Green Product Award | GIZMODO.cz

Sustainable architecture is how we can make a large impact on the collective carbon footprint as residents and also for the construction industry which is the leader for carbon emissions. The more sustainable structures we have, the faster we can take bigger chunks of carbon away rather than just using less plastic for one essential item. Wai House is a perfect example of that, ‘wai’ means water in Maori and that is the core of this modern home‘s design.

The modern architectural concept is designed to be built in New Zealand and focuses on collecting water and using it sustainably. The house itself is constructed with sustainable materials, cedarwood is used for the exterior cladding and the interiors use concrete with recycled plastic instead of sand. It has an almost Japandi-inspired aesthetic which is elegant enough on its own without taking away from the environment it is in.

It is designed to collect and store rainwater for use with systems in place that funnel it to the kitchen, bathroom, and outdoor greenery. Since it is just a concept, there is potential for it to become even more sustainable by adding solar panels for energy efficiency. New Zealand also has a rich cultural heritage and that can be incorporated into the interiors through the fabrics used or the artwork to foster a stronger bond with the local community and give back to them.

Wai House is perfect for a young couple who is willing to leave the traditional living standards and move to a smaller, yet spacious tiny home. With a smaller floor area compared to a traditional townhouse, the carbon footprint is also smaller and more so with the eco-conscious construction materials used. Wai House is also one of the noteworthy entries for the Green Product Award 2021 and we can see why – it perfectly blends minimalism, luxury, and sustainability into one compact home!

Designer: Marbella Design Academy

The post This modern tiny home is all about harvesting & using water sustainably! first appeared on Yanko Design.

I will never stop being amazed by how designers are pushing the boundaries by creating sustainable products. Nuclée is a lamp created from discarded banana flesh and it is….truly bananas! The French designer duo came up with the concept and produced it during a six-month residency at the National Taiwan Craft Research Institute (N.T.C.R.I.) in Taiwan.

The minimal lamp puts the sustainable material front and center with a bamboo circle around it to highlight it. Banana fibers from the plantations are usually considered as waste after the traditional extraction process and cast aside. However, the designers were intrigued by this. material and found it fascinating when working with a lighting design concept. After empirical research, they succeeded in stabilizing the plant tissue using a particular refining technique and after applying different pressure as well as heat parameters. This new material is highlighted by shapes of bent bamboo, inspired by the internal structure of the banana tree stem and that is how the form of Nuclée mood lights came to be.

“Settled near Hualien, on the east coast of Taiwan, the Kavalan aboriginal tribe is expert in the use of banana fiber: they make it their traditional clothing. I had the chance to meet them, to share their way of life, and to learn from their elders the ancestral techniques to use this plant. This new material is sublimated here in curved bamboo shapes, inspired by the banana tree structure,” said Dorian as he elaborated on the inception of his idea. The stabilizing process also gives it a color range from white to dark brown while enhancing the natural texture of the banana flesh.

After learning about these ingenious age-old methods of working with this plant, the designers used the process of extraction using only the outer part of the stem and other techniques to develop this modern sustainable lamp. Their experiments had them checking the material’s reaction to heat, cold, humidity, pressure, combination with other materials, and more to make sure it was actually usable in a wide variety of conditions. This also helps to break the notion that sustainable designs aren’t strong or long-lasting. Nuclée is also a project winner of the “Best of Year” Grand Prize (New York, 2020) and of the Green Product Award (Berlin, 2021).

Designers: Cordélia Faure & Dorian Etienne of ENSCI Les Ateliers