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The Design for a Living World Exhibition

Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design. Here are examples of their work.

  • <p> Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design. Here are examples of their work. </p> <p> <a href="http://cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/Design-for-a-Living-World/" target="_new">The exhibition is running until January 4, 2009 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum</a>. </p>
  • <p> Swiss industrial designer Yves Béhar meets with indigenous women who run an organic chocolate cooperative in Costa Rica. </p>
  • <p> Béhar’s final design calls for stainless steel and sustainably-harvested Costa Rican hardwood. His chocolate shaving tool is designed to rest on the lip of a mug and resemble a twig. </p>
  • <p> Béhar’s final design includes an organic chocolate patty in a jute bag and a shaving tool. Shavings from the patty are poured into a hot cup of milk or water to make a traditional Costa Rican chocolate beverage. </p>
  • <p> New York industrial designer Stephen Burks refines his design of a prototype he created made from raspberry jamwood, a tree native to southwestern Australia. </p>
  • <p> Burks created a piece carved from jamwood that allows for the easy collection and processing of plant-based materials for use in the skincare line. He also created a complementary suite of jamwood containers to hold the cosmetics. </p>
  • <p> Dutch designer Hella Jongerius stirs heated chicle latex in the Mexican ejido Veinte de Noviembre (November 20th Farm Cooperative). </p>
  • <p> Jongerius works on her tallest piece (measuring 29 inches) in her studio. The piece is made from polyurethane rubber, ceramic and porcelain. Chicle latex is used as a decorative element as well as to bind the three pieces together. </p>
  • <p> Architect, artist and furniture designer Maya Lin in her New York studio, examining different types of FSC-certified wood from The Nature Conservancy’s property in northern Maine. </p>
  • <p> The wood used for Lin's bench came from FSC-certified land managed by The Nature Conservancy. </p>
  • <p> Dutch textile designer Christien Meindertsma knits her commissioned wool rug in her studio. </p>
  • <p> Meindertsma’s rug is comprised of 11 individual 30-inch-by-27-½ inch tiles. </p>
  • <p> Sheep from the Lava Lake Ranch, where organic sheep wool was sourced for Miendersma's commission, are herded through the town of Hailey, Idaho. </p>
  • <p> Designer Abbott Miller experiments with how alternative textile elements might connect to the frame of the chair. </p>
  • <p> Using FSC-certified plywood from Bolivia, Miller designed a chair whose components can be shipped flat and dry-assembled with a rubber mallet. </p>
  • <p> The chair design highlights the beauty of Bolivian wood, while also yielding three chairs per sheet of plywood, with a minimal amount of waste. </p>
  • <p> New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi during a fitting session. Mizrahi used salmon leather to create an ensemble that includes a dress, jacket and shoes. </p>
  • <p> New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi used salmon leather to create a dress, jacket and shoes. </p>
  • <p> Fishermen catch salmon in southwest Alaska. </p>
  • <p> New York jewelry designer Ted Muehling looks at ivory palm nuts in a carving hut on the Micronesian island of Pohnpei. </p>
  • <p> Muehling created a lei by stringing flowers made from vegetable ivory on a black silk cord. </p>
  • <p> Kate Spade New York handbag made from undyed jipijapa with an FSC-certified morado (Bolivian rosewood) handle. </p>
  • <p> Kate Spade New York handbag made from loosely woven cotton with an FSC-certified morado (Bolivian rosewood) handle. </p>
  • <p> Israeli industrial and furniture designer Ezri Tarazi refines his design using bamboo poles from China. </p>
  • <p> Round sections of bamboo hang from a metal structure to create a chair. Each section is suspended from a metal rod that allows the rings to turn. </p>
  • <p> Tarazi's installation of bamboo totems moves the dense landscape of China’s bamboo forests indoors, creating a domestic forest that supports a range of living arrangements. </p>
  • 01 /26

    Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design. Here are examples of their work.

    The exhibition is running until January 4, 2009 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

  • 02 /26

    Swiss industrial designer Yves Béhar meets with indigenous women who run an organic chocolate cooperative in Costa Rica.

  • 03 /26

    Béhar’s final design calls for stainless steel and sustainably-harvested Costa Rican hardwood. His chocolate shaving tool is designed to rest on the lip of a mug and resemble a twig.

  • 04 /26

    Béhar’s final design includes an organic chocolate patty in a jute bag and a shaving tool. Shavings from the patty are poured into a hot cup of milk or water to make a traditional Costa Rican chocolate beverage.

  • 05 /26

    New York industrial designer Stephen Burks refines his design of a prototype he created made from raspberry jamwood, a tree native to southwestern Australia.

  • 06 /26

    Burks created a piece carved from jamwood that allows for the easy collection and processing of plant-based materials for use in the skincare line. He also created a complementary suite of jamwood containers to hold the cosmetics.

  • 07 /26

    Dutch designer Hella Jongerius stirs heated chicle latex in the Mexican ejido Veinte de Noviembre (November 20th Farm Cooperative).

  • 08 /26

    Jongerius works on her tallest piece (measuring 29 inches) in her studio. The piece is made from polyurethane rubber, ceramic and porcelain. Chicle latex is used as a decorative element as well as to bind the three pieces together.

  • 09 /26

    Architect, artist and furniture designer Maya Lin in her New York studio, examining different types of FSC-certified wood from The Nature Conservancy’s property in northern Maine.

  • 10 /26

    The wood used for Lin's bench came from FSC-certified land managed by The Nature Conservancy.

  • 11 /26

    Dutch textile designer Christien Meindertsma knits her commissioned wool rug in her studio.

  • 12 /26

    Meindertsma’s rug is comprised of 11 individual 30-inch-by-27-½ inch tiles.

  • 13 /26

    Sheep from the Lava Lake Ranch, where organic sheep wool was sourced for Miendersma's commission, are herded through the town of Hailey, Idaho.

  • 14 /26

    Designer Abbott Miller experiments with how alternative textile elements might connect to the frame of the chair.

  • 15 /26

    Using FSC-certified plywood from Bolivia, Miller designed a chair whose components can be shipped flat and dry-assembled with a rubber mallet.

  • 16 /26

    The chair design highlights the beauty of Bolivian wood, while also yielding three chairs per sheet of plywood, with a minimal amount of waste.

  • 17 /26

    New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi during a fitting session. Mizrahi used salmon leather to create an ensemble that includes a dress, jacket and shoes.

  • 18 /26

    New York fashion designer Issac Mizrahi used salmon leather to create a dress, jacket and shoes.

  • 19 /26

    Fishermen catch salmon in southwest Alaska.

  • 20 /26

    New York jewelry designer Ted Muehling looks at ivory palm nuts in a carving hut on the Micronesian island of Pohnpei.

  • 21 /26

    Muehling created a lei by stringing flowers made from vegetable ivory on a black silk cord.

  • 22 /26

    Kate Spade New York handbag made from undyed jipijapa with an FSC-certified morado (Bolivian rosewood) handle.

  • 23 /26

    Kate Spade New York handbag made from loosely woven cotton with an FSC-certified morado (Bolivian rosewood) handle.

  • 24 /26

    Israeli industrial and furniture designer Ezri Tarazi refines his design using bamboo poles from China.

  • 25 /26

    Round sections of bamboo hang from a metal structure to create a chair. Each section is suspended from a metal rod that allows the rings to turn.

  • 26 /26

    Tarazi's installation of bamboo totems moves the dense landscape of China’s bamboo forests indoors, creating a domestic forest that supports a range of living arrangements.

Fast Company Staff 05.26.09 5:00 PM

Ten leading designers have been commissioned to develop new uses for sustainably grown and harvested materials in order to tell a unique story about the life-cycle of materials and the power of conservation and design. Here are examples of their work.

The exhibition is running until January 4, 2009 at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

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