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In his final address to the Boy Scouts, Sir Robert Baden-Powell told the troops to "leave this world a little better than you found it." Sixty years later, the organization still abides by its founder's words. Evidence is to be found at the Scouts' camp on Catalina Island, 19 miles off the coast of Southern California, where the group is pursuing a sustainable vision for its......read more
In Providence, R.I., a new office building has lifted the challenging task of shipping container construction to new heights. The first permanent, multistory structure in the U.S. made entirely from shipping containers cost owner Peter Case $1.8 million to build, about half of what he would have paid for a conventional structure. Divided into two sets of offices, the three-story complex has an......read more
The steel shipping container, invented half a century ago, is the linchpin of global trade, used to transport everything from electronics to cars to wheat. Designers and architects recognized the conversion potential of cargo containers early on, but only now are the steel structures beginning to fulfill their promise as building blocks. The "cargotecture" trend is hot, hot, hot. In......read more
How much space does a human need? According to Derek Diedricksen, not a helluva lot. The family backyard of the carpenter and young father is dotted with tiny structures — the biggest of which measures a paltry 24 square feet — that serve as sleeping cabins and hangout zones. Built from scavenged materials, the little buildings are imaginative excercises in "micro-architecture." What......read more
You may or may not remember LA photographer Michael Wells from his Scorched Earth series which we featured back in SHFT's early days. Either way, here's another batch of juicy Wells photos, this time focusing on industrial subjects. For Bulk Landscapes, Wells trains his camera on spaces where goods are produced, stored, and shipped, providing some compelling commentary on the economy and its......read more
Heads in the clouds: German climate engineering firm Transsolar and Tetsuo Kondo Architects collaborated on the 'Cloudscape' exhibition at Venice Biennale. Spotted at Designboom. Artist Gulnur Ozdaglar makes jellyfish-lookin' table bowls from recycled PET bottles. Eat your Wheaties...without destroying the rainforest. Treehugger reports that General Mills will use 100% sustainable......read more
Aside from the Internet, no single invention might be as important to globalization as the shipping container. No joke. Before that advent of standardized containers in the 1950's, trans-oceanic shipping was hugely labor intensive and slow, because every ship and air shipment presented a brand new challenge. By contrast, standard shipping containers they allow cargo to be moved in massive......read more
The work of French photographer Estelle Haniana The "Parking Lot Hydra" book, published by Decathalon, is available from Printed Matter. (ed. - Scratch that, it's sold out.) (Via Quality Peoples)...read more
California pottery brand Heath Ceramics has introduced four attractive new colors for its popular container design. Now available in tangerine, olive, aqua, and indigo, the multi-functional container comes topped with a sandblasted and oiled wooden lid. "Use them in the kitchen to store your favorite sea salt, in the bathroom to hold toiletries, or on the tabletop for serving homemade......read more
If your home decor aesthetic fall somewhere between rustic warmth and industrial cool, then we've found the right furniture designers for you. From their Brooklyn workshop, Yorkwood Furniture Co. crafts stools, benches, and tables from shipping pallet wood collected around New York City. The Yorkwood Large Bench stands out as one of our favorites from the company's line. Crafted from wooden......read more
