Avoska, translated as “just in case” is a Russian net bag.  Avoska collapses to fit inside your fist and expands to hold 12 grapefruits. It is easy to wash and boxes edges do not rip it’s threads. Best of all, it prevents plastic bags from gathering in your kitchen corner or the world’s landfills.  With the popularization of plastic bags after the 90’s (after the fall of Soviet Union) avoska bags gradually went into disuse in Russia.

Above: Russia 1959. People carrying avoska bags. Photo: Carl Mydans.

Contemporary Russian folklore:  Once upon a time in Russia there lived a simple little net bag - Avoska. Everyone loved her.  People took her with them everywhere - to the store, farmers market and even birthdays. But then….plastic bags came and people forgot about Avoska.  To see what happens next watch this really adorable 3 minute film on Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/avoska

Above: Boy hugging avoska bag from short “Avoska” film (See above)

Read blog dedicated to Avoski:  http://avoski.livejournal.com/

June 07, 2011 by Designsquish

Thirty five leaves silhouettes can be found on http://forestry.about.com

June 04, 2011 by Designsquish

Rainbow Gatherings are temporary intentional communities usually held in outdoor settings, and espousing and practicing ideals of peace, love, harmony, freedom and community, as a consciously expressed alternative to mainstream popular culture, consumerism, capitalism and mass media…Rainbow Gatherings are an expression of a Utopian impulse, combined with bohemianism, hipster and hippie culture, with roots clearly traceable to the 1960’s counterculture. Mainstream society is commonly referred to and viewed as “Babylon”, connoting the participants’ widely held belief that modern lifestyles and systems of government are unhealthy, unsustainable, exploitative and out of harmony with the natural systems of the planet….The first Rainbow Gathering, a four-day event in Colorado in July 1972, was organized by youth counterculture “tribes” based in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. - wiki

- Rainbow Gathering album on flickr by photographer Benoit Paillé

June 01, 2011 by Designsquish

Illustration by Maayan Pearl and Emily Keegin.

Read article in Bloomberg Businessweek

May 30, 2011 by Designsquish

“I grew up on the countryside where my parents run a plant nursery and a flower shop. {...}  I decided to show nature how I experienced it as a child.”

-http://www.amirafritz.com

May 21, 2011 by Designsquish

Space saving invisible bookshelves.  Minimal and simple! Book on the bottom acts as support for every other book on top. 

by Designsquish

Above: Dress made from yucca leaves and flowers.

May 16, 2011 by Designsquish

Image above: http://www.bloom-magazine.eu

Place flower between 2 sheets of paper to protect the pages of the book. Leave at least 1/8” of pages between pressings, weigh the book down and wait a couple of weeks.

May 15, 2011 by Designsquish

-http://treehugger.com

May 13, 2011 by Designsquish

Palm reed (buri) is the matured leaf of the palm. It is a great material for hats, bags, slippers, window blinds, mats, brooms and baskets. 

Carefully handcrafted baskets made of palm reed, leather, and metal designed by Brooklyn-based designer from Philippines,  Stanley Ruiz.

-http://stanleyruiz.com

May 12, 2011 by Designsquish

Above:  Tree says hi.

Photos by Israel based photographer Ella Sverdlov

by Designsquish

Jar lamp by UpCycle.  This lamp is made from re-using Avoca glass jar. A hole is drilled in the cap and a lamp fitting is offered through.

May 11, 2011 by Designsquish

“Desire to Disappear” is a film by Minnesota based artist Alec Soth.  Alec Soth traveled across America looking for people who’ve retreated from society.  Below are some of Alec’s photographs and quotes from his film. 

“This is Alec Soth.  So I am a photographer and the project I am doing deals with the subject of retreating from the world.  That can involve everything from hermits to monks.”

“I think it is something in the culture right now and is, in some ways, preparation for the decline of the American empire.”

“A part of it is a fantasy of having retreat”

“It is not really about running away. It is about the desire to run away.”

Preview: http://www.somewheretodisappearthefilm.com/

May 07, 2011 by Designsquish

Bike chain wall clock by Andreas Dober.

by Designsquish

Book shelves made of plumbing pipes:

http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/09/shelving-unit.html

May 02, 2011 by Designsquish

Stunning drawings by Japanes artist Ikeda Manabu .  Click on images to view larger.  On view now at Japan Society.

May 01, 2011 by Designsquish

Oil Spill by Lisa Kellner: 60,000 Quilting Pins

by Designsquish

All I need is a thermos and a tin/aluminum lunch box.

“Today, lunch boxes are generally made of vinyl, with foam insulation, and an aluminum/vinyl interior. As a result, they’re usually much better at retaining their temperature but are less rigid and protective.  Health concerns came to light in August 2002, when the Center for Environmental Health discovered that many popular vinyl lunch boxes contained dangerously high levels of lead..”.- from Wikipedia

Ready to say goodbye to plastic bags and other plastic food containers???
Stainless steel “Eco Lunch Box”:

by Designsquish

April 27, 2011 by Designsquish

“Захотелось вернуться в васильковое лето,
когда от зноя плавится воздух, от тишины звенит в ушах” - Х.Росс

В чистом поле, у реки
Распустились васильки.
Синенькие крапинки,
Словно неба капельки...

April 24, 2011 by Designsquish

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

Tonatiuh Ambrosetti has been making these stunning photographs of glaciers melting in his home country of Switzerland.

- http://www.tonatiuh.ch

April 20, 2011 by Designsquish

April 17, 2011 by Designsquish

Above: Joni Mitchell, hair undyed.

Above: Joni Mitchell among wild grasses.

April 16, 2011 by Designsquish

by Designsquish

April 14, 2011 by Designsquish

DIY Panton Chair by Peter Jakubik incites users to make their own original fake famous chair designed by Verner Panton. All what you need is a picture of Panton chair, found log, DIY tools and passion for designer classics.

April 12, 2011 by Designsquish

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

by Designsquish

by Designsquish

Floral Map of the United States. It would be nice to ride through it on this bike:

April 10, 2011 by Designsquish