A former soldier in the Israeli Defense Force, Roee Magdassi knows how bulky and unsteady camping grills can be. Now a student at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, he created Stakes – an awesome new grill that makes standard iterations look like dinosaurs.

“During my military service I experienced walking long trails while carrying heavy loads,” Magdassi told Wired. “Therefore, I understood the importance of designing light weight equipment.”

The 27-year-old Industrial designer conceived of Stakes as an alternative. It has a 13-inch by 10-inch cooking surface and – as Wired puts it – “folds up to the size of a paper towel tube when not in use.”

Stakes is comprised of three titanium stakes that are easily punched into the ground with a rock. But instead of having a fixed plate, Magdassi incorporates steel wires that thread through holes in the stakes.

This flexible setup not only takes the bulk and clank out of camping gear, but it also makes it very easy to create a steady plate even in places where the ground is hard since the wires have enough play that the stakes can be pulled in different directions until placement can be made.

Whereas the aluminum cooking pots and gas canisters that most people use on camping trips are typically wobbly on uneven ground, the triangular shaped wire grid establishes a brilliantly stable surface, and more of it, making it easy to cook up kebabs, fish, veggie burgers, and other camping goodness.

Albeit a brilliant idea for army forces, one that is likely to be exceptionally popular among future Israelis, Stakes is also perfect for backpackers – especially since it eliminates the gas canister, which is often troublesome for those who fly from their homes to their backpacking destinations. 

:: Wired

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We’ve seen a lot of really useful applications for 3D printing, like making homes but Yariv Goldfarb’s graduation project for the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem is not one of them: printing plastic molds in order to “play with poop.”

Goldfarb says that he printed the molds in order to form dog poop! The doggy waste came out of the molds in all sorts of funky geometric shapes, and then he hit the town. Israelis like to push the limits in design no matter the shock value. See this getaway dress by Yael Mer for escaping global warming. Mer has a slipper rocker getup for the winter.

Back to the poo: as a comment on how people either don’t bother to notice or completely take for granted the works of urban art and architecture around them, Goldfarb used the unconventional material to break through the city stupor.

He arranged his poop shapes to resemble various landmarks across Tel Aviv, including the soaring Azrieli Center, the large sculpture outside of City Hall, as well as the leaning steel ellipses that are on display in Habima Square.

As part of his graduation project’s design brief, Goldfarb says that he wanted to “Challenge normal social rules and behavior.”

“‘Play with Poop’ helps to raise people’s awareness of their surroundings. the mini poop sculptures were placed in front of several landmarks in tel aviv in the shape of these same landmarks –- reminding the people who walk next to them everyday to take a second look, instead of ignoring them,” Goldfarb says.

It’s unclear whether he achieved his objective, but at least his abuse of 3D printing technology is far more benign than the printed plastic gun that made it past security at Israel’s parliament building, twice, without being detected. Or the 3D printable gun factory made by Cody Wilson in Austin, Texas.

Thank goodness for the people who are using 3D technology to make the planet a cleaner, saner place.

Or for celebrating religious ones like a 3D printed green dome mosque.

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Many countries in the Middle East are prone to powerful earthquakes – including Iran and Turkey, and unsophisticated school furniture puts students at particular risk when they occur during the day.

The Earthquake Proof Table mitigates this risk. Tested in a variety of situations, it can withstand the crash of a 1,000kg steel and concrete block, and also creates a passageway for students to escape when the rest of the building has collapsed around them.

After making its debut in Milan, the table was met with widespread acclaim. So much so that New York’s MoMA have added it to their permanent design collection – an enormous honor for the Bezalel Academy duo responsible for the design.

The table was part of the academy’s recently completed tour called Bezalel on Tour, during  which 100 objects and 2D animation and video installations were exhibited at important venues throughout the United States.

Beginning in 2012 at the Maryland Institute College of Arts, the exhibition traveled to Sotheby’s in Chicago, the Maltz Museum for Jewish Heritage in Cleveland, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts and Brown RISD Hillel in Providence, RI.

Curated by the head of Bezalel’s department of Ceramics and Glass Design, Muli Ben Sasson the exhibition  covered the best designs from Bezalel’s eight undergraduate departments: fine art, photography, fashion & jewelry, industrial design, visual communications, architecture, screen based arts, ceramics & glass, and from Bezalel’s graduate departments in fine art, design and urban design.

“This traveling exhibition offers viewers a unique sense of Bezalel’s flourishing artistic and professional practices, as well as an exceptionally creative, colorful, and talented side of Israel,” said Professor Eva Illouz, President of Bezalel.

“The opportunity to present Bezalel on Tour in the U.S., making New York its final stop during NYCxDesign, places the works in a global context while also emphasizing Bezalel’s commitment to quality and innovation.”

Other notable Bezalel Academy alumni featured on the tour included Ron Gilad and Ron Arad, whose bicycle wheels will never go flat.

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We absolutely love these awesome elven shoes called Needle and Thread by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design student Hadas Ilani. Displayed at Ventura Lambrate during Milan Design Week 2012 as part of the academy’s “Design Bonanza” installation, the shoes are made out of locally-sourced pine needles and depict a combination of playfulness and respect for nature, as well as an incredible attention to detail.

The young Israeli designer, who currently resides in North Korea, had to learn how to transform the pine needles, which are quite fragile, into a material that is strong enough to use as shoes.

In order to do that, she experimented with a variety of sewing techniques before settling for a relatively simple stitch. Each shoe is different. Some have what look like laces in the front, while others have sweeping heels that would make any elf proud.

We haven’t actually tried one of Ilani’s shoes on, but we can’t imagine that they are very comfortable. Still, how can you go wrong? The material she chose is completely renewable and the design is totally unique. Anyone who dons a pair of these will be the talk of the town.

After Milan, the shoes already are.

:: Designboom

More on Cool Israeli Design:

Raw Bamboo Bench is Green, but is it Comfortable?

Folded Paper Jewelry That Makes Origami Look Chic

Ron Arad’s Bike Wheels Will Never go Flat

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