The artificial Floating Islands concept is quite innovative and interesting. As the name suggests, it will be a huge artificial floating island, or more appropriately, a floating garden covered in lush greens. While that makes for absolute pleasure to the eye, this island will include a spa as well, for comfort. The floating gardens/ Spa Wellness Amsterdam is a collaborative project from Dutch designer Anne Holtrop, green technology firm Studio Noach and botanist Patrick Blanc.
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Design firm Oppenheim have proposed a new building for UAE beach. This structure would rely on renewable energy from the sun and the wind for most of its energy needs, and while generating all that green energy, the Marina and Beach Towers will also strive to cut down on its energy use. The design is unconventional, but it is supposed to “merge the sky and water to allow for a more varied living experience.” Or whatever that means.
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The Bentley Aero Ace project Speed VI concept car is an independent design proposal from Royal College of art student Gabriel Tam. The designer has given the Speed VI concept a futuristic treatment, but at the same time, the concept looks back at the original Bentley Speed 6 for inspiration, and seeks to celebrate the sporting heritage of Bentley.
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A few days back, we saw Roots furniture, designer Kai Linke’s attempt to create furniture from plant roots. Well, designer Asif Khan has a somewhat similar, but more flowery approach to furniture with his Harvest Project. This installation of chairs and tables is on show at the Design Museum, London as a part of the “Designers In Residence” program. And as is visible, the furniture is made from freeze-dried flowers.
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There has been a fair amount of worry over the large amount of electricity/ energy lost to vampire power. While the name sounds cool, it is also responsible for the loss of precious energy and increase in power bills. A lot of this happens because most of use are either too lazy to unplug the appliances once their job is done, or we simply forget to do the unplugging part. That’s where the Fair Energy Clock steps in.
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The Cloudscape looks like a wonder world, quite like the one seen in fiction and cartoons where everything is fluffy and soft. This is an installation by the Bjarke Ingels Group and was installed at the P.S. 1 Young Architects Program design competition. While the shape may not be an exact reminder of the clouds, the design pretty much does its job well.
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The solar powered electric lawnmower concept has the looks of a winner, and zero carbon emissions. The winner of the Red Dot Design Awards 2009 was designed to look and act like a “garden cleaner” with the vision of being more like the vacuum cleaner than a noisy grass cutter.
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A computer mouse functions by movements and clicks, and the Corky Mouse is no different. This mouse though, powers itself from its usage; every movement, click, and roll of the scroll wheel generates power to keep the mouse going. The design from Adele Peters is to be constructed from 100% recycled plastic, and where possible, it will use recycled and biodegradable cork. It is, of course, the use of cork that gives it the name, and the unique texture the mouse has.
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The Gyre concept is a floating structure that may look a bit flat at the top, but it does go deep into the water. It is designed to be an “underwater skyscraper,” only, the skyscraper part begins at the water surface and goes deep into the water. Created by Zigloo, the underwater skyscraper would go nearly 400 meters into the water; for comparison, that is roughly the same height as the Empire State building.
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The power generating dog leash is the work of Goddard Technologies, and as you’d guess, it is quite different from the dog leashes we are used to seeing. This one has three high intensity LEDs and a safety button that sets off an emergency tone. Other features include an ergonomically designed handle that lets you have a comfortable grip and a quick lock brake to stop the recoil of the leash. The more interesting part of course, is the power generating the leash does.
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