3rings

Stopsol’s Glass Coatings Will Stop You in Your Tracks

Joseph Starr — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:54:14 +0000

In my work for 3rings it’s often my pleasure (and sometimes my curse) to come across science technalese that might ordinarily befuddle someone who hardly excelled in high school chemistry. Terms like “exponential fractalification” and “stereolithography” (Fractal Table), or “Ultradur High-Flow Injection Molding” (Myto) would have once sent me straight to the empty solace of TV, whereas now they motivate me to get the encyclopedia off the shelf… or, rather, to consult the on-line virtual version of such, where I’ve just found that “pyrolitic-applied metal oxide” refers to a binary compound of oxygen and metal that has been decomposed or transformed and thus made malleable through intense heat. But that may be more than you want to know already. Suffice it to say that Stopsol’s metal oxide glass coatings are scratchproof and resistant to the elements; they discriminate against certain varieties of solar radiation; and they’re available in an exciting array of tints and shades—meaning you can dress up your building’s exterior exactly as you see fit.

Stopsol Supersilver Grey Glass Coating.

All of this might seem a touch dry to the layperson, but I guarantee you’d stop in your tracks and gaze all the way to the top of the Moscow Administration Building, or the Kunstennmuseum in Stuttgart, or even the Torre Gas Building in Barcelona, each of which features one of Stopsol’s awe-inspiring reflective glazings. Offered in Classic, SilverLight, and Supersilver styles, Stopsol’s coatings come in shades of bronze, grey, green, blue, and clear (if clear can be said to be a “shade”). The product not only facilitates privacy while reducing eye strain, it also controls heat transmission by reflecting infrared radiation. Because one line can be used for multiple applications—single or double-glazed glass, laminated glass, toughened glass, or enameled glass—it’s a godsend for architects. And as the accompanying photos attest, it brings a new uniformity, resilience, and beauty to the concept of the glass curtain. No wonder Stopsol has gained favor with international projects from Brussels to Barcelona, from Stuttgart to Seville.

Belkin Conserve Insight: Track and Compare

Amanda Smith — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:10:54 +0000

We spend a lot of time talking about energy conservation, energy star appliances and lowering our carbon footprint. ConEdison has a series of advertisements on the subway that I’ve always liked, which give tips for how to save energy in simple ways throughout daily life. The problem with this is the audience, we’re a society of people who like tangible results. We like grades, scores and voting results. The question is how to relay the benefits of energy saving practices in a way we can relate to.

Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor. Designed by Belkin.

Belkin has come up with a solid solution to this problem with the Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor. It allows you to find out how much energy your devices actually use, including the cost of operation, the amount of carbon dioxide produced from the generation of the electricity consumed, and watts. The company recommends some experiments that can be done easily at home to demonstrate the environmental and economic effects of energy usage.

“Using a lamp plugged into the Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor, measure the cost to operate a regular bulb, as well as the CO₂ produced and watts. Then change to a Compact Fluorescent (CFL) bulb, and compare to find out the difference in energy used, CO₂ and cost. Plug your cell phone into the charger and plug the charger into the Conserve Insight Energy Use Monitor. See how much energy it takes and how much it costs to charge your phone. Then, leaving the charger plugged in to the monitor, unplug the phone from the charger. See how much energy the charger alone still uses—and how much it costs!”

One surprisingly wasteful group of appliances are remote controlled appliances. A TV can use more energy waiting to be turned on than when its actually on. Power strips are a great way to reduce energy consumption, but how many of us turn them off? Dorky as it may seem, I can’t wait to start testing out my energy usage at home.

Felting it Out in Frisian Wouw Style by Ruckstuhl

Sonja Hall — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:20:39 +0000

According to the philosophy of Swiss carpet manufacturer Ruckstuhl, “the art of weaving - the creation of carpets and textiles from natural fibres - is one of the oldest cultural activities of the human race.” Not that we’d object, but to those who haven’t seen or understood the Frisian Wouw carpet by Claudy Jongstra, they haven’t experienced a truly artistic, sustainable product come to life.

Frisian Wouw. Designed by Claudy Jongstra for Ruckstuhl.

Designed as part of Edition Ruckstuhl - a limited edition series of twelve carpets by nine designers from canada and europe - the approximate 240 x 330 cm shape of this particular felt carpet resembles a fallen autumn leaf or perhaps a golden flake of paint from centuries past. Claudy Jongstra, the Dutch designer behind the weave of marigold-tinted felt, was trained as a fashion designer who found her calling in using felt back in 1994 after witnessing a Mongolian yurt (tent) on display in the Nederlands Textielmuseum. Since her discovery, Jongstra’s textiles have been used by leading fashion designers such as John Galliano, Donna Karan, and Christian Lacroix. Since then, her work has been dedicated to creating the soft wool fabric with a combination of either silk fibers or transparent silk organza - something that had never been seen before.

From start to finish, Jongstra believes in pure sustainable wool and materials. Beginning with raw materials the entire process is built on an environmentally-friendly, cyclical process. In fact, she tends her own flock of rare Drenthe Heath sheep to make sure their unusual breed from the Netherlands maintains itself, and continues to produce the best wool. Additionally, her website describes that Jongstra “keeps her own hortus botanicus where national historic varieties of dye-plants grow.” Recently, she was awarded The Prins Bernhard Cultuurfondsprijs, a prestigious Dutch prize for applied arts and architecture.
With Ruckstuhl’s dedication to natural goods and quality, Jongstra’s Frisian Wouw carpet comes to life after the delicate processes from start to finish that set it apart from anything ordinary.

A Vanity with Room to Spare: Toto’s NC Series/S Counter Cabinet

Alicita Rodriguez — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 20:55:45 +0000

If the word “Toto” immediately provokes you to think, “we’re not in Kansas anymore,” you’d be speaking more truth than you know. When it comes to millennial technology in the bathroom, the Japanese company with the name Americans associate with a little dog is leagues away from the U.S.A. This doesn’t mean that Kansans—or denizens of any of our fabulous 50—don’t have a thing or two to learn from products like Toto’s NC Series/S Counter Cabinet. The stand-alone vanity/counter/washbasin instructs us to turn tradition on its head, or, better said, turn it inside out.

NC Series/S Counter Cabinet. Designed by TOTO.

Rather than sporting the conventional array of under-vanity drawers and/or cabinetry, the NC Series wears its storage on its sleeve, so to speak. Its pedestal base rises up and between alternating tiers, thus hiding the plumbing while creating NC’s unique open-shelving system. The design makes great use of space while keeping bathroom essentials “hiding in plain sight”— my rotating toothbrush, for one, would camouflage nicely against the glossy white. If, however, you prefer to showcase your daily grooming accoutrements, choose facing in wenge or oak veneer. The third option is to just hide everything in the NC Series’ nifty upper drawer (each of which hides, in its turn, a convenient power outlet) and use the shelf space to show off beloved trinkets and knick-knacks… or just relish in the clean and spare geometric contours.

We’ve heard a lot from Toto lately. Last April, we looked at the hygienic functionality of Washlet, and about a month after that, we examined their luminous Luminist Sink. The manufacturer is recognizable for its distinctive aesthetic, but they’ve also made a name for themselves as purveyors of “Clean Technology.” Never more crucial than in the bathroom, the notion builds upon the excellent hygiene of Toto’s products to reach towards an environmental cleanliness that could be a guide for us all: “Other eco-friendly effects are achieved with our products—our custom ceramic surfaces require fewer chemicals for cleaning; one of our technologies breaks down pollutants in the air, similar to the way a tree breaks down carbon; and some of our fixtures are powered by water pressure alone. All of these features are sustainable.”

Dordoni’s Tau Fuses Ancient and Modern

Joseph Starr — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:58:34 +0000

Despite the urgings of certain party-going compatriots and their attendant kegs of PBR or Keystone Light, I never joined a fraternity, so I’m not too well versed in the significations—arcane and otherwise—of the letters of the Greek alphabet. Good thing for me that most products come with their bit of requisite self-edification; just so, the Tau Wall Lamp by Rodolfo Dordoni for Flos shares a certain symbolic vocabulary with its Phoenician namesake. As I quickly discovered in my brief research, every Greek letter has multiple meanings beyond their function as place-holder for a specific sound, and Tau is no exception. The meanings that seem most apt for Dordoni’s sconce include those of “continuity in electro-flux resonance,” “a measure of opacity, or how much sunlight cannot penetrate the atmosphere,” and “the lifetime of a spontaneous emission process.”

Tau Wall Lamp. Designed by Rodolfo Dordoni.

Of course there’s also the matter of Tau’s shape—Τ (upper case) or τ (lower), each of which bears a resemblance to the cruciform yet fluid profile of Dordoni’s light. The idea behind Tau is several-fold: 1. to synthesize the look of an ancient wall-bound illumination with that of a modern, energy-efficient light; 2. Provide a dual-source for focused and ambient light; and 3. create an eye-catching design with textural and visual contrast. All of these objectives are well-served by Dordoni’s die-cast aluminum alloy, halogen bulb, and two-tone tint.

But back to the metaphoric linkage between the two Taus… The lamp exudes an appealing fluidity that’s apropos to the evolution of the Greek alphabet. It illuminates an entire space or highlights certain darkly appealing contours; it captures the effect of sunlight poured through a sieve or a focused light thrown to the far end of a cave; and it evokes the crucial icons of the rise of ancient Greece: the epics of Homer and the first Olympic games. Apropos of this last, if in certain installations and particular color schemes it captures the perpetually-burning flame of the Olympic Torch, I wouldn’t chalk it up to mere coincidence.

Via NostraForma.