By Jennifer Rittner - Sep 29

Sponsored Post: What Would Nature Do?

Danielle Trofe Urges Designers to Ask

Designers and consumers have an urgent challenge to confront in the current discussion around sustainability. How can we distinguish between goods which seem eco-friendly, but actually contribute to a culture of waste, and those that are truly green? Designer Danielle Trofe had to challenge herself to look at every aspect

By Emily Engle - Sep 22

How to Grow Objects With Mushroom Mycelium

A close look at growing planters from mushrooms with Danielle Trofe

We're already familiar with Danielle Trofe's Mush-Lume lighting collection and the concept of growing objects with mushroom mycelium. So why am I revisiting such a familiar process? Thanks to Trofe and Ecovative Design, I was able to learn the mushroom mycelium growth process myself. Here's what happened:

By Kat Bauman - Sep 07

A Planter Lamp That Won't Roast Your Greenery

This big glass orb gently spotlights your green thumb

Do you have a wistful digital folder of design concepts you wish were real? (Or is that just Pinterest?) Well, I do, and it's rare and satisfying to see things make it out of there and into the world. I've held onto a sexy beta photo of the Lightovo Milo

By Rain Noe - Aug 31

Laser-Etched Radial LED Lightbulbs

Yat Ming's URI bulbs exploit the material properties of acrylic to good effect

Invented before industrial design became an established profession, incandescent lightbulbs epitomize what would later become the field's mantra of "Form follows function." The wire filament provides the illumination, while the glass bulb is there to keep air out and prevent the filament from oxidizing. Though incandescents are now obsolete, both

By Molly Millette - Aug 19

A Look at Flat-Packed Dinosaurs, Virtual Reality Meditation and the Making of a Luxury Candle 

Rounding up the best of this year's Kickstarter Festival and the debut of Core77's "Making Of" Video Series

An enormous global community enabling the creation of over 100,000 projects in the past six years, Kickstarter brings people together and brings projects to life. This past week in Brooklyn, the organization held their annual day-long festival, celebrating all types of creators and innovators. From virtual meditation to flat-pack

By Kat Bauman - Jul 25

A Sundial That Lights Itself

Maarten De Ceulaer's Sundial Chandelier brings solar inspiration indoors

Maarten de Ceulaer's striking Sundial Chandelier takes cues from both ancient time-tellers and astronomical bodies. The piece, showed at this year's Salone de Mobile, combines anodized aluminum disks and hidden offset lighting to create a series of luminous planetary bodies marked by shadow. While the disks are flat and smooth

By Carly Ayres - Jul 05

To Turn on This Lamp, You'll First Have to Surrender Your Smartphone...

The Tranquillo lamp wants to help you focus

As I sit on my couch writing what's sure to be another titillating session of In the Details, I can't help but turn my neck every time I catch—or think I catch—the flicker of my glowing rectangle. I turned off vibration mode because I began to sense its familiar

By Moa Dickmark - Jul 04

Designing with a Sense of Humor

Juno Jeon makes objects that elicit a sense of beauty, fun and wonder

A few days ago I stumbled upon a little gif on my newsfeed on Facebook showcasing a drawer that had a lovely personality. I know, it sounds crazy, but it's true: A drawer with personality. Who could have guessed that those words were ever going to form in my head.

By Core77 Design Awards - Jun 01

Announcing the Furniture & Lighting Honorees for the 2016 Core77 Design Awards

Each and every day we interact with furniture and lighting extensively, often taking for granted the careful detail and precision that go into designing these products. Most of our days are spent sitting in a piece of furniture, while a large portion of our nights are illuminated by lighting fixtures,

By Kat Bauman - May 25

Better Bike Turn Signals At Your Fingertips

Velohub's rechargeable Blinkers are a turn in the right direction

Today in silly but promising bike design: bike turn signals that might not blow! The idea of hands-free turn signals for bikes has inspired many, many product designs, few of which make any damn sense. Of those that do, most require donning dorky apparel, integration with the frame, or a

By Kat Bauman - May 11

But Can Your Coleman Do This?

BioLite's new Bluetooth-equipped lantern brightens your night, charges your phone, and might set KickStarter on fire

The energy-design thinkers at BioLight are aiming in a bright new direction: lighting! The company first crossed our radar with their innovative biofuel stove designed to reduce harmful emissions and produce electricity at the same time. Since then they've continued to refine their multi-purpose products for use indoors and out.

By Rain Noe - Apr 27

Hell in a Handbasket: German City Creates Street-Level Traffic Lights for Distracted Smartphone Users

Facebook status update: "I am about to get hit by a ca--"

When Walkmen became popular in the '80s, there were NYC news reports showing people wearing headphones and obliviously walking in front of moving vehicles. But you didn't hear about too many Walkmen-related deaths. Nowadays with smartphones, however, there are entire supercuts on YouTube—far too graphic for us to embed here—showing

By Core Jr - Apr 15

Flexible LEDs, Paper Power and Women in Italian Design

Our favorite projects from Day 4 of Milan Design Week

Each day our editors will roundup our favorite sights and projects from Salone Milan Design Week. Today we look at highlights from the Triennale Design Museum and Spazio Rosanna Orlandi. The Subtle Power of Paper - One component of the Triennale was the SUBTLE Takeo Paper Show, which demonstrated works from

By Core Jr - Apr 14

Meat Lamps, Bulging Ceramics and Office Furniture from the Future

Our favorite projects from Day 3 of Milan Design Week

Each day our editors will roundup our favorite sights and projects from Salone Milan Design Week. Today we look at highlights from Ventura Lambrate and via Clerici. The Meat ProjectTo address the issue of food waste, artist and designer Atelier Monte created these seemingly average vases using expired meat from

By Core Jr - Apr 13

Ergonomic Plywood Furniture, Fully Covert Sound Systems and a Rebel Designer Thriving at Salone del Mobile

Our favorite projects from Day 2 of Milan Design Week

Each day our editors will roundup our favorite sights and projects from Salone Milan Design Week. Today we look at highlights from the main fairgrounds for the Salone del Mobile. Poetic Shelves from Finland. These playful shelves from Hanna-Kaarina Hikkila and Anni Pitkajarvi of the Helsinki-based Luomo collective make the best

By Core Jr - Apr 12

David Rockwell on the "Wonder and Discovery" of Design Week in Milan

The National Design Award winner makes his debut in Milan with two collections

In celebration of this week's design festivities in Milan, Core77's editors speak to some of our favorite designers about their first time showing at the world's biggest furniture fair and what they most look forward to when returning each year. David Rockwell is the founding architect and designer of

By Bryn Smith - Mar 24

Core77 Questionnaire with Studio Job

The founders of the Belgian atelier on freedom, art and de-materializing design

Our mission: To be as free as possible and to think out of the box; to be aware of the history of design but to put it in the present. Our mission is not to solve a problem, but to ask a question.

By Carly Ayres - Mar 21

Night Lights Get Touchy Feely

The LeeLuu haptic toy and light eases night terrors

As a child, I had a mild fear of the dark. Okay, I would scream hysterically whenever left in a pitch black room. I had a Peter Cottontail nightlight for most of my childhood, upgrading to a plain white one in the hallway for a few years after that, and

By Rebecca Veit - Mar 08

Cini Boeri’s Odes to Joy

The 92-year-old Italian has designed ‘Blade Runner’ glassware and the best-ever convertible sofa.

Napping probably isn't the first thing you associate with modern Italian design, but delve into Cini Boeri's archive and it comes up again and again. Benjamin Pardo, Knoll's design director, describes the sofa Boeri designed for his company in 2008 as having "great nap potential." Boeri herself assures us that