Cool Hunting Video Presents: The Maze

A behind-the-scenes look at LA’s hidden haunted house

While recently exploring the southern coast of the Golden State we ended up in the Los Angeles neighborhood of El Sereno where artist Albert Reyes gave us a behind-the-scenes look at his yearly Halloween project. Since 2004 Reyes has built a Halloween maze in his backyard for a party in celebration of America’s favorite pagan holiday. Over time, the maze has evolved from a blanket tunnel held together with sticks to a full, free-standing structure, guaranteed to spook the drunk, stoned and sober alike. We got a special glimpse of the maze in daylight to learn about the scavenged materials and secret passages, and follow the process behind this bizarre installation.

Throughout the rest of the year, Albert creates pop-culture and political-satire prints on paper, which are available online from Mastodon Mesa


Mitz Takahashi

A Japanese designer crafting mid-century style furniture from recycled and salvaged wood
Mitz-1.jpg

Montreal-based woodworker Mitz Takahashi upcycles wooden offcuts into unique, modern designs. Working by hand with mostly reclaimed lumber like mahogany, walnut, oak and other found materials, Osaka-born Takahashi spends his days tooling around creating works based on his favorite elements of mid-century design.

mitz-flat1.jpg

Working mainly on a commission basis, Takahashi crafts everything from bookshelves to guitar amps, and attempts to minimize even more waste by packing flat his designs when possible. His keen eye for harmoniously blending various types of wood keeps his furniture feeling cohesively pieced together, and the smooth finishes breathe new life into each design.

Mitz-2.jpg Mitz-coasters.jpg

Takahashi’s sustainable style isn’t always serious. He recently created a small product line of humorous gifts like his “medieval assholes” coaster set, which showcases his ability to poke fun as well as his fine crafting skills.

mitz-chair.jpg mitz-file.jpg

For more information on Takahashi and his inspired designs, check out his site or contact him directly for commissions or sales inquiries.


Maison & Objet Fall 2011, Part One

Six housewares brands delightfully confusing indoors and out

At the biannual housewares tradeshow Maison & Objet we found many of the winds of innovation blowing from the outdoor arena this year. The contemporary, nomad-like movement reverses the use of indoor and outdoor spaces. When indoor moves outdoor, along with bathroom and kitchen, the whole living room and dining room seem to follow as well—sometimes even surrounded by walls and a ceiling. Designing for dual living, this shift brings with it the quest for new materials to face outside elements, while keeping the elegance typically reserved for interiors.

kettal3.jpg

Since outdoor furniture requires sophisticated technical materials, working with them often becomes a source of inspiration for designers, like Patricia Urquiola. A Spanish native now working in Milan, she recently created a collection for leading Spanish design firm Kettal. In our interview with Urquiola, a trained architect, she explained that the collaboration with Kettal was all about researching a new material called “Nido d’Ape” (honeycomb) consisting of a PVC fabric knotted in a three-dimensions reminiscent of the “macramé” technique. The team pulled materials from other fields, creating a new manufacturing process to achieve the desired effect.

kettal-vieques2.jpg

Urquiola’s idea came from observing a common organic fabric, a coffee filter, under a microscope. The result, surprisingly thick, smooth and rug-like, provides a pleasant cozy feeling with the visual treat of seeing all the filaments formed into mini pyramidal grids. Stretched taut between aluminum frames, the chairs combine the elegance of indoor fabric-based furniture in a range of colors for outdoor—with all the resilience needed for sitting and resistance to any kind of weather. The “Vieques” collection comes out in January 2012.

flux-chair1.jpg

Also riding the nomadic wave and the constant problem of limited urban space, the newly-formed Dutch company Flux came up with a cutting-edge folding chair. The end-of-studies project of two Dutch designers was launched in March 2011 and already 40,000 units have been sold all over the world.

flux2.jpg

The durable chair consists of a flat rectangular sheet of polypropylene weighing less than five kilograms that can support up to 160 kg. You can refold over and over (testers gave up after 800 tries) and hang six chairs all at once on the wall thanks to a special belt and wall mount system. UV-resistant and waterproof, it combines stiffness and flexibility in a contemporary design, offered in a wide range of colors.
There is even a kids model also available. Prices run from $200 for the regular model to $110 for the kid’s version, selling purchased online.

bacsac1.jpg

While indoor furnishings continue to move outside, urban citizens aim to bring some outdoor favorites inside by gardening in any corner of space. Be it on the balcony, in a courtyard or even inside the apartment, the young French company Bacsac meets this need with their simple accessories. The work of a designer and two landscape architects, their ultra-light bags are easily transportable and can be used both indoor and out. Made from double-walled geotextile fabric (100% recyclable), the containers maintain the necessary balance between air, earth and water and are frost resistant. U.S. shoppers can find them at Sprouthouse.com.

concept-suspendu1.jpg

Living al fresco also inspired hybrid leisure objects, like the gracious suspended wooden cradle, half garden hammock and half swing chair, designed by two the Frenchmen of Concept Suspendu. The company, created eight months ago and located in the Alps, specializes in woodwork (one of the pair is a former carpenter) and makes their signed, limited-run furniture from ash—wood known for its solidity and usually used for tool handles.

art-terre2.jpg

The Green attitude, an enduring key point of contemporary interior design, was present throughout the show in a number of the projects based on recycling and reuse. Parisian eco-design agency Art Terre pursues a double purpose. Along with recycling materials and reusing objects, their concern is to reconsider the production process and to facilitate social integration of disabled people or former prisoners.

art-terre1.jpg

The resulting collection consists of well-designed and well-manufactured original and beautiful items, like ginko-shaped placemats and inflatable flowerpots (as well as a full collection of other flower pots). They all share an innovative process using recycled PVC fabrics made from car industry remnants; the inventive cushions are made of air-bags and customized with a seatbelt to remind the user of the origin of the product. Coatracks and dustbins are made of salvaged bed slats. But the most beautiful achievement is the handmade series of paper lamps, resulting from a paper folding technique similar to Japanese origami.


Recycled Auto Tire Chair

Il designer Peter Danko ha riciclato parti di copertoni usati nelle giunture tra seduta/schienale e struttura. Il risultato assicura alla sedia NoCo2 una buona ergonomia e flessibilità.
{Via}

Recycled Auto Tire Chair

After The Barn

A family business turns New England’s deteriorating barns into incredible custom furniture and more

afterbarn1.jpg afterbarn2.jpg

After The Barn is a father-and-son team in upstate New York that scours the rolling country of the Hudson Valley and Catskills Mountains for barns that are no longer sound. The woodworkers painstakingly dismantle what are often 200-year-old barns, and rework them into furniture, custom cabinetry, birdhouses and customized designs. Their desire is that no barn goes to waste. For our holiday pop up shop we did with the Gap in 2010, the team behind ByKenyan worked with After The Barn to create one-off paneling and shelves, bringing the barn ambiance to midtown Manhattan.

afterbarn12.jpg

After The Barn is based in the small town of Campbell Hall in rural Orange County, NY where they remain connected with the farming community and can help dismantle barns that are on the verge of collapse. Founder Bob Staab explains, “We believe it is better to recycle the wood from old structures, transforming and redefining their role and enhancing their value rather than to relegating the old beams, walls and floors to a landfill.”

afterbarn11.jpg

As preservationists who care about the region’s disappearing colonial Dutch heritage, the Staabs are committed to creating compelling pieces that really show off the wood’s raw beauty. A constantly updated stocklist shows gorgeous hardwood tables crafted from mahogany and chestnut as well as cabinetry from reclaimed lumber that has hardened over the years.

afterbarn3.jpg afterbarn4.jpg

After The Barn has two showrooms that house some of their latest works. To see more of what they do, check out their website.


Brooklyn Hard Candy

Brooklyn-based chefs revive hard candy with secret ingredients and throwback packaging
hardcandy2.jpg

Like millions of good ideas, Brooklyn Hard Candy was dreamed up over several drinks one night. But unlike most booze-fueled enterprises, this one has more than enough cred to back it up. The joint product of Le Cordon Bleu grads Danny Mowles (also the executive chef at NYC’s The Roger Smith Hotel) and Nathan Panum, the pair set out to create something distinctly Brooklyn and unmistakably “hard.”

“We saw everything moving towards local,” Mowles explained when I recently spent the afternoon with him in Brooklyn. “We knew we wanted to do something sweet, but everyone was doing chocolate. After that it was just finding the right type of sweet that we could make our own.”

Standout flavors include Wild Strawberry and Green Apple (I liked Tangerine and Blueberry too), but all seven have their own secret flavor ingredient, lending a subtly delicious aftertaste.

The cooking process follows standard candy-making procedure (cooking the sugar to a “hard crack” before adding citric acid and flavor), but the candy’s shape is the result of a custom-made cutting machine. Sourcing all of their Ingredients from the U.S., Mowles comments, “One of the things we’re most proud of is being a handcrafted American company.”

hardcandy1.jpg

To attract customers, balancing the look of the packaging with their values was just as important to the candymakers as making tasty treats. “People keep asking if we can do organic candy, and that kind of takes the fun out of it—it’s candy—but what we have tried to do is keep the packaging as green as possible.” Made of recycled glass, cork and paper, the bottle is reminiscent of the type used in old-fashioned apothecaries.

With demand wildly exceeding expectation, the duo is trying to find free time between their busy day jobs to produce enough candy for both retailers and a growing online fan base. Launched December 2010, the company still operates out of multiple locations. “We get time from big kitchens at night, come in there in the off hours, prepare as many vats as we can and see how it goes.” An initial run in Brooklyn’s Bedford Cheese Shop helped the charming bottles sell across the area, and moves to larger markets are in the works, as well as a new product—look out for a lollipop line in time for summer.

In the meantime the candies start at $7 per bottle and are available at Greene Grape, Brooklyn Larder and Blue Apron Fine Foods, or through Brooklyn Hard Candy’s online store.


Mismatch Socks

Multi-patterned knit socks because “life is too short for matching socks”
mismatch-socks1.jpg

Among the folk knits, antique textiles, small-trade crafts and other neo-hippie goods at shop New High (M)art, the “Mismatch Socks” not only keep feet cozy and looking fresh this winter but also perfectly illustrate the Griffith Park, L.A. retailer’s commitment to quality, unusual products.

The vibrantly-colored socks, made of recycled cotton, nylon and lycra in the U.S.A., come in a range of sizes and sell online from New High (M)art for $18 each.


Dexter – Recycled Suit Tote

Questa borsa prodotta da Poketo è una vera chicca ed è composta al 100% da materiale riciclato…la trovate in vendita sul loro store!
[Via]

Dexter - Recycled Suit Tote

Dexter - Recycled Suit Tote

Dexter - Recycled Suit Tote

111 Navy Chair by Emeco

More ice: aluminium furniture brand Emeco will launch a new version of its iconic Navy Chair in Milan next month, made of recycled plastic Coca-Cola bottles. (more…)

Notebook Contest

We’re giving away notebooks for link submissions pointing to examples of great environmental product design.

To enter just post a comment below (in the main comment field, not where it says ‘website’), making sure that you include the link and a short description. The top three will be selected by DP and each submitter will be sent a book. The contest closes on October 23rd.


More about the book: The pages are made with re-purposed billboard material and the cover is 100% post consumer. AmoebaCorp only produced a limited edition of 250 pieces.