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article by Play Universal

Kids stuff, one may say, but play is the first encounter one has with the environment of the world out there. Beyond the world of one's parents lies an environment ready to be set upon, influenced to our liking. It is an expanding world that starts with the first toy, the first step, the first playmate, and the first playground, and the first playground lesson - whatever that may be.

In preparation for Play Pilipinas 2011, Play Universal held a competition to challenge designers, both professionals and students alike, to comeup with their vision foraconceptual space that will immerse children, teens, and even adults in the wonder and delights of active play. On this landmark Philippine conference on play, Play Universal will unveil the winning design:  a 100sqm indoor adventure playground.

Here's a nice treat to all architects, interior designers, industrial designers, engineers and other professional and technical persons who uses AutoCAD frequently in their line of work.  It's a free AutoCAD application you can use for free!

Yep, you heard it right, it's really free.  Those professionals who have purchased AutoCAD know that the offline product is very expensive and not all people you coordinate your drawings with have access to this costly software.  So Autodesk, the company who is responsible for spreading the use of AutoCAD in the construction world, has made a solution.  They created an online AutoCAD application which anyone can easily access using a computer and an internet connection.

Here's an innovative idea for a kitchen.  This system conceptualized by Theodore Thonga has sliding panels that hides or reveals the kitchen counter as you please.



As I know a lot of homeowners, especially old-fashioned mothers that doesn't want the kitchen to be seen from the public areas of the house because they say it's usually a mess, this system may impress them.  Although, as they are already old-fashioned, it may not impress them at all.  But who knows, when they see how this system can instantly hide the mess on their kitchen counter and create a cleaner look, maybe they'd love it and might even create an opening on the kitchen wall to the living areas.

More pictures and a video of it working after the jump...

Office table tops are bombarded with a lot of paper work, personal things, laptops and all the other stuff people like to place on top.  These things usually seem to stay there forever which really reduces the working surface of the table predominately.

Here's a neat looking office table design that promises to tidy up a messy table top that is a usual occurrence on most offices nowadays. 

Now here's another design inspired from old traditional practices frankly saying - 'who says old concepts doesn't have any more room in this modern world'. 

Designed by Mey Kahn and Boaz Kahn, this screen and cooling system is a fusion of two Arabic design and concept, permitting air to pass through while cooling the room at the same time.

The ongoing quest of using alternative energy sources for electricity has already made it through the design, architecture and engineering community.  A lot of architectural and engineering designs nowadays are integrating the use of solar panelling and wind power in to the structure.  The bridge above is one of those.  Designed by Italian designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino, this bridge promises to help power approximately 15,000 homes.

This is Karen Bit Vejles and her amazing paper cut-out art which she holds in her hands.  Psaligraphy, unknown to others like me, is the art of paper cutting.  Karen is the only one I have seen so far that can create marvelous paper cut-outs with so much intricacy and complex designs.

Often times, the simplest objects that we frequently use in our day to day lives are left behind by modernization.  Take for example the standard nail cutters or nail clippers.  Their design has hardly changed ever since their inception. 

"Why redesign so mundane?"  - This is the question that the creators of Klhip answered when they reinvented the nail clipper.

Most people that has sofas at home usually experience losing things like keys, coins, money, remote controllers and some important stuff when they leave them there.  It seems like they get sucked in inside the folds and crevices of their sofas.  Japanese designer firm Daisuke Motogi Architecture have turned this unnatural characteristic of a sofa for hiding and storing things into one of its predictable functions.