Invite Your World

Knebworth, Herts UK
Elizabeth Adams from Invite Your World will be exhibiting at this years Salvo Fair, following a successful fair last year. Invite Your World has a variety of material envelopes, cushions and handkerchiefs with personalised messages, and new products are always emerging.

Elizabeth said, "A childhood spent rifling through other peoples junk started a fascination for all things old and neglected. Lots of moving started a passion for packing everything up, paying special attention to things that must not get broken or lost. Creating little hidey-holes and secret messages, safe houses for memories and keepsakes."

Elizabeth is very aware of her green credentials and consequently all of the packaging is biodegradable and the products are made from end of the roll discarded fabric and printed in the UK by herself her Mum, Aunt and Cousin.







Invite Your World

We Make London summer spectacular

Chelsea, London UK

Viva la Craft Revolution! The ultimate comeback, its official...Craft is cool.

This summer on Saturday 26th June 2010 from 11am – 5pm We Make Summer Spectacular opens at Chelsea Town Hall, Kings Road, London. If your making the trip down South the Salvo Fair at Knebworth why not drop into We Make London with over 80 hand picked exhibitors to choose from and a wide range of eco-friendly hand-crafted gifts ideas including jewellery, fashion, graphic art, fine art, bath and body, toys, children's clothing.

We Make London was formed by a group of like-minded designer makers with a can do attitude, united by the lack of affordable places to sell their products. A year and half and five successful events later, We Make is now the showcase for the talents and crafts of the most exciting UK designers.

Organiser Mary McDermott says, “It’s time to take a refreshing break from high street monotony into the exceptional world of handmade, with beautiful items made with love by some very gifted makers. Individuals are finally being rewarded for having such talent and creativity”.

We Make London

iida 2010 green heart awards

iida 2010 design awards are looking for green hearted designers who are aware of the environment. The goal of the project is to 'open up possibilities for sustainable life through design'.

The three categories are; green design for humans - life style design which helps to realise ways to consider the environment in daily life such as home appliances, furniture and stationary. Green design for the city - innovative and effective public design which suggests the possibility of an eco-friendly city through architecture, interior design and public areas. Green design for communication - design taking lead in social communication for the diffusion of green design and green life stsyle such as posters, advertisement and networking. Winners will get to display their designs at the Incheon International Design Fair, an opportunity to present their work to companies based in incheon and $10,000.

designboom

Masco sponsors 'Lions of Bath'

Above: Artist Jacqui Harrison with lion “Frank”, set to be part of this summer’s “Lions of Bath” project. [pict. Devon 24]

Bath UK
Jacqui Harrison is one of 100 artists who have been commissioned to decorate a life-size lion sculpture for the 'Lions of Bath' project. The fiberglass lions are each sponsored by a local business, Ms Harrison's lion affectionately named 'Frank' is sponsored by Masco. The lions will go on display around the city from the end of May until mid-September, when they will be auctioned off for charity.

Devon

Chinese farmer makes home made robots

China
Chinese farmer Wu Yulu has been creating robots to help humans for a number of years. Today, his collection has grown to 47 with far more advanced capabilities than his pioneer days. The robots are made from scrap materials such as wires and screws, and are able to pour tea, offer smokers a light and paint pictures. Wu Yulu and his robots will be appearing at the forthcoming Shanghai World Expo, which will begin in May and run until October 2010.


Above: A selection of Wu Yulu robots.

Design Boom

Miniature architectural surfaces

Berlin, Germany

EVOL is a berlin based street artist that transforms banal urban surfaces, into miniature architectural surfaces through pasting. using pasted paper, EVOL transforms electric boxes, small planters and other geometric city forms, into miniature apartment buildings and other structures. each piece of paper is printed with a repetitive pattern of flat gray walls dotted with plain window frames. once applied to a surface, the paper transforms the form into small building that EVOL often adorns with small characters. EVOL performs this process within different cities and has even been commissioned to do installations in galleries, where he was created entire blocks of miniature buildings.







Evol

Traditional timber framers from Europe and Japan

This is a new comprehensive French website in English too with a mass of info about timber frames, beams, converting and fellling wood.

www.en.charpentiers.culture.fr

Serious restoration

Knebworth, Herts UK
Period Living reports on how Andy Singleton undertook a eight-year renovation project of a damp waterlogged thatched cottage with no services and no road access, which he leases from the Knebworth estate. He has since transformed the timber framed building with a little help from his friends.

South Africa's 'Reverse Graffiti' artists

Durban, South Africa

Graffiti is one of the most controversial art forms out there since it defaces public property, but a group of students from Durban in South Africa are practicing a new form of 'Reverse Graffiti' or 'Scrubbing'. The trend is reportedly taking off all over South Africa, the artists actually clean the walls by etching their sketches into the grime that already exists. Inspired by the works of Paul Curtis, a reverse graffiti pioneer. All kinds of cleaning tools are used from a high-pressure water hose to metal scrubbing brushes.



Inhabitat

Bangladesh school made from the earth

Trudrapur Dinajpur, Bangladesh
Hand-built in four months by architects, local craftsmen, pupils, parents and teachers, this primary school in rudrapur, a village in north west bangladesh, uses traditional methods and materials of construction but adapts them in new ways. The traditional local materials are bamboo for constructions and earth for walls and foundations, straw for the roofs and jute rope for lashing constructions. Earthbound materials such as loam and straw are combined with lighter elements like bamboo sticks and nylon lashing to create a environmentally sustainable foundation.

The architects, Anna Aeringer from Austria and Eike Roswag from Germany, made every effort to engage the skills of local craftsmen, helping them refine processes and learn new techniques that they could then use to improve the general standard of rural housing.



designboom

Contemporary Design

The latest reuse design projects from DesignBoom News



Above: Elisa Strozyk a recent graduate, is showcasing her wooden textile carpets and table cloths made from veneer offcuts at Imm Cologne 2010.



Above: French architect firm Olgga Architects have designed a student housing complex from 100 recycled shipping containers, located in le havre, France the individual shipping containers are stacked on top of one another, each signifying a different student's room.




Above: 'Two-by-Block' is proposed by a Japanese firm a-asterisk for a small tea-shop in the town of Hokkaido, the shop is constructed entirely from leftover scraps of wood. The project involves a special construction method, where the initial structure is built in the winter time using a snow mountain as a base to create the exterior. In the Spring the snow is dissolved leaving the structure which is to be situated over a lake.

Wooden carpet

100 recycled container student housing

two-by-block

Photo's of North Russian Architecture

Above: Richard Davies will be publishing a book on wooden Russian church later this year [copyright Richard Davies].

Independent Photographers Gallery, Battle UK
Richard Davies has a keen interest in architecture and has been photographing wooden churches in the Russian North since 2002. His interest was initially sparked by the Russian artist, stage designer and illustrator Ivan Bilibin who traveled to the Vologda Province in the North of Russia in 1902 to photograph the wooden churches. Mr Davies was interested to see how these churches had withstood the ravages of Commmunism.

"Many churches do still exist and recently work has started on the restoration of a few but most are in a perilous state and will not survive for many more years," said Mr Davies. Since February 2006 he has travelled with the writer Matilda Moreton. As a Russian speaker her interviews with local people, historians and other experts has given them a deeper understanding of the churches place in the community together with insights into the lives of the people they have met. Together they have put on an exhibition at the Schusev State Museum of Architecture in Moscow, which was greatly received and it is hoped that it would attract the attention of those who could ensure the survival of these extraordinary buildings.

A selection Mr Davies photographs are currently being exhibited at the Independent Photographers Gallery in Battle, East Sussex until January 16th 2010.


Above: photo. copyright Richard Davies


Above: photo. copyright Richard Davies


Above: photo. copyright Richard Davies

Richard Davies

The Independent Photographers Gallery

Calling all designers and creatives

Liberty, Great Marlborough Street London UK
Liberty's are hoping to find the best of young British designers as they call for 'all potential designers and creative talents to come forward with their ideas.' A panel of experts including ex-Bergdorf Goodman Senior VP Ed Burstell and top names from the press, fashion retail and buyers will access the products and the best designs will get the chance to have their products sold at Liberty.

To download the design open call registration form please use the link below;

Liberty

Mini structures from repurposed throwaways

San Francisco, USA

Golden Gate Express exhibit, a miniature steam train that rolls through a miniature San Francisco, complete with Coit Tower, TransAmerica Pyramid Building, Golden Gate Bridge and the Conservatory of Flowers. These mini structures are all made from repurposed throwaways found in a skip. The Ghirardelli clock tower is made with old chocolate brown light switch plates; 1,000 computer keys stud the TransAmerica Pyramid, and Coit Tower is made with plumbing supplies, tape measures and mini blinds.




Craft

Creative reuse

Dutch designer Jo Meesters has a sustainable and handmade approach to his work. His new collection is made entirely out of 34 discarded wooden beams and 16 left over blankets. Entitled Odds and Ends, Bits and Pieces, the collection uses basic upholstering and weaving techniques.






apartment therapy

Second life

The Guardian has put together an eco-minded article on how to transform old household goods. Ashe Deleuil shares her ethos of, 'give your things a makeover and make good from what you already own'. In the artcile She said, "I bought an old pine door from a salvage yard for £30 (try salvo.co.uk), and replaced the glass, hinges and handles.

Guardian

Electrical insulator table

Architectural Forum, Islington London UK
Reuse of the week
A recrafted glass table made with a reclaimed ceramic electrical insulator base with polished ferrules.





Table for sale on SalvoWEB

Architectural Forum

Scrap wood table

A table made from random pieces of scrap wood which have been laminated together. Then carefully smoothed and polished only on one side of the finished block, leaving the underside rough to show off the process.







MAKE

Junk to Funk

Portland, Oregon USA

Junk to Funk fashion show will be held on Saturday 14 November at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. Junk to Funk Recycled Fashion Show Contest is an annual production aimed to educate it's audiences about waste reduction, recycling issues and to inspire creative re-use. "We do this in a most unique way, through showcasing wearable art and couture fashion based on the creative use of 'trash' in an eclectic and often humorous production. Our vision statement is to restore our earth by creatively transforming our engagement with stuff," said the event organisers.

Junk to Funk also offers a unique opportunity for corporate events and community organisers to create inspiring entertainment for any event.



Junk to Funk

The tallest reclaimed treehouse

Tennessee Cumberland County, USA

Horace Burgess has built the worlds tallest treehouse which stands at 97 feet. Now in his 14th year of construction, he is still not finished! He has never measured its size but estimates it to be about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. "I did count the nails which I hammered into the wood — 258,000, give or take a few hundred," said Mr Burgess.

The treehouse is supported by an 80-foot-tall white oak 12 feet in diameter at its base. Most of his materials are reused pieces of lumber from garages, storage sheds and barns.


USA today