Hasta La Ideas

large-sized, wooden light boxes with interchangeable, personalized motifs. The boxes come in a range of different colours and sizes, either with indiv..

This is the latest from Del Monte, individually packaged bananas. They’re apparently recyclable, and will eventually be made biodegradable. However, I couldn’t help but notice that bananas already have a compostable wrapper, ie the peel.

The reason for this… longer shelf life. The problem with this… it flies in the face of recent production trends pertaining to the environment. They are claiming that this new product will result in fewer deliveries because of the longer shelf life, but I’d be surprised if they didn’t end up shipping more product to new sectors that they could not previously cater to (ex vending machines). Also, the fact we can recycle the wrapper is of little help because of the footprint that recycling produces, not to mention the extra impact resulting from the production of said wrapper.

A company as big as Del Monte should have come up with a better solution than this.

“Heathrow took more than 50 years to reach its current size. Beijing Airport was conceived, designed, and built in less than 5 years. This is in line with the urbanization of China—the equivalent of a similar change in Europe in the nineteenth century. What took 200 years then is a mere 20 years now. Building in China is quite unlike anywhere else in the world. There’s an incredible sense of ‘can do,’ with an extraordinary degree of intelligence and coordination, all of which means that decisions can be made very quickly.”

–Norman Foster, whose firm designed Beijing Airport, the largest in the world

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The upshot of Internet wanderings by CH’s editors and designers over this past week, our list ranges from a hybrid vacuum-boombox to sculptures that radically reimagine the concept of the bust.

1. Journey to Zero
TED conference founder Richard Saul Wurman and automaker Nissan joined forces t produce Journey to Zero as a way for creative and inspirational thinkers to share their ideas on the future of zero emissions vehicles. The stunning website features various videos, images, articles and projects as well as some downloadable DIY projects for grassroots word-spreading.

2. Shiloh Farms: Sprouted Goodness Mixes
Goodlifer’s hunger-inducing review of Shiloh Farms’ new Essential Eating Sprouted Spelt Pancake and Waffle Mix (which use organic and sustainable ingredients) makes the results look and sounds like a delicious.

3. Sculptor Nick van Woert
Brooklyn-based sculptor Nick van Woert’s incredible portfolio beautifully toys with notions of perception.

4. Showtime iPhone App
This new and simple free iPhone app helps track favorite TV shows and find out about upcoming episodes.
via
Surfstation

5. Book: The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox
Take a peek inside the new book that details the painstaking process of making Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox” by the famous Pentagram design studio.
via Volts, Amps, and Ohms

6. Olympic Torch Relay Photo Essay
The Olympics tend to conjure images of athletes slaloming, racing and skating through subzero temperatures. This photo essay from The Boston Globe provides a refreshing antidote in beautifully shot pictures of the Olympic flame, from its lighting in Greece to the communal journey through Canada.

7. Electrolux “Silence Amplified” iPod Vacuum
Building on their UltraQuiet machine, Electrolux just launched a vacuum with a built-in iPod dock and speakers.
via Engadget

8. Den Der
Documenting a 1969 Danish sex experiment, these photographs capture plenty of vintage body hair with artsy compositions in grainy black-and-white. The Flickr set features scans of every page.
via
Paris-LA

Contributions by Miriam Brafman, Ami Kealoha, Maggie York-Smith and Evan Orensten

(Photo: Philip Greenberg)

Have you been holding off on visiting the Guggenheim’s swell Kandinsky exhibition for fear of becoming famished mid-climb, before reaching the artist’s geometric period? Fear not, ravenous fans of abstraction, because now the museum can feed your hunger for great art and modern American cuisine. Today is opening day at The Wright, the intimate new restaurant located on the museum’s ground floor and lined in a site-specific sculptural installation by British artist Liam Gillick.

Designed by Andre Kikoski Architect, the 1,600-square-foot space was inspired by Wright’s original museum design. “We sought to create a work that is both contemporary and complementary,” says Kikoski, who riffed on the Guggenheim’s iconic architecture with design features including a curvilinear wall layered with illuminated fiber-optics, a bar topped in seamless white Corian, an undulating banquette, and a layered ceiling canopy of taut white membrane (yum!).

As for the menu, it’s modern American fare through the eyes of chef Rodolfo Contreras, with signature dishes such as seared diver scallops, gently cooked shrimp, and crab meat with sea urchin sauce; slow-roasted suckling pig, quince, and violet mustard (isn’t that the title of another Gilick work?) in apple bacon jus. Vegetarians can opt for The Wright Salad, which features green market vegetables and gently cooked egg truffle. Meanwhile, those Guggenheim visitors that insist on starting at the top will want to begin with dessert: spiced pumpkin and chocolate cake with a scoop of pumpkin seed oil ice cream.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.