Sustainable Typography and More

Moss graffiti has been around for a while, but one artist who's work really embodies it is Anna Garforth. Her experimentation's in typography has resulted in an array of unique and beautiful pieces, and the body of work is both natural and exploratory. Whether she is painting on a wall with moss, wrapping a fence in masking tape or reusing materials to create public art you will be inspired by the creativity she puts into each piece. This is truly sustainable art.

Installation- "The Big Bang depicts Mother Earth as a seed shattering explosion."

RETHINK

CHANGE

Love your street. Reused paper installation. These are little pyramids!

Made from trash.

Made with tape.

Milk bottle guerrilla gardening project.

Lovely Type!

Here's a great recipe to make your own moss art.

A Beautiful and Sustainable Building

Designed by 24H Architecture, this office building in the Netherlands is both beautiful and sustainable. It has a solid concrete and asphalt on one side and a patterned timber on the other. Located between woodland and a highway, the building has contrasting elevations and when rainwater collects on the terraced roof it is directed to drain over parts of the grey stone, encouraging moss and and plants to grow on the building.

With the Thermal Energy Storage, solar panels on the roof and the use of fsc certified wood, the building gets a class A level in the Greencalc calculation method and could also be classified as a BREEAM Excellent building.

So lovely.

Via Dezeen

Solar Powered Rockers

I love these SOFT Rockers created by Sheila Kennedy, Professor of the Practice of Architecture at MIT and a small team of Design, Engineering and Architecture students.
They are both form and function.

"The SOFT Rocker leverages its environment in a dynamic manner by using the human power of balance to create an interactive 1.5 axis 35 watt solar tracking system. Soft power electronics designed for this project charge the 12 ampere-hour battery and store solar energy harvested during the day."

7 Steps to design for Sustainability

Just after I posted about the last article I saw this. Great ideas for designing for sustainability!


Designers Accord - Sustainability in 7 -Dara O'Rouke from Core77 on Vimeo.



Via Core 77

The Fun Theory

An initiative of Volkswagon, the Fun Theory says that fun is the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better. Volkswagen's videos show people using stairs painted like piano keys rather than standing on an escalator. Dropping items into a waste bin with funny sound effects rather than tossing the trash on the ground. Using a recycle bin with arcade effects rather than tossing bottles in the trash. These are very clever and very fun, wouldn't it be great if this idea spread around the world. See more of the video's here.



They also have a competition running until Dec. 15th 2009.
Find your own evidence for the theory that fun is best way to change behavior for the better. For yourself, for the environment or something entirely different. Your entries should be presented with a written explanation plus a visualization of the idea itself. It could be a simple sketch, photos or a film of a prototype. You decide what will do your entry justice. Check it out.

via zingzone

Nomadic Wonderland

Can transformative textiles be one solution to aid sustainable design? Well Eunsuk Hur a recent graduate from central Saint Martins School of Art and Design is asking and answering that question with her new line, Nomadic Wonderland.

Nomadic Wonderland is an interchangeable modular system of textile pieces that can be transformed by the user to create a new pieces of clothing or interior accessories which promote sustainable design. Each piece can be put together in a variety of ways allowing the user freedom of design with playful experimentation, different outfits that are emotionally durable and multifunctional.

Using laser cutting and various printing processes: such as sublimation printing on wood, acid printing on wool felt, etching onto leather as well as handcraft techniques. The user has the choice of colour, shape and textiles that can be altered over and over again, thus creating a sustainable product.

The results are striking, intricate and arresting. The neutral color palette combined with black and dark grey illustrations really evoke a graphic yet ostentatious result.