Our Favorite Things: Volume 6

by Maggie Flickinger

Do Good.  Eat Good. Feel Good.  That’s the motto of Denver’s So All May Eat Cafe, which has carved out a well deserved niche as part of the burgeoning community kitchen movement.  The premise is simple: volunteer an hour in the kitchen, or drop some dough in the donation box – that’s right, with no prix fixe menu here, those who are a bit more flush drop in a few extra dollars so those who are down on their luck can still enjoy a meal out every now and again.  The simple, often local & organic menu is appealing (roasted olathe corn & poblano soup, pear & blue cheese salad), and changes daily.

With more and more states opening the door to personal wind generation, turbines specific to this application are popping up.  The Eddy GT, from Urban Green Energy, caters to the urban dwellers among us.  A vertical axis to catch shifting winds, industry leading quiet operation, and an impressive footprint to output ratio (1 kilowatt in 40 sf – 1/10th of the space required by solar pv to produce the same output) all make this a frontrunner in the field.  We also enjoy the sculptural aesthetic – it’s a joy when function inspires such form!

100% Design in London produced some fun finds, per usual.  Once again, an outstanding showing from TEN, in the form of TEN Plan.  Last year, the designers focused on sustainability & digital manufacturing, producing crisp, yet earthy designs that bridged applications of found objects & offcuts with CNC routing & Wet Jet Profiling.  For 2010, they’ve about faced and designed a series of objects to be accompanied by DIY plans & directions.  I’m swooning over Nina Tolstrup’s outdoor kitchen – although the 24 page instruction manual is admittedly a bit daunting!

Yes, I know it’s fall, but the milkweed pods are beginning to pop and this hammock is wonderfully reminiscent of their curvaceous skins.  A metal framework anchors to a wall or tree at the top, while the lower point pivots.  Add an embracing cushion, and rock away in your very own seed pod.  The Satala Hammock is from Aqua Creations, who also manufacture dramatic biomorphic fabric lighting.