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powered by Daniel Levine and The Avant-Guide Institute
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Added 20 February, 2014

The isle of Eigg in the west of Scotland is home to about 100 permanent residents. By most accounts, it's a pretty nice place. It's people are committed to keeping it that way with sustainable strategies that aim to create all of their electricity from renewable sources. In order to be one of the first in the world to do so, they better hurry,...

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Added 26 January, 2014
More and more, skyscraper buildings around the globe are being fitted with programmable LED lighting that is "Vegasizing" the cities of the world. Often added to building tops and spires, this cacophony of colors is becoming the de facto new look for cities from Chicago and London to Singapore and Shanghai (pictured). In New York, LEDs have been...
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Added 19 January, 2014
The London-based architectural firm Foster and Partners has put forward a far-reaching plan for bicycle lanes in the sky that would transform transportation in the city. The proposed SkyCycle network would be built above existing rail lines and cover up to 220 kilometers (100 miles) around London. The somewhat fanciful project was created to...
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Added 11 December, 2013
While some people in the world of fuel are getting excited by the advent of automobiles that run on hydrogen, a town in Korea is going far beyond that dream by creating the first community in the world in which all the electricity comes from that common gas. The town of Ulsan is home to Korea's largest hydrogen producer which is currently building...
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Added 19 November, 2013
America is famous for doing everything big. Big houses, big cars, big refrigerators and more. But times, they are a-changin'. US realtors are now reporting a growth in so-called micro-apartments that are sometimes small as 200 square feet (18 square meters). What's behind this change? Economics, of course. The expense of a large home, or carrying...
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Added 9 October, 2013
Public art is often makes a statement. But it's rare that it listens too. Yobosayo, a bigger-than-life sculpture in the rough shape of a human ear, invites passers-by to stick their heads in and speak their minds. The statue is located outside City Hall in Seoul, Korea. It is designed with a microphone inside that records the public's missives and...
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Added 8 October, 2013
Regular readers know that, these days, art comes to the viewers as much as the other way around. But is it art if it's really an advertisement for an insurance company? The sub was docked here as part of a publicity stunt for Europ Assistance Italia. The mistake that M&C Saatchi, the company's advertising agency, made was telling the public...
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Added 2 October, 2013
Throughout England, masonry products manufacturer, Lignacite is supplying carbon negative bricks to new housing developments. The Carbon Buster brick is an amalgam of recycled materials and aggregates derived from waste by-products. The result is a strong masonry product that captures more carbon dioxide than it emits during the manufacturing...
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Added 20 September, 2013
Everything is "smart" these days. Smart watches, smart socks, smart phones. And now there is even smart architecture: building that have a mind of their own and can sense and change themselves according to their surroundings. One such project is the HygroSkin – Meteorosensitive Pavilion, a novel example of climate-responsive architecture. The...
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Added 18 September, 2013
Just as it is with fashion, home design goes in and out of style. Once it was stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Now, real estate agents in the United States are reporting that solar panels are the must-have accessory for new home buyers. At least six of the 10 largest American homebuilders are now including photovoltaic devices...