Gift giving is essential for the Christmas holidays and what a better present then a Porsche for your kids, a Porsche bobsleigh that is.

From Porsche Design:

A bobsleigh designed with the Porsche philosophy quickly and nimbly cut through the snow thanks to directional stability, a low centre of gravity, ease of steering, good braking and low weight (only approx. 4 kg). Exclusively designed by the Porsche Design Studio. Can also be used as skeleton. Tested by German safety standards agency (TÜV). Made in Germany. Black carrying bag.

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Christmas is approaching and if you hate seeing the cords of your Christmas lights under the tree, then these LED ornaments might be of some help.

From Pro-idee:

Much more unusual than conventional candles and baubles: These crystal-clear glass baubles will be an attractive eye-catcher on your beautifully decorated tree. The inside displays artfully mouth-blown milk glass figurines in a wonderfully soft indirect light. There are no annoying connecting cables. Up to 150 (!) hours of light with just one battery – much longer than similar baubles (some of which don’t even achieve the stated battery life).
Quick and easy to arrange on your tree. Simply use the clip to fit the 60g (2 oz) baubles to the chosen branch. The pine-green clips are hardly noticeable between thebranches and may be moved along the suspension cord to adjust the height. Just use the supplied remote control to switch the baubles on or off simultaneously. It doesn’t matter how many baubles you use: You control all with a single remote control (12 V/A 23 battery included).

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If you’re stuck with a blank wall that you think to be a wasted space without any value to the  interior, consider the incredible tiles collections from Lithos Design.

From Lithos Design:

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Scaring away flies with water just might be the most eco friendly way to do it, if it really works.

From José de la O:

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The third edition of Sofia Architecture Week begins on October 15, 2010. ArchZine will keep you posted on the stuff that’s going on, but be sure to check it out for yourselves

From Sofia Architecture Week:

Curator of this year’s Forum is George Katov of I / O architect. The theme he chose was Being peripheral and is an attempt to look at ourselves on the background of a changing world. We’ll ask questions like “Is Bulgarian architectural scene Peripheral?”, “Do we know the dimensions of its remoteness?” And especially “Do we appreciate its benefits and do we know how to use them?”

The first two days of Sofia Architecture Week 2010 are almost entirely devoted to the Forum, divided into 4-panel lectures:

Centrally European – with lecturers from architecture studio from Katowice in Poland, Bucharest in Romania and Prague in the Czech Republic

Emerging Centers – where the lecturers are from Ljubljana in Slovenia, Talinn in Estonia, Zagreb in Croatia

Centers in the Periphery – we’ll hear lectures from Helsinki in Finland, and two different studios in Porto, Portugal

The Bulgarian Way – 3 different kind of studios will deliver lectures here – the Bulgarian Aneta Bulant-Kamenova who’s been long living and working in Austria; the young Bulgarian studio DSGN and Atanas Panov from LP Group – a Bulgarian studio that has worked on many major projects.

The selection of speakers is from countries comparable to Bulgaria in size, geographical location or historical destiny. The aim is to compare the local situation with different interpretations of the periphery, as discussed in the architectural context.

Hans Ibelings, publisher of the Dutch A10 – one of the most influential European magazines for modern architecture – will be guest of Sofia Architecture Week for the second time. He was the moderator of a panel at the first edition of the festival in 2008.  This time, Hans Ibelings will deliver the first lecture of the Forum which will consider the European architecture – in the center and at the periphery of the continent.

Sofia Architecture Week 2010 Forum will be held on 16 and 17 October in Hall St. Sofia National Assembly – the former Communist party headquarters.

Sofia Architecture Week 2010 Open House is based on the theme “Periphery is where I’m not”. It starts on Oct 15 with the opening of the whole festival. Open House features 5 exhibitions – the overview of the last “20 Years of Private Architectural Projects in Bulgaria” showing over 300 examples of what was built in the country between 1990 and 2010 – opens Oct 16, 7 pm; The exhibition will be followed by a discussion.

Many other open lectures, discussions, 2 big workshops and 2 smaller ones, presentations – Gifle or architectural slam being the most attractive where anyone can present their idea within 3 minutes and then hear feedback from the audience and critics, film shows, parties and more will fulfill the days between Oct 18 and 22, during Sofia Architecture Week 2010 Open House.

The sofiaarchitectureweek.com website will soon be updated in English with more information on the festival and its content.

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Bird in hand is a lamp tribute to the universal art of hand shadows made of eco materials.

From Plankton:

The lamp is based on, and tribute to the universal art of hand shadows; making shadows on the wall using your hands to create birds, rabbits,and other figures. Playing with light and hand shadows is a centuries old past time long before electric light was invented.  “BIRD IN HAND” plays with this concept:  All of the hands are positioned to look like a flock of birds, flying out in circles. The shadows cast on the wall looks like birds. This results in a very expressive, dynamic and striking looking lamp , with layers of humor and poetry hidden in the design.

material : ECOLOTEK (durable, fully compostable material composed of natural hemp-fibes, minerals and binder. Developed by J.P.Meulendijks)  2x E27 LED-light-bulbs
dimensions: diameter: 1000 mm. height: 450 mm.
color: white satin finish

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Small Chinese company have created this lightglobe which can keep on working for up to 3 hours during a power outage.

The rechargeable batteries integrated in the lightglobe will work for around 3 hours after switched off for whatever reason. Not only that, but this device uses only 4 watts and produces the equivalent light of a traditional 50W globe. Even more, the whole thing can be unscrewed and used as a flashlight if there is a need to. So no more wondering where to hide the flashlight and still be able to find it in the dark. The price of this simple, but great invention is expected to be around $30-$40 with a lifetime of 20,000 hours.

The lightglobe was at the Chinese section at IFA exhibition in Berlin.

Via GizMag

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At first it all seemed like a media stunt, but the Porsche 918 Spyder Hybrid will go into production after the overwhelming interest at Geneva Auto Show. See the video of the car running on its own and many more pictures after the jump.

“Production of the 918 Spyder in a limited series proves that we are taking the right approach with Porsche Intelligent Performance featuring the combination of supreme performance and efficient drivetrain concepts,” said CEO Michael Macht. “We will develop the 918 Spyder in Weissach and assemble it in Zuffenhausen. This is also a very important commitment to Germany as a manufacturing base.”

The waiting list for the car is now 2000 (Porsche were willing to take the vehicle into production with 1000) and the price tag for this gem is $630,000 – the most expensive car in the Porsche line-up… ever.

The combined maximum power of the car is 718bhp delivered by a mid-mounted high-revving 500hp (at 9,200rpm) V8 combustion engine and two electric motors which launches the hybrid to 100 km/h in just 3,2 seconds and accelerating to the maximum speed of 318km/h. All this by consuming only 3 liters per 100 kilometers and emitting just 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer.

This seven speed Porsche is actually a 4 wheel drive. While the two front wheels are driven by one electric motor, the rear wheels are powered by the engine and the other motor.

According to Porsche the monocoque bodyshell made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic (CFP) and liberal use of magnesium and aluminum not only reduce weight to below 1,490 kg, but also ensure supreme driving precision thanks to a high level of torsional stiffness.

The production of this eco-beast will total 1200, which is a little less than the Carrera GT which are only 1500 in the whole world, so if you want one, hurry up and get on the waiting list and pray that almost 800 people just move out of earth and live somewhere else.

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The problem with global warming, be it real or not, and garbage overflow in major cities has inspired Akinori Ito, from the Japanese company Blest to make this incredible machine that converts plastic wrappings, bottles, etc. into oil. The thing that is even more interesting is that the machine is not too large and from 1 kg. of plastic it produces almost 1 kg. of oil. And from oil it can be converted to gasoline, diesel, etc. and power your car with your own fuel.

From OurWorld 2.0
Via CubeMe

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If you don’t like the feel of conventional carpets, here is an idea for you – The Wooden Carpet. It is available in four varieties of wood – wentwood, mortimer, sherwood, ashdown.

From Boewer:

Wooden Carpet: a three-dimensional carpet. Made from wood. Also being something you would not expect from a carpet: a room object withdrawing itself from definition.

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