dimondites

Last week, a friend of mine turned me on to what’s now my favorite discovery this year, a design-build studio in West Oakland called Because We Can. They are one of the most creative and forward thinking design organizations I know of. Unlike the uber polished design firms I’m used to seeing, BWC is scrappy, raw and real. From their site:

We specialize in creating a space, piece, or environment that is unique to you yet affordable, productive and environmentally friendly.

Our goal is to create truly inspiring, and creative spaces, furniture and buildings.

And the best thing: our rates are reasonable because of our small size and big technology.

So what’s Design Build?  It’s a great concept that uses a collaborative team of designers, artists, creatives, fabricators, and builders to help design, manage, fabricate, produce, execute, and hire other professionals as required to accomplish a goal.

The following are three of my favorite BWC projects…

Reclaimed Lumber Benches

I’ve been wanting a bench like this for as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved this style, but I’ve never had a place big enough. Funny how it turns out they’re the perfect design style for creating sustainable furniture.

In order to achieve the best sustainable outcome for these gorgeous benches, BWC created each bench 20ft in length, keeping the material mostly in its found state (long huge planks of reclaimed wood).

I always feel inspired when I witness the natural cycle of ‘need’ becoming ‘desire.’

Interactive LED Coffee Table

This interactive table has LED twinkling stars that are constant, but it can sensor motion that is above it and responds by changing to constant ambient light. Movement will cause a rippling light effect from the 480 super-bright white LEDs below the surface.

Really cool idea I’ve seen only in concept prior to this. 

More good stuff. The fabrication of this design uses 100% sustainable material, water-based finish and LED bulbs, which uses only 30 watts of power in full active mode.

Victorian Steam Punk Interior Design 
 

Not many people know what steam punk is all about, and most likely, they’ll reference this trend to fashion. Of course, BWC has managed to evolve the concept into a space design, up the cool factor with the Victorian twist, and execute the idea into a very fun and unique office environment.

I read on their blog they’re looking to hire someone interested in internship or part-time work.  Qualifications include ability to use tools, desire to build big things and beer drinking skills. I’m almost tempted to apply.

The State announced plans to eradicate a potential moth problem by spraying pesticide over San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay, starting as early as June, 2008.  This process will take five years to complete.

Only once has this pesticide been used in a populated environment.  600 people from Monterey and Santa Cruz have filed complaints of allergic reactions during and immediately after exposure in September-December. [SFgate.com]

The spraying is a preventative measure to avoid a potential agricultural disaster, not an actual extermination of an existing problem. I actually agree with this strategy.  

Invasion of the Brown Apple Moth can be so devastating, it has been described to be like cancer - it can silently invade, spread, metastasize, then kill. By the time you realize you have a problem, it’s either too late or close to it. If left ignored, the problem can result in damages in the range of $133 million.

California, especially the Bay Area, is at high risk because these darn things like to dwell in oak, willow, walnut, poplar, cottonwood alder and pine trees. Guess what? The first moth was discovered in Alameda County. Nice.

The trees are not the main concern, by the way.  The larvae will eat anything. Name it, they’ll devour it. Do these larvae favorites sound familiar to you? Alder, alfalfa, apple, apricot, avocado, beans, caneberries (blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, raspberry), cabbage, camellia, chrysanthemum, citrus, clover, cole crops, eucalyptus, grape, jasmine, kiwifruit, peach, pear, persimmon, plantain, pumpkin, strawberry, tomato, rose and zea mays (corn). [UC Davis Department of Entomology]

Because I agree with the strategy does not mean I agree with the action. Preventing this moth infestation is the right thing to do. However, the lack of research to validate the pesticide’s effect on human is a real concern. Seriously, we’ve managed to walk on the moon (years and years ago), but we can’t manage to study a pesticide’s health risk before we spray it on people? Lots and lots of people? It’s a bit ridiculous.

A bit off topic, but I can’t help mentioning. Guess why they’re having real trouble identifying these moths? Apparently many of our entomologists have retired or died, and there is a lack of trained experts to replace them. Now, that is just sad. 

Does the thought of a forced pesticide shower bother you? Well, you can voice your opinion by signing a petition to ‘stop fumigation of citizens without their consent’ at the Care2 Petition Site.

Vdumpsters.com offers free product exchange service, where you can locally post or shop for free used goods. Their purpose is to promote re-use, which extends the life of a product, and therefore, delays its inevitable journey to a landfill somewhere.  They recently launched in January, 2008, and has accumulated 2,000 registered users to date.

If this sounds familiar, you are probably thinking of FreeCycle.org, the originator of free give-n-get service.  They’re grassroots and completely nonprofit. They have a very impressive user base at around 4.5 million users globally. Click here to go to Oakland’s FreeCycle group page.

The Roots Ring was inspired by the designer’s grandmother and how family roots run deep.  From the Beautiful Things collection at Oakland-based Akiba, the hand-crafted ring is available for $160.

_{via Oakland Unwrapped}

My friend Aaron was over the other night and kept bugging me about “Hey, you have to look at my friend Stephanie’s site. She makes great sustainable dog houses.” Being a product person, I get this a lot. So, naturally, I was invisibly rolling my eyes as I walked to the computer to check out her site, SustainablePet.com.

Awesome stuff. I love the hard architectural elements of the structures integrated with the soft beauty of the plants. Not just a pretty doggie diggs, Oakland designer Stephanie Rubin thought this out quite well. She designed the units to smell good, grow plants, attract butterflies, filter water, insulate, and repel fleas. All naturally.

However, at $6,000 (that’s for the extra large, and I have two so make that $12,000), I’m not sure I would let my dogs near one.


This one would be superb as a Valentines Day gift, if you have tons of money, of course. How great is the heart opening placed on a corner?

This yellow house is a fun architectural structure combined with soft, organic shapes of plants. It is more like a sculpture than a dog house. Simply great.