wouldn't these be a lovely addition to a summer party table? due to my obsession with umbrellas, these would make any table a happy festival in my eyes. benjamin hubert is quite the brilliant product designer ~ to see his website and other prodcuts go here.
i enjoy the nitty-gritty as much as the big picture, but sometimes {just sometimes} the details can get me really pre-occupied. i'm knee-deep in tons of detailing for a residential remodel and i may not come up for air until the end of the week.....so i'll give you some idea of the types of lovely details i'm steeped in for your viewing pleasure until i re-appear.
{photos from my wanderings around the internet saved for months in inspiration folders ~ if you recognize one let me know & i'll happily credit you}
i've been looking for something like this in a bathtub for a client, but i'm pretty impressed with the sink i found instead. it's sold by moab 80, an italian plumbing fixtures design & manufacturing power house. this is a sink without a faucet. that's right ~ no faucet. instead it has water flow channels molded directly into the sink. i really like the sleekness of this, but i wish they had put the control cube at the back or on the side panel instead ~ making it less conspicuous. the standard version comes in white corian but you can custom order it in any corian color.
the macworld expo hit san francisco last week and unfortunately this year i wasn't able to attend. but in honor of it i'd like to show off a few hot items that were there. luckily flickr provided some fabulous photos to share {thanks jim goldstein}
apple's latest release is pure air ~ nearly as light as and thin enough to fit in a manila envelope. so impressive. why doesn't the pc world catch on to the conept of incredible design in the look & feel of the their products too? the macs just out-do them every time. 
{sprinkle is a carpet in thousands of pieces that you throw and scatter into islands of carpet wherever you want them. the pieces always land the right way up like shuttle-cocks, and their silicone bases make them stick to the floor. then when you need to clean it, you just scoop it up and throw it in the washing machine.}
{in september 2006 michael cross showed the first stage prototype of this epic project in dilston grove, south-east london. the bridge is a series of steps which rise up out of the water in front of you as you walk from one to the next, and then disappear back underneath behind you as you go, leaving you stranded with only one step visible in front of you, and one behind. the bridge ends in the middle of the water, where you find yourself totally isolated and cut off from the shore. you return the way you came. the mixed feelings of peace, isolation, relaxation and fear that the piece elicits are powerful. the project is on-going and will ultimately lead to a permanent installation in a lake.}
{in 2004 michael cross spent two weeks in the late geoffrey bawa's fairytale retreat "lunuganga" in sri lanka. there, in the flooded gardens, they began their response to the place ~ a piece which aims to bring a little of the feeling of the teeming flooded jungle into the cool western living room. cast in polyurethane the piece functions as a shelf or hanger.}
have you ever wanted to have the comfort & grandness of trees, in part or whole, inside your home but didn't have the skylights or the care-taking time to have them? i'd like to introduce you to the nature maker. you can custom design your own, or work with their designers, to create a near-real arboreal experience any where you can imagine it. 
so maybe this isn't directly related to interior design or architecture, but dang is it hot. and i just happen to adore good design while having a secrect techie-geek side, so this is definitely post-worthy. plus i also happen to have an apple inside connection. hmmmmm.... a girl can dream can't she? see more info here.
( mini wind turbines generate the power to illuminate hundreds of mounted leds, creating firefly-like fields of light in an urban setting. more info here )
(flexible fiber-optic strands respond to the touch and movement of passing pedestrians. each stalk unit contains a passive infrared sensor & microprocessor, detecting motion & triggering light & sound. more info here )
(an interactive lighting installation on tower bridge, controlled by bluetooth sensors found on london bridge. the movement of individuals carrying active bluetooth devices are captured on london bridge. this information is then transmitted across the pool of london to the high level walkways on tower bridge, controlling a dynamic band of ambient light displays. more info here )
(an impressive interactive full-building facade on drexia tower in belgium. 4200 windows can be individually illuminated by rgb-colored led bars. at the bottom of the tower, an installation allows people to interact with the visual tower display via a multi-touch screen. more info here )
