
Butterfly Homes
TYIN Tegnestue, a humanitarian design organization from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, are the planners of Soe Ker Tie, the aptly named Butterfly Homes that sit in the village of Noh Bo, on the Thai-Burmese border. The bamboo built homes, completely assembled on site with sustainability in mind, was the brainchild of architecture students who were made aware of the lack of space for Karen refugee children living in Noh Bo.
Each home provides room for six children, and was designed with a growing child’s needs in mind. Everything from the bamboo that was woven to make the homes to the roofs of the homes themselves are efficient — the roofs collect water and there are areas around the homes to collect and keep water. The houses themselves were raised on reclaimed tire foundations to avoid flood disasters. And while the organization keeps humble on their endeavor, there is hope that more Butterfly Homes will find themselves around the world.
Tagged: bamboo homes, Butterfly Homes, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Soe Ker Tie, TYIN Tegnestue
Also by KATRIANE HILL

Lycee Jean Moulin’s green roofs by Off Architecture
Paris-based design firm Off Architecture, in collaboration with Duncan Lewis Scape Architecture and Jeans Gincinto, is granting a gift for current and future students of the Lycee Jean Moulin in Revin, France. The Lycee, which will be completed sometime in 2012, is being constructed to sustainable standards, including being built with the flow of the hillside where it resides. The school’s blueprint is a single-floor construction with terraced floors moving up the hill. The roofs of each building is made to resembling the rolling landscape and is flooded with vegetation so that by air, the school nearly disappears. In what promises to be the first of many sustainable lycees in France, the bar is set extremely high.

Church converted to modern bookstore
Deep in the heart of the Dominican Republic lies an unusual bookstore, aptly named Selexyz Dominicanen. It is housed in Maastricht, in the bowels of an ancient church which was constructed in 1294. Since it’s interruption as a church (Napoleon invaded Maastricht in 1794 and forced the loyal parishioners out of the country), this beautiful church has seen use as a parish, warehouse, and most notably (and creatively), a large parking lot for bicycles. Read more

Melissa jellies for the eco-friendly
Many fashion-forward but environmentally conscious women have had to forgo the comfort and simplicity of the jellies because of the negative impact the manufacturing has on the planet. But now, with the introduction of the very rare and very comfortable clear jellies from Melissa, a shoe darling of the eco world, we can show off our style and ethics in a shoe that lets us marry comfort and style.
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The Nobody Was Thirsty project is a collaboration between Ivan Kane’s Café W as charity — water — and Australia’s own denim label, Nobody. The campaign aims to sell a signature, not-for-profit T-shirt, with all donations helping to fund the world’s water crisis. The sale of one T-shirt alone can provide two people in Africa with clean drinking water for twenty years, something the majority of us take for granted.
I saw a real wizard. His name is Twig Harper. He shoots crazy waveforms from his fingers, aided by magic-infused electronics. I am now a frog. If you see him, tell him I no longer wish to be a frog.
In my teenage years, I was a fanatical collector of Archie Comics, living my life vicariously through the mischevious misadventures of Archie, Betty, Veronica and the gang. Eventually I sold my collection to a high school friend, who bought several garbage bags worth of digests along with my prized Ozi skate deck. This vibrant artwork by Singapore-based designer Hanyi Lee takes me back to that time and I kinda wish that I’d kept the damn things, if only for a few more moments of saccharine sweet escapism within their apple pie, primary colour world.
It seems only fitting that New York’s first eco dining experience, Habana Outpost, is located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Read more
I remember the first time I saw a Mark Rothko piece at the Art Institute in Chicago. I’d only seen reproductions until that point, and I never understood why people considered the late painter so important. Read more
Quiksilver, the surfing apparel company, has just released what is being considered the world’s first eco-friendly watch. Made of sustainable ebony wood and running on automatic movement instead of batteries, this limited-edition watch is green down to the shipping of the raw materials. Every raw material used in making this watch is recyclable (the aluminum, the steel, and the mineral crystal are all 100% recyclable), and it also includes solvent free links and is shipped by sea rather than by air. The Ray has a five-year warranty, meaning that it has a longer life than normal watches.
The uber-hip French producer M83 has compiled a Secret Playlist for us in which he props Brian Eno, Julee Cruise, and Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels: ‘This song was the biggest influence for my new album. Our track, Kim and Jesse, takes a lot of inspiration from 80s bands like Tears for Fears. This is one of my favourites’. Read the rest of M83’s Secret Playlist.
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Illustrator Timothy Karpinski sews painted paper together to create his images, giving them a classic look. Read more

Karen Caldicott’s clay head models
British born, New York-based model maker Karen Caldicott has been making clay heads for all major US publications over the last decade. Read more

Alex Passapera’s dizzying pen and ink drawings are cascades of images melting into one another, often looking like contorting, mutating creatures spewing blood-like ink splatters. Read more

Yum, yum, cupcakes are fun. These creations are so clever, so arty, so damn bizarre that it would almost be a shame to eat them. Almost! Read more

With the recession still biting, it may be time to whip out the glue and the cardboard and make your next pair of cool kicks. Don’t know how they’d manage in the rain though? Read more
Wolfmother. Rock n roll. Mystical lyrics. Heavy riffs. They have a new album out, Cosmic Egg, and we have five copies to giveaway, along with their debut album. To enter, tell us your favorite Wolfmother song and the city you live in. Yo! Two fingered salute. Read more
The Plus One t shirt by New York designer Ryan Sullivan is printed by hand, one at a time, using a dye-based print and printed on cotton/poly blend tees. Size is true to fit.
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