs that highlight the sad aftermath of domestic violent moments.

Designer: Studio Koncern

Get wet with style

So as I was gazing longingly at this bathtub design called “Sorgente” by Lenci Design for Teuco, I realized that I was schooled on the difference between a bathtub and a hot tub. A bathtub is obviously for bathing, and a hot tub is obviously for more recreational use and relaxing.

Designer: Lenci Design

0-60 Seconds in 60 Seconds…

Albert Einstein once said “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” Tell that to designer John Pszeniczny, he thinks time could use a turbo boost and has designed the fastest watch on Earth dubbed “F1/Carbon GMT”. Inspired by the F1 race car world and constructed of carbon fiber, Swarovski crystal, rubber and metal, this timepiece has 18 identical rubies and tells the time in everyone of the 18 cities on the 2008 F1 circuit.

Designer: John Pszeniczny

Alice in Amsterdam

What better way to arouse creativity and inspiration than clean, white spaces filled with glowing ambient light? Some might argue that the lack of visual stimuli might create the opposite affect, but I beg to differ, and so do the Amsterdam based architects UXUS. They decided to use their own offices to showcase their latest creation that is self described as a “mysterious and poetic atmosphere of old and new world fables,”

Architect: UXUS

A little light security…

Gosh I love objects with a multi-purpose! Some things in our lives really should be multi-purpose eg. the TV, it really is just a screen with speakers. Why can’t it be a microwave oven as well? or a wireless router for my internet? It just sits there taking up space, and taking my attention. But I digress and ask you to cast your eyes on this multi-purpose bicycle lock / bicycle light by designer Adrian Weidmann, he calls it “Loc+”… uh, ok.

Designer: Adrian Weidmann

Forest Fire “Clear Cut” Robot

Yep, this is exactly what you think it is. The forest fire prevention robot by Jordan Guelde is an advanced robot designed to clear large areas of foliage from around a forest fire to help stop the flames from spreading. Traditional back burning would certainly be cheaper and possibly less lethal to surrounding wildlife, but complete with and array of hubless motors, and integrated fuel system of its back this robot is a hell of a lot cooler.

Designer: Jordan Guelde

Horde by Numbers

Got a lot of stuff? Can’t remember where you put the power cord for that mobile phone you never use? Well designer Pietro Arosio for EmmeBi has your number. He just might be one of the first designers to think of something so obvious it makes my brain ache. He put numbers on these lovely drawer designs, making finding your stuff that much easier. That’s it! Numbers! Genius.

Designer: Pietro Arosio

Cowboy Gourmet

Cigarettes have long been a source of power for song writers and brooding actors. For years, these cancer stick starlets have lit up the silver screen and play a major role in countless movies and pop culture. They are used as a universal currency in prisons around the world, as post sex rituals, as part of magic tricks, as conversation starters.. ” got a light?”, as a last right before execution and even as timers on bombs.

Designer: Myan Duong

Citroën with a Twist

One of my favorite scenes in the classic and hilarious movie “Airplane” was when Lloyd Bridges hands a weather report to “Johnny,” a fellow air traffic controller and asks: “Johnny, what can you make out of this? [Hands him the weather briefing] Johnny replies: “This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl…” That scene ran through my head and was what I first thought of when I read about French auto makers Citroën’s C-Design competition. This challenge is to see what useful items designers can envision and make with only Citroën car parts and their logo design.

A New “CONCEPCION” – University of the Americas

What started as an idea in 2002, has now been completed. The University of the Americas in the city of Concepcion, Chile. The idea behind this futuristic design was to bring a futuristic building to an urban area that is growing in logistics. The area of where the project began was once a quiet area outside of the city, which now is turning into a more centralized location for future growth. Constructed using reinforced concrete floors, with each building level being 60 meters in length.

Beauty is skin deep, Geekness is to the core…

Fashion and technology have been dancing with each other for years now. Sadly, it’s not been the kind of dancing you see in movies where everyone seems to know when to pop-n-lock and bust out the serious Justin Timberlake moves, that eventually ends in a triumphant “tada!” with hands lifted in the air.

Designer: Erik De Nijs

Porsche Design plays Othello

Darth Vader is dead, long live Anakin Skywalker! For years black was where it’s at with Porsche Design. Now when I say “Porsche Design” I don’t mean the cars, I mean the luxury lifestyle objects inspired by Porsche (the cars). Their use of black across the design board was primarily based on the idea that black, according to Ferdinand Porsche himself “…is a non-color that expresses that heart of the object.”

Designer: Porsche Design

Square is the new round

What’s this? A giant jewelry box for “power-ups” in Zelda? Nope, it’s a fine example multi-function furniture by designer John Nouanesing. Calling it the “One To Three For Five (Seconds)”, this giant white cube table can easily split up into a pair of low riding chairs and a red table/foot stool/extra life. How long does this transformation take to complete? Well as the name implies, it takes five seconds and a deep desire to interdimensionalize your surroundings.

Designer: John Nouanesing