The unknown reindeer!

This has nothing to do with Modernism but who cares?! It's Christmas, and this is one hiliarious video, enjoy!

http://www.dogwork.com/dogsnow/

Shout out: ENVIROGLAS!

I can't believe I haven't yet posted anything about one of my favorite local companies, EnviroGLAS.

In their own words: "EnviroGLAS converts post-consumer and industrial glass bound for the landfill into elegant, sustainable and ecological hard surfaces and landscaping materials."

EnviroGLAS recycles some of the surplus of old/used glass bottles, mirrors, windows--even toilets!--that would typically simply be dumped into a landfill, and turns them into a new source for kitchen counters, bathrooms, and that classic flooring material, terrazzo. Based in Plano, Texas, EnviroGLAS worked with the City of Plano and American Terrazzo to renovate flooring in the City of Plano’s high-traffic public works building and the headquarters of their recycler, Trinity Waste Services. Both projects were stunning, and EnviroGLAS received the Recycling Alliance of Texas’s 2003 "Closing the Loop" Program award. EnvironGLAS products now grace floors and counters in numerous Texas homes, buildings and beyond. Besides their on line gallery, here are some samples of their fantastic and beautiful products:

The company has been around for several years, and their product "EnviroPLANK" was recently featured on HGTV's "I Want That." Personally, they are the company I plan to go to if and when I decide to build a house!

I shall call him ... Mini Mod

Another plug for modern baby furniture, yay!

There's a store in Dallas called "Mod + Mini" which features some of the cutest baby and kid stuff out there. None of that fluffy, foofy, cutesy, powder pink or baby blue stuff. Nope, this is modern cool, super useful, and many of the furniture items grow right along with the kiddos. Here are a few that stuck out:

Eames-esque / Mondrian style cabinets and dressers:


Cool baby bouncers :

Fun wall art (this is only one of many designs):


Super cute rugs:

and check out these adorable lamps and nightlights!

When you really want that WOW factor

Try one of these!

Amazing "ammonite" sink...very organic and gorgeous:




The Abyss LED table lamp by Kundalini. Looks like your intestines after a particular bad barium shake, eh? LOL :P But it's way cool, plus you can re-morph it into any shape:

Even severe and strange...can be kinda sexy

Both of these items can be found at http://www.furnitureteam.dk.

Awesome Mingus chair by OneCollection:

The cozy and tactile Ellipss love seat by Molijo Expo:

Cool new "car" prototypes

Found these three amazing "car" prototypes...or perhaps they should be known as PMDs (personal mobility devices?) on Trendhunter.com. I would LOVE to have any one of these for tooling around town. Of course, they don't look very safe (esp. with all of the SUVs, trucks and other pumped up and pimped-out rides here in ND), but in a world where everyone is using something like this, why not? :) Can you say Minority Report?

First, the Revolute Fuel Cell powered vehicle.


Next, the uber-awesome hydrogen powered vehicle, the Ozone.

Last but not least, the Segway-esque "On"...a Segway you can sit on!


I just know we need something better and cleaner than what's on the streets today!

Spa in a Box?

I totally DIG the new line from Porcher (the luxury brand for American Standard), called Tetsu, aka "spa in a box."

Sleek lines, beautiful woods, lack of adornment, and the fact that it doesn't touch the ground, give it an uber-zen like feel.

Visit Porcher's website: http://www.porcher-us.com/

Every little thing he does is magic

I have to give a big NDM shout out to Karim Rashid! I know he's been around for awhile (I've also heard he's got an ego the size of Barcelona), but I think I love everything on his website!

Words like prolific, productive, and even fertile spring to mind upon viewing the vast array of his products. And what products! Karim's goodies are so ubiquitous that most of us don't even realize it when we see something he's designed (most notably, for Umbra). He has created fashion, retail/commercial spaces, art, packaging, light fixtures, consumer products and furniture, nationally and globally. Now that's what I call prolific. Some of his designs for various retail and commercial locations are so gorgeous yet so outre, and unconventional, that were I living a different type of lifestyle, and I happened to venture into one of them, I might be worried that those designs might trigger some kind of, shall we say, "raving" flashback? Whew! Case in point, some of his MANY creations...I swear the guy has creativity oozing from his pores:

Packaging for method cleaning products:


Collapsable/foldable light fixture for Flos:


Hanging pendant lamp:


Four Food Studio, New York:


Hotel in Brighton:


Metro Station, Naples, Italy:


Karim's crazy cool version of a "Jetsons" style kit house!


Good grief...even his bathroom stalls are things of beauty! (now if toilet manufacturers could only keep up...oh wait, maybe they are: http://www.trendir.com/archives/002569.html!)


Below are some of his "knit" light fixtures designed for Andromeda, Italy:





And the furniture! Here's a side table that's so simple, yet useful (plus it's cute):

Now THIS is a baby bed I'd use! Y'know...if I had one:

This, appropriately called the "plod" chair:

The easy-to-move-it-seems-to-have-everything sofa:

Wait. Where's the drink holder? :)

eBay watch - October 1, 2008

I am WAAAAY behind in trying to keep up this blog, so I just thought I'd toss in another "eBay watch" till I find time to get up to speed again! Here are some of the crazy cool goodies on eBay this week:

This week's eBay watch

What did we ever do B.E.? (before eBay) Here are some nice goodies being auctioned this week:

The architecture of fashion

I admit that I am a dedicated fashionista...at least as much as my wallet can afford (especially where shoes are concerned). A trend I noticed with many designers is that their fashions are also modernist, sculptural, even sensual--something for which modernism is not typically known. Here are some examples.