TrendDown

The most interesting part of Toyota’s own Prius-killer is the interior. The exterior, not so much.

“Toyota was able to reduce the concept’s weight by 25 percent compared to the Toyota Yaris by using a a combination of high-tensile steel, aluminium and magnesium. The hybrid system is also lighter than the system used by today’s Prius. The FT-Bh is powered by a two-cylinder 1.0L Atkinson cycle engine. It achieves an average fuel consumption of 134.5 mpg on the European driving cycle with CO2 emissions of just 49g/km.”

(via Toyota FT-Bh Super Mini Hybrid Concept Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

DARPA has created a Robotic Cheetah that just broke the World Land Speed Record. No confirmation if it also transforms into a cassette tape.

“The researchers at the United States’ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are geniuses – so far they’ve invented GPS, stealth technology, and the Internet. Now they’ve made a massive step forward in robotics by developing a cheetah bot that just shattered the world speed record for legged robots!”

(via DARPA’s Robotic Cheetah Breaks World Land Speed Record | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

The World’s Largest “Eco” Super-yacht.

“Traditionally, a super-yacht is a vast, luxurious vessel whose opulence is only matched by its fuel consumption. However, more recently, the super wealthy have been making an attempt to show their “eco” credentials by purchasing greener and more efficient ships. Now Sauter Carbon Offset Design (SCOD) has unveiled a 42-meter vessel dubbed ‘Ocean Supremacy‘ that seeks to set the standard by which all other green super-yachts will now be measured.”

(via Ocean Supremacy: The Largest and Greenest Super-yacht in the World | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

“Mountain Band-Aid is a plan for a sustainable city designed to help mitigate mining damage in southern China while providing a place for local inhabitants to repopulate the countryside. From a distance, the vertical village looks like a graft of humanity onto the countryside – it reclaims the industrial scars created by past generations so that future generations can return to a lifestyle integrated with their surroundings. The project was recently awarded second place in eVolo’s 2012 Skyscraper Competition.”

(via ‘Mountain Band-Aid’ Transforms Strip-Mined Mountainside Into a Vertical Eco Village | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

Our Sci-Fi future awaits…

“These amazing Himalaya Water Towers are designed to stem the impact of global warming by collecting and storing water, helping to regulate the use of our planet’s most precious natural resource. The towers are set up on spiraling tendrils that ensure they are able to meet the water needs of nearby villages as well as distant locales as the world’s needs evolve. Conceived by Zhi Zheng, Hongchuan Zhao, and Dongbai Song, this cluster of futuristic towers tucked high and away in the massive Asian mountain range recently took top prize in the eVolo Skyscraper Competition.”

(via Water-Storing Himalaya Towers Take First Place in 2012 eVolo Skyscraper Competition | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

This would be an amazing way to tackle the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (one of the 5 Gyres of water landfills that we have floating in the Oceans).

“The Great Pacific Garbage Patch was the inspiration for the Plastic Fish Tower, an orb-like underwater skyscraper that recently caught our eye as an honorable mention in eVolo’s 2012 skyscraper competition. The spherical structure was designed by the South Korean team of Kim Hongseop, Cho Hyunbeom, Yoom Sunhee and Yoom Hyungsoo, and it’s more than just a cool-looking futuristic building – it’s designed to suck in plastic from the massive pacific garbage patch and reprocess it, helping to slowly clear the debris which currently spans a whopping 8.1% of the sea.”

(via Spherical Underwater Fish Tower Skyscraper Recycles Debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

“VERDMX is an independent civic initiative working on a project called BREATHE / GREEN ROUTE which proposes bringing 7 sculptures with vertical gardens to locations throughout the country. The project hopes to transform public spaces in Mexico City, combining innovation, art, civic culture, urban planning, CSR and social interaction with the natural production of oxygen.”

(via VERDMX Wants to Build Beautiful Vertical Gardens Throughout Mexico | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

Well, if you can get a cupcake on the street, you’re going to need some milk.

“Dairy farmer Michel Cantaloube is the brains behind the venture, which provides unpasteurized milk 24 hours a day. Customers can step up to the machine and buy just the right amount they need of raw milk (which is legal to sell in France) fresh from one of the farm’s 50 Holstein cows.”

(via French Vending Machine Dispenses Fresh Local Milk 24 Hours a Day | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

“Located in the small village of Jukkasjärvi in northern Sweden 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, ICEHOTEL may be the epitomy of ephemeral and temporal architecture. The world’s first and largest hotel built out of snow and ice is an inhabitable work of art that takes on a new form each year. The existence of the ICEHOTEL is entirely reliant upon the climate and Torne River, from which the 4000 tonnes of ice are harvested each year between March and April. The architecture is a form of exhibition as well. Each year artists are handpicked to design and build the Art Suites within the ICEHOTEL. The whole process invoved about 100 people and is constructed between November and December.”

(via ICEHOTEL / Art & Design Group | ArchDaily)

Alberto Villarreal and the rest of the team at AGENT has created paper skateboards out of recycled books. 

“Brothers Mauricio and Sebastian Lara from EOS México received hundreds of extra books when they were working on a new commemorative volume, so they invited 11 designers to find a cool new purpose for them … Villarreal explains that they experimented with the 6-10 books they received for a while before finally deciding to turn the colorful pages into fully-functioning paper skateboards.”

(via AGENT Recycles Accidental Books Into Polished Paper Skateboards | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

Sounds like the LEGO space race is ON.

“In January, two teenagers from Toronto sent a LEGO man into space via a weather balloon, but now a Romanian LEGO and space enthusiast has done the same thing — but with a model of a space shuttle!”

(via LEGO Space Shuttle Boldly Goes Where No Toy Has Gone Before | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building)

Looks like 2Pac pulled a Hatsune Miku at Coachella last week.

It looked creepy, cool, and unbelievably lifelike (all at the same time). If you don’t mind a crazy amount of F & N bombs, you can watch the full thing here.

(via Tupac Hologram Wasn’t a Hologram)