Every year, MoMA PS1 gives a young architect $85k to build an experimental party pavilion—read: a shading device for events—in the gravely courtyard of its Queens arm. This weekend, the museum unveiled this year’s space: A 30-foot-tall wall fabricated out of scraps from an Ithaca skateboard factory.
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So you’re doing your groceries or are out for a run, when you suddenly get a call – and then your phone dies because it’s out of power. What’s a desperate person supposed to do at that point, especially when the call is an important one?
Consider yourself lucky if you’re in New York, though, since you could probably just set off for the nearest Street Charging station to give your phone some much-needed power.
These solar-powered charging stations are thanks to the collaboration between AT&T, portable solar power systems developer Goal Zero, and Brooklyn design studio Pensa. The Street Charge stations were rolled out in various areas of New York.
Each station has PV panels installed on top and an internal battery that stores power gathered from the sun. Just plug your phone in and wait a few minutes to give your phone enough power to make that call or to charge it up because you have nothing better to do but stand and enjoy a sunny day. And also because you want to knock a couple of bucks off of your electric bill.
The concept for the Street Charge charging stations were done in early 2012 by Pensa. Marco Perry, one of the members of the studio’s team, described it as “an elegant all-in-one community solution for solar charging of mobile devices.”
From the looks of it, we agree.
[via Gizmag]
Google’s about to invest a staggering amount of money in building a new UK head office, with the company applying to create an enormous, 11-storey HQ in the renovated King’s Cross area of London.
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I had high hopes for iOS 7. It’s designed by Jony Ive, the God of Minimalism, Attention to Detail and Tight T-Shirts. I love his work almost as much as I love Phil Schiller (so huggable!) But Jony… you broke my heart, Jony. WHY DIDN’T YOU OPTICALLY CENTER THE 1 IN THE CALENDAR APP ICON?
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I always thought that Pixar’s original Luxo, Jr. had a whole lot of personality for a desk lamp. But imagine if your lamp had eyes and arms? That’s what you get when you buy the Nintendo Robotic Operating Buddy lamp.
It started out as one of those Nintendo robots from the 1980s, but has since been decommissioned and turned into a table lamp. Despite the fact that R.O.B. no longer functions as a NES peripheral, you can still rotate him 360 degrees, open and close his arms, raise and lower his arms and shoulders, and even grip things in his pincers.
The NES R.O.B. lamp is available over on Woody6Switch’s Etsy shop for $125(USD).
This time, just a year ago, very few people knew the terms “skeuomorphism” and “flat design." We complained about the kind of leathery design of some apps on iOS and OS X, but in general, the UI of Apple’s mobile operating system was just fine. Then, in just a few weeks, everything changed—and suddenly flat design was the new style everybody was talking about.
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Ever wonder why roller coasters can make even the strongest of stomachs feel like they’re turning inside out? Or why, as you seemingly dangle dangerously upside down, you never quite feel like you’re actually upside down? And did you know that some of the force you feel along the way has the potential to "cause brains to bleed and eyeballs to explode?"
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When the Sun comes out, it’s time to slather on the sunblock. It’s also time to put on your Wearable Solar outfit – because while it’s not the most conservative looking clothing, it’s definitely one of the most functional, avant garde pieces you can wear.
The Wearable Solar project is headed by Christiaan Holland and Pauline van Dongen. With their team of researchers, they’ve created flexible solar cells that can be sewn into clothing and worn.
These cells essentially turn its wearer into a living, breathing power plant of sorts.
The Wearable Solar suit was designed not only with functionality in mind. No one would want to walk around in such a bulky suit all day, so the shoulder flaps easily fold in to hide the panels when the wearer is done soaking up the sun for the day.
Whoever said you can’t be fashionable but still be eco-friendly obviously hasn’t heard of the Wearable Solar.
We tend to think of demolition as destructive: dynamite, dust, and plenty of fireworks. But as a New York Times article recently described, demolition in dense cities is, more and more often, a "stealth" operation, where a building is dismantled over a number of weeks.
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Mozilla is, unsurprisingly, pretty keen on open-source, and its latest release isn’t an updated Firefox version but a set of collaborative office kit as part of the new Open Source Furnitures Project. Designed by Mozilla and NOSIGNER for the browser company’s new Japanese offices, the furniture – which includes desks, wooden flooring with integrated cable
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