Bay Area plant studio Habitat Horticulture has designed plant installations for restaurants, residences, and even the California Academy of Sciences. Now, they share one of their products: the living table. Made from black walnut and stainless steel, each table is handmade in Habitat Horticulture’s San Jose workshop. The tempered glass top allows either of the two plant varieties from nearby Half Moon Bay, spike mosses or succulents, to be on display.

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International firm Pelli Clarke Pelli has designed the ‘Transbay Transit Center’ which promises to catapult the city amongst one of the leading infrastructural networks in the world. The 4.5 acre project, currently under construction, will manage the crossing of all transit systems above and below ground and contribute to the city’s green public space, with an expected completion in 2017.

Source: Designboom

The Miracle Pine is a tree that survived 2011 Japanese tsunami, and has now been rebuilt as statue in honor of the 19,000 victims of the disaster. The lone pine was the only one from approximately 70,000 plants along the coast to survive the catastrophe, however, its roots were found to be suffering irreversibly from exposure to seawater, triggering endeavors to save the tree, which has become a symbol of the city’s reconstruction. The plant stands as a symbol of hope in Japan, and is now completed as an immortalized statue.

Source: Architizer

Juan Carlos Menacho Durán has designed the Chinese Coin House in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. In the architect’s own words, “Many of the ancient cultures that accumulated a profound wisdom applied to the functioning of nature, gave a transcendental importance to location and to the way houses were built. This house inspires security and balance through its square form. Immersed in a round base, it inspires creativity and harmony from the sky. These two shapes, sky and earth, are present in the Chinese coin.”

Source: Contemporist

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The Cubed Deluxe is an innovative sofa bed design based on a unique transformation technique and with characteristic, sloping metal legs. Cubed is an extremely space saving design, because the length of the sofa bed is folded out into the room. With its small compact footprint, this two person bed (in-between a full and queen size) is perfect for small space and studio living! Available in black leather textile and in the shown white.

Theoretically, umbrellas on the market today are made of recyclable materials such as metal, plastic and wood. However, they can’t be recycled as they are. In order to be properly disposed of, umbrellas need to be disassembled, which means that most of them just end up going to landfills. Developed in Italy by Federico Venturi, Gianluca Savalli and Marco Righi, the ‘Ginkgo’ is an innovative compact umbrella, redesigned from scratch and made entirely out of one recyclable material – polypropylene. Using injection molding process, the number of ‘Ginkgo’ components are considerably reduced, so when Ginkgo finally reaches the end of its useful life you can just toss it in the recycle bin.

Source: Designboom

No, there’s nothing wrong with your screen – this intricate wooden cabinet was actually carved to resemble an image error. The ‘Good Vibrations’ storage unit by designer Ferruccio Laviani combines traditional Oriental craftsmanship and design with the visual effects of a digital or analog glitch.

Glitch art plays on the psychological effects that come with looking at these images, whether they were created accidentally or intentionally, inviting us to take a deeper look at technological mistakes. Also referred to as ‘databending’, glitch art can be strangely compelling.

What a brilliant splash of red this new temporary theatre makes. Called The Shed, it is being opened as part of London’s National Theatre and is just going to be there for a year as renovations of the main space take place. Set against a concrete backdrop, The Shed was constructed out of materials that can easily be reused (steel, plywood etc), and the steelwork was left unpainted so that it can easily be recycled.

Source: Treehugger

House T is a minimal home located in Miyazaki, Japan, designed by Tsukano Architect Office. The House T project was planned for the downtown area of Miyazaki, which is located in Southern Japan. There is a busy road located directly in front of the home, and tall apartments that are scattered throughout the south side of the site.

Considering these factors, Tsukano decided it was imperative to shield the home from any unpleasant noises by enclosing white walls around the entire site. The outer plate separates the home from the crowded environment, and reduces the noise pollution from the adjacent road while still allowing an abundant amount of sunlight to enter uninhibited.

Source: Design Milk

Belgium-based artist Nick Ervinck has created a variety of sculptures using computer-aided design. Somewhat disappointed by the lack of renewal in contemporary sculpture, the artist turned towards architecture and applied sciences, in order to find a new formal language generated by computer software, composing forms and designs that were unthinkable in all those years before.

Source: Contemporist

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