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Your Design City

The 20 finalists in the Your Design City photography competition on flickr have been announced. The goal is to highlight "contemporary design" in world cities, and to show how good design...

written by: David A. Greene

01.02.09
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Yes We Kamm

Now that the 2010 Honda Insight has been road-tested, and the 2010 Toyota Prius redesign has been revealed, it's time to find out why these two fuel-efficient cars—with two completely...

written by: David A. Greene

01.22.09
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What the Font?

Ever ask yourself, "Is that Arial or Helvetica?" (Or for type snobs, "Is that Helvetica or Helvetica Neue?") Then WhatTheFont may be the iPhone application for you. WhatTheFont...

written by: David A. Greene

02.22.09
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Urban Sprawl, Squared

The Places We Live is a new book of extraordinary photographs by Norwegian photographer Jonas Bendiksen, documenting the teeming urban slums and shantytowns of four world cities: Nairobi, Mumbai,...

written by: David A. Greene

10.13.08
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Urban PUMA

One of the wonderful things about living in an unhinged time is that no one has any clue what's cool anymore. When we're all trying to keep our heads above water, any idea for making life better is...

written by: David A. Greene

04.09.09
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Upside-Down Houses

Upside-down houses have been on my mind lately. Like playing a golf hole backwards or turning a painting on its side, seeing a house topsy-turvy causes us to see the ubiquitous in a new and ...

written by: David A. Greene

09.21.08
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Uniformity of Design

Where do typography, fashion, and history come together every spring, summer, and fall? On pro baseball uniforms, is where.

written by: David A. Greene

12.21.08
House Tours

Two Houses Are Better Than One

Or is one house better than two? For Santa Monica–based architect Jesse Bornstein and his family, both are true.

written by: David A. Greene

photos by: Catherine Ledner

07.31.09
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Turrell Skyspace Opens

If you ever wondered where architecture and art intersect, look no further than one of James Turrell's "skyspace" installations.

written by: David A. Greene

09.03.08
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Toaster Treatise

In addition to being an excellent example of necessity as the mother of invention, Polish designer Martin Žampach's TOAST ONE toaster is a hands-on tour of how a product designer thinks and works....

written by: David A. Greene

11.11.08
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Titanium Spork

When it comes to hard-wearing, utilitarian consumer goods, there are a few acknowledged design classics: Emeco's Navy Chair comes to mind:

written by: David A. Greene

01.04.09
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This Place Matters

May is National Preservation Month at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and to celebrate, they've rolled out a new online project called "This Place Matters." The idea is to...

written by: David A. Greene

04.18.09
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The People's Design Award

As part of their National Design Week festivities (Oct. 19 – 25), the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is sponsoring an online "People's Design Award."

written by: David A. Greene

10.07.08
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The Modernist's Muscle Car

One of the least-hyped (perhaps due to Detroit's doldrums), but most visually exciting cars at the LA Auto Show this year was the 2009 Dodge Challenger. If there were such a thing as a Modernist...

written by: David A. Greene

12.03.08
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The Mini-E Revealed

So I actually got to see (and sit in) the much-hyped, all-electric Mini E at the Los Angeles Auto Show, and there were rumors that a fleet of them were seen tooling around Beverly Hills....

written by: David A. Greene

12.08.08
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The Latest from Michelle Kaufmann

Michelle Kaufmann's new mkHearth is a semi-prefab house that evokes old-timey barns and vacation-destination chalets. Like all of Kaufmann's celebrity-architect-branded housing products, the...

written by: David A. Greene

12.24.08
House Tours

The Jonathan

Tired of waiting for innovative architecture to come to San Diego, this proactive architect added developer to his job description, and brought it there himself.

written by: David A. Greene

photos by: Randi Berez

03.17.09
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The H-Bus Drops

The first hydrogen-fuel-cell public transit bus west of the Mississippi will make its debut this coming spring in beautiful downtown Burbank, California.

written by: David A. Greene

01.09.09
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The Electric Mini

Now things get interesting: BMW, the corporate parent of Mini Cooper, has announced that an all-electric version of the Mini will premiere at the Los Angeles car show in January. Dubbed the...

written by: David A. Greene

10.31.08
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The Day After

The election is finally over. Now what to do with all that campaign crap? (I mean, paraphernalia.)

written by: David A. Greene

11.12.08
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TH!NK OX

The Th!nk Ox is a five-seat concept car introduced last spring at the Geneva Auto Show. According to Th!nk, the Ox will have a range of about 125 miles on a full battery charge, and a top speed of...

written by: David A. Greene

11.10.08
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Taj for All

As the financial apocalypse takes shape, perhaps at its borders will be the early 21st century phenomenon of insanely expensive modern children's furniture. In the good old days, even hedge fund...

written by: David A. Greene

02.07.09
House Tours

Sun Mun Way Cool

In Los Angeles, California, a family of four inhabits a polychrome fantasia in the heart of Chinatown. Formerly a restaurant, punk rock night club, and furniture warehouse, the Berniers’ loft is...

written by: David A. Greene

photos by: Bryce Duffy

01.16.09
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Stop the Presses

It's not often that a recycled component makes a product more valuable than if it were made from virgin material alone, but in the case of Stug Bags, it works.

written by: David A. Greene

12.07.08
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Step into My Office

A sign of the times? French designer Paul Coudamy's offices for the advertising firm Beast are made entirely from corrugated cardboard. Coudamy's solution to the agency's small budget and tight...

written by: David A. Greene

11.14.08