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Cute little hands designed for kids’ pudgy fingers… what a wonderful idea! [Read the rest of this entry...]

The ceilings of Tokyo houses are not always leveled, as the Mount Fuji Architects Studio has designed a new house with a spiral shaped roof for a couple in the local residential area. You’ll know why the house comes with such an interesting ceiling once you step into it: there’s a giant cylinder resembling a tree stem in the middle of the house and the structure gradually fades out into a spiral shape when going towards the ceiling. So you may still feel that you’re living in the country or more exactly in the forest, even though your house is in fact built in the city. Really fantastic. [Read the rest of this entry...]

See what happens when Nike shoes are modified into beautiful works of art…Designed by a Tokyo-based advertising company Wieden+Kennedy for Nike78 project, the shoe aquarium is truly remarkable. Just as Nike78’s slogan says, this unique shoe aquarium has “challenged the function of a pair of Nike shoes”. Yes, sport is also an important inspiration, and we all love it. [Read the rest of this entry...]

The changes that the science and technology bring to the world are, in a word, shocking. And recently, Sanyo has announced its new development in the lithium-ion battery tech: 8,320 cylindrical lithium-ion batteries have powered a Daihatsu Mira electric car 345 miles from Tokyo to Osaka on a single charge.

I bet most people will change their wishes of owning a large apartment, after seeing the compact building found in Tokyo. Called as “Reflection of Mineral”, the 44 sqm house looks just like a piece of paper art from the outside, but still features the full functionality, including a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen and a bathroom inside it. And the point I love most is the half-open garage on the ground—that’s really a clever way to make efficient use of space. So you’d like one such house, too? Contact with the Japanese architect Yasuhiro Yamashita then.

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Why is a building famous? The reason is apparently different: some are well-known because of the ingenious architects, or due to the significant locations, but there’re still some buildings that become attractive just because they’re surprisingly ’slim’! So right here are several skinny buildings we’ve collected for you guys, the building above is Haussmann building in Paris, and continue reading for more fun! [Read the rest of this entry...]

Tokyoflash is a Japanese watch manufacturer that believes “the crazier, the better”. One of their unique design—’LED Watch’ may help you catch on that slogan better. It is the world’s first Morse Code Watch, featuring three modes for telling the time: Audio speaker sounding out the time in Morse Code, regular time display and Morse Code LED display. Taking the last time display for example, the LEDs will light up for three times to indicate the exact time. For the first time, each stripe on the display stands for ‘an hour’, for the second time, they means ‘ten minutes’, and for the last time, each of the stripe indicates ‘one minute’. So the watch shown in the picture below just tells “10:58″. You think that’s complicated? Surely it is to others, but not to the owners. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Conventional fire alarms work effectively to warn people of the danger by sounding an alarm. But that means nothing to hearing-impaired people as they could hear nothing. So what could wake up hearing-impaired people in time? The unusual fire alarm designed by Kobe-based fire extinguisher company- Air Water Safety Service and the Tokyo-based Bioventure Seems looks like a practical solution. It is based on hearing impaired people’s keen sense of smell and warns them by releasing wasabi stench. The new fire alarm also works effectively, for example, one 8 in x 3 in unit could alarm people within an area of up to 50 square feet in less than three minutes. The smelly fire alarm is bit of expensive at present, each costing about $560. But a reasonable price of $225 will be possible after further improvements.

Tokyo-based architect Ryuji Nakamura designed the ‘Hechima 4′, an eye-pleasing chair, with vulcanized fiber. Created for pleasure and recreation, the ‘weak’ chair is surprisingly strong in fact, thanks to its special and complex structure.

It measures 90cm x 90cm x 75cm (W x D x H). [Read the rest of this entry...]

An hour before, you were in Paris, now you’re in Tokyo, and thirty minutes later, you’ll find your self in Helsinki or Stockholm. Sounds incredible, huh? Sure? Believe me, all those will come true only if you have these curtains. Those open spaces in the curtains constitute different shapes of buildings, presenting various cities. And when illuminated by the sun or a street light, you’ll feel like living in other cities. More pictures below. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Claiming to produce an illuminating sound-space, ‘Spica’ is a new gadget shown during the Tokyo Design Week 09. And when the music goes on, a beautiful and shocking scene will then appear. That’s really beyond my words, so let’s keep on to enjoy more pictures below. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Look, what’s this?

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Displayed at the exhibition during “Tokyo Design Week”, the multifunctional bicycle stand drew much attention for its refresh design that integrates a street stand and rest area to save more space. You can lock your bike in the stand and work on the handy table, isn’t it utilitarian?

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What makes the real wall look like a landscape? The canvas works. As an indispensible decoration to modern residence, the utilitarian engraving works is integrated with the daily supplies such as sockets, clocks perfectly and makes them parts of the paintings.

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Designed by Korean designer Joonhuyn Kim, the volum of the flat bulb is 1/3 smaller. Although it can reduce the cost of packaging and transport, its target is apparently not for that. It was showed on 100% design Tokyo. [Read the rest of this entry...]