Tesla Roadster

The new Tesla Roadster was presented recently at the ICSID/IDSA World Design Congress : Connecting ‘07 in San Francisco. It was interesting to see the development process by the founder of the company and the lead designer, and it was also interesting to see that it received an IDEA Gold Award 2007.

http://www.teslamotors.com

The Tesla Roadster is a sports car with an electric engine. Nice effort and courage by the developers, I have to say, for being able to make it happen. And while I recognize the initiative of making a “green” sports car, I need to comment a couple of things since I have worked for a while in the transportation world and in some occasions in the development of electric vehicles.

I think the design team completely missed the opportunity to do something innovative. With such a clear differentiation factor from other sports cars (by nature), that they could have taken a huge advantage to make a very successful design story, they ended up making a “me too” version. Something that wants to be a classic sports car, but it is not. Instead of looking forward, it references to the past (poor design story).
Instead of creating a revolutionary design they made a car that looks just like any other sports car out there. And instead of creating a physical form that represents the cultural values that go along with an electric car (for being forward thinking, progressive and paradigm-changing), they made it look just like a muscle car that shows the same values of those who drive a Ferrari and burn as much rubber (which is not green at all) as gasoline.

Also, is it really green? They talked about the electric engine which is a great step, but what about the materials, the paint, the tires, the batteries, etc.? Is there a green story behind the rest of the product or just on the propulsion system?

I’m curious to know what was the criteria of the IDEA Awards Jury this year to give this project a Gold Award. I think it deserves some recognition, for sure, but i think it is not an innovative design with the merit of a Gold Award.

MUJI, Mass Customization and DIY

The MUJI department store in Kyoto, Japan, illustrates how others interpret the reusable bag outside the United States. In this case MUJI offers the bag, a set of stamps, ink pad, and in-store work area; the rest is up to you. Customers carefully consider their stamps, a message to print (some made words or phrases, others used type as image), and the placement on their bag. The result? A typically bland MUJI object becomes a fashionable, one-of-a-kind bag unique to the invidiual carrying it around.

Please let us know if they have this same product in the upcoming New York City MUJI store.

Update: Core77 coverage of MUJI opening

Party Pics

Thank you everyone (all 200+) for a wonderful turnout to Ecolect’s official west coast launch! Appreciation goes out to the Ecolect team for a completing a stellar site, Swissnex for hosting us, Branch for guidance and support, and PaperStone for providing the material sample giveaways. Stay tuned to blog.ecolect.net for the date and time announcing the east coast celebration!

Ecolect SF Launch Party!

After two exciting years of planning, research, programming, and design, it’s time to show off what we’ve been working on! Combining ‘ecology’ and ‘intellect’, Ecolect was established to bring sustainable materials to the fingertips of designers worldwide. Join Ecolect as we celebrate the launch of our freely accesible sustainable materials library during IDSA CONNECTING ‘07 Conference. Meet the founders of Ecolect and Branch, and learn what each company is doing to make sustainable materials and products easier to find. Join us for an evening of drinks, products, material samples, and a drawing to win a Branch gift certificate.

When: Thursday, October 18, 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Swissnex 730 Montgomery Street, San Francisco CA 94111
RSVP: party@ecolect.net

A five minute walk away from the IDSA Conference at the Masonic Auditorium:

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Cork Flooring Solutions, Surprising?

Imagine a natural wood material that is resistant, last more than a lifetime and do not require to cut the trees down… Well this material is Cork.

We are more used to see it used to close wine bottles, but Natural Cork from cork oak tree can be used in construction and has a lot of benefits. Apart from being sustainable, as the ressource keep growing on the trees, the benefit of this material compared to other type of wood subproduct is that the trees are actually not cut down, preserving the landscape around.

Solida is a flooring company, that produce a wide variety of floor solutions based on cork.

Check their website to see their product and learn a bit more about their production process.

SOLIDA CORK flooring begins life as bark on the cork oak tree (Quercus suber) which grows in the Mediterranean, primarily Portugal which is
the world’s largest exporter of cork. The cork oak tree forests are one of the most carefully regulated resources in the world. Managed by
the government, cork tree forests are looked upon as a national treasure.
Cork flooring is one of the most environmentally friendly flooring products available today surpassing even hardwood since the cork oak tree
is never cut down and all of the associated processes are done using systems and chemicals that are free from carcinogens and contain low
or none of the voc’s (volatile organic compounds) associated with conventional flooring products such as carpet and vinyl.