Izhar Gafni makes a bike from cardboard for $9. Engineers told Izhar Gafni that a cardboard bike was impossible. But he went ahead and made one anyway. An ardent cyclist and skilled mechanic, Gafni found a cardboard bicycle taking shape in his mind. American engineers he consulted solemnly nay-sayed, but he couldn’t let go of […]
We are in the midst of a global obsession with LEGO building blocks. No longer strictly a childhood toy, these colorful plastic blocks designed by Denmark’s Kristiansen family in the 1930s are popping up everywhere: corporations are building the tallest this and that in order to market their products and artists are using them to […]
This venue offers dining that’s head and shoulders above the rest, literally. Dinner in the Sky is a self-contained “restaurant” comprised of tables, seats and kitchen on a platform that’s lifted skywards by a construction crane. Restaurant lifespan is fleeting, usually commissioned as part of a special promotion or business event. The system has also […]
Israeli designer Omer Inbar is selling Bug Lights – a series of desk lamps that look like insects. Decidedly minimalist and definitely unique, each product comes with a choice of several different kinds of 25 W bulbs that emit a soft glow, along with a 1 meter long cable and a bug light ID postcard.
When commissioned to transform Izmir’s Orfi furniture store into an inspiring and atmospheric new space, Turkish designer Nail Egemen Yerce was presented with three concepts that needed to be incorporated: the garden, the plaza and the street. The existing office was endowed with an incredible excess of daylight, which needed to be diffused without shutting out […]
There’s just one week left to win a beautiful organic cotton dress from MuMu Organic and help Green Prophet get to 6,000 likes on Facebook. We have a ways to go, so we definitely need your help. Here are three easy steps you need to take to stand a chance to win the dress of […]
I used to be a wine barrel… and now I’m a chess board. Wine companies worldwide may be trying to ‘go green’ by producing organic wines (the wineries of the Middle East being no exception), but even so there is non eco-friendly waste associated with making vino. A winery in the Israeli Negev desert has […]
Beirut-based Nadim Inaty designed the Green Wheel – a zany exercise machine concept that harvests kinetic energy and converts it into electricity. Comprised of a single unit complete with a bench and patches of real grass, the green wheel features three different levels for runners of varying strengths and produces roughly enough energy in 30 […]
"We are Tyred" by Bokja Studio. Bokja design in Beirut embroiders the tires, in protest
Guy Lougashi makes incredible sculptures entirely out of either colored or transparent tape. Eschewing the hardening or drying phase of many sculptural materials such as clay or paper pulp, the artist claims that tape is an incredibly versatile material that forms an excellent foundation for other design projects. And now it’s possible to glean some […]
Renowned French designer Sandrine Dole wanted to find a way to recycle piles of rubber lying around Marrakech while simultaneously elevating the local community and its numerous cottage industries. Some of the main design challenges included separating the piles of dirty rubber from other waste and then turning them into something not only beautiful but […]
Certain buzzwords are developed to help us grasp a concept. To environmentalists, sustainability refers to eating, building and living in a way that will sustain more than one greedy generation. Vegewarian is another for those who aren’t quite ready to commit to full-fledged vegetarianism or veganism. Sometimes these terms are overused, as Brian pointed out […]
450 million toothbrushes wind up in landfills every year in the US alone, says sustainable-products company World Centric. The utmost natural and biodegradable toothbrush is a twig from the Miswak shrub and about which we’ve reported. New York-based Lebanese designer Leen Sadder has even tried to make miswak twigs available commercially (read about it here). […]
An Israeli designer creates a rug that incorporates real pebbles. Walking on them is like a foot massage! It’s pretty common these days to see pottery and household objects that are designed to resemble nature. And carpets too. While you may see pathways made of pebbles, it’s not likely you’ll find them inside your carpets. […]
Half as tall as the Burj Dubai, this soaring tower (if realized) could absorb some of Cairo’s crowds. How to deal with Cairo’s crowds is a complex dilemma that IAMZ Design Studio has approached with this soaring Father and Son Skyscraper. Inspired by the relationship between a father and son, the young Egyptian architect has […]