Design | Wellness | Cabinetry
Benjamin Moore has name Guilford Green (HC-116) as its 2015 color of the year.
Guilford Green is a silvery green that is part of the Benjamin Moore Historic Color Collection. Steeped in tradition, this elegant green complements both modern and traditional styles in a seamless manner. Continue reading “Benjamin Moore Color of the Year 2015”
“It takes true creativity and a strong imagination to transform an item into something else with a completely different function. And that’s exactly what artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga does to create her “CONNECT Series” of lighting fixtures. She collects old bicycles from junkyards and dumpsters and uses the parts to create beautiful chandeliers and lamps.”
Carolina Fontoura Alzaga (Caro) is a multidisciplinary artist who operates under the name Facaro and is recognized internationally for her unique perspectives on medium and form.
In the CONNECT Series, Caro reimagines used bike parts to create luxurious, cascading chandeliers.
The lights are a careful balance of style and substance. Each piece is unique and no two quite the same. Photos of the Connect Series are of past stock and each piece is made to order and customizable in Caro’s Victorian Bike Punk style.
Some of the Connect upcycled chandeliers are massive and can take months for the artist to make in L.A. studio.
[vimeo 49335672 w=500 h=281]
“Making each chandelier an approximate perfection despite the imperfect nature of the material. I’ve had to surrender to the rhythm of creation and accept regressing in order to progress.”
Carolina Fontoura Alzaga was born in Mexico City, then moved to Denver, where she graduated East High School in 1999. She got her BFA from Metro State, where the chandeliers were her thesis piece, in 2007. Her very first chandelier was donated to Derailer, a bicycle collective that dissolved and gave birth to the Bike Pit, where the chandelier still hangs.
Caro’s Facaro studio focuses on art that explores of the “third function” of materials. She hopes that her creations will inspire dialogue about the importance of eco-friendly up-cycling.
Last year she was invited to show her work at Comme des Garçons Trading Museum in Japan, and she recently finished a ten-foot-long, four-foot-wide chandelier commissioned by Heineken.
For more information about Facaro and her work visit facaro.com.
GE Firstbuild, a partnership between of Louisville-based GE Appliances (NYSE: GE) and Local Motors, is collaborating with 3-D printing company MakerBot, part of Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq: SSYS), on the challenge. It’s aimed at developing innovations and products that can be placed inside of the refrigerator.
FirstBuild engineers already have designed test prints that include a 3-D printed pizza box holder and a motorized 3-D printed wine chiller.
“We see the FirstBuild Thingiverse Icebox Challenge as a way to empower our customers to design accessories for their home appliances that fit their own lifestyle best,” Natarajan “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, director of GE FirstBuild, said in the release. “To be able to open up our innovation process to the public and have them tell us what accessories they would like in their refrigerators is pretty exciting.”
First place winner will choose between a MakerBot Replicator® Desktop 3D Printer or a MakerBot Replicator 2X Experimental 3D Printer, and his or her creation featured on Thingiverse and displayed in MakerBot Retail Stores
Second place winner will receive a MakerBot Replicator Mini Compact 3D Printer, and his or her creation will be featured on Thingiverse and displayed in the MakerBot Retail Stores
Third place will receive three spools of MakerBot Filament, a Thingiverse T-shirt, a FirstBuild T-shirt, and his or her creation will be featured on Thingiverse and displayed in MakerBot Retail Stores
If you’ve always thought your refrigerator needed an accessory that isn’t currently offered in the marketplace, this is contest is perfect for you.
To qualify, designs must be uploaded to firstbuild.com between November 3 and November 23, 2014, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Entrants are also encouraged to upload their entries to thingiverse.com using the tag #IceBoxChallenge for a chance to be featured on the Thingiverse site.
3D print testing, online community voting and judging will occur from November 27 to December 2, with the winner announced December 15. –
Good Luck!
I’ve written about the Miele Generation 6000 appliance range previously discussing their innovative technology in kitchen appliances. Now I am thrilled to introduce their impressive G6995 SCVi XXL K20 Fully Integrated Dishwasher.
This exceptional, fully integrated dishwasher incorporates the new Knock2Open door-opening feature. Now your dishwasher can be fully integrated into a handleless kitchen.
Simply knocking on the panel twice opens the dishwasher.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac0KkIMrfGo]
Another new feature, Time Control, is also available. Time Control uses a row of LED lights on the control panel to show you how long the cycle has left. Even if your panel is fairly tight to your countertop you should still be able to judge the remaining time left in your cycle.
Other features include ComfortClose, for streamlined closing of the door; Reidel-endorsed Perfect GlassCare, for ensuring glassware is cleaned gently; and ThermoSave, to cut electricity consumption by 40%.
Currently the G6995 SCVi XXL K20 is only available in Europe. No word on when it will be available in the US. I’m sure it will be on display at KBIS 2015.