Cup City by Andrea Legge was a temporary interactive art installation comprised of a 2000 sq ft structure built using rented chain link fence panels at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Over the course of three days, concertgoers filled the structure with approximately 25,000 plastic cups and water bottles.

April 23, 2011 by Designsquish

April 17, 2011 by Designsquish

Great blog from Vancouver, BC - http://www.old-chum.com/

April 12, 2011 by Designsquish

REVISITED is an independent design collective based in Brooklyn, New York City.
Revisited makes pillow cases from old shirts found mostly in thrift stores.“While seeing those hundreds of shirts waiting to be tried on we knew we wanted to make something out of them, something new. Many of them were too big or simply had an outdated shape. We selected the best fabrics, interesting structures in natural blends and were ready to rework them” - R

-http://www.revisitedmatters.com

April 06, 2011 by Designsquish

“The project deals with giving new life to damaged, out-of-use furniture. over the past year, I practiced furniture-healing through design. The cultural and personal history of each piece of damaged furniture served as a starting point for the treatment, which attempted to preserve each one of their stories. the intention was to explore with joy, the multiple personalities, and the defects that exist in old products, and to create a human and hybrid aesthetic language[...] I started exploring a visual language that deals with imperfections, and giving objects human-like gestures.” - Noam Tabenkin

Read more about noam Tabenkin’s furniture on Visual Syntex

February 22, 2011 by Designsquish

I love this extra shabby, homemade wardrobe. Found on http://www.kabinettandkammer.com/

February 09, 2011 by Designsquish

“A picture of a house is taken before its demolition. A sofa is built from the building rubble of the house. The sofa is a portrait of the house in design and colours. The framed photo is hanging above the sofa” - Michael Sailstorfer

February 05, 2011 by Designsquish

Gamper Martino has been collecting discarded old/broken chairs from London streets over a period of two years and then spending 100 days reconfiguring the design of each in an attempt to transform its character and function.

by Designsquish

I have a bunch of dead light bulbs that are waiting to be recycled.  While they are waiting they can be turned into beautiful art!  P.S (Keep away from children)  Read about it on Family Chic: http://cfabbridesigns.com

Note from ehow: A simple household light bulb can be deceptively difficult to recycle. Some light bulbs feature filaments and other parts made of mercury, contributing to the inclusion of toxins in the environment. You should collect all of your light bulbs and recycle them.

January 24, 2011 by Designsquish

What to do with old books? Crazy book origami. Via: Unconsumption

by Designsquish

Stump stools by the Cumulus Project.
(The wood for these three stools was harvested from a fallen maple tree)

“Log Stools” by Kevin Heisner.

P.S (It is better than bad it is good!)

January 15, 2011 by Designsquish

A chest of drawers made from old suitcases.

by Designsquish

January 04, 2011 by Designsquish

“Vladimir” or “Pallet Mirror” by Karl Zahn is made using two partially destroyed shipping pallets. “The scars on the lumber tell a story of its travels. While the form is reminiscent of old victorian french mirrors, its origin is far from gold leaf” -Karl Zahn

December 19, 2010 by Designsquish

Moss terrariums are fun and easy to create and maintain.  Decorate your moss terrariums with precious stones and twigs you find.  Above are do-it-yourself moss terrariums created with vintage listerine bottles found on Bottle Beach, Brooklyn and moss from Upstate New York.  Bottle Beach is a great place to find old bottles. If you are not afraid to dig through Brooklyn’s vintage garbage:

“Keep the moisture in. The moss will use the CO2 provided by the decomposing and dead plants in the soil. Sometimes, there’s algae and seeds from other plants in the mini-ecosystem, which will overgrow the moss over time [...] Seal the jar off completely making sure, that there’s enough moisture in it. Try to supply the jars with enough light without exposing them to direct sunlight”
- from experienced moss terrarium owner, Henry K Miller

You can always use old wine bottles and jars, or buy ready-made moss terrariums. Below: Moss terrariums at Cog and Pearl.

December 09, 2010 by Designsquish

Antonello Fuse coat hangers made from old recycled chair backs.

December 06, 2010 by Designsquish

at Cog & Pearl in Park Slope, Brooklyn

December 04, 2010 by Designsquish

Sandcomb seat from reused cotton by DKSD, Dutch interior and product design studio. A lightweight, yet windproof seat when filled with sand. Part of ‘portable’ furniture series. - http://www.wraf.nl

Beautiful exterior cladding panel design by DKSD inspired by…herring!
Below is a new exterior cladding panel designed to protect buildings from rainwater and also retain it. This slightly bowl-shaped panel harvests rainwater and funnels it to tanks for internal storage. The water is then used for the building’s heating, cooling and sanitary installations.  The scale-like surface and pearly colours give the panels their nickname ‘Hollandse Nieuwe’, referring to Dutch fresh herring and two brand new Dutch designers!

November 30, 2010 by Designsquish

Bags from reclaimed tractor inner tubes by Chicago based company Defy Bags. Old materials. New ideas.

http://www.defybags.com

November 19, 2010 by Designsquish

I found these beautiful greenhouses made from upcycled old windows on HAUTE NATURE. I recently have seen a bunch of gorgeous old windows in the garbage. ...

October 29, 2010 by Designsquish

This LED chandelier by Yoon Bahk is made from recycled wine and champagne bottles.  Rescued bottles were hand washed and polished. A unit from single bottle can be hung by itself.  Yoon Bahk believes that green design should be an idea and not a look. 

I found this great design in a book called 1000 New Eco Designs:

October 03, 2010 by Designsquish

Pillows from recycled old wool sweaters, jackets or shirts. (Image from Katy Elliott)

Sofa cover from reused jeans fabric. (Image from Design Milk)

September 19, 2010 by Designsquish

This mug by lenni08 reminds me of where I grew up. There are many birch trees in Russia — it’s considered the national tree.

This necklace made of birch bark by bettula is inspired by the discarded and unusual. You don’t have to think very hard to figure out which tree is my favorite.

When I was growing up, people in Russia did not have a lot of money to buy new wares, so they made belongings out of other objects. To this day I think it is pretty cool to see objects and materials being reused, like this rotating bike wheel pot rack by plaidclad

These beautiful and valuable bits and pieces almost disappeared into the garbage pile forever! Get inspired to recycle by the digit recycled leather necklace by mainichi and shift key typewriter vintage pendant necklace by PreciousPastimes.

This neglected dresser was salvaged and restored by rubyrhino1 and made into a vintage masterpiece.  It reminds me of our summer dacha in Russia.

Read full Design Squish guest Curator post on Etsy:

- Earth Tones: Design Squish’s Eco Picks

September 16, 2010 by Designsquish

Above: Shelving/vase system displaying thistles, dried plants and exotic flowers.

Daniel Goers is a local Brooklyn designer, architect and artist who has a show right now called Scrap Ecology at Brooklyn coffee shop K-Dog in Lefferts Gardens.  All pieces are made from reclaimed materials except some lighting components. Daniel has been collecting scrap materials and remaking them into beautiful designs and sculptures for some time now. His other great project is in collaboration with artist Jennifer Wong called Birdtown. Fifty birdhouses were built from recycled materials and installed in Fort Greene:

http://myrtleavenuebirdtown.com/

Above: Daniel Goers and Jennifer Wong.

Above: Birdhouse from Birdtown.

Scrap Ecology aims to rearrange the raw materials of our urban and natural environments into objects with new meaning and purpose. These materials include abandoned shipping pallets from Red Hook, wood cutoffs from carpentry projects, recycled packaging, discarded architectural samples, donated plant stems and foraged specimens from Prospect Park and the mountains of Harriman State Park.

http://dgoers.com

Why reclaimed materials?

New York is a great place to find raw materials to build with.  every day the streets are filled with “trash” that can be so much more. But maybe the best reason is that material is free. The reclaimed material also tends to have more character.

Do you enjoy living in New York? Would you if you had an opportunity move somewhere where there are more trees and less garbage?

Of course, New York is a great place to be a designer but my sculptures do hint at the desire to be closer to nature.  I would love to live in a barn in the mountains but in the meantime I will work to bring nature to people’s homes here.

Above: Lamp made from glass jar moss terrariums.

Why do you think using reclaimed materials is popular today? 

It’s just marketing for many people. I like to believe that myself and many other designers simply see some intrinsic value and potential in the waste around us. What was once a shipping pallet can become a hundred new things, so why cut down another tree?  More people come to this realization and the ‘green’ movement will become less about marketing & more a part of the collective conscience.

September 10, 2010 by Designsquish

How to make sofa out of pillows?
This cusioned sofa by Christiane Hoegner “uses the smallest element of a sofa - the little pillow on top - as main component.  Usually used to adjust and customize your personal comfort level, it is now multiplied and piled up to the shape of a sofa” - Christiane

Dad pillows by Christiane Hoegner made from button up shirts. Great idea for DIY project and a way to reuse old shirts!

Another beautiful pillow inspired sofa and stool:

Hanabi by MottoWasabi can be freely transformed according to different needs and seating situations and it is also possible to form a sofa by combining several Hanabis together.

August 24, 2010 by Designsquish

I am drawn to comfortable, soft accessories from reclaimed materials.
Slippers made from recycled, felted 100% lambswool sweater and recycled leather by Wooly Baby as well as this upcycled slouch bag made from the sleeves of a mens wool dress coat by Betsy & Bess...

August 16, 2010 by Designsquish

Wild blackberries and red salmon berries gathered in Upstate New York, Harriman State Park. I never had salmon berries before.  They are so delicious! Almost as good as or better than raspberries.

July 19, 2010 by Designsquish

Cafe America is an upcycled galvanized steel chain-link chair with stainless steel rod and fasteners by Grain. The chair flat-packs for efficient shipping and storage.  Handmade in the Pacific Northwest, USA.

July 07, 2010 by Designsquish

July 06, 2010 by Designsquish

Old workshop seat.

Coffee table from recycled cable drum.

Chair from old sewing factory.

Pillows from vintage produce sacks.

Images from ArtKraft Furniture and Design.

June 28, 2010 by Designsquish