Furnish Green

Picking up some threads of a recent post about some inventive site furnishings, as well as the ongoing obsession with Vegetated Architecture brings another melding of the two. A range of vegetated furniture that ranges from the purely decorative to the downright functional. First, a quick shot from Michael Cannell's blog at Dwell - with some unique seating spotted at the Milan Furniture Fair.


:: image via Dwell
Another interesting furnishing seen a bunch over the past few weeks is from Greenform, and the bench 'Relax' by designer Stephan Stauffacher... which is more art piece than furniture, with a 5" height and grass-stain causing surface... but I strangely want one, filled with some different type of plant...


:: image via gardenhistorygirl

A bit more functional are a couple of examples of GYO furniture, via Inhabitat. First is the TerraGrass Armchair kit featuring a cardboard frame that is filled with soil and planted for a comfy looking overstuffed chair.


:: image via Inhabitat

Another from Inhabitat - with a Lawn Couch DIY kit feature from the magazine Ready-Made (link to this project seems to be gone)...


:: image via Inhabitat

And another from designer Julian Lwin, via Inhabitat: "The recycled cardboard cylinders of the new “Ephemeral BioTube Bench” are embedded with seeds using a cellulose liquid, so that as they are exposed to moisture, rain and light, they biodegrade (to a rich mulch layer) and turn into an instant garden."

:: image via Inhabitat

Taking this to other forms of furnishing, a table with a built-in-trough for some sort of vegetation - we'll call it a living centerpiece. 'Side Table' is by designer Jonas Hauptmann - as seen on The Design Blog seems perfect for a stand of cut-your-own lemongrass, or perhaps a nice area for someone to hide those brussel sprouts.

:: image via Hauptmann Products Inc.

Taking functional furnishings a bit further, GreenU, by Andrew Volpe, a student at the Northern Michigan university envisions a self-contained and self-sufficient shelter, information kiosk, seat, recycling/trash receptacle all in one handy, sustainable, easy to assemble vegetated unit.

:: images via The Design Blog

Maybe the artful inclusion of vegetation into the idea of furnishings can avoid the inevitable wardrobe changes that may be necessary to comfortably occupy urban spaces. While a tad tongue-and-cheek, there is some social commentary associated with Archisuits by Sarah Ross - which meld fashion, function and localism to accomodate the specific seating barriers in Los Angeles.

:: images via Sarah Ross

Space-Age Tech Coming to a Building Near You: Aerogel as Insulation

Photo: Peter Tsou at NASA's JPL, Public domain.

Frozen Smoke in My Walls

Aerogel, also known as Frozen Smoke, is quite an interesting material. It has the lowest bulk density of any known porous solid, it is mostly transparent but feels a bit like Styrofoam to the touch, and it has remarkable thermal insulation properties (NASA has used it on the Mars Rover and space suits). But it's always been too expensive for most large scale uses... And that might be changing.

Photo: Aspen Aerogels

Aspen Aerogels has started selling aerogel blankets for use as insulation in buildings.

"Aspen Aeorgels says that its Spaceloft blankets have two to four times the insulating value per inch compared to fiberglass or foam. It's also relatively easy to work with, allows water vapor to pass through, and is fire resistant--a common demonstration of aerogels is to have a person fire a Bunsen burner below the aerogel while putting a hand on the top side." (source)
The fact that it's just 2 to 4 times better than fiberglass or foam makes me think that they paid a pretty big performance price to bring costs down, since pure aerogel would provider higher thermal insulation, but it's still a pretty big step in the right direction. We're not talking about a few percent improvement. Over time, in a big building, this could represent a lot of heat that would otherwise leak out (or heat that would leak in when the air conditioning is on).
Other companies that are coming out with more affordable aerogel derivatives to be used as building insulation are Cabot and Thermablok.
I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years (or decades at most) very high-quality aerogel was used almost everywhere for insulation. Unless we make something even better, that is.
Trivia: According to Wikipedia, "Aerogel was first created by Samuel Stephens Kistler in 1931, as a result of a bet with Charles Learned over who could replace the liquid in 'jellies' with gas without causing shrinkage."

Via CNET, Reddit

More Green Science
Potentially Amazing Technology: Is Spray-On Liquid Glass About to Make Everything Greener?

Puma City: Container Retail by Lot-Ek.

photos by Danny Bright
Nobody does shipping container architecture like Lot-ek, one of the originals. They have designed a demountable retail space for Puma, with "with large double heights as well as with 4-container-wide open spaces to challenge the modular box-quality of the container inner space; offices, press area and storage occupy the second level and a bar, lounge and event space with a large open terrace is at the top."

Love that cantilever! I wouldn't think you could do that.

"The building uses 40-foot long shipping containers as well as a number of the existing container connectors to join and secure containers both horizontally and vertically. Each module is designed to ship as conventional cargo container through a system of structural covering panels that fully seals all of its large openings to be removed on site to re-connect the large, open interior spaces."

Plug n' play...
"Puma City is a truly experimental building that takes full advantage of the global shipping network already in place. At 11,000 square feet of space, it is the first container building of its scale to be truly mobile, designed to respond to all of the architectural challenges of a building of its kind, including international building code, dramatic climate changes, plug-in electrical and HVAC systems and ease of assembly and operations.”




World Architecture, ecosystema urbana via noticiasarquitectura




Source: Treehugger 

More Lot-ek in TreeHugger:
LOT-EK Container Housing Coming to New York
Lot-ek Builds Student Pavilion From Recycled Airplane
More on Shipping Containers:
Crate Expectations: 12 Shipping Container Housing Ideas :