Artist submerges 24 portraits underwater to raise attention about our plastic waste

It’s common knowledge that our oceans are suffocating because of our addiction to plastics. But there are some eco-warriors, like Austrian artist Andreas Franke, who are determined to bring more visual attention to the burgeoning issue, all in the name of saving our planet. Franke has recently installed Plastic Ocean, a project that saw 24 portraits of various people being drowned in a sea of plastic, submerged into the depths of the actual sea off the coast of Key West.

Although the world seems to be on board with reducing our plastic waste, the action to actually doing it is moving at a snail’s pace. To instigate change, Franke decided to create a series of portraits that depict various people being drowned by plastic objects.

Related: Recycled plastic art installation asserts that water is a human right in D.C.

Not only are the images provocative for their message about how our oceans are being converted into massive trash dumps, but the collection also features a series of generations. By using images of tiny babies, toddlers and adults, the message is clear: there is an urgency here that cannot be overlooked if we want to provide a safer world for the next generation.

The underwater art exhibition was installed on the wreckage site of the USS Vandenberg off the coast of Key West, where divers from around the world were invited to check out the installation.

The exhibition ran until late August. Now, the artworks are being prepared for a land-based exhibit (location to be announced). After four months at sea, the artwork is covered with a unique patina, which was left as-is to give visitors to the upcoming exhibition a small glimpse into the beauty of the ocean. Franke hopes this small detail, along with the installation’s overall message, will inspire people to do their part in helping the cause.

+ Andreas Franke

+ Plastic Ocean Gallery

Via Matador Network

Images via Plastic Ocean Gallery

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Engineers invent origami-inspired self-watering pots that are made from 100% recycled materials

The summer months are a wonderful time to go exploring unknown parts of the world, but traveling for weeks on end means certain death for most house plants, until now. A team of plant-loving engineers have designed an innovative self-watering plant pot. POTR Pots are flat pack plant pots designed to self-water plants and are made from 100% recycled materials.

POTR Pots were invented by Scottish designers, Andrew Flynn and Martin Keane, who happen to also be serious plant lovers. According to Flynn and Keane, who have just recently kicked off a Kickstarter campaign featuring their innovative design, the prototype is the plant pot for the 21st century.

Related: Recycling can get kids free books in southern Italy

The team embarked on their invention by creating an eco-friendly design using 100% recycled materials, which can be recycled at the end of the pots’ life span. All of the materials used in the design, mainly recycled polypropylene, were sourced from nearby locations to reduce the project’s overall carbon footprint.

Using recycled polypropylene means that the pots are not only eco-friendly, but incredibly flexible and durable. The pots won’t break into a million bits like regular clay pots if dropped.

Additionally, the material allows for folding origami hinges, which enable the product to be flat-packed. To open the pots, just pull on the Bobbiny recycled cotton cord and the pot is ready for use. Before adding in the plant itself, two ends of the cord must be looped under the inner pot stand and  inserted into the plant’s soil. The cotton cord allows the plant to suck up water when thirsty.

Besides being incredibly practical and user-friendly, the pots, which come in various sizes, are incredibly eco-friendly. According to the designers, the POTR pots have almost 100 times less CO2 than clay or concrete plant pots, due to the use of recycled materials as well as the flat-pack design which reduces transport costs.

+ POTR Pots

Via BBC

Images via POTR Pots

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This home made of broken bricks features a series of rolling green roofs

Mexico City-based architect Fernanda Canales has unveiled the Terreno House, a beautiful, green-roofed home that was designed with two opposing factors in mind. According to the architect, the house, which was partially constructed out of broken bricks, had to be both resilient against the severe climate and as open as possible to take advantage of the vast natural landscape that surrounds the building.

Located in Valle de Bravo, an idyllic lakeside community just three hours west of Mexico City, the 2,100-square-foot home was designed to blend into its environment. Set on a mountain plateau, the house is surrounded by expansive green fields and forested land.

Related: Green-roofed home in Poland is made out of reclaimed brick

Although the location is known as a popular resort area, the region is infamous for its severe climate of soaring high temps. It also rains almost daily for six months of the year. Accordingly, the team was tasked with not only creating a comfortable home but also designing a structure that would be resilient to the area’s extreme weather. At the same time, the family wanted a vibrant space that would be open and closely connected to the landscape.

The building was strategically designed to be an extension of its setting. A low-lying elongated structure, the home is topped with a series of rolling domed roofs surrounded by greenery. The structure’s rough exterior was built out of broken brick, which creates an earthy, natural aesthetic.

To create ample open-air space, the designers added four courtyards in the project. These spaces create a seamless connection with the exterior surroundings as well as provide a system of natural air ventilation throughout the home. Inside, smooth concrete ceilings and wood walls and floors create a pleasant contrast to the rough exterior. Daylighting is emphasized through the inclusion of massive windows.

+ Fernanda Canales

Via ArchDaily

Photography by Rafael Gamo via Fernanda Canales

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Ochis Coffee releases a new line of sunglasses made from organic coffee grounds

It’s been almost a year since Ochis Coffee launched its first eyewear collection, reached its Kickstarter goal and began full-scale production. Now, it’s time for 2019 fashion updates with a brand new line of sunglasses made from organic coffee grounds.

Inhabitat reported on this Ukrainian optical company last year. A brief overview: Max Gavrilenko, the mastermind behind Ochis Coffee, found a way to compress organic coffee grounds into a compound he calls “coffee cake,” which is then turned into sunglasses.

Related: Make your own custom sunglasses from recycled plastic with FOS

“My father owned an optical store and workshop, where I studied glasses from my very childhood,” Gavrilenko said. “From this, I saw a lot of glasses and wanted to create really eco-friendly, comfortable and universal glasses that each person can adjust to themselves.”

The company’s 2018 Kickstarter campaign was so successful that Ochis Coffee is using the fundraising site again this year. For 2019, it is introducing two new frame shapes and two new lenses, both of which provide UV and HEV protection or polarization + UV filter.

The lenses are made from recycled cotton. Then, the team adds a UV filter to protect the eyes and a hydrophobic coating to repel water and dirt. If you use Ochis Coffee glasses while looking at your computer, the anti-reflective coating and blue light-blocking features add further eye protection.

Perhaps the most enticing part of these innovative sunglasses is that they actually smell like a freshly brewed cup of Joe. The new styles are attractive, too, with a modern Wayfarer shape as well as a trendy, rounded option.

Instead of eventually winding up in a landfill, Ochis Coffee glasses will one day fertilize a garden. They take about 10 years to break down; compared to plastic glasses, this is impressively quick — about 100 times faster, according to the company.

Prices for the new styles will start at $79. Ochis Coffee aims to raise $15,000 to fund the new eyewear line in this Kickstarter round, which will begin late August 2019.

+ Ochis Coffee

Photography by Yaroslav Boychenko and Akim Karpach via Ochis Coffee

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A playful home built of recycled materials takes in sunrise views in Ecuador

Built largely from recycled materials, the home that architect Daniel Moreno Flores recently completed for an artistically inclined client in Ecuador oozes playfulness and creativity as well as a reduced environmental footprint. Located in the town of Pifo less than an hour’s drive east from Quito, the House of the Flying Tiles is strategically sited to embrace views. The house is named after its massive installation of hanging tiles — reclaimed and new — placed at the entrance to create visual interest and help shield the glass-walled home from unwanted solar heat gain.

When deciding where to place the home, Flores began with a site study. Along with the client, he arrived early at the site to observe the direction of the sunrise and the best positions for framing landscape views. To make the home look “as if it had always been there,” Flores also let the site-specific placement of the home be informed by the existing trees and fauna. No trees were removed during the construction process.

Related: This staggered, residential tower is draped with greenery in Quito

“The house is oriented to the view, for the contemplation of the mountain, of the neighborhoods, and of all the plants and trees of the place,” Flores explained. “These spaces seek an intensification in the relationship with some externalities such as the mountain, the low vegetation, the sky and with the Guirachuro (a kind of bird of the place).”

Using a mix of new materials and reclaimed wood and tiles from three houses in Quito, the architect created a 130-square-meter home with three main spaces: a double-height living area that opens up to an outdoor reading terrace and connects to a mezzanine office space; the bedroom area that overlooks mountain views; and the ground-floor bathroom that is built around an existing tree. The roofs of the structure are also designed to be accessible to create a variety of vantage points for enjoying the landscape.

+ Daniel Moreno Flores

Photography by JAG Studio, Santiago Vaca Jaramillo and Daniel Moreno Flores

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Forgotten urban spaces get new lives as beautiful gathering areas on Skid Row

As part of its project to update a 110-unit affordable housing project on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, California architecture firm Brooks + Scarpa has revitalized a couple of unloved service courtyards and a debris-filled alley into beautiful outdoor gathering spaces. Completed on a minimal budget, the Rossmore + Weldon Courtyards will provide a major positive impact on the quality of living for the tenants, who were formerly homeless. Low-cost design strategies were used to transform the neglected spaces into contemporary and welcoming areas.

Completed for a cost of $140,000, the Rossmore + Weldon Courtyards include three small spaces measuring 7 feet by 50 feet, 10 feet by 12 feet and 15 feet by 20 feet for a total combined area of less than 850 square feet. These outdoor spaces had been poorly utilized and typically cluttered with debris and tenant bicycles. When the architects discovered these spaces, they convinced the client of their transformation potential on a minimal budget. To keep costs low, most materials were reused, recycled or purchased from a local hardware store.

Related: Affordable housing for disabled veterans marries wellness and sustainability in Los Angeles

At Weldon, the architects turned a southern courtyard and an alley on the west side into attractive outdoor living spaces. To brighten up the areas, the architects used white paint and an “interactive green wall” of custom steel pot holders attached to a white CMU wall that holds potted plants, for which the tenants can provide care. Poured-in-place concrete seats and tables provide space to gather and rest, while white gravel and concrete pavers create visual interest and complete the light-toned color palette.

In contrast, the Rossmore courtyard features a predominately timber palette. Designed around an existing ficus tree, the updated space features rolling wood-slatted benches mounted on steel-angle track as well as new planters. Bicycle storage has been integrated in all of the courtyard designs. 

+ Brooks + Scarpa

Images via Brooks + Scarpa

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MVRDV designs a Dutch office building covered in potted plants

MVRDV has unveiled designs for the Green Villa, a striking mixed-use building draped in greenery for the Dutch village of Sint-Michielsgestel. Created in collaboration with Van Boven Architecten, the four-story Green Villa will be located on the town’s southern edge and will use a grid “rack” system to host a wide variety of potted plants, bushes and trees, including the likes of forsythia, jasmine, pine and birch. The project will be a landmark project for the village and will promote sustainability with improved biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

Located on a corner lot next to the Dommel River, the 1,400-square-meter Green Villa will house a new ground-floor office space for real estate developer and client, Stein, as well as five apartments on the three floors above in addition to underground parking. The building shape relates to the existing urban fabric with its adoption of the mansard roof shape used on the neighboring buildings. A new architectural typology is also put forth with the use of a strikingly lush facade that will help the structure blend in with the nearby river, fields and trees.

Related: MVRDV designs BREEAM excellent-seeking sustainable research lab for Amsterdam

“This design is a continuation of our research into ‘facade-less’ buildings and radical greening,” explained Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV. “The idea from the nineties of city parks as an oasis in the city is too limited. We need a radical ‘green dip’: as will be shown soon in a book by The Why Factory with the same title, we should also cover roofs and high-rise facades with greenery. Plants and trees can help us to offset CO2 emissions, cool our cities and promote biodiversity.”

The Green Villa will be defined by a square grid four bays wide and three bays deep, in which modules for bedrooms and living spaces will slot inside. The facade will be made up of a “rack” of shelves of varying depths to support a “three-dimensional arboretum,” and each plant will have its own nameplate with additional information. The plants will be watered year-round with a sensor-controlled irrigation system that uses recycled rainwater. Construction is scheduled to start in 2020.

+ MVRDV

Images via MVRDV

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