There is a brief head-scratching moment when one first sees these strange wooden rugs and has to wonder: is that mobile, functional, art or all of the above? These are precisely the design questions Elisa Stroyzk wants more people to ask. These wood carpets work at a weird intersection between art and design – grafted, geometric, laser-cut wood leftovers are attached to a functional and flexible textile background. The only question is: how comfortable is it to curl up with a wooden blanket? This designer is ultimately, perhaps, more of a material scientist and philosopher than an artist, c ..read more

They say a stitch in time saves nine … so what does a stitch in space do for you? These hand-crafted maps mark out cities and neighborhoods in a way you can feel, touch or even wrap yourself inside, providing aid to the visually impaired and a perfect urban companion for everyday picnic goers. Designed by Brooklyn’s Haptic Lab, each can be personalized and customized with names and dates as well as key locations and territories marked out on a particular regional cloth, combining objective and subjective maps of spaces and places. From warming wraps for the Windy City to quilts covering Los ..read more

A weekend beach retreat is a fabulous thing no matter where you are in the world, but on some beaches in New Zealand it can also be a dangerous thing. On the Northern New Zealand coast, the tide is quickly stealing away the beach and making homes there dangerously untenable. Because of the coastal erosion taking place, New Zealand planning conditions require homes built on the endangered beaches to be removable. This luxury beach hut built by Crosson Clarke Canachan Architects sits on built-in sleds to allow it to slide away whenever the sea gets a bit too close for comfort. When closed u ..read more

What a waste. Some furniture makers recoil when they cut open a raw board to discover its insides have been chewed up by invading insects. Others, however, see this as a unique opportunity to turn natural flaws into found treasures. Riva 1920 has featured fascinating?recycling projects like those pictured here, in which weathered and worn materials were transformed into modern and appealing home objects. The timber, in this case, was salvaged from its watery grave (inspired by Venice – a place where water meets land) and turned into a series of creative tables. Minimal steel is used to crea ..read more

Wayfinding tools have evolved dramatically in recent decades – from compasses and physical maps to hand-held GPS gadgets and audio-enabled driving directions. The paradigm might shift drastically once more with this amazing multi-functional, go-anywhere gadget that blends aspects of all of the above designs to light your way. For starters, this handy little gadget from Designaffairs Studio takes the form and shape of a classic, simple and straightforward wayfinding device: the flashlight – and works as one too if needed in the dark. But it has functions for beyond this basic light-up capacit ..read more

Making a pile of cushions and jumping on top is a favorite childhood activity, but who says comfy cushion piles have to be left behind once you grow up? Lounge of Layers, designed by Katrin Greiling for Droog, is a series of seats made of super-soft, stacked cushions stitched together. Droog sells the Lounge of Layers pieces with or without backs. The backless piece is like a bench of fluffy goodness, and the version with a back is more of a comfy sofa. The bottom layer of the furniture is wood, giving the seats some solid support even though they are constructed mostly of stacked foam cus ..read more

What do you do with all your stuff when you’re a collector, but live in a tiny apartment? For one Taipei couple, the answer was to have the interior of their 538-square-foot flat in the Wanli District customized by KC Design Studio to store and display dozens of toys and LEGO structures, making their quirky and fun hobby an essential part of their decor. The result is a three-level space taking advantage of the full ceiling height to maintain an open, uncluttered feel. The front door leads past a bathroom and into a small, minimalist kitchen with black granite countertops and concrete floor ..read more

The lush rural Norwegian landscape comes alive under the creative direction of conceptual artist Rune Guneriussen. Using lamps, books and other stacked objects, Guneriussen transforms the countryside. Electric lamps and neatly arranged books go from inanimate objects to living herds crowding between trees and around streams. Guneriussen creates his photographic works without any digital manipulation, actually putting these common household objects out in nature to photograph them as though he were catching wildlife in its natural habitat. With titles like “A Capacity to Breed and Recove ..read more

Wine glasses may be designed to look elegant and optimize flavor-enhancing air flow, but with those top-heavy goblets teetering on such a thin base, they’re an accident waiting to happen. The ingenious Saturn Wine Glass by Christopher Yamane of Fragile Studios eliminates the risk of impossible-to-remove wine stains with a design that makes the glass virtually unspillable. Made from a single piece of glass, the Saturn Wine Glass features a rim that prevents it from turning over if you knock into it. Yamane used traditional glass-blowing techniques to give the stemless glass its signature Satu ..read more

If you were making a checklist of all the things you’d have in your fantasy beach house, what would they be? A heated saltwater pool that could be used year-round? Check. Long stretches of sliding glass doors that erase the boundary between indoors and out? Check. How about a sunken conversation pit inside a breezeway that can comfortably seat 30 of your closest friends? Check. Idyllic views of a stunning Art Deco skyline and boats zipping by on the nearby waterways? Check. A 200-foot long elevated walkway that winds over your very own swimmable lagoon? Double check. All of these features can ..read more