Cool Hunting
| 13 October 2008view entries from: this week | this month | view previous day | view next day |
Vienna Design Week 2008: Pure Austrian Design's In The City
by Ami Kealoha
Meeting with Julia and Andrés Fredes, founders of Pure Austrian Design (as well as their own studio Juland), last week was a great introduction to the Austrian design scene, including Vienna's second annual design week and their pop-up installation, " In The City." The showcase of Austrian-designed furniture was housed in a giant bubble smack dab in the middle of the Museum Quarter (a five-year-old cultural complex in the heart of the city) and featured the best of recent Austrian design. As a means of calling attention to Austrian design as a way to make it part of the Austrian fabric of life (something Julia, Andrés and several others I spoke to expressed as a central goal), the exhibit was a success. Check out the above video to get a taste.
Julia and Andrés also introduced me to their 2006 book, "Pure Austrian Design," which is a compendium of Austrian Design that includes pictures, text (in German and English) and an audio CD. The very European multi-disciplinary concept is meant to celebrate all forms of Austrian design and is a great overview. I also liked the felt ribbon Julia was wearing with an over-the-top rhinestone illustration of their riff on the influence of nature on Austrian design (pictured above right). Pick up the book from Amazon or Powell's.
Switch Carbonated Juice
by Jacob Resneck
There are few things as refreshing as a cold fruit soda. Switch is a new brand and an answer to the majority of so-called fruit sodas that are heavy on soda but light on the fruit. Sweetners like high-fructose corn syrup, aspartame, artificial colors and preservatives add a lot of multi-syllabic additives that you really don't want to be pouring down your gullet.
Enter Switch, a full-flavored and all-natural soft drink that's all fruit juice with none of the crap found in most mainstream fizzy beverages.
It's not the first time we've found great-tasting natural sodas and liked them; hopefully it won't be the last.
Available in virtually all 50 U.S. states, The Switch is even being welcomed into more than 1,500 public schools at the same time that school districts around the nation — and the world — are moving to ban cola and other junk foods from their campus cafeterias.
Switchgrass-Derived Bioplastics
by Lost At E Minor
Environmental tech company Metabolix recently announced that they have discovered a way to derive large amounts of bioplastic (plastics made from renewable biomass resources) by growing it in switchgrass, a common prairie grass. Their efforts are part of an increasing movement to manufacture alternatives to petroleum-based plastics by making biodegradable plastics out of renewable resources. The company uses the plant to create its own line of plastic, Mirel, which it hopes will supplant traditional plastics in the years to come.
Bruxe Bags Holiday 2008
by Mike Giles
After a successful launch of their inaugural collection of streetwear-influenced premium bags (which we covered here back in March, brothers Oli and Mer Van Roost of Bruxe have been a very busy duo. For the current Holiday 2008 season they have chosen to focus on a new colorway and a slimmed down, limited run of their three “classic” designs, the Jefferson, Johnston and Greene. Focused primarily on innovative fabrics, sleek aesthetics and details of the highest quality and with less than 400 bags in total available this time around, these offerings are sure to fly through your local retailers.
For more info visit the Bruxe site.
