Over-Innovation Makes U.S. Firms Suck At Sustainability

Over-Innovation Makes U.S. Firms Suck At Sustainability

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My colleague and I are from Denmark. We, along with much of the world, admire the United States? relentless pursuit of the Next Big Thing, its inherent optimism, and its go-getter attitude. Other parts of the world should learn to embrace change the way America does, be inspired by its perpetual freshness of spirit, and, most important, replicate just a fraction of the country's innovation capability. Only in America could brand innovators like Google, Nike, and Starbucks emerge.

Etnies Founder Builds A Dream House Whose Interior Is A Skate Park

Etnies Founder Builds A Dream House Whose Interior Is A Skate Park

Pierre Andre Senizergues is the owner of Sole Technology, a skateboard footwear and apparel company that produces brands such as Etnies. He's also a former world champion boarder. And now the 48-year-old entrepreneur has commissioned Francois Perrin, of the L.A.-based architecture firm Air Architecture, to build him a California home that doubles as a skate park. Did we mention that he's really, really into skateboarding?

Akiko Ikeuchi Spins A Spidery Silk Vortex That Floats In Air

Akiko Ikeuchi Spins A Spidery Silk Vortex That Floats In Air

We've been meaning to post this ever since seeing reports of Japanese artist Akiko Ikeuchi's room-sized silk vortex, Knotted Thread, in the annual "Nearest Faraway" exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo. The exhibition, which opened on February 26 and was briefly disrupted by the tsunami on March 11, highlights artists "searching after the basis and nature of life" using simple methods and materials.

Stereo Speakers Made Of Concrete Weigh 123 Pounds

Stereo Speakers Made Of Concrete Weigh 123 Pounds

Shmuel Linski recalls a childhood fascination with concrete (and its transformation from liquid to solid), but the Israeli designer didn't start experimenting with the material until a couple of years ago, when he built a concrete canoe. Since then, he's become fixated on the concept of using the raw texture of concrete in domestic products, instead of the typical plastic and wood.

Designed For Health? The Hospital As Boutique Hotel

Designed For Health? The Hospital As Boutique Hotel

As any cancer survivor will tell you, a positive diagnosis is not a death sentence. So why do so many hospitals already feel like a morgue? This was the question that Lucy and Tobie Snowdowne, the duo behind British studio Two Create, wrestled with when they were hired to imagine a new cancer ward in Birmingham, England. After conducting interviews with patients themselves, the Snowdownes diagnosed one potential cure for the common clinic: They made it look like a boutique hotel.