Design
These two organizations are on a mission to take plastic out of the fashion industry
Do you remember the nonprofit that teamed with Adidas last year to create a shoe woven from ocean plastic waste? Well that nonprofit is teaming up with another organization to replace every harmful substance in the fashion industry, such as plastic, with a natural alternative. To make their plan Read More...
Architects design a flood-proof parking garage that rises as it rains
In order to keep underground garages from flooding during heavy rainfall, Danish firm Third Nature has designed a conceptual garage system that would use an underground water reservoir to move it up and down as it fills with and empties Read More...
Could this be the hotel industry’s only advantage over Airbnb?
While Airbnb can make you feel at home in a new place, it misses something hotels have: A communal space like the lobby. Sure it sounds simple, but the tried and true hotel lobby offers a novelty experience and has various other benefits. See here why hotels are starting to upgrade their lobbies in Read More...
Not even a hurricane could destroy these floating villas
Living below sea level, like much of the Netherlands is, can put your home at risk for flooding, especially during hurricanes. European hurricanes are rare, but some climate scientists expect that storms could become more common in Europe if global warming continues to accelerate. That’s why an Read More...
Houston is tackling the threat of destructive hurricanes and flooding
Cities across the United States are investing in infrastructure that will help make them more resistant to storms. A neighborhood in Greater Houston is building stormwater detention ponds, one of which helped prevent an estimated 200 homes from Read More...
Solve pollution and congestion? Turn parking lots into affordable communities
As high prices and growing populations have constrained housing supplies in the city centers, people have been pushed further and further out into the suburbs, where they begin to lean more heavily on cars. But traffic congestion, exacerbated by the proliferation of ride-sharing services like Uber, Read More...
Biomimicry: How designers are learning from the natural world
In 1989, Japan’s Shinkansen Bullet Train had a problem. It was really fast, pushing 170 miles per Read More...
The growing business of defensive urban design
Rob Reiter has a quick answer for people who ask him about how expensive it is to install his products: “It’s not a quarter as expensive as if they don’t do anything and something happens.” He’s talking about Read More...
Teaching people how to build machines that turn plastic into new material
The majority of the 300 million tons of plastic produced every year isn’t recycled, and recycling that does happen typically happens at an industrial scale in factories using equipment that can cost tens of thousands of dollars. But a growing number of designers are using a set of open-source, Read More...
Paris is getting a ‘white forest’ tower that will feature 2,000 plants
Construction on a greenery-covered tower, designed by the Italian firm Stefano Boeri Architetti, will soon start in the Parisian suburb of Villiers-sur-Marne in France. On the outside, 2,000 trees, plants, and shrubs will fill the building’s facade, roof, and balconies. Inside, the building Read More...