Spotted by Juliana Oliveira, ESAMC Coolhunt ‘10, Brazil.
The D*Light is a pillow and a light in one. The by Diana Lin designed pillow shows another aesthetic and another design sense at work. It can be functional and cozy at the same time. After making its initial splash as a supposedly novelty item, therapists have now been recommending the pillow to their patients who suffer seasonal affective disorder and depression. The LED’s used in the pillow also makes sure that it doesn’t burn up and through the fabric. There have been complaints by some that the shape and hardness of the LED cocoons within the pillow are a bit off putting and do not make it all that comfortable, we can however see the innovative thought process at work here. The designer put forward another way of look at lights, at pillows and how we use light for our own well-being.

It is arguably the most creative, futuristic-looking and safest electric “fan” on the planet at the moment. This highly innovative product has no blades, and was developed by roughly 650 experts on design engineering, electrical engineering, hydrodynamics, motor engineering and so on. Moreover, its engine draws on aeronautical technology, and its 10mm wide, round and patented projector is scientifically designed to maximize wind velocity and the amount of wind coming out of it. It comes in the colours white and blue.

Inspired by the Yemenite tradition of hosting large groups of friends, Israeli industrial designer Lidor Yaish designed the Jalsa sofa. Jalse in Yemenite means: large group of close friends. Jalsa can be utilized for standard seating, or it can be expanded to accommodate up to three times as many guests in a low seated arrangement. When expanding the sofa, three low coffee tables, reminiscent of traditional copper serving trays, can be utilized.

Many criss cross the globe – and if we don’t as yet, we aspire to do so in the future. We are more on the move (and on the run) than generations before us. We have wings – and it can feel great & cool. Because of these flights, literally and figuratively, the home and coming home, ‘landing’, becomes more important. Landing, after your trips as a worldwide citizen or as an urban nomad. Where Human Pearls In The City is about landing in your city, your neighborhood, your street. Here it’s about landing in your house, your home, the place you call your nest. (Click on Read Why it’s Cool for more)

The traditional nuclear unit is growing more multigenerational and extended as people look to pool resources. Homes are now accommodating cash-strapped siblings, adult children and parents, while even some divorced couples find they’re forced to keep living together. Already, the number of people over 65 living with their adult children has grown 50 percent between 2000 and 2007 — and not only for financial reasons; caring and capable grandparents are in high demand, especially among parents trying to reconcile their personal and professional lives. 

2008 was filled with binging. Binge drinking. Binge eating. Binge shopping. The term is generally associated with overindulgence and has a negative connotation, but it isn’t always a bad thing. Introducing “binge chilling”: using one’s personal time in the most relaxed of manners desired, lazing about and re-enacting those post-exam college days by pretending all the stress is finally gone … until Monday, that is.
We live in a technologically driven, always-on, always-connected society, and people who expend 110 percent during the week are finding new ways to decompress on the weekends. Today’s younger demographic in particular is inclined to relax by doing whatever they want for as long as they want, without guilt, whether it’s watching 24 back-to-back episodes of 24, playing virtual tennis on Nintendo’s Wii or updating profiles and catching up with friends on Facebook for hours on end.

It’s not a tree cabin. It’s a luxurious tree house! Like, say, a boat with a sunroof, where one can play and sleep. Or like a walnut in a walnut tree, where a whole family can spend the night. Build in trees in undamaging ways. A full nature promise of adventure for the kids, a retreat for the adults, a romantic hideaway for lovers. Simplicity and luxurious living get more and more together.

Recently Philips introduced the Daylight Concept Active Glass at their Simplicity event, here in New York. The unit transforms an entire wall into an interactive multi functional light screen. Although it will take at least 8 years before it hits the market it gives us a glimpse of what is coming. The interactive wall gives you total control on incoming light; for example, you can block out noise, change the lightning and even add foliage.

Artek, a high-end iconic Finnish manufacturer of furniture goes to flea markets and the internet to buy back its own vintage products from consumers. They fixed the products only when they were broken. A coded RFID tag is put at the bottom of the used product and then it is sold again as Second Cycle Artek. On the RFID tag the particular item’s history is recorded, sometimes dating back to the 1930’s. New owners can check this information by mobile phone or internet. They can also upload their own stories. And become part of the story itself, forever.