sundance

Green tech finds (7/21/11)

A 72,000 square foot tornado-proof (and kinda’ green) mansion, a sweet electric motorcycle, and a push for a redesigned toilet… this week’s green tech finds.

• The mobile waste-to-ethanol unit: Easy Energy Systems‘ MEPS unit is a modular system for converting organic wastes to ethanol. Find out more about the system and its application in an interview with EES’ founder at Cleantechies.
  
  
• Walkability as a marketing point for real estate? Apparently so… Walkscore now boasts a presence on over 10,ooo real estate websites that “are using its neighborhood mapping and data services to market their properties.”
  
  

Norman Mailer’s “jungle gym” apartment

The New York Times has a great photo gallery of Norman Mailer’s stunning and highly personal Brooklyn Heights apartment on its website. Norman Mailer, who passed away in 2007, tackled his fear of heights (stemming from his vertigo problem) when he drastically remodeled his apartment over forty years ago “by designing a space that resembled [...]

For rent: President Obama’s old apartment

142 West 109th Street, Apt 3E seems like a typical over-priced New York City apartment that is currently available and renting for $1,900 a month. It’s a one-bedroom on the third floor of a nondescript walk-up building as seen in the Google Street View snapshot above. Its claim to fame, however, is that President Obama [...]

Last brownstone standing

When I saw this remarkable LIFE photo of a defiant brownstone apartment building, I stopped cold in my scrolling mouse tracks. The photo, which reminded me of this year’s hit Pixar film UP, should be displayed next to the word “gentrification.” Its caption read “Construction in NYC: land being cleared for 20 story building in [...]

The Clock Tower

I don’t write too much about my love of architecture and interiors here, but this slideshow The New York Times recently posted has me sitting here feeling inadequate and unsuccessful. I mean really, who would not want to live in this space? If only I’d married for money. At 25 million, the asking price is [...]

Post your rent window display

Candy Chang’s slightly voyeuristic interactive installation “I’ve Lived: Post-it Notes for Neighbors” featured fill-in-the-blank Post-It notes which covered the storefront window of Brooklyn vintage furniture shop,Yesterday’s News, and focused on one of the most obsessed topics in New York City: How much are my neighbors paying for their apartments? Locals were encouraged to participate by sharing this information and at the end of the project, she compiled the results into neat graphs and charts.

ETERNAL SUNSHINE house for sale

Although maybe not evoking quite the nostalgia as Cameron’s house from FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF, which briefly ignited the blogosphere after news of its sale, another movie house located on 59 Orient Avenue in Brooklyn, New York is on the market. Kate Winslet’s character Clementine’s apartment from ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND is currently [...]