A sizable chunk of today's cutting-edge design wouldn't have been possible just ten years ago--the materials and technologies have advanced that fast. A new design show, "Bits 'n' Pieces", is dedicated to that theme. Sponsored by Material ConneXion, a resource library for designers, it opens today and runs through December 4. Here's a sampling of the 14 works that'll be on display.

The piece here, by EDHV, begins with a computer simulation of the walking patterns of various insects. Those paths will then be used--with the stencil you see--to create a font out of virtual insect paths.

A contemporary masterpiece, the form of Joris Laarman's Bone Chair was generated using software that mimics the growth patterns of bones.

Lucas Maassen's and Dries Verbruggen's Brainwave Sofa, whose form was derived from Maassen's own brain-scan, taken while he was thinking of "comfort."

Doug Bucci's Mellitus bracelet visualizes the designer's own blood-cell readings, which were taken from a blood-glucose monitor.

Ilona Huvenaars and Willem Derks used rapid prototyping to create the Knitted Vase. The vase's neck is basically a plastic version of a fabric knit--it stretches to accommodate the shape of the flower stems.

Thomas Lommee's OpenStructures project is an attempt to create a kit of parts that can be fashioned into almost any object. The parts themselves are designed in an open-source process.

A bike, make from OpenStructures parts.

A modular kitchen, designed using OpenStructures.

The Utah teapot, by Unfold, is a bit of a geeky inside joke: It's based on a standard reference model used in computer graphics first created in 1975 by Martin Newell. Since then, it's become an accidental icon of 3-D modeling--and finally, a real-life product.

The ball joints in byAMT's Jointed Jewelry illustrate one of the wonders of rapid prototyping: Using 3-D printing technology, it's possible to fabric parts in one single go that would usually have to be individually made, and then fit together after wards.

Chairgenics, by Jan Habraken and Willem Derks. The chair at the right was made by sequentially morphing together all the classic chairs you see on the left.