Why aren’t we using building materials like Aerblock instead of wood? Habitat Forum 1976 alumni Michael Baron is involved in manufacturing this safe, lightweight, storm-proof, insulating, healthy-air concrete material that mimics ancient pumice building blocks.

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The post Why aren’t we using Aerblock when we build? appeared first on Ouno Design.

Seeing the above graphic on Facebook recently (source wasn’t credited) reignited my longstanding frustration over our global failure to switch (back) to hemp as a major source for textiles, paper and food.

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The post In praise of hemp – as textile, as paper, as food source appeared first on Ouno Design.

Bringing a Christmas tree inside is actually a relatively new phenomenon. It does not go back to pagan times. It started in Germany, where one tree was brought into the local guild hall but  not into every house.

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The post Art object & Christmas tree – PossibiliTree appeared first on Ouno Design.

Alvar Aalto’s Villa Mairea in Noormarkku, Finland, built between 1937 and 1939 as a rural retreat, is considered one of the greatest houses of the 20th century. Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who curated a major retrospective of Aalto’s work at the Barbican in London in 2007, says photographs give no real sense of Aalto’s buildings.

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The post Aalto’s Villa Mairea in Finland appeared first on Ouno Design.

The new convention centre, an entirely self-sustaining carbon neutral building, is more impressive than I predicted and is proof that environmental sustainability can actually coincide with beauty.

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The post Interiors in the new Vancouver Convention Centre appeared first on Ouno Design.

The Chen House in North Taiwan, design and constructed by Finnish architect Marco Casagrande and Taiwanese architect Frank Chen, was built for an older couple who wanted to retire to the country and grow bamboo and cherry trees – on a flood plain also beset by hurricanes and earthquakes.

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The post Chen House in Taiwan by Marco Casagrande/Frank Chen appeared first on Ouno Design.

The Militant Guild of Rural Tailors, a mysterious outfit we recently stumbled across online, seemed to be a cross between an elaborate imaginary historical narrative and a men’s fashion line.

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The post PS re: Miltary Guild of Rural Tailors & Liam Maher appeared first on Ouno Design.

This fantastic new pendant lamp or chandelier is by my friends Propellor, an award winning collaboration of three Vancouver designers whose ridiculously beautiful studio is a few blocks from mine.

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The post Dram lamp by Propellor, made from vintage tumblers appeared first on Ouno Design.

The new building for the BC Cancer Agency is a good addition to Broadway, one of Vancouver’s most ridiculously unattractive streets. The building’s most obvious feature is its round windows which are meant to reference the glass petri dishes used in cancer research.

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The post Building mimics DNA, petri dishes appeared first on Ouno Design.

Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese means of wrapping presents or carrying objects in a square of cloth. It’s waste-free, it’s practical, and it’s beautiful. As an art form, furoshiki is less known outside Japan than origami, but it is just as venerable – it simply uses fabric instead of paper.

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The post Wrap your bottle of wine in a furoshiki this year. appeared first on Ouno Design.