2Modern Design Talk - Modern Furniture & Design Blog

Baby Star Price Reduction!

Baby Star has just lowered their prices on 2Modern! Times are hard, and Baby Star is doing their part to help you save money!

A Sign of the Times

A nickel for architecture is no joke.  It's a thriving business and one that just

might out live the recession.

If you drop by the farmer's market in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, you 

can buy juicy red tomatoes, ripe clusters of grapes, and architecture.  In a booth

inspired by Lucy's psychiatry stand from the comic strip, Peanuts, architect John

Morefield dishes out sage advice for five cents.  Morefield can help you decide

where to add a staircase, or sketch out a new roof plan, or suggest the name 

of a drywall contractor.  

After being laid off twice last year, Morefield joined the growing ranks of 

unemployed architects whose jobs were cut because of the economic

downturn.  Rather than change professions, or move to another city to find work, 

Morefield took a more radical turn:  he dropped his prices to a nickel and set up 

shop in a farmer's market.   Business has been booming.  Of course, Morefield is

not designing an entire house for five cents, which he donates to the Ballard 

Food Bank.  He is answering questions in order to create leads. Everyone leaves 

with a business card.

Morefield is busy expanding his operation.  At his web site,

architecture5cents.com you can pay a nickel and receive architectural advice or 

you can join the Architecture 5¢ movement and become a franchisee.  This means you get your own booth, website, license to use the "Architecture 5¢" trademark, a blog, etc, etc.

Morefield says that he wants other architects to get "out on their streets, engaging their

communities." But he is also offering a business strategy for generating new clients.

Is Morefield driving down the value of architecture or is he simply making the 

idea of hiring an architect more accessible? One thing is certain, if the economy 

continues to worsen, we might see other professions set up booths in their local

farmer's market.  Keep your eyes peeled for "Medical Advice 5¢."  

 

New from OFFI

OFFI has some fun new chairs and lamps to brighten things up! The classic Perch Lounge is now available in Ebony or Ivory Leather. Hand-blown glass lamps like the Cupstack Lamp, Zig Zag Lamp, and the Flare Tower Lamp make for fun lighting with a modern twist. The Cachet Swivel Suspension Chair gives perfect balance to your posture and the environment, since it's 99% recyclable! And the minimal yet comfortable Paket Table and Paket Chair Set can be folded up and packed away, saving room without sacrificing visual appeal.

FLOS

FLOS has some great new pieces! Designers such as Sebastian Wrong, Philippe Starck, and Rodolfo Dordoni have produced amazing lighting that is both functional and fashionable. Check out the new Spun Table Lamp and Floor Lamp, the Ray Table Lamp, and the Skygarden Pendant Lamp.

Community Art Makers- New Years Extravaganza!

On New Year's Eve, as a finale to the Austin, TX First Night parade, artists Dave Umlas and Marrilee Ratcliffe are going to set a 34 foot tall, dual faced, functioning wooden clock ablaze.

"So often, "art" is the tangible thing produced, something placed on a wall and revered or reviled. We're trying to turn this perception on its head a little. What we build is large and meant to create an impact upon introduction, destruction and disappearance. Upon their destruction, what is left are the skills we have garnered and the relationships we've built, the community we have created – and that is real art. We burn it so we can restore and build it again."

Throughout the day on December 31, participants are invited to attach their New Years' resolutions to an also functioning wooden chain that will run the height of the clock until, at approximately 8:30 p.m., fountains of fireworks will fill the clock and then they'll set it on fire! Check out their photo gallery at Community Art Makers

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

2009 will certainly go down as a very memorable one, to say the least. I think there will be a lot of reflection on what exactly transpired over this past year. There is no need to rehash it all, the Media does a great job at keeping us up to date with every detail possible.

I guess the one thing that I can decipher from all of this is this...if you are in a position of power, and your decisions impact several people, then make sure that you are acting with other people's best interest in mind. Make sure that your integrity is in check and that you are as concerned with other people's well-being as your own.

CEO's, Politicians, Hedge Fund Managers (Ponzi Scheme Operators), Teachers, Parents, etc...we all inherently know right from wrong. We all know when we are looking to 'just get ours', regardless of the end result of our actions on others.

I am sure I am preaching to the choir...as most of the people that are the root cause of some of these current global concerns will likely never read this, let alone have it sink in. Maybe if we start giving more attention to the people that are doing good things for people, doing the right or selfless thing when no one is even watching, then things will start to change in a positive direction. I hope that good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior isn't in 2009. That is my wish.

I sincerely hope that all of you out there have a very Happy, Healthy (and Conscious) New Year!

Greg

Biomorphism and Solar Design

Biomorphism is the use of living organisms as inspiration for the design of inanimate objects and environments. Bee hives have been the inspiration for social housing structures and pre-fabricated building panels. Biomorphism does not merely focus on the shapes of living organisms, but it also looks at their functional, structural, organizational, and behavioral qualities. Trees have always been used to inspire the structural columns of buildings, while the egg's impressive compressive strength has given designers insight into the construction of concrete vaults and arches.

The plant leaf is a incredibly efficient factory for converting sunshine into energy and so, not surprisingly, it inspired the idea of the artificial solar energy collector. Usually these collectors, or cells, are rectangular in shape because this an easy module to reproduce and link together into a chain of cells to form an array. The common rectangular solar cell looks very little like a leaf, yet the shape of the leaf is not an arbitrary form. The thin membrane spans a wide surface area because of the gentle curvature that gives structural strength. Form clearly follow function for most of the natural world, because otherwise an organism fails survive.

Lilly pads have wide disc shaped leaves that float lightly on the water like a pontoon boat, allowing them to gather sunlight all day without fighting for space with their landlocked cousins. The water intensifies the sunlight that is gathered up by the leaves, which slowly rotate to match the motion of the sun as it arcs across the sky. The floating lily is tethered by its rope-like stem to roots that grip the bottom of the stream or pond, preventing the plant from floating away, while still giving it enough slack to maneuver.

The design of the lily pad is the inspiration for a proposal by ZM Architects of Scotland to build for artificial solar lily pads. Ranging in size from 15ft to 45 ft in diameter, these giant floating solar cells would advantage of the open and under used space of the River Clyde in Glasgow to generate energy for the city. These solar lilies would be tethered to shore and use small motors to rotate themselves in order to follow the sun's path. Though the project remains at the preliminary planning stage it garnered numerous awards has sparked renewed interest in biomorphic solar design.

Taking biomorphism a little more literally is the leaf shaped solar module (a prototype) developed by Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in collaboration with corporate partners Tokki and Mitsubishi.

Each leaf is composed of layers of organic paper-thin film sandwiched into tightly and then wrapped in a water tight membrane. The intention of the designers is for the leaf modules to be grouped into artificial plant like structures.

From a design perspective solar trees that look like trees are not that compelling and certainly not much of a creative stretch, but the technology of these ultra thin solar cells lends itself to future exploration in ways that will surely surprise us.

Cor

Cor is now on 2Modern! Previously under Plank, Cor now has its own space and some fabulous new products! Cor’s Silver Anytime Moisturiser helps rejuvenate the skin and minimize the appearance of wrinkles. Cor’s Silver Eye Cream helps reduce the fine lines around the eyes and mouth. And Cor’s Silver Wrinkle Serum can help restore the sun and acne damaged areas to their original look.

Legare Sustainable

Legare Furniture has just released a new collection of completely Environmentally-Friendly furniture called Legare Sustainable. The Legare Sustainable line includes a complete range of office, media and occasional furniture. Patented tool-free assembly, incredibly strong tab & slot design, and many other forward-thinking user features, are just a few of the innovations you'll find in every piece of Legare Sustainable furniture.

Newsworthy shirts?

I thought this was pretty funny when I found it on a link to the Barbarian Group's website. It appears that in an effort to spread the word about CNN programming, they are designing t-shirts with headlines on them.

In the 24 hours since CNN.com published its story calling the election for Obama, the site sold nearly 5,000 T-shirts emblazoned with "Obama inspires historic victory." Under the headline is "I just saw it on CNN.com" and the time and date 11:04 p.m., 11-4-08."

"The customized T-shirts are a new digital twist on the marking of historic occasions. Newspapers have seen huge spikes in demand for copies of the paper declaring Obama's victory. CNN sites enjoyed a big influx of traffic on Election Day, drawing 12.8 million visitors on Tuesday, compared with 8.4 million the same day last week."