#ASLOVES
Treehouses


Images: courtesy Lego
Images: courtesy Lego
All of the Lego botanical pieces are intended for adults not children, and make perfect gifts for those of us that are not so green fingered!
Images: courtesy Lego
For the first concept shoe, Green re-imagined the classic Adidas Stan Smith. He wanted to create a shoe that had the feel of the Stan Smith whilst disguising its unmistakable looks. His solution was remarkable! He made a cast of the classic Stan Smith shoe on the interior, and the exterior became a bulbous form, leaving only the perforated stripes as a visual memory of the iconic design.
For the second concept shoe, Green researched diving equipment and uniforms. He reimagined a vintage divers shoe in natural and black latex, complete with pump, foot treads and Adidas logo. These shoes were produced in a latex dip-moulding factory, that specializes in the production of medical and diving suits.
Quote courtesy High Snobiety
Images: Dan Tobin Smith for Adidias
This month #asloves the new polymer development – 2DPA-1 – that was revealed by researchers at MIT:
“Using a novel polymerization process, MIT chemical engineers have created a new material that is stronger than steel and as light as plastic, and can be easily manufactured in large quantities. The new material is a two-dimensional polymer that self-assembles into sheets, unlike all other polymers, which form one-dimensional, spaghetti-like chains. Until now, scientists had believed it was impossible to induce polymers to form 2D sheets.” MIT News Office, February 2, 2022
Their new polymerization process allows them to generate a two-dimensional sheet called a polyaramide. For the monomer building blocks, they use a compound called melamine, which contains a ring of carbon and nitrogen atoms. Under the right conditions, these monomers grow in two dimensions, forming disks. These disks stack on top of each other, held together by hydrogen bonds between the layers, which make the structure very stable and strong.
“This could allow us to create ultrathin coatings that can completely prevent water or gases from getting through… This kind of barrier coating could be used to protect metal in cars and other vehicles, or steel structures. We don’t usually think of plastics as being something that you could use to support a building, but with this material, you can enable new things. It has very unusual properties and we’re very excited about that.” Michael Strano, MIT professor of chemical engineering
Though 2DPA-1 is still in the research stage, it gives hope as better more hardy plastic, means less inefficient plastic – Bravo!
Visit the MIT news site to learn more: https://news.mit.edu/2022/polymer-lightweight-material-2d-0202
Quotes courtesy MIT
Image credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT
“The material is brought to life and appears to be frozen in time, capturing the way glass melts in a static object through with the tactility of a textile. The project currently consists of glass tapestries and sculptural vessels as well as an extensive and ever growing archive of samples. It is a continuing glass research that evolves and develops with each iteration, to find future possibilities and applications for this exciting new material.”
We couldn’t agree more! The final results are magical, strange and above all innovative.
Photos: all images © Sarah Roseman
For this, MVRDV’s third Bulgari store in their ongoing collaboration, they continue exploring the possibilities of sustainable recycled materials in luxury. Taking Art Deco and China’s most precious stone, Jade, as their inspirations, they imagined a stunning facade panelled in a custom sintered green translucent recycled glass material:
“Our collaboration with Bulgari has yielded some fascinating material experiments. It’s a passion we share with them, albeit in different design disciplines. The Shanghai store encapsulates the value of these experiments: given the right treatment and detailing, leftover champagne and beer bottles, which would otherwise be thrown away, become a jewel for the city.” MVRDV founding partner Jacob van Rijs
Here at American Supply we love the visual transformation, and MVRDV’s sensitive use of recycled sustainable materials.
“The project demonstrates the potential of sustainable recycled materials, even in luxury contexts, and takes one step towards MVRDV and Bulgari’s goal of store designs that are built using 100% circular economy materials. Meanwhile the backlight is engineered to minimise the façade’s energy footprint, using less than half the energy of a typical comparable installation.” MVRDV website
Photos: all images © Bulgari, © Xia Zhi
All images are taken from the MVRDV website
“Glass has material properties excellent for recycling, but EU directives on effectively processing glass from electronic waste (E-waste) do not currently exist. Sand is a finite resource, and as the volume of E-waste is increasing rapidly worldwide, we need strategies and solutions.”
The project is still in the ongoing prototype stages, but they have already developed two sizes for the tiles, and have the possibility of large scale production with their manufacturing partner Fornace Brioni, pending classification.
Photo credit: all images courtesy of snøhetta
These grains are then mixed, molded, compacted, and assembled into a new hybrid material that is used to create furniture objects and wall elements imbibed with the memories of their previous commercial applications. With beautiful surface textures, material ingenuity, and a timeless industrial aesthetic, ‘Link’ is one of our favourite creative eco-projects of the month!
Photo Credit: Images by masayuki hayashi (excluding process images) courtesy we+