Cool Hunting Video Presents: Robert Hammond at The 99% Conference

by Cool Hunting Video

by Gregory Mitnick

In this video, Friends of the Highline co-founder Robert Hammond tells the story of how he helped reinvent a gritty elevated railway into what is NYC's most celebrated public space since Central Park. He shares images and animations of what the park (due to open in June) will look like at a talk for our recent 99% Conference and shares how he feels after a decade at work at the brink of its debut.

Regenesi Sustainable Products

by CH Contributor

by Paolo Ferrarini of Future Concept Lab

Regenesi, a young Italian company founded by Maria Silvia Pazzi, aims to design, manufacture and market original objects produced from recycled materials.

Focused on maintaining the same aesthetic and fine quality of Italian design but adding sustainability, Regenesi products are both physically and ethically attractive. While the range spans household objects to fashion accessories, it's united by the same novel use of post-consumer materials such as aluminum, glass, plastic, leather and cardboard—all treated with a special processing technique that allows each material to remain identical to its raw form. The care for quality, good taste and beauty—which often lie outside of the eco universe—is a main concern for Regenesi.

To keep with the Regenesi mantra that "there is no contradiction between being function, eco-compatible and beautiful," well-known international designers, such as Matali Crasset, Marco Ferreri, Giulio Iacchetti, Denis Santachiara and Setsu e Shinobu Ito create the collection. In the true spirit of “sustain and be sustainable,” Regenesi also gives space to young designers, both through projects with Italy’s design schools—such as the Polytechnic University of Turin and the University of Venice—and the international community through their website. Products are available online at Regenesi website and at temporary showrooms in major European cities.

Japan Brand Pop Up Shop: Hitoma Portable Tea Room

by CH Contributor

by Ariston Anderson

The Japan Brand Pop Up Shop, currently at NYC's Felissimo through 30 May 2009, is full of the latest fashion accessories, kitchen props and home décor straight from Japan, but what really caught our eye was Hitoma—an enormous portable tea room meant to easily turn any room into the perfect tea or meditation retreat.

The project's title, Hitoma, signifies a room used to promote a time and place of relaxation. Built from Kishu timber, a high-quality cedar from the city of Gobo and known for its extraordinary grain patterns and long life-span, the portable tea room is a soft, calming space reminiscent of the forest from which it came. Sliding doors covered in bamboo paper display calligraphy or a woodblock print while tatami mats cover the floor, each holding a pattern that signifies an animal or a plant, much like a family crest.

The tea room was developed by the Gobo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and retails for $18,000.

Japan Brand Pop Up Shop
Through 30 May 2009
Felissimo Design House
10 West 56th Street
New York, NY 10019 map
tel. +1 212 956 4438

The 4th Bin Design Competition

by Bailee Wolfson

The 4th Bin tackles the e-waste recycling problem by proposing a massive infrastructure shift using design thought up by you. Sponsored by Valiant Technology, the international competition is putting the call out to all creative innovators to submit logo and bin designs. Eventually, the goal is to put the bins in buildings across the country so that businesses and individuals have a place to recycle hardware and properly dispose of the toxic chemicals found within devices.

For those unaware of the problem, the U.S. has produced an astonishing two million tons of e-waste and New York alone has contributed 250,000 tons to that total. To reverse the damage the 4th Bin will make being responsible more accessible through the container program and a recognizable logo along the lines of the recycling symbol.

The entry fee is $20 per individual or team. Winners of the Logo design will receive $1,500 for first place and $500 for second place. Winners of the Bin design will receive $3,000 for first place and $1,000 for second.

Submission deadline is 19 July 2009 with winners announced September 2009. For more information visit The 4th Bin.

Nima Nyima Himalayan Soaps and Candles

by Karen Day

Inspired by the warmth and energy of the Tibetan sun, Nima Nyima's natural products combine homeopathic properties with plant-based fragrances, leaving minds and skin feeling enlightened and relaxed.

Comprised of a blend of alpine plants, oils and pure yak milk, the handmade, cold-processed Nepalese soaps ($14) are biodegradable and come in invigorating aromas like nettle spearmint and herb spikenard—a valuable plant grown only in the Himalayas.

Nima Nyima makes each of their candles ($37) using similar environmentally-friendly practices that they apply to soap-making and bath salts, but also includes a sprinkling of gemstones at the top of the candle, which reappear with every burning. Though we didn't get to try the Himalayan pink bath salts (pictured below right), the detoxifying treatments are yet another way to take advantage of the healing properties offered by the brand.

With so many candles and bath products available today, it's great to find a company that takes such care and concern in producing their creations. Using any of their lavish goods imparts a sense of the Nima Nyima's philosophy of bringing the purity of Himalayan landscape to the home.

Nima Nyima products are available for purchase online or at several salons and boutiques nationwide.

Lost At E Minor Logo Challenge

by Karen Day

Lost at E Minor turned it over to you to shape the look of their new logo, one that sums up everything the site stands for, rolled up into a design that is both fresh and readable. (See the above promo to get a sense of what they're all about.) After receiving a stack of very clever and creative submissions, they would love to know what you think. Check out the entries and help Lost decide the winner by leaving a comment under the original design a logo post, telling them which of the new Lost At E Minor logos you think is the best fit.