Green fingers with a blue and red view

Going green is nothing new. From domestic appliances, fashion, food and transport, the emphasis on sustainability and eco-friendly, has never been more relevant and certainly shows no sign of lessening its grip on our behaviour as we march into 2011.

The construction industry is no exception and looks set to be going green, blue and red with designs being made for residential housing to include water conservation orientated fixtures and on- site solar energy generators as predicted by Jerry Yudelson. How these new features will be incorporated into the design of future residential buildings remains to be seen, but it will certainly be exciting to see what ideas the architects come up with to make these new houses consumer friendly. For a brief summary of Yudelson's key trends to watch out for in 2011 take a look at  Jetson Green's site or for more in depth detail about what Yudelson describes as a 'revolution'  click here to be taken directly to his personal website.

Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel

Combining careful restoration and computer led parametric design, the Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel looks set to open its doors to the public this November. Led by the design team at rare architecture the aluminium skinned extension to this historic building may polarise opinions but its use of digital is, at the very least, intriguing.

The patterning in this aluminium skin varies according to what is situated behind it; opaque when covering bare walls and perforated where let needs to be let in. This pioneering use of computer modelling has led the project to be used as a teaching case study at the AA, whilst the digitally crafted wall panels within the buildings interior formed part of the furniture range showcased by rare at the London Design Festival.

For a further insight into this innovative building visit Blueprint Magazine.

The Poets way of Reading

The unveiling of Erik De Nijs' 'The Poets' at the Dutch Design Week recently held in Eindhoven is most certainly a novel idea indeed. De Njis has designed foldable reading chairs that can be neatly stashed away and doubled up as additional lighting, an end to all our 'spare' chairs storage  concerns over the festive period.

De Nijs himself has stated that 'The Poets Emerged from the idea of really taking time to read your children a bedtime story. A foldable chair with the perfect reading light.no matter the environment. done reading? just store it against the wall,and you’ll have some extra light. W. Blake is the green chair with the light on the right side, just like the right handed poet William Blake. The white chair is called J.W. Goethe with the light on the left side, just like the left handed poet.'

With the plummeting temperatures here in London however, it may be that we need to use our own poetic licence and design some under seat heating. Perhaps the next creation?

Read more at Design Milk: http://design-milk.com/the-poets/#ixzz18elPvcUV

Evolution Means Exhibition opens in New York

Evolution Means exhibition is located in Brooklyn and features work by Chandler Ahrens and John Carpenter. It opened during the ACADIA 2010 LIFE conference that was hosted by The Cooper Union. It is billed as examining concepts, tools and technologies that implement responsive and generative aspects of information in the design process.

Read more on ArchDaily
© Chandler Ahrens, John Carpenter

British Council launches new design blog

The British Council has launched a new blog - Back or the Envelope to celebrate design, achitecture and fashion.

They say, 'Back of the Envelope is a chance for us to share the development of our international projects and to profile exciting work here in the UK. Everyone in our team contributes and you’ll also see content from our collaborators – architects and designers from around the world.'

Worth a look as some interesting design work and up and coming events - backoftheenvelope

PR Account Manager Position Available

We are looking for an experienced PR Account Manager for a hands-on role which will involve media relations and events support in the UK and Europe. This position is initially for six-months but will be reviewed.  Knowledge of working within the b2b sector and preferably the built environment is preferred.  Would you appreciate an opportunity to work with a team that likes to achieve great results? Please email your CV and a brief covering letter to Samantha Dawe, Director, at samanthad@thinktank.org.uk.

B2B Marketing Awards video takes no prisoners!

B2B Marketing magazine has posted a video of the awards held last week. Very entertaining and some of the filming was quite late in the evening with guaranteed results.

A great evening was had by all, as demonstrated by the video, especially as The Think Tank received the award for Best Product Launch.

Take a look and enjoy!

Centre piece of Russia's Silicon Valley

Blueprint says 'Identified flying objects: the school’s hovering disc and glass-fronted towers espouse ‘openess, cohesion and lack of hierarchy’, unlike the student body. One of its rooftop towers, a patterned glass finger, may point towards the city centre but Moscow School of Management sits incongruously on a 26.5ha green site encircled by forest.'

Apparently this building is the trailblazer in President Dmitry Medvedev’s Skolkovo project to emulate the USA’s Silicon Valley. It was designed by David Adjaye and funded by $320m of public finance and private investment. Various Russian corporate giants and oligarchs are paying to import scientific talent and technical specialists to study in Moscow and Ukranian oligrach Viktor Vekselberg, Skolkovo’s project leader, envisages further investment of around $6.5bn over the next three years to realise this ‘prototype of the city of the future’.

Read more on Blueprint

Foster + Partners unveils Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi

Foster + Partners has recently unveiled designs for the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi. It is presented as a monument and memorial to the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding president of the UAE. The aim is to architecturally create a contemporary form with elements of traditional Arabic design and hospitality that creates a museum that is sustainable, welcoming and culturally of its place. Read more on ArchDaily

The Think Tank wins Best Launch Campaign at B2B Marketing Awards 2010 for OKI Printing Solutions

At a fantastic night of mobsters and 1960's gangsters, The Think Tank secured the Best Product Launch Award at the B2B Marketing Awards 2010 for its EMEA launch campaign for the OKI MC860 multifunction printer.

Communicating the benefits of A3 colour printing at a price comparable to other A4 products, the campaign featured visuals demonstrating that you see the bigger picture with an A3 printer. This media neutral idea was used across the marketing material, both on and off line, and then executed by operating companies across the EMEA region to great effect.

This was one of the first campaigns that The Think Tank had developed for OKI Printing Solutions since winning the EMEA creative account in a competitive pitch.

Liam Bateman, Director at The Think Tank, commented, 'This is great news and testament to the hard work of both the OKI EMEA Marketing Team and my team at The Think Tank. Well done to all.'

The Think Tank was also shortlisted in the B2B Marketing Awards 2010 for its promotional work with AkzoNobel in the Most Commercially Successful award category.

See all the winners here

Hottest new pop-up shop to open in Brompton Road

The Temporium is set to be London's hottest new retail space. It will open next month for 10 days only on the prestigious Brompton Road from 9th to 19th December and according to Dezeen, 'the Temporium is set to excite, inspire and delight in equal measure.'

The store will bring together some of the UK’s most exciting design-led brands. From fashion and fine jewellery, to watches, ceramics, glassware, books, furniture, lighting and more, The Temporium will offer a diverse range of stylish and innovative products for the discerning shopper.

Get down to Brompton Road for some great design in December.

See more on Dezeen

Sustainable bridge designed to cross River Han, Korea

The Paik Nam June Media Bridge, named after a famous media artist, will be situated over the river Han and has been designed by Seoul-based architectural practice Planning Korea.  The bridge spans over 1080 meters and connects the Dangi-Li power plant with the national assembly building to the south. It has been designed for pedestrian use and includes a range of sustainable solutions including being clad in solar panels and each floor includes a garden with a rainwater collection system. The bridge features a museum, library, IT complex mall and docks for water taxis, yachts and cruise ships.

See more here

Make your iPhone into an interactive table

Do you get frustrated with the size of your touch screen on the iPhone. Well now you can plug it into the “Table Connect”, a table that turns its screen into a massive 58-inch multitouch surface to let you search and browse the data. Your iPhone's screen is projected onto its surface, allowing complete control over your iPhone.

Click here to see more.

The Think Tank

Cracked tiles by Refin

Refin has introduced the Terraviva tile collection which adds a great focal point to any home. Designer Massimiliamo Adami plays with ceramic with distinctive the cracks down the center and according to Refin, signifies “the passing of time and the traces it leaves on its way.” Tiles are available in a palette of colors and finishes, from light to dark, and matte to glossy.

To find out more click here

The Think Tank

Stone walls by Lithos Design

Through the use of modern technology, Lithos Design has created these textured walls that are engraved stone. Ideal for a feature wall or art piece in a commercial or domestic space.

Lithos Design describe themselves as 'a young team with great expertise in the design of stone.' They started as the R&D division of Bevilacqua  Marmi and through the use of very advanced technological machinery and highly skilled staff, Lithos Design makes innovation and design its mission

See more here.

The Think Tank

Shortest and smallest film on a stamp

The Dutch postal service has launched the world's "smallest and shortest film" on a new lenticular stamp. KesselsKramer asked director Anton Corbijn to shoot the one-second film, which features actress Carice van Houten... The result is a small lenticular stamp that contains 30 frames of film. A bit of a lengthy intro.... but would it make it through the British postal system? See more on Creative Review

Foster + Partners design seating for Cathay Pacific

Designed by Foster + Partners ,‘The Cabin’ is the latest addition to the Cathay Pacific lounge collection at Hong Kong International Airport. The new seating combines the highest quality materials in the lounge that can accommodate both First and Business Class passengers and maximises the available space for relaxation.

See more on Contemporist

The Zamet Centre in Croatia

Dragana's choice of project today - apparently her home town in Croatia - the Zamet Centre in Rijeka is a sports centre topped with a series of undulating buildings and energy-saving green roofs. Studio 3lhd designed the complex with one third of the facility located underground.
See more on Inhabitat
The Think Tank

Wilson House by Denton Corker Marshall

As an international design practice Denton Corker Marshall is known for producing striking and innovative architecture and urban design in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Solving complex design problems on every scale their work includes commissions for buildings of international significance to micro skyscraper coffee cups. This is one of their recent projects - looks great but does it remind anyone else of an ice cream wafer?
See more on 2 Modern Blog
The Think Tank

Nominated for Best PR Campaign

The Think Tank has been shortlisted in this year's Construction Marketing Awards in the Best PR Campaign category for our work with SAS International. We have worked with this leading architectural metalwork, ceiling and room comfort systems manufacturer for several years and at the start of 2010 work was extended when we were appointed as their European and Middle East PR agency in a competitive agency pitch.

The Think Tank provides a range of services to SAS International including digital communications and graphic design.