With the absurd amount of water bottles we seem to plough through, it's great to see designers coming up with new an innovative ways for us to re-use them. The Verso Diverso watering can is a simple, yet genius idea.

For more information go here.

Once the weather cools and autumn beckons we'll all be in need of an outdoor fire. Norwegian architects Haugen/Zohar have come up with the perfect solution for continuing our enjoyment of outdoor pursuits into the cooler months. Inspired by the Norwegian turf huts and old log construction,  mounted on a lighted and brushed concrete base. The structure is made of 80-layered circles. The circles have varied radiuses and relative centre point in relation to each other. Every circle is made out of 28 pieces of naturally impregnated core of pine that are placed with varied spaces to assure chimney effect and natural  light.

The perfect place for nighttime storytelling around the fire.

SKiN is a sculptural seating system which consists of a couch, loveseat, and chairs. It looks lightweight and compact. Its seating area is suspended and the decorative leather elements give it some interest while still being sophisticated. 

What Watt? is a memorial to and a celebration of the humble incandescent lightbulb. It’s a spherical chandelier, 1010mm in diameter made up of 1243 suspended bulbs of various shape and size, illuminated by a single low-energy light source. By 2011, all forms of incandescent light bulb will have been phased out in favour of greener alternatives. What Watt? marks the passing of a beautiful design that has remained relatively unchanged since its invention 130 years ago.

I used to own a Saab, I loved its quirky styling and its references to its aviation heritage, like the "Fasten Seatbeat' sign on the dashboard. With the Saab automotive story looking like nearing its end, it's good look back to where the story began. In 1947, the Swedish aircraft manufacturer Saab revealed a prototype that would bring their manufacturing know-how out of the skies and onto the roads of Europe.  This prototype was 1946 Saab 92001 Ursaab, a car with such unusual, aircraft-inspired styling that it appeared like nothing else on the road. The 1946 Saab 92001 Ursaab was a car built by 16 aircraft engineers — only two of them having drivers licenses — with none of them having any automotive experience.  The result, however, was a surprising success.  In secret testing, the Saab team drove this car nearly 330,000 miles on back roads in Sweden both late at night and early in the morning.  This vehicle became the inspiration for the Saab 92, which began production in the late 1940s, as well as many of the future Saab models.  The Saab 92001 was the “ursaab”, or the “Original Saab”, a car that in itself explains the company slogan “born from jets”.

From the end of the Sixties to the mid-Seventies the chemical company Bayer rented a pleasure boat during every Cologne furniture fair and had it transformed into a temporary showroom by a well-known contemporary designer. The main aim was to promote various synthetics products in connection with home furnishings. Verner Panton was commissioned no less than twice to design this exhibition, entitled 'Visiona'. The 1970 'Visona 2' exhibition showed the Fantasy Landscape which was created in this environment. The resulting room installation consisting of vibrant colours and organic forms is one of the principal highlights of Panton's work. In terms of design history this installation is regarded as one of the major spatial designs of the second half of the twentieth century. Many of the lighting, furniture wall coverings and textiles where adapted for full production releases later.

You can find some of Verner Panton's furniture locally here.

Australian designer Christel Hadiwibawa created the P1 and P2 chairs as part of his Honors research on sustainable design. Inspired by the widespread use of Bamboo as scaffolding  in Asia for it's strength, flexibility and durability. The P1 & P2 chairs are made from bamboo, concrete and plantation timber. The strength of each chair is provided through layering thin bamboo strips together to make the most of the material’s flexible properties. This process creates a backrest and seat that customises to the unique ergonomics of each body shape.

For more information on the designer go here.