Design & Architecture

On Thursday night, April 10th, the warmest New York has yet seen in April, a well-heeled crowd outfitted in suits and festive party dresses crowded into Astor Center on 4th street for A Night of Eco-Chic Entertaining, presented by the online magazine about entertaining, Notesonaparty.com. The party was intended to show how it is possible to be both sustainable and chic in the party-hosting realm, and featured a number of participating green brands, from Frutzzo, the "first company in America to market antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice blends" in recyclable bottles, to Organic Bouquet, which creates flower arrangements with only flowers grown using sustainable practices.

Design & Architecture

DesignBoost Finnish designer Eero Koivisto is the creator of these brightly playful end tables, made out a single material (laquered steel) that Koivisto says makes them not only built to last but also fully recyclable. Koivisto came up with the idea for the tables after his first Amazon rainforest fly-over, and the five obliquely positioned legs of the tables are meant to represent the every-which-way growth pattern of trees in a dense forest canopy.

Those legs give the tables a vulnerable, almost coltish look, but they are actually sturdy and easily arranged in a cluster (they can slightly overlap). The Amazonas tables are sold in sets of three, and in three slightly different shades of green. For each set of tables sold, about 10 Euros goes to the Swedish NGO Children's Rainforest. Made by Offect (Sweden) and available through Architonic.

Design & Architecture

TreeHugger approves of objects that expand, fold out or otherwise transform to increase their usability in our lives; the more we can get out of the stuff we interact with every day, the fewer things and less space we need, right? Dining tables are certainly on this list, as most of us don't need seating for eight every night, but what do you do when it's dinner party time?

If an inflatable table doesn't do it for you, we like the looks of the Braun Woodline table. It starts as a small round table for four, and, through a slick drawer mechanism, expands to seat eight or more -- there are three sizes that expand to seat up to 16, if you really like to party, as well as a square table option, if round isn't your style. The Woodline table, by French designer Philippe Braun (and don't the French have all the fun?), is vaguely reminiscent of DB Fletcher's Expanding Table, is available for sale; contact them for details, and hit the jump to see more pics and a video of how it all works. ::Braun Woodline via ::TrendsNow (in French)

Recent Comment by Bry Green : "Space and practicality is what this eco-friendly design provides. For people pressed fo..." [read]

Design & Architecture

TreeHugger loves folding and flat-packing chairs for their ability to fold up (or even hang up) to get out of the way, so we like the space-saving designs from Philippe Malouin. The Hanger Chair, (pictured above) an elegant combination of coat hanger and folding chair, makes a lot of sense: not only is it good for hanging your jacket on when sitting in the chair, it can help keep your coats wrinkle-free and hanging in the closet when you aren't sitting on. Smart.

And what kind of space-saving table do you sit at in such a sleek chair? Why, an inflatable table that seats 10 and is strong enough to stand of, of course. Hit the jump to see what we mean.

Design & Architecture

Aside from offering a neat trick at your next dinner party, transformer furniture offers a great two-for-one deal; it allows us to live better in less space and use fewer resources doing so (which makes it a triple threat, I guess, if you count the dinner party thing). The latest example is this combo coffee/dining table available from Dwell in the UK.

Rather than a movable leg contraption, like we saw before with the Flip Table, the table's top pops up and unfolds to double in surface area, creating dining space for six or eight from the coffee table's diminutive size (not unlike Lee Sinclair's Convertable). Jump below the fold to see how it goes down, so to speak, and, while you're at it, check out pics of Dwell's coffee table that transforms into a laptop table. We're crossing our fingers that these'll be crossing the pond soon; for now, get more details at ::Dwell via ::Freshome

Design & Architecture

Too often, our dining tables are relegated to dust-collecting duty when it isn't dinner time. Functioning in the same way beds do in our lives -- that is, totally necessary when we need them, but just occupying space when we don't -- few dining tables offer the functional equivalent of something like a futon that can become a couch when not in use for its other purpose as a bed. Fusion Tables hopes to change that, by combining dining and billiards into one table. Yep, a pool table that changes into an elegant dining table, and back again, in just a few seconds.

It might not be quite as smart as the Ex Libris Bookshelf Table, but we bet it's more fun. Hit the jump to see more pics of it converting, and in classy dining mode. ::Fusion Tables via ::Freshome

See also ::BuyGreen: Dining Tables

Design & Architecture

No, it's not invasion of the pod people, despite appearances otherwise. Like the amazing Casulo, which hides an entire room's worth of furniture in a single box, this bulbous concept is actually a table and four chairs. When not in use, the chairs obscure the table, making it not only a brilliant space saver (and using less space is greener than using more) but just dang cool.

Designed by Marta Antoszkiewicz, who also brought us the IKEA-esque "Kitchenette" dining table with a similar space-efficient design, dreamed this playful concept up for kids, though it'd make a fun conversation piece and interesting dining experience just about anywhere. Hit the jump to see how it's possible to get four chairs and a table from this big red bulb. ::Marta Antoszkiewicz via ::The Design Blog

Recent Comment by ilpo : "Too bad it was designed as a child's play table rather than one for adults. Yes the top..." [read]

Design & Architecture

New parents will tell you that the rate at which their youngsters grow is both a blessing and a curse: great that there aren't more diapers to change (unless they've gone diaper-free); not so great that they outgrow all their stuff, faster than flipping the desk calendar, it seems. Designers Frank & Stanimira Rafaschieri have a solution for the latter: design that grows with your child.

We've seen this kind of thing before, with the Stokke Tripp Trapp chair and Nest high chair; the "Evolutionary Chair and Low Table" adds the extra bonus of a chair to the mix. The pieces stack to create any number of seating needs, including four chair heights and two tables, providing a place for kids aged 6 months to 5 or 6 years to put their feet up. The one-two punch of versatile growth and multi-tasking make this a pretty sleek, ultra-useful design. About the only thing it can't do is change all those diapers. Hit the jump to see all the possible iterations of the slick setup. ::Frank & Stanimira Rafaschieri via ::Yanko Design