Metal Shutter Houses by Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is an internationally acclaimed architect who was born in Tokyo and is noted for his work with paper products. He is especially known for working with recycled cardboard paper tubes, using them to make efficient and cost effective housing structures for disaster victims. Ban has been working on an 11-story building in New York City. Metal Shutter Houses are being built at 524 West 19th Street in Chelsea and are slated for completion this Fall. The building will have 9 duplex residential condo apartments and a penthouse with three terraces. The units have walls that lift out of the way completely. The metal shutters on the facade are motorized and built with perforated metal to modulate the light and function as a privacy screen. They are located at the edge of each terrace, adjoining the living room of each unit.

For more info visit metalshutterhouses.com

Nau Warehouse Sale in New York

In anticipation of a Nau retail store in NYC, Nau is offering a selection of its outdoor and urban products from its fall/winter collection. Nau’s clothing integrates beauty, performance and sustainability together.

Come for THE WAREHOUSE SALE and save 40-75% off!

March 6 - 9
Openhouse Gallery
201 Mullberry Street (between Kenmore and Spring)
Thursday 11am - 7pm
Friday/Saturday 12pm - 8pm
Sunday 12pm - 6pm

5% of every purchase will do directly to KIVA, the worlds first person to person micro lending website. KIVA let’s you lend to a specific entrepreneur in the developing world.

Reclaiming Materials In a Remarkable Way

Bill Harding aka “Gene Pool” is a Brooklyn, New York based artist. For over a decade now he has been experimenting with reclaiming objects using the materials to make outfits. He has a series of suits, each fabricated to send a message about recycling or the environment. Through frequent appearances in the New York area he shows off his suits to the public. His work “Can Man” is a wearable suit created using 500 aluminum cans. Another piece of his work is called “The $uit”. It weighs 52 pounds and is covered with pennies.

New York e-waste Recycling Legislation

A study by the EPA estimates that New York City residents purchase about 12 million electronic devices each year amounting to 92,000 tons of product a year. When close to 25,000 tons of electronic waste is created each year in New York City (at the cities expense), it comes as no surprise that “The Big Apple” will be the first US city to enforce a electronic-recycling law. Come July 2009 all manufacturers of electronic goods will be required to start collecting old electronics for reuse and recycling, by July 2010 the Department of Sanitation will no longer collect certain electronic instruments, next by 2012 manufacturers will be required to collect 25% of their sold electronics (in weight), and finally by 2018 they will be required to collect 65% of their disposed product.

This requires electonic comanies to initiate a buy-back program. It also requires them to look at their overall manufacturing process and figure out where they can integrate reused parts and recycled materials. In addition, this law will encourage companies and manufacturers to take responsibility for the product they put on the market and design products to have a longer life.

The main concern presented by consumers on this topic is that this recycling initiative will take the cost right back out of the consumers pocket. In opposition, I say that if designed properly, companies could generate less waste, incorporate reused parts, have to source less raw material, and ultimately find themselves with more efficient manufacturing processes that will result in a lower cost.