Levy’s work, featured above, combined wood with the glass light reflecting his interest in creating points of contrast and innovation in the relationship between nature and technology.

The beautifully soft and ethereal installations actually better serve the environment by: using a non-toxic gas (as opposed to mercury-infused neon bulbs); lasting approximately for 20 years of use (compared to your average few months of your average bulb); and keeping 90% of the design recyclable (since it’s essentially based on glass).

:: Designist Dream

Lool 82 is an Israeli design collective that creates funky home accessories from benches and end tables to wall hangings to stuffed animals. All bear impeccable attention to detail and a real sense of quality. To say these things can really hold is a double entendre: Not only do they hold real people sitting on them but open the lid and they can hold anything else – and hide it away. We bought a bright red one with a neato retro patterned cushion top – deep chocolate brown with golden flowers – to hide away some of the growing piles of toys and dolls in our living room. I also wanted to buy one of these but we’re maxed out on end side tables.

Lool 82 designer, Naty, who is responsible for designing the crates, customizes the cushions to order by color and fabric. But don’t let it good looks fool you, this is industrial meets design. The price is affordable for the masses – much like the crate’s history. The sturdy factory crate – repurposed simply and creatively – is the real star of the show. Old, factory or shipping standards now reinvented and rejuvenated in your home. The design challenge is environmentally friendly in nature and aesthetic: reuse, recycle and redesign for your life – and look super cool while doing it too.

:: Crossposted from Designist Dream

::Lool 82

I was very excited to happen upon this Designboom’s feature article on the Israeli design student art exchange and training program in Chinese bamboo production and craft. Back when I first posted about it, I could only find photos of three bamboo toys. Now we can all drool at the super cool Metropolis cityscape set by Israeli design student Michal Zohar (above) or the hipster-meets-scooter by Israeli design student Etay Amir (below) and plenty of other toys – which I’ll put up on my flickr group – show how cool bamboo is for kids and parents alike.

Now, environmentally, the benefits of bamboo as a material are plenty and it seems that as the material o the moment, bamboo is also enjoying the spotlight of modern design. Keeping Israeli designers on the forefront of eco-conscious design – and strengthening the Israel-China design connection – is Daniel Fintzi who is working on some products for Bambu Home. “Bambu provides design solutions made from renewable materials that excite and delight people about sustainable alternatives for modern living”. They’re work ethic is astonishing too: it just keeps getting better.

They only use bamboo that is sustainably harvested and free of fertilizers or pesticides, ie. from organic sources and treatment. They employ fair trade practices for artisans, workers and production. All products are reusable and/or biodegradable.

They donate a percentage of the profits to environmental causes. And the list goes on! Plus, and this is important too, Bambu home accessories are beautifully modern yet handmade with a touch of classic. Check out the Veneerware utensils and plates by Bambu below. Now that’s the kind of Made in China I’d want to fill my house with. Looking forward to seeing what Daniel will be designing for them.

:: Designist Dream

Well, not really but I knew it would get a rise out of her. Check out the superneato square cork hanging plant by Israeli industrial design student Kobi Nakav. Featured at the Designed in Israel 08 exhibition last week as part of the Future Designers section, Nakav strives to bring the outdoors in with this innovative and modern proposal for growing greener interior pastures.Fashioned like picture frames, the square cork is fitted onto a plastic receptacle to allow for watering and bulbous at the base to account for plant growth space.

They fit together like chains and can even be lined up to form a sort of interior screen of plants and cork, as if recreating an indoors urban jungle. The open links also blow in the wind as well, recalling the more natural state of growth, plant and the outdoors – something unattainable from regular hanging plants.

Among the up-and-coming designers featured at the fair, this was among my favorite pieces for so many reasons – one of them including the eco-friendly angle.As opposed to others who tried hard to work with environmental themes or materials (cardboard “pop up” furniture by Lev Meital or a website with instructions for making paper jewelry by Krin Nir) recycling or reusing, Nakav’s work was the only one that dealt with the subject at hand – ie. preserving green spaces – within a smart, thoughtful and classic design aesthetic.

I hope it’s only a matter of time before we can replant the green in our own urban jungles.::Crossposted to Designist Dream::