eco design, furniture & lifestyle magazine
eco theme picks:
Let There Be Light featured designer:
Daniel Goers cause for greater:
PangeaSeed
“The first law of ecology is that everything is related to everything else.� - Barry Commoner
eco theme picks:
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featured designer:
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cause for greater:
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Let There Be Light Daniel Goers PangeaSeed
Let There Be L Daniel Goers
LET THERE LIGHT BE This LED chandelier by
Yoon Bahk is made from recycled wine and champagne bottles. Rescued bottles were hand washed and polished. A unit
Souda, a new NYC-based
from single bottle can be hung
product design company,
by itself. Yoon Bahk believes that
created a stunning chandelier
green design should be an idea
from post-consumer PET bottles.
and not a look.
The bottles were collected by homeless individuals in an effort to raise money for the non-profit SURE WE CAN, which runs the only homeless-friendly can redemption center in the NYC area. After collection, the bottles were brought to Souda’s studio to be cleaned, cut and riveted together
Jewelry for a woman is what a chandelier is to a room. Who said projects made out of found matterials had to look like kiddy craft projects? Here are a few of our new favorite room-bling made from upcycled everyday materials.
to create a dome-like lighting fixture using a little over sixty upcycled bottles. With their gracious forms and the option of vibrant colors, these OMI pendant lamps prove that elegant design and sustainability can go hand-in-hand. Working with surplus material from the fashion industry (mostly mercerized cotton and silk), British textile and product designer
Naomi
Paul has created a stunning
collection of pendant lamps that convey a sense of both luxury and environmental awareness.
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Carolina Fontoura Alzaga, a Mexican multidisciplinary artist, takes old bike parts and turns them into shimmering chandeliers. Her series of Victorian-era chandelier sculptures is called “Connect,” and they exemplify how mundane objects What a great idea introduced
can be transformed into
by
magnificent masterpieces!
Stuart Haygarth
to make a luxe chandelier from
Of the message behind the
unwanted objects: thousands
sculptures, Fontoura Alzaga
of used unwanted prescription
says “Bourgeois commod-
The Milk Bottle Lamp Chandelier
spectacles. The result displaying
ity verses the bike as self
designed by
a giant bubble chandelier made
propelled movement - it’s a
Droog Design. It is a classic in the
from crystal like spectacles – bril-
metaphor for potentiality.”
history of modern lighting. The Milk
liant! The spectacle burst out a
Regardless of the possible
Bottle Lamp is featured in numer-
very nice spectrum of light to its
parallels, one thing is abso-
ous museum collections including
surrounding.
lutely certain: the pieces are
the MoMa New York City and the
beautiful and enlightening
San Francisco Museum of Modern
works of eco art.
Art. The individual parts of the Milk
Tejo Remy for
Bottle Lamp are completely plain but the combination makes of them an opulent chandelier.
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DANIEL GOERS
RECLAIM & UPCYCLE : Scrap Ecology, Autumn Workshop, Q & A 4
“I’m a designer/maker experimenting in the
es were built from recycled materials and
means art, furniture, and other products built
Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. I offer
installed in Fort Greene.
with reclaimed, found, or scrap material.
design consulting, engineering, and fabri-
Scrap Ecology aims to rearrange the raw
cation services for stand-alone and built-in
materials of our urban and natural environ-
furniture projects. I also have a passion for
ments into objects with new meaning and
farming, and urban gardening projects.”
Their products are occasionally for sale on Etsy and in stores. Many of Autumn Workshop’s projects
purpose. These materials include abandoned
deal with integrating ecological/botanical
Daniel Goers is a local Brooklyn designer,
shipping pallets from Red Hook, wood cutoffs
components into home furnishings. This focus
architect and artist who has a show right now
from carpentry projects, recycled packaging,
stems from an interest in biophilia ( a natu-
called Scrap Ecology at Brooklyn coffee shop
discarded architectural samples, donated
ral bond between humans and other living
K-Dog in Lefferts Gardens.
plant stems and foraged specimens from
systems ) and how this idea can promote
Prospect Park and the mountains of Harriman
positive energy and healthy living in our built
State Park.
environment.
All his designs are made from reclaimed materials except some lighting components. Daniel has been collecting scrap materials
In 2011 he founded Autumn Workshop, a
and remaking them into beautiful designs
design and experimentation studio based in
and sculptures for some time now. His other
Brooklyn. It is a collaboration of artists and
great project is in collaboration with artist
designers sharing ideas to create things out
Jennifer Wong called Birdtown. Fifty birdhous-
of readily available materials. Right now this
In this we’ll take a look at some of Autumn
were a small amount of piano hinge,
Workshop and Goers’ Exquisite creations,
Masonite for the drawers, and a pin to hold
Ranging from crates which have been
the lid of the back storage in place.
upcycled into multifuntional furniture to minimalis yet stunning test tube shelves. Goers recently completed a set of 4 chairs and a bench with an ottoman, made entirely from re-purposed hologram storage crates. This new set of furniture really morphs crates into an entirely new and interesting form. The design uses the printed graphics to inform the user how to interact with the storage components of the furniture. Each chair has a drawer in its base, and a compartment in its back. Plenty of room to keep those books, magazines, cat toys… Whatever you need… No extra wood was used in the fabrication of these chairs. The original crates were cut down, and the cut-offs were recycled back into the structure. The only new components
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“What was once a shipping pallet can become a hundred new things, so why cut down another tree?”
Why reclaimed materials?
“New York is a great place to find raw materials to build with. Every day the streets are filled with “trash” that can be so much more. But maybe the best reason is that material is free. The reclaimed material also tends to have more character.”
Above: Autumn Workshop’s prototype for a hanging garden lamp design. Made out of reclaimed teak and blackened steel, the planter is suspended with a strip of LED’s placed in the top. A great pendant lamp design that is scalable for larger rooms or planting purposes and can be viewed in the round.
Centre: A prototype aquarium designed for Tetras. A submersible filter, submersible heater, and LED lighting and all the components are enclosed and can be controlled by two switches on the side.
Bottom: a sideboard table which was made by wrapping a steel letterbox cabinet with wooden scraps of various hardwoods. Tapered oak legs bring the cabinet up to a comfortable height. The wood is treated with several coats of tung oil, causing the various grains and colors of the wood to glow.
“...my sculptures do hint at the desire to be closer to nature.” Far Right: The terrarium floor lamp emerged from experimentation touch dimming lamps and terrarium lamps. The goal was to merge the two in a unique way that would provide a larger upright lamp with the pleasant functionality of adjusting the brightness with a touch of the finger. You need only tap the steel bar to select one of four brightness levels, which is an elegant and ergonomic solution to the floor lamp switch.
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Right:
The Topo bench made
entirely out of the workshop’s growing pile of ipe wood scrap. Strips, chunks, board ends emerged to form an landscape across the bench surface. The seat surface begins as low lying flatlands which rise up into vegetated mountain peaks.
Below: Version 2 of the hanging garden lamp, At 42” (double of ver. 1) the idea was to show how the design could expand for new applications. Also, the proportions are improved and more soil area is provided for the plants.
Do you enjoy living in New York? Would you if you had an opportunity move somewhere where there are more trees and less garbage?
^
:
“Of course, New York is a great place to be a designer but my sculptures do hint at the desire to be closer to nature. I would love to live in a barn in the mountains but in the meantime I will work to bring nature to people’s homes here.”
^
The Scraps Dining Table, made entirely of walnut and cherry scraps. The entire piece
:
Birch Log Lamps, made from raw birch log, steel bar stock, and an edison bulb. These
includes 72 rows of pieces carefully composed into a ‘random’ pattern that emphasizes the
little guys are hand crafted, carefully milled to accept the bulb socket, a dimming trans-
natural beauty and glow of walnut and cherry placed together. The table is finished with a
former, and a blackened steel bar. The bar is wired up to act as the switching mechanism for
hand rubbed tung oil finish.
the dimmer. Touch the metal bar and you cycle through 4 levels of brightness for the bulb above. They create a gorgeous ambient light at low levels, and bright enough for reading at the highest setting.
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Autumn Workshop has devised a new approach to their earlier versions of the test tube shelves. This time, without the steel element, which was a drain on labor, in turn raising the prices which wasn’t the gaol. They wanted to make the shelves affordable. The solution, an all wood design, using 3 different profiles which can be cut at varying lengths for varying arrangments. The design allows you to insert rimless test tubed between strips of felt, which pinch the tubes and hold them in place. This allows you to switch the tubes out or rearrange them based on the flowers you are using. Each shelf comes with small and large test tubes. And of course, you can rest ob-
^
jects on the shelves as well!
: A closer look at the simple idea of using thick felt as a
way t secure the test tubes in place.
All the wood used is scrap material which was lying around the shop. This included walnut, pine, maple, oak, cherry, and mahogany. The shelves are finished with tung oil. And the bright blue, 1/4″ felt is purchased from an artist off of etsy.
Why do you think using reclaimed materials is popular today? “It’s just marketing for many people. I like to believe that myself and many other designers simply see some intrinsic value and potential in the waste around us. What was once a shipping pallet can become a hundred new things, so why cut down another tree? More people come to this realization and the ‘green’ movement will become less about marketing & more a part of the collective conscience.”
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Above:
A previous version of the test
tube shelf which used blackened steel. Although it was beautiful, it was time consuming to put together ultimately making them more expensive. Goers wanted to make the shelves more affordable, which is why the current design has no steel parts.
Left & Right: Other versions of test tube and lab glassware shelves held by cutouts in blackened steel sheets.
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PANGEASEED
Save the sharks,save the oceans,save ourselves. PangeaSeed is an international grassroots
vast ocean that existed about 250 million
organization founded in Tokyo Japan dedi-
years ago before the current continents were
cated to educating and raising international
separated into their now recognizable forms.
ronym meaning Special Education Ecology
awareness on the plight of sharks and the de-
Sharks balanced and controlled the oceans
and Design.
struction of their habitat. Through volunteer
then and they continue to now…but for how
activism, research and the various mediums
much longer?
of art, music, film, and photography, Pan-
and preserve the oceans. The “seed” in PangeaSeed is also an ac-
Special Education is a major goal. Providing people with the necessary information
PangeaSeed aims to unify and connect
and tools they need to work toward man-
geaSeed aims to create an open dialog with
individuals around the world,opening a
aging and solving the plight of sharks and
the global community to develop an under-
dialog to share ideas and develop a better
the oceans. Also, by actively conducting
standing of the need to preserve and protect
global understanding of our connection with
research, we aim to better inform ourselves
sharks and the oceans.
sharks and the oceans. Through educa-
and the general public of the realities and
tion, awareness and action we are working
status of the issue.
PangeaSeed is the first organization in Japan to raise public awareness regarding
together to solve this environmental crisis.
shark conservation and preservation. We
No matter where you are in the world, your
global awareness regarding our relationship
rely on the generosity of our supporters.
lifestyle and consumptions habits positively or
with the natural world and the direct effect
Established in 2008, PangeaSeed is a
negatively effect every animal (including hu-
we have on marine biodiversity and the
grassroots movement uniting and educating
mans), plant, and ecosystem on the planet.
ocean ecosystem.
individuals across the globe on the impor-
In short, like Pangea, we are all connected.
tance of protecting sharks and preserving the oceans.
Usually when someone thinks of the word
Ecology promotion raises much need
Design, art, film and photography we believe can transcend cultures and borders.
“seed”, it conjures up an image of growth.
Raising awareness and uniting people across
Pangea derives from ancient Greek
Through the PangeaSeed network, we strive
the globe regarding key issues such as the
meaning entire Earth. It’s the concept of
to grow together to develop a better global
plight of sharks.
the super continent surrounded by a single
understanding of the need to protect sharks
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Why are sharks so important?
Why should we care?
Older than the dinosaurs, for over 400 million
in relative balance with the natural world
years sharks have shaped and balanced the
as simply another predator on the food
oceans. Just like on land, under the sea every
chain. However as global populations have
ing collapse within our lifetime. Unless we
living thing has a function. Sharks play a vital
expanded and technology has improved
change our ways, stand up
role in ways average fish do not since sharks
humans have become the “super predator.”
and take action.
are at the top of the food chain as an apex
Now we farm resources to yield the levels we
predator in virtually every part of the ocean.
desire without respecting or considering the
In that essential position, sharks keep fish
consequences.
populations healthy and in proper balance.
For centuries humans have considered the
critically endangered levels. The ocean that was once considered limitless is now fac-
How can I help? Come visit pangeaseed.com to view a variety
Already in parts of the ocean where sharks
oceans an inexhaustible resource but in the
of options of how you can help save sharks
have been over fished we are seeing obvious
last 50 years we have proven that ideology to
and ultimately our world.
change for the worse. Imagine the conse-
be false. Scientists, conservationists and the
quences for the oceans – and the people
even the United Nations now predict that if
who depend on them for survival – once such
current trends continue the worlds fish stocks
an important animal is destroyed forever.
will be gone by 2048. The deadly combina-
Since the dawn of man, we humans have
tion of pollution, climate change and over-
relied on nature and its resources for survival.
fishing has already caused the extinction of
And for most of our existence we have lived
countless species, and pushed many more to
Opposite page:
“Fade” by
Roland Tomayo. One exquisite example of artowork that can be purchased from pangeaseed.com to help support efforts to prevent the extinction of sharks.
Left:
100 million sharks are killed
every year due to careless fishing methods or for their fins. Global shark populations are being decimated to satisfy demand for Asian cuisine such as shark fin soup. Shark fin soup is a symbol of wealth and is served at weddings, business dinners and important social engagements within Chinese communities worldwide. To put it into perspective, the fin trade is a multibillion-dollar industry rivaled in revenue by illegal drugs and guns. Though even if you don’t eat shark fin soup you may still be eating sharks.
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This magazine was printed on 95 percent recycled paper using soy ink.