Posts from — October 2008

My son was a tiger, dressed up as a diva.

The Mottainai Shop was established a little over a year ago as an outlet for stylish and eco-friendly products. Some of the items that caught my eye were these ceramic cups made from reclaimed ceramics, and these adorable chopsticks. They encourage people to keep a pair at work, or carry a pair in your bag, because wooden chopsticks are so wasteful!

The word “Mottainai” was actually chosen by environmental activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. As the story goes, upon her visit to Japan, she was so moved by the fact that a single word (mottainai) could embody all the nuances of the words reduce, reuse, recycle and respect, that she decided to promote the word globally.

And now, your trivia tidbit of the day. The teardrop logo was designed by Bunpei Yorifuji, the mastermind behind Tokyo Metro’s humorous ad campaign to teach their straphangers a few manners.

Yay! Someone has finally chosen to rethink and redesign the conventional hanger. “Hitofude” was designed by industrial designer Yasuaki Chiba. It can be purchased HERE.

Stationary and organization guru Nakabayashi is releasing Classimo, a series of cool book-like organizers to help us get all our lovely stationary in place!

via Nikkei Design

SO! Everyone is talking about Tokyo Design Week. Yes, it is very exciting, but I don’t want to over do it. I gave you a sneak preview of one of the shows yesterday. Today I’ll touch on one more topic and then that’s it! Enough. Once I’m able to digest everything I’ll do a post on what I thought was the “best of.”

Design & Environment is a show taking place at the Marunouchi House. It will be comprised of 4 shows, each looking at design and the environment in a different way. Eco-friendly design has been discussed very, very widely this year but it’s a topic very close to my heart. And looking at each show, there was just no way I couldn’t highlight it.

Nosigner will be showing “Rebirth,” a series of works created out of eggshells.

Wasara will be showcasing their beautiful line of disposable kitchenware.

Treasured Trash, a design initiative comprised of over 20 domestic and international designers who create eco-conscious products, will be showcasing their work. The installation will be titled, “see you again.”

They’ve recently launched “Think the Earth,” a website where they sell their designs! Like this super stylish recycle center to assist you in sorting and carrying your trash to appropriate destinations. And ceramic cups made out of used ceramics!

The 2-man design team known as EDING:POST will be displaying “popet,”garbage bags in the shape of household pets. The message? Think before you dispose. Don’t overfeed your pets!!

Related:

• Nosigner in 100% Design Tokyo
• Wasara goes on sale!
• EDING:POST does hamburgers

Here’s a sneak peak of some of the great work you will see when you go check out the DeLuxe Exhibition, curated by my acquaintance and fellow blogger Gen of DesignLuxe. The show runs from October 30th to November 3rd at Gallery Egg in the Aoyama district of Tokyo. Excellent job and congratulations, Gen!

Lighting by Hiroshi Kawano

Works by Norihiko Terayama of Studio Note

How often do we brush away fallen leaves and petals in an attempt to beautify our plant? Well, pictured below is an exquisite vase that is designed to equally appreciate beauty in the plant’s imminent death, as well as in its life.

“folling flower” (2008)

This week has been a roller coaster ride for me! Posting has been sporadic, and I apologize for that. But one thing that I was very excited about was that earlier this week Spoon & Tamago’s Tokyo Design Guide was published on Design*Sponge ! Check it out!

(images courtesy of shashin life)

Completed less than a year ago, Tokyu Hospital sits above Ookayama Station in Tokyo and is the only hospital to ever be built above a train station. Department stores and other commercial facilities are common in Japan, but because of the vibrations and radiowaves emmited from the trains, no one had ever undertaken the task of putting a hospital above a train station. I won’t get into detail about how these issues were overcome. And if you think it’s because I don’t understand them, you’re probably right.

The area of Ookayama was once known for its green hills. The architect, Yasuda Koichi, imagined his project as bringing back the green hills that once were. The iconic building also served to kick off the city’s greenery initiative.

(images courtesy of kenplatz)

In conjunction with 100% Design Tokyo, taking place from 10/30 to 11/3, Kyouei Design will be presenting an installation of their liquid lamp. Ooh, sounds cool!

The Liquid Lamp was created as part of the SVC (Shizuoka Content Valey) Matching Project, in initiative undertaken by Shizuoka Prefecture to foster art and creativity by pairing local and non-local designers with local manufactures. Kyouei Design teamed up with DCS Corp to create this lamp.

I also would have loved to include this Liquid Bookmark in my roundup of funky bookmarks.

One of my awesome sponsors, Atsuyo et Akiko, recently unveiled their new collection of items. And I love everything about it; the colors, the materials, the graphics…
In addition to their adorable kiddy tees, they also have a very stunning line of jewelry for the mommies out there!