When Hurricane Sandy brought work at Sebastian Errazuriz's studio to an abrupt halt, the Brooklyn-based designer and sculptor decided to do something to help victims of the storm. Taking white tees with two of NYC's most iconic graphics — Milton Glaser's "I Love New York" and the MTA subway map — Errazuriz dipped the bottom halves in blue ink. With the......read more
The art object aficionados at Grey Area work with artists to offer works that exist outside the traditional gallery experience. The New York outfit's latest project is Grey Area Yoga, which launched at Art Basel in Miami Beach with a line of artist edition yoga mats. Whether it's Daniel Arsham's "Square Out of the Moon" print or Andrew Kuo's cat in cobra pose, the art mats have enough variety to......read more
With freshwater reserves becoming more and more scarce, strategies that save and recycle water are becoming more and more important. Greywater systems, which reuse wastewater generated by sinks, baths, showers and clothes washers, are one such strategy. According to a new report published by the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, CA-based eco think tank, 50% of the water used inside U.S. homes can......read more
When it comes to shopping for the home, we are big believers in the practice of buying once and buying well. Whether it's a stereo or bed linens, a crib or tableware, it's always better to pay more for something that will proudly live in your home for your entire life, than to pay less for something that will end up in a landfill in a few years. We are also big believers in going vintage. After......read more
Simple though they may seem, these sustainable wood Animal Boxes from Karl Zahn carry deep symbolic meaning. Each represents "a 'power animal' -- a totem for our individual ambitions." With hollow cores and the addition of hinges, they provide a beautiful, figural hiding spot for small objects. Made in USA....read more
As a kid growing up on the shores of Lake Erie in western New York, Kiel Mead had a "love affair" with driftwood, which he collected for display at home. Now a designer living in Brooklyn, Mead works primarily with found objects, refashioning them in new and interesting ways. Mead makes clever and colorful use of driftwood with these unique, one-of-a-kind hooks, which are stained......read more
Another year, another edition of Metaproject. The brainchild of designer and Rochester Institute of Technology professor Josh Owen, the annual student challenge lands hopeful industrial designers an actual project with a real client. For Metaproject 03, the client in question was Areaware, the NYC-based producer of everyday objects which we've featured prominently in our Shop. The brief? Create......read more
Designed by Brendan Ravenhill for Areaware, this bottle opener is designed with ultimate functionality in mind. Carved from walnut wood and featuring a contrasting black painted handle, the simple bottle opener contains two small magnets—one that allows the opener to stay on a refrigerator door when not in use, and another that catches the bottle cap after its been opened to avoid the......read more
Ari Phillips for Climate Progress: On January 29, the Department of Interior (DOI) will auction off the largest area of federal waters in the nation for the development of offshore wind power. More than 742,000 acres, or over 1,160 square miles, will be offered for wind development off the coast of Massachusetts. While the U.S. is yet to install its first offshore wind turbine, across the......read more
Say what you will about the U.S., when we do something, we do it supersized. So when Obama decides to make a marine reserve, he doesn’t just put your average patch of ocean off-limits to commercial fishing, energy exploration, and other shenanigans. No. It’s a massive portion of the Pacific that more than doubles the total amount of protected ocean. In the world.......read more