Paul Flowers' Funky Nomad Bathroom Furnishings Mix Corian With Wood.

At the 2014 IMM Cologne international Furniture Fair DuPont™ Corian® exhibited the concept study for bathroom furnishings, "Modern Nomads", with designs by Paul Flowers, chief designer of Grohe AG. The collection of four pieces combines Corian® Glacier White and Corian® Deep Nocturne with Oak, textiles and chrome details.

Wild New Transparent Glass Faucets from Hansgrohe -The Axor Starck V Collection.

Presented at Salone del Mobile 2014 in Milan is this unusual and beautiful new collection of water faucets for the bath or kitchen. A collaboration between Axor and designer Philippe Starck for Hansgrohe, the Axor Starck V collection serves the technical function of a faucet and combines it with the visual experience of watching water form a swirling vortex and "free-fall" into the washbasin.

The Entertainment Robot That May Just Transform Your World: The Keecker.

Created by former Google employee, Pierre Lebeau, it looks like a Roomba on steroids and acts like a mobile projection theater, security camera, concert hall, internet and wireless game console all in one. It’s like having your own little Robot that provides you with Google services, streaming entertainment, gaming apps, web-cam and more - it's a Keecker.

It's Electric. it Folds. And It's Smarter Than You. The Awesome Gi Bike.

The new Gi Bike is a full-sized folding electric bike with wireless smartphone integration. Weighing a scant 15.4 lb (7kg)*, the aluminum frame bike is loaded with features, looks futuristic and comes with its own app and USB port for both Android and iOS phones.




Folding in a mere 3 seconds with a single-motion operation, the Gi Bike can run 40 miles on one battery charge and reaches speeds up to 15mph (25kph). Powered by a lithium ion battery, you get five levels of assistance along with a smart mode that analyzes your use and adjusts itself accordingly.



“The intelligent app will foresee any detractions from your set-route, enroute,” says Gi Bike. “Hazards, constructions, heavy traffic, will be constantly updated by users via social integration, making the Gi your perfect companion when time’s running short.”



The Gi Bike comes with integrated rear lights, LEDs on the sides of the front wheel, and an anti-theft lock system that switches on automatically when you walk 10ft away from the bike.



Once folded, it’s only 900mm (3ft) long and 1,020mm (3ft 4in) tall, and you can shift it around like wheeled luggage.



The bike is fitted with a monoblade fork, an off-centre seat tube, a one-sided chainstay and no seatstays at all. It’s belt driven and you get a USB port in the down tube so you can recharge your phone while you’re riding. The rims and spokes are custom-made for the Gi and the tires are 26x1.5 in. Accessories are currently being developed, including a rear mudguard and a briefcase holder.



And just added, this new teaser video:


*A standard, non-electric version is considerably lighter at 26.5lb (12kg).



For more info check out www.gibike.com and be sure to look out for the launch on Kickstarter soon.

Pininfarina & Napkin Collaborate To Create A Pen That Never Needs Ink. Ever.

Italian design and engineering firm, Pininfarina, combines their seductive styling with Napkin's technology to introduce the 4.EVER Pininfarina Cambiano, a revolutionary writing instrument. The pen was made in conjunction with Napkin, who created the first stylus made of aluminum with a tip made of Ethergraf®, a particular metal alloy patented by Chic Trading. With this special metal alloy, the pen can write indefinitely with no ink and no refill.



The body of the 4.EVER Pininfarina Cambiano combines aluminum and wood, design cues taken from Pinafarina's Cambiano Concept Car. Add to that the technology developed by Napkin for their own 4.Ever stylus which comes in four colors (blue avio, black, titanium and aluminium) and you have the latest innovative writing object to come out of Italy.



The 4.EVER Pininfarina Cambiano will be matched with a notebook realized in stone paper, a paper manufactured from the stone powder, stronger than the traditional one and water resistant, an eco-friendly material with a minimal environmental impact. The notebook is enriched by the original sketches of the Cambiano concept car.


above: sketches of Pininfarina's Cambiano

In the meantime, if you want an inkless pen, you can purchase on of Napkin's 4.Ever stylus here

A Simple Add-On Helps Turn Any Flat Surface Into A Table: The Floyd Leg.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Kyle and Alex, the Floyd Leg has been fully funded via Kickstarter as of about 16 hours ago!

The Elio: An Eco-Friendly, Revolutionary 3-Wheeled Vehicle Hits The Road.

It's green, It's lean. It's got three wheels and can be ordered now. Introducing the Elio.




Founded in 2008 by Mr. Paul Elio, Elio Motors set out to provide affordable transportation to those commuters seeking an alternative while providing vital American jobs.

The result is a street legal three wheeled environmentally friendly vehicle that goes from 0-60 in under 9.6 seconds and gets 84 miles to the gallon. For students, the vehicle provides a safe and reliable means to commute around campus. For those families with mini-vans or SUV’s, Elio provides an efficient and economical way to get to and from work. The price-point of the vehicle ($6800 USD) allows Elio to be an addition to a family's fleet without adding any additional cost to an already stretched budget.



Features:
• 84 Miles per Gallon
It gets 84 miles to the gallon on the highway. That means you can go from Detroit to New York City on a tank of gas – or drive from Shreveport LA to Dallas and back – then back to Dallas again – and still have about 110 miles left before a refill.



• 8-Gallon Tank:
It can go 672 miles, or thereabouts, because it has an 8-gallon tank and 8X84=672. Of course, other factors will affect your mileage.



• Eco-Friendly:
It gets 84 MPG on the highway, but you’ll be doing your share of city driving, too. With its city rate of 49 MPG, you’ll be consuming only 1/3 of what the average American vehicle consumes.

• Transmission:
5-speed manual or automatic. And yes, it has a reverse gear.

• Power:
An inline, 3 cylinder, .9 liter, 55 HP, fuel-injected, SOHC gas-powered, liquid-cooled, automotive engine. Top speed is in excess of 100 MPH, and the 0-60 speed is under 9.6 seconds.



• Traction:
The engine is in the front and it is a front-wheel-drive vehicle. With a low center of gravity and weight towards the front, you’ll get great traction action – even in the snow.

• Suspension:
The Elio is built on an independent suspension with unequal length control arms, coil-over-spring and shock in the front and mono-shock with coil-over-spring and shock in the rear. The ground clearance is 5.75″ — similar to most of the passenger vehicles you see on the road today.

• Brakes:
3-wheel disc brakes with the Anti-Lock Braking System on 15″ wheels.



• Safety:
Each Elio comes equipped with a Safety Management System that includes three airbags – a reinforced roll-cage frame, Anti-Lock Braking System, and 50% larger crush zones than similar vehicles. Preliminary safety tests on computer models anticipate a 5-Star safety rating.

• Quiet:
The body panels are made of a composite (which is more sound deadening than steel) and attached to a tight, solid body that doesn’t have a lot of moving (read squeaky) parts. These two design features help keep outside noise from getting into the cockpit and getting in the way of your favorite tunes playing on our AM/FM radio (that’s standard).

• Space:
The trunk space will be at least 27″ x 14″ x 10″, enough for an airline carry-on bag or a golf bag with the rear seat down (47″+).



Exterior Specs:
Overall Length: 160.5″
Overall Height: 54.2″
Front Wheel Track: 66.8″ (center rim to center rim)
Wheelbase: 110″ (center of front wheels to center of rear wheel)



Interior Specs:
Headroom: Driver 39.8 Passenger 36.4 in
Seat width: Driver 20.6 Passenger 25.3 in
Interior Shoulder Width: 26.8 in
Front seat Legroom: 42.7 in
Rear seat Legroom: 33.1 in

Comfort:
Elio has been designed to fit 95% of all people, whether it be a 6’8″ former college basketball player, a 6’3″ 365 lb man or a 5’0″ petite woman.



American Made = American Jobs
It should come as no surprise that Elio will create a number of much-needed jobs for American workers. The company is estimating 1,500 jobs at their Shreveport, LA plant beginning in 2014.

Price:
It only costs $6,800. That’s about what you would pay for an outboard motor to power a rowboat.

Warranty:
The Elio comes standard with a 3 year/36000 mile warranty.



When you own an Elio, you’re not just a customer, you’re part of a family. So we’re not going to lure you in with that $6,800 low price, only to mention things like A/C and an AM/FM radio are extra. They’re not. You get those items plus heater, defrost, the three airbags, power windows and door lock, seat belts, tempered glass, and windshield wiper at no extra cost.


Learn more and/or pre-order the Elio here

Modern Caskets For Your Body And Soul. The 2014 Equinox Collection from Camaquen.

I'm not a morbid person, despite having written about modern casket options before. No one really likes to talk about preparing for death, yet it's a realistic inevitability. That said, casket shopping is not unlike any other furniture purchase. You want one that is comfortable, reflects your design and philosophical sensibilities and is well-made without having to, well... sell your soul.

Champagne Cooler With Branches To Hold The Bubbly. The Enchanting Tree for Perrier Jouet Champagne by Tord Boontje.

As part of its artistic heritage, Perrier-Jouët continues its tradition of supporting and collaborating with artists and designers. This year the brand unveiled "The Enchanting Tree", a creation that reinvents the gesture of champagne.



Six participants can pluck a flute of Perrier-Jouët’s Belle Epoque cuvee from the tree designed by Tord Boontje. At its base, an ice bucket preserves the champagne’s coolness. Perrier-Jouët and Tord Boontje collaboration is rooted in a shared appreciation of Nature, Art Nouveau & craftsmanship.



Inspired by Nature as an inexhaustible source of inspiration, the designer has reinterpreted nature light-heartedly to create a fairytale in honour of spring, with floral forms flowing through a golden hand-worked tree.




With his hand-worked metal branches, the leaves soldered one by one, the anemones lacquered in white; Tord Boontje has reinvented the tasting ritual to create a decidedly Perrier-Jouët moment.





In 1902, a spray of Japanese anemones designed by Emile Gallé heralded the emergence of an artistic movement, Art Nouveau, symbolic of a yearning to which Perrier-Jouët has always remained true:


Inspired by those iconic swirling anemones, Tord Boontje designed a fluid and flowing tree, a plant sculpture with anemones and champagne flutes for blossoms. Suspended in mid-air in order to maintain the coolness of the champagne, they bathe the golden branches in light, reflecting the pearly drops of water on the ice bucket below. A refined and resolutely modern Perrier-Jouët creation, lending a hint of the sublime to the tasting of a Belle Epoque cuvée.



Tord Boontje, an artist born in 1968 in the Netherlands, studied industrial design at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (1986-1991) then at the Royal College of Art in London (1992-1994), before founding his own design studio in 1996 in London. He draws inspiration from nature and incessantly explores the relationship between nature and technology: the association with Perrier-Jouët was thus a marriage made in heaven. "My ideas come to me while strolling in the forest and observing the way light and nature interact" explains the designer, who refuses to link modernism and minimalism.

Perrier Jouet

photos courtesy of Perrier Jouet, The Wine Sleuth  and Cocorosa

Two Trippy Tubs For People and Their Plants from Libero Design.

Two organically shaped bathtubs, The Mother of Pearl and The Aurora, are complete with LED lighting, a place for you to soak AND a place for plants. Both designed by Libero Rutilo and Ekaterina Shchetina of LiberoDesign, they are created to be simultaneously stimulating and soothing.

The Mother Of Pearl Spa Tub:



A touch interface lets you create your own combinations of lighting, sounds and aromatherapy. Choose one of the available wellness programs (relaxing, energetic, fun, tropical pleasure) or create your own and memorize it.




Integrated pots allow you to have a glimpse of nature when indulging in the bathtub. You can create a blend of your favorite plants and flowers, such as orchids and ferns.



Hidden faucets and shower provide a feeling of perfect, all-in-one structure.


The Aurora Spa Tub:


The “Aurora” tub is part of the 3 element collection of backlit bathroom furniture, inspired by nature.



The “Aurora” bathtub has integrated LED lights which are cost efficient and friendly to the planet. The lighting diffusion effect is created by translucent material that allows light to pass through it, but in the same time doesn’t show clearly the light source inside the object. The intensity and colour of light can be controlled, creating a chromo therapy.



The washbasin has another particularity, like the Mother of Pearl tub – an integrated pot, that allows you to have your favourite small plants in your bathroom.

The “Aurora” design concept was honoured with a special prize in Cristalplant Design Concept 2013 organized in collaboration with Falper.



DesignLibero is a Milan based design studio, founded by Libero Rutilo and Ekaterina Shchetina. Its activity evolves in multiple directions, from interior to product design.