One Madison Avenue is set to be the boisterous new address in NYC that boast of a green lung in the middle or congestion and pollution. Daniel Libeskind's Green New York Tower is a 54-story condo building that incorporates a series of ‘sky gardens’ into the structure, giving the tower a green-perspective. Apparently the green spaces would be enclosed in cylindrical glass tubes at the center of the building but have calculated cut-aways in the edifice that would open them up to the outside. These cut-aways also provide the condominiums in that part of the tower with balconies. I am sure residents of the building would appreciate the green space in the middle of the concrete jungle.

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Be it the cash crunch this Christmas or the terror attacks across the globe, we need to look at the lighter side in life as well. Giving us a break in these tense times is the Manneken Pis and Peeing Dog from the "moist and merry" series. Needless to say, the illustrations of a dog and a boy peeing on a glass are hilarious, but what would really be funny, would be someone swigging a beer or a shandy from it! I missed seeing the Manneken Pis in Brussels, but from Donkey-Products I can get my own!

For the life of me I could never have imagined this porcelain delicate object d’art to be a gadget! What’s more the little butterflies that appear on the graphic interface of the knife, signify the toasting action. The animated insects appear on the upper side of the toaster knife as you glide it across the slice of bread, browning it crisp to perfection. It comes with a handy plate that probably recharges the toaster while you finish off the first slice. For all practical purposes I propose that all timeshare holders get one of these; the appliances available in-house are horrendous…at least a crisp toast with soup will be a delight! Designer: Kim Been

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The biggest jolt one gets is from the monthly electricity bill itself. Many of us try and be careful, but somehow the bill always manages to exceed our expectations. With Christmas round the bend, I know that a matter of few days of lights and cheer has a gloomy effect on the bill budget. Avery Holleman is a designer who has worked on the Smart Switch design, which is a system that can be easily installed into an existing home and offers effective power-usage management. The system allows the user to monitor and control power usage throughout the house. The main aim of the project is to fit the design into the house without disrupting the environment. The system consists of four parts: smart power outlets that can be programmed and controlled, smart switches that can display power usage and control multiple outlets and lights, a master switch which gives detailed power usage over time and gives control over the whole system, and a remote which is used to program the system.

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Looks like Peter Kubík has designed a cell phone that fulfills every gadget-freak’s dream. From the looks of it the phone is flip one that opens up like a PDA. Once open, its screen can be extended even further to give prime display area. Now the three-screen-display takes on both landscape and portrait orientations. The opened-up surface also act’s as a playground for a screen with a QWERTY keyboard; implying that it’s a touch sensitive. This also implies that the multimedia support for this phone will be strong, and even support a live TV. Despite an extensive additional screen, the main screen of this phone is quite impressive. It takes up most of the real estate of front, and even supports Internet

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In spite of repeated requests, most of the Food Court staff is quite stingy when asked for extra spoons or forks. The other day, when my son split a fork, and the chow lady refused to replace it! I wonder what they do with all those disposed plastic cutlery, and the extra ones lying their pantry. However this I don know, that when they find their way to , they turn in to an artistic expression. Gluttony is a suspension lamp that was designed by Luna and it even found its way as a finalist in the "house party" competition by Designboom. Made from disposable cutlery it really tests the flexibility of the spoons, knives and forks.

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I don’t know how many of you support my theory that there are two elements that bring out the best in your house: one is the flooring and two- is the lighting. You may own the most exquisite antique furniture and dot the house with bizarre memorabilia, but the effect is lost if you don’t showcase the package well. Lights and floors are like the gift-wraps of a present. The perfect ribbon bow makes the gift more ornamental and so does the flooring and fittings make the house perfect. Sometimes you need more modest designs like the Rat Tail and at other times you need something quirky like this Un-zip light. Designed by Selcuk Saraloglu, the simple idea of unzipping takes on a purpose with this fixture.

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Take a break from the world of opulent lifestyle, high-tech gadgets, avant-garde technology and peek in to the eco-world of Greenlaunches –

Solar power via Space Solar is out of reach (Eco-Concept)

Shanghai Tower – The greenest and the tallest tower of China (Eco-Architecture)

DIY 10 foot axial flux wind turbine kit for eco-friendly energy (Eco-DIY-kit)

World's most solar-efficient clock from Seiko for greener times (Eco-Gadgets)

Eco-Fashion: Step in the Mohop's eco-friendly footwear to flaunt your green style (Eco-Fashion)

Uber green X-mas tree shaped out of recycled cardboard (Eco-Christmas)

Gwanggyo is a new town south of Seoul and is getting a fresh-face. The town is getting ready to become home to a new city center called the Gwanggyo Power Center. Dutch architects MVRDV, who landed the project after winning a competition to design a city center, are designing this. A part of the two centers planned for Gwanggyo, this new center will be the proud edifice of the 77,000 residents of the city. Penciled in the project are housing, office, culture, retail, leisure and education complexes. A note worthy point is that most of the structure envision boasts of a terrace and this is achieved by designing the elements as rings that placed outwards, giving enough space for terraces.

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Sting sang "Message in a bottle" and our story goes down a similar path. The only difference, there is no bottle, but the message is quite clear! Nokia Hello World is a buoy-like device that allows you to explore the world in a very different dimension. It is a waterproof beacon with a built-in wide-angle camera and GPS. It has the capability of taking pictures and sending you the images via satellite. It surges forth with the help of sea currents and is powered by solar panels to keep it going. An ambitious concept by Lysandre Follet, the device is a good way to explore the world with a different dimension.

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Nord is a domestic appliance company in Ukraine that had organized an industrial design competition recently. The results are out and they are outstanding. Since there were only two categories in the competition, we have an array of Refrigerators and Cooking range to feast on. The winner takes home a Mac Pro workstation and Cinema HD Display. The first prize went to first prize was given to Andrey Bondarenko for his Nord fridge. Second prize went to Roman Kovbasyuk and Il'ya Melekhov for the same category. In the Stove category the first place went to Oleg Stepanov; the second place went to Denis Belma and Andrey Vostrikov.

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The Spy watch isn't meant for a secret agent, but takes the optical brand Spy into an arena that they have never explored before. As designer Smith Newnam explains, "I chose Spy Optic for their stylish and well defined image. A watch seemed like a natural choice, as another form of functional, wearable fashion accessory." The timepiece features a watchband made from polyurethane and sports an OLED display just underneath the surface. For extra safety, the watch closes by a double clasp mechanism. The spy logo that you see on the watch is actually a button for navigating the settings.

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Shakespeare said that there was nothing to a name, but clearly folks at Iosa Ghini Associati beg to differ. They have named their upcoming project New York Residence, which is an extension to New York Palace Boscolo Hotel in Budapest, Hungary. That's how you get New York in Hungary! The extension comprises of 60 new rooms and a whole floor full of offices. The structure will also include a conference center that boasts of an auditorium that can seat 500 guests. About 140 families will call this block their home, as the apartments will be situated from floors first to seventh.

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With two over-zealous golfers in my family, I know how important "the swing" is. Ordinary folks will not understand the importance of teeing of accurately and will not appreciate the imaginary practice swings indulged in by the golfers, every waking moment. With a handy iPhone app and Mac Funamizu's Swing-charge-and-study, golfers will be able to review their swing-action and discover their mistakes. Mac says that you need to swing the device a couple of times to get it to charge your iPhone. The motion sensors from the device transfer your swing-data to the phone, which is then represented as an animation-stroke for you to review. The data will probably make you realize why you are not as good as Tiger Woods!

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A smile can be very infectious; it spreads rapidly to engulf whoever comes in its way. A smile can depict a thousand emotions; it can convey a silent message. The Happy Cup by Victor Barish brings a smile to our face, at a time where peace and tranquility of mankind is at stake. A time when financial worries bog us down, this cup tries to spread a little hope with its toothy grin. Signifying the joy of us being here, alive and with the will to make a difference…The Happy Cup is …simply happy!

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