Events We Love

Ricoh is building an nature powered billboard, scheduled to go up in Times Square this December. A first for New York, this solar and wind powered giant ad is only the third in the world. The other two are Pacific Gas & Electric’s in San Francisco and Ricoh’s original eco billboard in Tokyo. The ad’s lighting will be powered by 45 solar panels and 4 wind turbines. Strangely the system lacks any kind of back up power source. If there’s a cloudy day with no wind, the ad will not be illuminated.

[via Live Science]

Opening tomorrow (July 4th) on Montague Place behind the British Museum in London is a new temporary cultural space designed by Carmody Groarke Architects. Called the Sky Walk, the installation is the centerpiece of the Bloomsbury Hub of the London Festival of Architecture. Sky Walk is a series of elevated ramps that take visitors on a meandering journey exposing them to new views of the architectural details on the surrounding historic buildings. Over the next three days, Sky Walk will serve as a backdrop for performances, and exhibition, and a continuous picnic of locally produced food.

Sky Walk was constructed over the past three days out of reusable staging components. It’s covered in a translucent black mesh. The ramp reaches a height of over 13 feet at it’s tallest point.

The event is the first step in the total transformation of the street into a usable public space and a destination in its own right. The design firm of Burns+Nice have already developed proposals to redo the street and surrounding areas.

[via WAN]

Replating is the term coined by design studio Language In Common for the simple act of giving away leftover food by leaving it on top of garbage cans. Sort of a small scale version of City Harvest. The replate idea is being spread by their website and with downloadable posters and stickers that explain the process. They started this open source food activism campaign as an easy way of channeling this potentially wasted food to the homeless and others that may desperately need it. There are some potential problems in the widespread roll out of Replating such as the food drawing rodents, or the lack of flat surfaced garbage cans in New York City. Overall a good concept, and a step in the right direction.

Replate

[via Neatorama]

LAist points us to a commendable urban redevelopment project now underway in Hollywood. The intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street is home to a drab parking lot and an unused half acre grassy field. A coalition of neighborhood residents have come together to reclaim this wasted detritus and transform it into a park. They want to breathe life back to the area and create a vital hub for the community to gather. Drivers have not been forgotten either. The existing parking lot is to be relocated underground, and the park will sit on top.

[via LAist]

Frango Rock! is a photographic collection of people, places, and inspiration from around the world, captured by photographers Mike Vargas and Tat Ho Yee. The two New York-based photographers collaborated on a filmmaking project that took them through Mexico, Chile, and Brazil, but it was Yee’s recent journey through India that inspired both to create Frango Rock!, a culmination of the vibrant scenes they encountered around the globe. Frango Rock! will be on view at the Brecht Forum from July 3 - 23 (don’t miss the opening reception on the 3rd, from 6-11pm with food and drink provided and music by DJ Laylo).

Frango Rock! at the Brecht Forum
451 West Street (between Bank and Bethune)
New York, NY
July 3-23 2008 (opening reception on July 3, 6-11pm)
Frangorock.com

The UK’s Glastonbury Music Festival will feature a charging station powered solely by the wind and sun. The French mobile-providing giant, Orange, is the proud parent of the latest edition – last year they tested out a similar station with then-partner Gotwind (and is talks with them for larger-scaled wind-power generators). The tent itself is capable of charging 100 phones per hour and will be a free service offered to concert goers – the “free” part being something that trendwatching.com has been researching religiously for quite some time.

REcharge Pod
[via springwise]

While pacing may be the cure for nervous energy, it might also become a generator of, well, energy. Spinning off American military technologies involving soldiers’ boot-mounted mini-generators, British engineers have developed underfloor generators that can produce energy from footsteps above. They’ve calculated that 34,000 commuters in London’s Victoria Underground station are capable of powering 6,500 light bulbs every hour – the plan being to install the first foot-powered generators at Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth as tourists climb up and down the seven-trillion or so stairs.

Times Online - Light Fantastic

[via inhabitat]

Staple Design and Lomography have collaborated on a new pigeon-inspired Color Splash camera and book project. Dubbed “Colorsplash Chakras,” the concept was to invite user-submitted lomo photos from around the world around relating to seven different spiritual chakas. The idea sounded pretty good when Jeff Staple pitched it on his blog awhile back, but it looks even better having come to fruition.

The book itself contains over 1,000 images submitted by regular people, intermixed with professional images from all-stars such as: Adam Scott, Atsuko Tanaka, Boogie, Brian Milo, Kareem Black, Kreg Holt, Maureen Hufnagel Michael Wong, Nick Rhodes, Wei-I Lee and Yasumasa Yonehara Read the rest of this entry »

We’re excited to check out the fourth annual Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Pool this weekend, where DIY crafters and artists from around the world will be showcasing and selling their wares. The first Renegade Craft Fair was held in 2003 in Chicago’s Wicker Park, and now the DIY event travels to San Francisco and Brooklyn, setting up shop four times a year. According to RCF’s organizers, it is “the biggest, best and the most well-known of all the DIY craft fairs out there”. While we can’t confirm that, we can say that last year’s was great - thousands came out to shop and support the 200-some crafters who were selling everything from handmade books to clothes to furniture at reasonable prices. This year will feature live music from Popshop DJ Squad, as well as food by Lefty’s Silver Cart, Treats Truck, and and Mr. Softy!

What: Renegade Craft Fair
Where: McCarren Park Pool, Williamsburg Brooklyn
When: 11am-7pm, June 14-15