DIY

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Design

Sprout Oak and Avocado Trees on Your Windowsill with Ilex Studio’s Specially Designed Glass Vases

Ilex Studio’s avocado and acorn vases give new trees a head start while adding some greenery to your interior space. Riffing on the age-old technique of using crossed toothpicks or grilling skewers to balance sprouting plants over water, the uniquely shaped glass vessels are comprised of a large, flat-bottomed bulb topped with a smaller open-topped “cup”. The top holds the seed while keeping it dry, and the neck and water-filled base below allow roots to expand. Once the young tree has sufficiently sprouted and is ready to be planted in soil, the Ilex vase can help another one take root. The vases are available on Ilex’s website. (via Design Milk)

Craft Design

Geometric Animals Come to Life in DIY Lamp Kits by OWL

OWL, a Lisbon-based lamp brand founded by two architects in 2016, offers a wide range of friendly wild animals that can be turned into volumetric lamps using simple folding techniques. As you might guess, OWL offers a few different owl designs, as well as roaring hippos, curious rabbits, and proud penguins. Hugo Formiga and Teresa Almeida, the designers behind OWL, explain to Colossal that their “most recent designs have focused on large, endangered mammals. The selection tends to raise awareness about wildlife and simultaneously recreates the animals in a playful and abstract manner. The designs seem to trigger stories about themselves and are conceived as fun lighting objects with a hint of personality.”  You can find their range of DIY kits on Etsy. (via Colossal Submissions)

Art Design Photography

A Floating Photographic Lab by Claudius Schulze and Maciej Markowicz

Last year collaborative artists Claudius Schulze and Maciej Markowicz launched the aptly named project [2BOATS] — a duo of water-bound vessels that the pair steered from Hamburg to Amsterdam’s Unseen Photo Fair and Paris Photo over the course of several months. Both boats serve as traveling studios for the artists, however with vastly different functions. Schulze’s handmade houseboat (with outdoor disco ball and hammock) doubles as a hub for creative workshops and discussions, while Markowicz’s studio is also a fully functioning camera obscura.

Schulze and Markowicz plan to end their journey at the Hamburg Triennale of Photography, which opens on June 7th, 2018. You can keep up with Schulze’s explorations on Instagram at @claudiusschulze, Markowicz’s large-scale camera obscura at @obscurabus, and read about previous events visited by the two photographically-centered boats on the [2BOATS] blog.

Design Science

Papier Machine: A Book of Six Interactive Electronic Paper Toys

We’ve seen a wide gamut of paper project books lately, from shadows and cameras to planetariums and architectural models. Joining the DIY library today is Papier Machine, a collection of six interactive electronic paper toys all gathered together within the pages of a book developed by a trio of French designers. The various experiments are silkscreen printed on perforated paper and activated by button cell batteries, conductive silver ink, metal marbles, and other electronic components.

The six included gadgets include a piano “tuned” by hand-drawn graphite zones, a gyroscope, a marble track that plays sounds, a wind sensor, a centrifugal force track, and a tilt switch. Earlier versions of Papier Machine won Audi Talent and Red Dot Design awards, leading way to extra research and development in this final book which just launched on Kickstarter. (via It’s Nice That)

Design

DIY Paper Beetle Sculpture Kits by Assembli

Designer Joop Bource of Netherlands-based Assembli just released this colorful trio of DIY beetle models. The flat-pack model kits are available in three different beetle species including stag, hercules, and atlas, each in a number of different metallic colors. (via Lustik)

Update: Assembli beetle kits are now available in the Colossal Shop.

Food

DIY Edible Glass Cats: A Translucent Feline Water Cake that Melts Away in Minutes

In 2014, a dessert shop in Hokoto, Japan called the Kinseiken Seika Company exploded in popularity when the internet discovered their crystalline mizu Shingen mochi, a completely translucent edible cake that looks like a huge water droplet. The sweet gelatinous rice cake comprised mostly of mineral water and agar is so delicate it can only stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before disappearing into a lumpy puddle.

Earlier this month Twitter user @mithiruka took a modified recipe for the mizu Shingen mochi and paired it with a silicon cat mold to make this jelly-like cake that’s now being shared by cat lovers across the internet—apparently there’s quite a few of them. (via RocketNews, My Modern Met)

Design

UGEARS: Elaborate Self-Propelled DIY Mechanical Models

UGEARS are a series of 11 new mechnical models built from wooden pieces that spring to life with the help of rubber band engines, cranks, or with the assistance of gravity. Similar to balsa wood insects, the laser-cut pieces assemble like a puzzle without need for glue or adhesives. The most impressive design is an elaborate 480-piece steam locomotive that’s 12″ long and propels itself up and down a provided track with an internal engine.

UGEARS was designed by Kiev-based Ukrainian Gears and all of the models seen here are currently funding on Kickstarter for another 6 days.