Bloxes cardboard cut outs can form walls, furniture and more.
(Credit: Bloxes)A start-up launched on Friday aims to make furnishing an office as simple as assembling a cardboard box.
Bloxes are the latest option in cardboard furniture (see photo gallery), which is gaining a toehold in the world of 'green' design. The corrugated cardboard puzzle pieces lock together to form sturdy shapes such as chairs, walls, and play forts.
Bloxes founder Aza Raskin turned to his childhood for the idea, toyed with as an art project by his father Jef Raskin, known as the "father" of the Macintosh computer.
The junior Raskin is using Bloxes to furnish the lofted Chicago office of digital design firm Humanized, where he is president (Mozilla hired Raskin and Humanized co-founders in January to work on Firefox and other projects.)
With a little help, Bloxes are strong enough to drive over, said founder Aza Raskin.
(Credit: Bloxes)"You could go out and get yourself a set of cubicles and it'll be boring," Raskin said. But Bloxes, on the other hand, enable creativity on a whim. "It's pretty amazing to see when we need a desk or a workspace, we can build it in 10 minutes."
The interlocking forms are so strong that a car safely drove over a large form capped by plywood, Raskin said. Plus, the 'green,' recyclable building blocks can be packed flat for easy and inexpensive shipping.
Bloxes aren't ideal for outdoors use, although someone could probably coat them in waterproofing material, he said. However, similar shapes in plastic or another water-resistant material could work outside, Raskin added.
The 6-sided, 9.5 inch-square shapes are designed with CAD software and made in Chicago. Bloxes sells each case of 20 brown or white squares for $60, enough to build a form 36 inches by 45 inches.
With swift hands, Bloxes furniture could be assembled in 10 minutes.
(Credit: Bloxes)The headquarters of Humanized features Bloxes workspaces as well as a virtual roman aquaduct, which help to absorb sound from a noisy heating and air conditioning system. Two other Chicago offices are using Bloxes, including news Web site Gapers Block. Raskin envisions Bloxes, which can be drawn or painted on, in kindergarten classrooms and college dormitories.
He sees an overlap between the worlds of sustainability and software. The Web 2.0 movement is refocusing people on design while offering highly customizable do-it-yourself tools for tinkerers, Raskin said.
"I guess you could say Bloxes are a physical representation of Web 2.0."
(Via TechCrunch)
Good design.
(Credit: Apple)This month's Living with Technology package on CNET.com is a must-see for anyone who values form over function, or function over form, or form that enhances function.
As you may have already gathered, the key word here is form. This month, Living with Technology is all about design: the good, the bad, the future, and the new philosophies that are budding in today's designers.
Bad design.
(Credit: CNET Networks)There's tons of good stuff to see: videos, slide shows, and good old text-based articles. Visit Living with Technology: Eye on design to get the full menu of goods, or just click on some of the features highlighted below.
Feature stories:
Weird design.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Slide shows:
Past Living with Technology packages:
If you haven't been following CNET.com's monthly Living with Technology features, you've been missing out. Take a look at these packages from past months.
Artist's conception of living house
(Credit: terreform.org)Many traditional societies have partaken tree house living. And some of us had tree houses when we were kids. Now a New York-based nonprofit is promising a tree house for future high-tech, low-impact living.
The group is terreform.org. In their own words, "Terreform is a nonprofit organization and philanthropic design collaborative that integrates ecological principles in the urban environment."
Terreform says it is close to making its first sale. Zoning regulations and building codes may present a problem. Walls that grow and change shape?
Like any self-respecting tree, the Fab Tree Hab would collect rainwater. The walls would be clay and straw. Windows would be a soy-based plastic, capable of expanding as the structure grows. Now, if they can only insure that closets would grow faster than the rest of the house.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Infiniti is one of our favorite automakers when it comes to in-cabin gadgetry, as evidenced in our recent reviews of the 2007 M35 Sport and 2007 FX45. And here at the 2007 New York International Auto Show, the Infiniti lab coats are strutting their stuff again with the unveiling of the Infiniti EX concept. Similar in design to the space-age FX crossover, the EX concept is the forerunner to a production version due out next year. The EX concept features an arsenal of tech features that we haven't seen anywhere before.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Perhaps the most impressive is the Around View Monitor (AVM), which uses four-range video cameras situated around the car's body to provide a real-time 360-degree view of the area around the car, which is shown on an in-dash LCD screen. Infiniti designers told us that the AVM will be offered on the production version of the EX. Another unique technology that will make it to production is the EX's Lane Departure Prevention system. Like the Lane Departure Warning system that we saw in the FX, the LDP uses cameras to monitor when the car drifts out of its lane on the freeway. The LDP system goes one better by using the car's stability control system to apply braking to the opposite side wheels when drift is detected.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
The final innovative technology on the EX--that won't see production any time soon--is the car's electronically dimming roof. Using a secondary touch screen in the center console, drivers can adjust the level of transparency of the roof's liquid crystal glass panels. Now that's some blue-sky thinking.
I could say something really deep, introspective, and postmodern-pop-philosophy-ish about recent trends involving large-scale indoor horticulture. You know, about the blurring of indoor and outdoor spaces in the collective unconscious, and the human yearning for closeness to the organic in a sterilized world, and...
Boring.
Here's a better way to put it. These days, it seems to be kind of trendy to take things--like owls and tree branches--that are normally found outside, and put them indoors. Like that wall of plants they've devised over in Sweden. Well, a design group in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has taken the same idea and applied it to showers. Trendhunter spotlighted this gem of a prototype, which turns your showering experience into a serene tropical getaway. Great for "Lost" fanatics who would be willing to put up with airline disasters, jungle monsters, and mad scientists just to wind up on such a pretty island.
Unfortunately, they aren't real plants. That'd be a trip. But I guess it would be harder to, you know, get clean.
(Photo: Trendhunter)
Eco-chic uberblog Treehugger has written up the winners of the "Light Objects" sustainable design competition hosted by Core77, and the first-prize gadget looks something like...an iPod. Called "Pulse," this slender little device monitors energy output and glows red when you're dealing with a nasty energy hog (oink, oink). Designer Daniel Sutherland has said that he intends "Pulse" to be used as an indicator of how many electronic products we leave on standby throughout the course of the day and night--and how many of those, like our computers, could be turned off instead.
(Photo: Treehugger)
Calling someone a carpetbagger may actually become a compliment if people take the advice of designer Giles Miller. Miller offers laptop cases made out of corrugated cardboard and carpet as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional laptop cases.
The cases were featured as part of London's [Re] design event in September. The non-profit organization seeks to promote sustainable design by connecting designers with people who can put their ideas into the marketplace. "[Re] design supports designers who don't want to make landfill," according to its posted philosophy.
The corrugated cardboard cases are $224 each, or $ 448 for one monogrammed with your initials.
Sure, the cases protect the environment and look good for absorbing shock, but, what about coffee spills?
According to Miller, the cases are coated in Skotchguard making them at least splash and rain proof, though it does not seem that the cardboard is treated to be completely waterproof.
(Photo: Farm Designs)
Eco-chic blog Inhabitat has introduced us to the Plantwall, the latest offering from Swedish "urban cultivation" company Green Fortune. (Something like this just had to come out of Scandinavia.) It is indeed a wall of plants. But before you say, "Hey, I could make that myself with some ivy and chicken wire," get this: The Plantwall is not only watered by drip irrigation, but a four-layer textile system provides fertilizer and keeps moisture from straying away from the wall. Try asking for that at Home Depot.
Currently, the Plantwall is only installed in one location, the Stockholm retail store shown in the picture. But Green Fortune hasn't ruled out the possibility of marketing to residences as well. Wouldn't it look nice next to your living room couch?
(Photo: Inhabitat)
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