What is good in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women. How do you take what is good in life? By smashing some fucking skulls with these Papua New Guinean war shields. Beware the man who never dies. More »
The nCycle has a lot going on. It looks great and it’s super sleek, but it might be a little over-designed. Maybe. More »
I’ve seen images of a hotel made up of shipping containers, and modern architects using them, but this is the first time I’ve seen one used as a sauna. There are plenty of these old containers around and I bet that you can have them for cheap, if you want to use one of these as a basis for some construction.
The Canadian design studio Castor Canadensis have developed the Sauna Box, which re-envisions a common shipping container. Their sauna design is quite luxurious, and it was created as a traditional wood-burning steam. It’s water-tight, and can moved to any location as it needs little site preparation. It’s powered by wood fire and some solar panels.
Each $41,000 unit is custom-built with an outer skin fabricated from COR-TEN steel. The Sauna Box comes with an iPod dock and speakers, a guitar hook up, stools, magnetic truck lights, and for some reason, a set of bronze antlers. I wonder how much cheaper it would be without the antlers.
[via designboom]
What’s not to love about birds? Many are beautiful to look at and even some of the tiny creatures flit around from flower-to-flower, pollinating the world and making it a prettier, greener place for all us humans to live in.
So why not lend a hand and provide them with some accommodations in exchange for their help in keeping our world a prettier place, as it should be? No worries if you’re not very handy with a hammer and therefore, find yourself unable to build your own birdhouse, because Klaas Kuiken’s ceramic birdhouse roof tiles are here!
They’re basically roof tiles with a small birdhouse built into the top of the tile itself. If you have a couple of shingles that are up for repair, then why not be a good neighbor to the birds in your neighborhood and replace them with these tiles instead?
Klaas first designed these quirky clay birdhouses in 2009, but now they’re finally available for purchase. You can check his site for ordering information, but you’d better hurry, because only 100 birdhouses have been produced so far.
[via Colossal]
I think they had the right idea when they began making sporks and including these hybrid utensils in packs of instant noodles. However, they left a lot to be desired, especially since they didn’t really do a good job when it came to actually scooping up soup or noodles.
That is, until now.
Some folks finally saw fit to reinvent the spork and come up with a utensil that is actually useful. The spork you see here looks more likely to be able to perform its functions as both a spoon and as a fork, doesn’t it? While it was specifically designed for eating ramen noodles and soup, it could also come in handy for pasta and other saucy dishes.
The Ramen Spoon+Fork is available from Uncommon Goods for $14 (USD).
Now excuse me while I go fix up a bowl of instant noodles…
[via Bit Rebels]
The Raspberry Pi is definitely a cool little computer, and while the system is pretty bare-bones, a couple of accessories will allow users to make it quite useful in a variety of different situations. Enter the Sweetbox case.
The Sweetbox was developed by Paris-based designer Alexander Xanthakis. The translucent polyamide enclosure wraps the credit-sized computer firmly, while leaving the ports accessible so that it can be plugged into a monitor, TV screen and a keyboard. The protective case adds structure and rigidity so that the Raspberry Pi lasts longer and is easier to transport than as a standalone board.
The Sweetbox was launched via a Kickstarter campaign, and you’ll have to pledge at least £15 (~$24 USD) to get yours, letting you turn your $35 PC into a $60 PC. There are also some pricey limited-edition versions of the Sweetbox, including the fluorescent SPACE (shown below) for £100 (~$163 USD) and a version crafted from sterling silver for a whopping £500 (~$813 USD).
[via designboom]
If you really hate your guests, looks no further than Jay Watson Design‘s thermochromic furniture. Before they sit down it looks like any normal old table and bench—but when they rise, their sweaty ass will leave a large bright patch that would make any man blush. More »
We’ve seen plenty of geeky room makeovers in the past months. There was the TARDIS room, the Skyrim basement and the spaceship bedroom. Vaughan, Ontario resident Jason Shron is a train geek – in fact, he makes model trains for a living – so naturally he made a replica of a train car in his basement. Naturally for him I mean.
Jason’s happy place is a replica of a VIA Rail train car from the 80s. According to Global Toronto the exterior of the train is made from drywall, but it’s mostly authentic on the inside. It took him 4-1/2 years to build, and Jason even made fake emergency kits and, on one end of the train, a photo mural depicting a neighboring car to complete the delusion illusion. Shron lucked out with many of the replica’s parts; he got them from an old car that was about to be scrapped.
You can read more about the train at the link and on Jason’s company newsletter. I have a replica of an office space – in fact I’m in it right now – but I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to see it.
[via Global Toronto]
I know it’s a total luxury item that I have no business spending my hard-earned money on, but I’ve always wanted an arcade cabinet that I could load up with MAME and all of my favorite arcade games. But up until now, most of the cabinets out there were a little too tacky for me to actually have in my home. Now that I’ve seen these Retro Space arcade cabinets, I’ve got no excuse – except the money, of course.
These awesome retro-modern arcade cabinets come from designer Martijn Koch in The Netherlands. They each have a gorgeous 27-inch 1920×1200 LCD screen in the middle, as well as two arcade-grade Sanwa 8-way joysticks, real arcade buttons for each player, as well as a 6cm Sanwa arcade trackball and a single analog joystick for those games that support one.
Or if you’re a fan of games Arkanoid and Tempest like me, you’ll opt for the version with the Ultimarc SpinTrac spinner instead of the analog stick. Yes, please.
The cabinet has also got a pair of Canton speakers and a stereo T-amp. Keep in mind that this cabinet doesn’t include a computer – though they’ll be happy to custom fit it with a Mac Mini or Raspberry Pi for an added cost.
Prices range from €2,099 (~$2822 USD) for a slightly distressed yellow unit shown here to €2,499 (~$3360 USD) for the lovely anthracite grey model, so this definitely isn’t a cheap system. Never mind the fact that it may be cost-prohibitive to ship one of these outside of Europe.
I know Christmas is 11-1/2 months away, but I’m putting this on my list now.
It might sound funny when you hear about some poor commuter getting stuck in the door of the subway, but it’s actually pretty dangerous. I know I wouldn’t want it to happen to me.
It’s something that can potentially happen to any one of us – especially on a crowded train – and designer Hyun Ju Park thinks he can tackle it with his Subway Signal Light concept.
Basically, it involves the installation of an illuminated indicator on the subway door to give passengers a visual warning of when they should board the train, when they should hurry, and when they should just wait for the next one. It uses the familiar green means “go”, yellow means “slow down” “hurry up” and red means “stop” color scheme.
It’s easy to ‘read’ and interpret the warnings and the slim, modern design doesn’t look half bad, either.
There’s still room for improvement but I’d really like to see signs like these up and running on public transportation soon. What do you think?
[via Yanko Design]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
