« Previous  |  Next »

Stak Block makes green use of rice straw

Korman and Ruskey have created Stak Block, an experimental Lego-like 12-by-12-by-24-inch building block made of dried rice straw. The straw is mixed with formaldehyde-free glue and tightly compressed in metal molds at temperatures around 300 ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  22 Nov 2009

Related Topics: NASA

Foam use expands to new heights

The ovoid set, designed by Erik Flatmo, incorporates architectural moldings, door and window trims, and walls of lightweight foam. Architectural foam, it turns out, is not only used for fake buildings but real ones, too, says Mark Luevano, ACT's ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  15 Nov 2009

Related Topics: Tim Murphy

Green benches made to last

In a world of outdoor furniture made increasingly of lightweight throwaway plastics, old-fashioned wood and painted metal have been newly combined in a tough, stylish and ecologically sound line of outdoor furniture by Landscape Forms, a company in ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  8 Nov 2009

Related Topics: BMW

Testing the mettle of stainless steel

Cold, sterile stainless steel has been a playful medium in the hands of designers since its official premiere around 1913, when British scientist Harry Brearley proved that the low-carbon iron and chromium alloy did not corrode like regular steel. This ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  25 Oct 2009

Coconut makes a stylish doormat

Her solution? Affordable coir doormats. Coir is a centuries-old fiber derived from the husk of coconuts that is immersed for seasoning in South Indian lagoons and sun-dried later to a rich reddish-brown color. "Coir has a vintage quality," Adams says, ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  18 Oct 2009

Memory-foam mattress won't forget you

Memory foam, a staple of ergonomic office furniture padding, has found its way into the bedroom. Mattresses with a sandwich of soft foam at the core and dense "memory foam" outer layers offer better support than traditional coiled-spring mattresses or ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  11 Oct 2009

Solatube brings in the light

This latest iteration of the small, tubular skylight has a 10-inch or 14-inch-wide acrylic and polycarbonate dome, molded to form lenses that deflect overhead light at midday and ribbed sides to capture and enhance angled sunlight later in the day. ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  27 Sep 2009

Related Topics: Barack Obama

Elegant solutions for the garden

Feeney's wall-mounted Somerset cable trellises, stretched between angled aluminum brackets attached to walls or fences, are strong enough for sturdy vines. The freestanding Greenway trellis, Feeney's latest innovation, can be used to create partitions ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  20 Sep 2009

Giant stickers can transform a room

"Wall Pops relies on the same microsphere adhesive as Post-it notes," says Brewster creative director Paula Berberian. With little planning, you can transform ordinary nursery furniture, and bathrooms or rooms with colored walls using large stickers ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  13 Sep 2009

Hand-painted wallpaper with a modern touch

San Francisco faux painter Shirley Robinson's new line of sumptuous hand-painted wallpaper is a cross between 18th century one-of-a-kind wall finishes and Andy Warhol's 1960s silk-screen mass-produced art. "In the 18th century, silk and paper wall ...

From ZAHID SARDAR, San Francisco Chronicle,  6 Sep 2009

Related Topics: Andy Warhol

« Previous  |  Next »

Who is This?

Help us add to our database, by linking this writer their entry in Wikipedia or Source Watch, or by suggesting that we remove it from our index.

Suggest an Entry