Move Over Silly Bands, Here's Some Sexy Bands For Grown-Ups.

If you haven't heard of silly bandz, you've either not come in contact with anyone under the age 20 in the past month or you live under a rock. As a matter of fact, the trend is so large that today The Daily What via joystiq has a post about the upcoming Silly Bandz Nintendo DS game from Zoo Games.

Baddy, The Modern Garden Gnome. Now in 8 Colors.

I've never been a big garden gnome fan, but these "baddies' by JVLT (artist Joe Velluto) for Plust could change all that.




A modern garden gnome in several finishes, “Baddy” is a colored resin sculpture suitable for outdoor and indoor settings. In the luminescent version it acts as a “dwarf guard” thanks to a luminous resin that absorbs light momentarily and then releases it for several hours, making it a small presence in the night.

black, metallic gold and white:

fuschia, acid green, and dull green (ivory not shown):

photoluminescent:

Joe Velluto
Plust

Rest On Breasts. The Velvet Bikini Cushion.

Every once in awhile I come across something so bizarre, I simply have to blog about it. This is one of those times.



Got a boob man (or woman) in your life? This just might be the perfect gift for them.

The Velvet Bikini Cushion by Olleh ('Hello' backwards as well as a Korean catchphrase) has three dimensional soft fluffy filled breasts clad in a blue, orange or purple leopard printed bikini top. The bikini top is actually removable and yes, the velvet breasts have 3D nipples.







Face up, you can rest your head between two mountainous breasts, sitting upright or reclining:


Lie on it face down and you can feel it up, god forbid.. suck on it or motorboat- your call.



Good for road trips too!


The one really good thing about it? The breasts won't sag over time.
Buy the bikini boob pillow here.

Care about Boobs? Click here to give free mammograms in support of Breast cancer research. (thanks Benoit!)

CARCHITECTURE? A Car House AND Restaurant Inspired By The VW Beetle

I know it's been making the rounds on the design blogs, but only part of this interesting story is getting much press- and almost 8 years after the fact. This unusual homage to the VW Beetle, not only exists as a personal residence built in 2003, but inspired a larger version four years later that is now a restaurant and bar by the same builder.


above: Builder Markus Voglreiter next to his Car Home and later, his Car Restaurant

THE HOME:


The personal home, a project that began in 2003 is a 900 square foot, 3 story livable home inspired by the Bug, by builder Markus Voglreiter . The 36 year old master builder spent £750,000 to create the 3 story structure which is based on the original Beetle produced by Porsche in 1935.



The car shaped structure is constructed out of pine wood except for its cement foundation. The two second story bedroom windows appear as headlights at night when the lights within are on, casting a glow over the landscape.

Interior shots:



The small bathroom window appears as the car's fuel cap from the exterior.


The unique Auto Residence was built on the border of a nature preserve in Gnigl near Salzburg, Austria. The owners originally purchased a corner lot with a typical 70’s style suburban home on it, and wanted to renovate and update the house and structure.

Voglreiter created two separate dwelling areas for parents and children by closing off former openings and thereby allowing future generations to live under one roof. He also instituted “3 liter” energy efficient heating and insulation techniques that optimize all current building technologies, drastically reducing energy consumption.


THE RESTAURANT



After the Car Home, Markus Voglreiter and his team began construction on THE CAR, DAS AUTO, a restaurant and bar located in Obertrum, an area north of Salzberg, Austria. The project cost 1.6 million euros and was co-financed by Daniell Porsche.









The Car Restaurant seats 300 and has room for 350 on the outside terraces.

Inside the bar:

Inside the dining area:

restroom:




The unusual atmospheric restaurant and bar opened in 2007 and serves fine food and drink. It can be used for special events and parties as well.

TCDA THE CAR . DAS AUTO
Gruberfeldstrasse 8
A-5162 Obertrum
T: +43 (0)6219 / 20 441
Opening times:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday 17:00 - 24:00
Sunday 11:30 to 23:00

images courtesy of stadtbaumeister, bright-tec, and The Car Das Auto


See other projects by builder Markus Voglreiter here.

A Shop That Sells Consumer Awareness: The FLOWmarket

A shop selling consumer awareness
FLOWmarket™ is a shop designed to inspire consumers to think, live and consume more holistic.

Present imbalances from the 3 dimensions of the FLOW model™ have been addressed and transformed into physical products in the shape of aesthetically designed (empty) packings with humorous and thought awakening labels that the visiting consumers can buy at prices ranging from 5-20 dollars.



FLOWmarket™ ”basic collection” offers 40 different scarcity goods in 3 product categories:





The product category ”Individual flow” offers e.g: ”stress killers”, ”ups and downs”, ”addiction liberators”, ”detox”, ”obesity dissolvers”, ”a lack of exercise killers” and ”symptom removers”.




The product category ”Collective flow” offers e.g: ”off liners”, ”commercial free-space”, ”presence”, ”tolerance”, ”exploitation free produce” and ”consumption moderators”.




The product category ”Environmental flow” offers e.g: ”organic food”, ”clean tap water”, ”pollution dissolvers”, ”factory farming antibiotics”, ”renewable energy ” and ”100% GMO”.

In relation to these new scarcity goods the FLOWmarket™ is addressing imbalances from each of the 3 product categories as well as elite companies that have succeeded in gaining a leading position in the rapidly emerging “holistic market” through their unique approach to sustainable innovation.

The first FLOW market™ opened in 2004 and has due to it’s commercial success been granted a permanent status at the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. The goal is to make FLOWmarket™ a global franchise success.

Of appraisals FLOW market™ has received a danish design award in 2004 along with a Danish broadsheet and a Swedish TV-program naming it the danish design event of 2004. In 2006 FLOW market™ won the ICFF editors award in New York.

FLOW

A brand and template that meets the rising demand for sustainable innovation
Throughout the 20th century the pursuit for technological and economic progress has given the industrialized world great new possibilities but has also resulted in a wide range of imbalances and challenges on 3 levels:

The individual - man’s relation to oneself:
(rising stress- depression- and obesity curves, addictions, eating disorders, symptom treatments etc.)

The collective - man’s relation to society:
(over-consumption, increasing fear, xenophobia, global inequality, cultural rectification, conflicts over resources etc.)

The environmental - man’s relation to nature:
(pollution, agricultural toxics, factory farming, decreasing biodiversity, non renewable energy consumption etc.)

Challenges that individually and together bear witness to an unhealthy development of our societies.

As a response a need for more sustainable growth is rising to the top of the agenda of individuals, business and nations.

Thus a new consumer market based on values is expanding rapidly, where the materialistically rich consumer increasingly judges products and sevices on their immaterial values and on level of sustainability.

Businesses, whose role is changing from being production units to becoming ”corporate citizens” know this.
They themselves point towards social responsibility and innovation as the most important competitive parameters of tomorrow, but they lack the skills to combine the to notions.

FLOW™ - a template and brand
In order to meet the rising demand for sustainable growth and innovation we will have to be able to navigate within
the term sustainablility. For this purpose we have created the FLOWmodel™, a design model that reflects our three dimensional view on creating sustainable growth:

Individual flow:
Balanced physical, mental and spiritual growth.

Collective flow:
Balanced interpersonel, cultural, economic, social and technological growth.

Environmental flow:
Balanced environmental growth.

A holistic mindset that is the essential basis of all our future commercial and non-commercial activities. Thus FLOW™ is the brand name for our products and services that in each of their own way catalyze sustainable growth.

A FLOW™ product is caracterised by providing beneficial solutions on both the individual, the collective and the environmental level.

A wide range of products created from theFLOWmodel™ are in progress, and will be serving consumer markets in the near future. The first product launch will be FLOWbottle™ in august 2007.

You can buy the products here.

all information and images courtesy of FLOW.