Tower of power lights up London

Artists are lighting up London’s South Bank with 1200 wind-powered lights as part of a digital arts festival.

 

The Aeolian tower – which means moved by the wind – is a 15m steel structure located next to Waterloo Bridge.

The tower is covered with hundreds of tiny wind-powered LEDs. Each one made of a plastic turbine, controlling circuits and three red LEDs.

The designers aim to show how renewable energy can be used to power sustainable art and design.

As wind blows over the tower, swirling patterns of light reveal the strength and direction of the breeze.

“We want to visualize the invisible, making people realize that there’s a lot of energy out there that we’re not using,” said Zena Bruges from Jason Bruges Studio, which designed the tower.

The designers chose the location next to Waterloo Bridge because of the complex wind patterns that come off the River Thames and the bridge, said Gabby Shawcross, one of the tower’s creators.

The lights need a gentle wind of about 3mph (4.8kph) to reach full brightness.

A 2.5m square panel of lights is also on show inside the BFI delegate centre. Since the panel is indoors, the lights are powered with two industrial fans.

These lights are connected to a laptop, which controls the lights so that they can display patterns and messages.

“The result of this could be a low-resolution, wind-powered billboard,” said Ms Bruges.

The team is working with architecture students from the University of Westminster to develop a wireless version of the technology that will allow the lights to be controlled remotely.

These lights wouldn’t need power or data cables, so designers could apply them to any surface in any location, said Mr Shawcross.

The Aeolian Tower will be in place from 14 -16 November as part of the One Dot Zero – Adventure In Motion festival at the BFI Southbank in London.

 

SourceL BBC News

Strata Furniture by Ryan Frank

This is are third Greet Green Design and it is the Strata furniture range by South African, Ryan Frank, who was Inspired by London’s heaps of discarded furniture and usable timber.

 

This recycled furniture range is made from sawn-up desks salvaged by GreenWorks, a charity and social enterprise that reclaims timber from redundant office furniture collected around the UK.

 

There is so much office furniture out there which just gets dumped when companies or CEO’s are taken over and removed and I feel that this approach is a great and fairly cool way of dealing with this problem.

Moso Pendant Lamp by Schmitt Design

The Moso pendant lamp by Schmitt Design creates an eco  inviting warm glow with its bamboo veneer shade panels.  This innovative design combines sustainable materials with an energy- efficient light source.  The shade panels pop into a bamboo frame without the use of fasteners or glue.  This permits the lamp to be shipped flat to minimize packaging. 

The Moso pendants are expertly crafted in the US.  The bamboo is produced by Smith & Fong Plyboo® from sustainably-managed bamboo forests in China.

shade panel options - end-grain veneer:  These signature shade panels highlight the unique organic character of the bamboo end-grain.  The panels are custom fabricated of laminated bamboo strips.  The interior surface is lined with shoji paper to add integrity to this delicate veneer.

vertical-grain veneer:  These shade panels illuminate bamboo in its vertical-grain pattern.  This attractive pattern has become more familiar with the increased exposure of bamboo flooring and furnishings.  These custom two-ply panels result in exposed bamboo on the interior surface.

Spark Lamp by Beverly

The more I learn and find out ’bout Ecology, the more I become surprised. Today the team at JustEco found a magic lamp…not the one of Aladdin but another genius one!!!

 

Spark Lamp (by Beverly) is incredibly simple. During the day, the lamp is flipped upside down and placed next to the window to recharge. At night, the lamp is turned upright and switched on. At this point it establishes a wifi connection to the Internet and displays your home’s energy consumption by giving a soft green, yellow, or reddish glow for around three seconds. After a moment of eco-illumination, the light then turns white and works just like a regular lamp!!! 

 

Source: JustEco

Topi Footstool by Elisabeth Nossen

 

Norwegian designer Elisabeth Nossen based her Topi Footstool upon a Salvation Army thrift shop purchase. Nossen’s stool is a “50’s style” reclaimed from a thrift store and redecorated by the designer with wool roses. Nossen is considered one of Norway’s up and coming young furniture designers. The Topi Footstool was displayed as part of the 100% Norway exhibition, which had recycling and sustainable design as a theme.

 

One of the more interesting elements – though hard to photograph – of the show was a two-store prefabricated bedroom unit called the Bedroom Box by architects Brendeland & Kristoffersen and used in an affordable housing area in Trondheim. At the show itself unemployed youth from Trondheim rebuilt 40 meters of shelving from old materials for display, and after the show they’ll go to a children’s center to be re-used yet again. Via: Haute Nature and 100%Norway.  

 

Source: treehugger.com

Gift Warp & Cards – by Karin Helena Turner

Be kinder to the planet this Christmas and use 100% greener Karin Helena Turner Designs gift wrap and cards on sale from Pure Design. Beautiful, environmentally friendly and with a high quality finish, Karin Helena Turner Designs gift wrap and cards will make your present look a hundred bucks, and, won’t cost you or your kids the earth. Now available to order online from Pure Design.

 

All cards and paper are printed with non-toxic vegetable based inks; using 100% recycled paper (85% post-consumer waste, 15% wood free unprinted waste). The envelopes are 75% recycled and from an FSC Accredited paper mill in Scandinavia, incorporating post consumer beverage cartons. The see-through packaging that the cards are packaged for sale in is 100% compostable and made from corn starch.

 

Karin Helena Turner Designs have a passion for pattern and all things decorative. Established by Karin in 2007, the company aims to create inventive and beautiful packaging that delights and inspires people. Karin is a textile designer with a specialisation is surface decoration and creates gift wrap and cards that are artwork in their own right. Karin has also gone to great lengths to ensure her products are as environmentally friendly as possible.

Large Recycled Lentil Lamp

We just just love this eco designer lentil lamp which is handmade in good old London. This home item is going to be a must in the trendy eco home this Autumn. It is is going to be out with the Lava Lamp (please recycle) and in with the Lentil Lamp (don’t eat it it may hurt your teeth!).

 

So what are these lamps made from lentils only, no! They are made from recycled paper, porcelain clay and cleverly infused with lentils. The designer of the lamp says;

“My porcelain, paper clay lamps are made by mixing recycled paper pulp and porcelain clay. In the firing process the paper burns out leaving a delicate, translucent structure, which suffuses any room with a warm glow.”

 

As one of Biome Lifestyle’s favourite pieces they retail at £200 so go and create that lentil eco glow today.

 

Width 48 cm
Length 16 cm
Colour porcelain, natural, clay

 

Please note – the image shows the lamp turned on. When turned off, the lamp is a natural ceramic colour.