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In a converted gym in San Francisco's Sunset district, a collective of four artist-designers have joined together through a shared love of craft, surfing, and sustainability. Under the humble name of Woodshop, the group's workspace and showroom is filled with functional art made from reclaimed wood and landfill-bound objects. The studio is made up of four guys whose individual skills......read more
The work of Bryan Nash Gill is deeply rooted in the physical environment. From his base in rural Connecticut, the artist creates incredibly detailed relief prints of cross-cut trees, which he salvages around his home. After cutting blocks with a chainsaw, Bryan sands, burns, and shellacs them, before applying a sheet of Japanese washi paper over an inked section of tree, then carefully......read more
Using mid-century design as his inspiration, Osaka-born, Montreal-based woodworker Mitz Takahashi breathes new life into discarded wooden offcuts, crafting the pieces of reclaimed lumber into everything from clocks to bookshelfs to guitar amps. With a deft hand and a keen sense for sustainability, Takahashi blends mahogany, walnut, oak and other salvaged woods to create......read more
For Michelle Peterson-Albandoz, dumpster diving is just part of her creative process. The Chicago artist trolls for discarded pieces of wood around her North Side neighborhood, then shapes them into abstract sculptures featuring patterns and textures inspired by nature. The large, striking works reflect Peterson-Albandoz's environmentalist ideas. "I'm involved with a lot of......read more
The way we see it, there's no reason green design shouldn't extend to four-legged friends as well. Savannah, Georgia designer Kristin M. thinks so too. Her award-winning Garden House is an imaginative and sustainable interpretation of the doghouse. Made from wood she salvaged from dumpsters in her 'hood, the structure sports a green roof lined with shower curtain plastic. The rooftop planter......read more
For his Brecce collection, Italian designer Marco Stefanelli hit upon the clever idea of combining natural, salvaged materials with future-forward lighting technology. The lamps are made from discarded wood scraps into which Stefanelli embeds LED lights and before covering them in resin. The lights cast a soft and calming glow that warmly define whatever space they're in. Stunning pieces.......read more
Ron van der Ende's work begins in the streets of Rotterdam, where collects salvaged pieces of wood like doors and construction materials. This reclaimed wood he strips to create veneer with the paint layers still intact, then, using a mosaic technique, the Dutch artist assembles the small pieces of wood to create super-realistic bas-reliefs that are both painterly and sculptural. His range of......read more
It's not clear exactly how much oil is being salvaged from the surface of the Gulf of Mexico or the seabed gusher below, but for the moment, BP officials are saying the collected crude belongs to the company. On Andy Revkin's always thought-provoking Dot Earth blog, the NY Times writer and eco-thinker poses an excellent question: Why is salvaged oil going to BP instead of U.S. reserves?......read more
Straight Line Designs are anything but. The 25-year old design workshop in Vancouver, British Columbia produces custom furniture, installations and private commissions with an offbeat, quirky sense of humor. Run by Judson Beaumont, Straight Line uses a wide variety of materials including local maple and pine that's been ravaged by pine beetles and is considered unfit for most commercial......read more
How do you break the world record for largest sculpture made of recycled materials? Get a bunch of kids to do the work for you! Inhabitat reports on 5,000 Spanish elementary kids collecting 50,000 containers to make a record-breaking castle of milk cartons. You've seen Simon Christen's stunningly epic time-lapse portrait of San Francisco. Now check out a similarly amazing video that......read more
