Perpetually Perplexed

Water crisis is approaching all of us very soon. Already some where in Africa people are killing each other for water So we need to find a way  of conserving water. Water still is a machine which converts saline or dirty water into drinking water by distillation. Yes, we in India have large coastlines, and if necessary we can use sea water. But the costs are very high and are not affordable to rural poor. The people who need it most. An entrepreneur Garbiele Diamenti has designed a solar still which does not need electricity or any expensive parts.   This still is called EliDomestico. It works like this. " Pour water into the spout at the top and walk away. Thanks to the circular top, no matter the time of day, it's hit by maximum sunlight. The heat turns the water into steam, which travels down through a nozzle and condenses against the lid of the bowl at the bottom of the still. At the end of the day, the bowl is full of safe, potable water." The s...

Before I was obsessed with these motivational or satirical quotes which are some times lame, I was interested in design ideas. No, I was not an entrepreneur then, nor am I now. But still I would look at those pictures and be "awed" by them. Now I don't even remember the site I used to visit. Today I went back to old hobby. And got some of them in pinterest. Do you like this mobile and pen stand? How about this scissors with its holder? And this cozy looking cave bedroom! Wow, who wouldn't want to sleep here? Get these colored showers in your home and your children will be too eager to take a bath. How about these beautiful bowls for chips and dip? Pool table cum dining table! Red chairs which hide the entire table. If only we knew carpentry and build at least one of these!  You would certainly want to buy this for your child. Doesn't matter if your child is all grown up and adult now.

3 years ago, I posted about a chair which is so cozy and aptly named cradle . But there are some chair designs which make me wonder - how does one sit on these. Or are these for show only. Hathi ke danth  dikhane ke aur khane ke aur. But then, it takes me a while to understand that images are not at an angle to visualize them in 3d for me. I was bad at engineering drawing any way - could not  combine plan, elevation and side view and get 3d. Here is one such design. Tell me that you don't wonder about how to sit on this chair like me. These anyway are not for me. Where do I rest my back? Then there are designs whose utility is highly questionable. Will there be any one who will spend preposterous amount to buy such novel items just for its design? I wonder. Like this chair.  And then there are designs exclusively for bookworms like me . Ahhh. You are literally surrounded by vast number of your friends. Beautiful!!!

Artist Florentijn Hofman has created a public sculpture in Shenzen China which resembles a giant friendly octopus wearing a hat. This octopus acts as a playground for children. Children and adults can crawl in its tentacle and reach a secret play area.

ನೀವೂ ಒಮ್ಮೆಯಾದರೂ ಗುನುಗುನಿಸಿದ್ದೀರಾ "ದೂರ ಬೆಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ಪುಟ್ಟ ಮನೆಯಿರಬೇಕು." ಬೆಟ್ಟ ಆದರೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟ, ಸಾಗರ ತಟವಾದರೆ ತಟ   ಜಪಾನ್ ದೇಶದ ಈ ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ಮನೆ ಯನ್ನು ಬೇಕೆಂದಲ್ಲಿಗೆ  ಒಯ್ದು ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಹಾಯಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದು ಬಿಡಿ. ನೆರೆಹೊರೆಯವರ ಕಿರಿಕಿರಿಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ :) ರಾತ್ರಿ ಆಗಸವನ್ನು ನೋಡುತ್ತಾ ಚಂದಿರನ ತಂಗಿಯರ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಕೇಳುತ್ತ ಮಗುವಿನಂತೆ ನಿದ್ದೆ ಮಾಡಿರಿ.  ಬೇಸರವಾಯಿತೇ ? ಗಂಟು ಮೂಟೆ ಮತ್ತು ಮನೆ (!) ಕಟ್ಟಿಕೊಂಡು ದೂರ, ಬಲು ದೂರ ಹೋಗಿಬಿಡಿ. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯೇ ಇಷ್ಟು ಅಲ್ಟ್ರಾ ಟೆಕ್ ಆದರೆ ನಿಮ್ಮ ವಿಹಾರ ತಾಣ ಇನ್ನು ಹೇಗಿರಬೇಕು!! ಆಲ್ಪ್ಸ್ ಪರ್ವತಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಈ ಮೌಂಟೈನ್ ಕ್ಲಿಫ್ ಹೋಟೆಲಲ್ಲಿ ಉಳಿಯಿರಿ . (ಕನಸು ಕಾಣಲು ಯಾರ ಅಡ್ಡಿ ?)

We all love green. We also love to sit, to rest our tired, aged feet. How about growing our own grass chair? Isn't it great! This design - Terra was crated by Andrea Sanna and Piergiorgio Robino in 2000, the chair has a card board frame. You have to bury it with soil and sprinkle it with seeds and in a few days you have your own greenest chair of all.

Our entire earth has become power hungry. Each and every individual needs immense amount of power - electrical power. And where does all this power come from? Thermal - how long does coal last? Hydel - looking at the status of rains this year , highly doubtful! Nuclear - dying from radiation is better than dying without electricity! So millennials and younger ones, find out innovative ways to get power, from our foot steps, when we exercise, when we jog (if we jog). Here is an innovative product to inspire This rocking chair knits every time you sit on it and rock and the end product is a nice hat.  The wooden rocking chair is created by Damien Ludi and Colin Peillex, students at the University of Art and Design Lausanne and is called Rocking knit. Watch Rocking knit  in operation  vimeo

These are all real building with crazy designs. Turning Torso Sweden An upside down house in Terfens Austria  A leaning cafe in South Corea Sliding House Business School in Sydney's University of Technology

Japan based design studio Hoshinchu has created a bonsai plant which floats in the air. And it used ancient Japanese magic. No, just mangnets. The top half of the plant has an embedded magnet. So has the bottom half. When you try to put them together, they repel each other - thus producing a floating plant. What next? We will have humans who can float :). 

Bangalore is having a cold cloudy weather. And the best thing to do in this weather is curl up with your favorite book. And for that you need this! Why can't we ask our local carpenter to make such a cozy chair? Source: http://design-milk.com/cradle/