&made: Climatised Objects
&made, the London-based design team whose self-promotional free taxi service caught our attention at Milan's design fair back in April, also apparently charmed one of their passengers, Libby Sellers, a curator at London's Design Museum. Playing a prominent part in the Design Museum's current Design Mart show (through 7 January 2007), their new work, entitled "Climatised Objects," are inspired by global warming's dramatic effect on our weather systems that provoke life-threatening situations like earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis. Objects like a vase that doubles as a flashlight when it falls, picture frames that light up when dislodged and the Either Oar table that transforms into a raft (oars included!), address "the fact that in a crisis people generally improvise with whatever is to hand, no matter how ill-suited the object or material may be." More images here.
