brastilo

Brazil's healthful plants

I am always looking for new health foods.  After surviving countless diets, including the pungently aromatic Cabbage Soup Diet, I have my doubts about good tasting healthy foods.  As it is, I spent 30 minutes trying to determine whether to eat a salad for dinner or pasta (in case you're interested, I decided on a ginormous bag of pretzels and some low fat/disgusting chocolate cookies). 

Leave it to Brazil, bastion of the g-string bikini, to bring us healthy plants that actually taste good.  I guess it's important when you're wearing next to nothing on a public beach.

Acai (pronounced asa'i) was trendy last year but we believe some things transcend trends.  Acai is generally considered to be one of the most antioxidant laden plants around and it's native to Central and South America.  It's is a purple drupe, that looks similar to a grape.  According to Switch2Organics.com,

"Not only is the açaí berry an antioxidant, but taken in the organic form unique amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins and proteins are present in these berries. The açaí berry is rapidly becoming recognized as one of the most nutritious and powerful foods in the world, and is nature’s perfect energy fruit." 

It's only a matter of time before we hear people proclaiming the glory of Acai to help them stay up late and study.

image via Switch2Organics

In 2007, several companies began to use acai in various drinks.  Check out Bossa Nova and O.N.E. Amazon Acai for some examples.  But, most interestingly, acai is often eaten as a fruit in Brazil, and even acts as a great flavor additive.  Wikipedia notes:

"The juice and pulp of açaí fruits (Euterpe oleracea) are frequently used in various juice blends, smoothies, sodas, and other beverages. In northern Brazil, açaí (or jussara, which is one of the fruit's common folk names) is traditionally served in gourds called "cuias" with tapioca and, depending on the local preference, can be consumed either salty or sweet (sugar, rapadura and honey are known to be used in the mix). Açaí has become popular in southern Brazil where it is consumed cold as acai na tigela ("açaí in the bowl"), mostly mixed with granola - a fad where açai is considered as an energizer. Açaí is also widely consumed in Brazil as an ice cream flavor or juice."

Acai flavored ice cream?  I thought this was supposed to be healthy.  But there are so many uses for this plant, it's only a matter of time before we start seeing acai na tigela in NYC cafes.

 

And it should be noted that because Brastilo uses its own sustainable forests we are helping to protect the rainforest where acai and other rare fruits and berries are found.  We like to do our part wherever we can!

Stay tuned for even more posts on other Brazilian foods that can help you stay healthier...so we can all look good in our g-string bikinis!

This healthful announcement brought to you by your friends at Brastilo. 

Superuse, the superhero of eco-design

Bored by staid design?  Tired of wasting useful resources on stupid things?  Have more trash than you know what to do with?  Superuse to the rescue (cue superhero music)!  It's described as an "online community of designers, architects and everybody else who is interested in inventive ways of recycling."  Truly amazing.  This site highlights just how important eco-friendly design has become to consumers and designers.  And some of the designs featured definitely require superhero strength. 

Quite possibly the coolest thing I've seen thus far on Superuse is a woman who recycled a defunct plane and made it her home. Look at the image - hanging amidst the trees.

via Superuse

It's truly a sight to behold and a great way to make use of something that would otherwise make a ton of waste.  And, to top it off, it cost a lot less than a typical house!

Superuse also links to a site called Airport Journals which has a whole article about planes that have been recycled into homes.  It's funny, it seems so bizarre.  But with the Dreamliner in the air and AirForce One decked out with beds and a press corps, is it that hard to imagine retrofitting a plane for your home?  I can totally picture the interior of my old Pan Am - mod wallpaper, the Brastilo Swivel Arm Chair, and, my absolute favorite piece, the Brastilo Bench with Moveable Tray.  Of course, there would have to be a disco ball and a lava lamp too. 

But seriously, all hippie/disco fantasies aside, we are obsessed with inventive ways of recycling.  And we love finding new inspiration for our designs, our philosophies, and our own personal lives.  We already sell 2 pieces that are made from recycled goods - the Blue Paper Bowl made of recycled newspapers and the Banana Leaf Hanging Leap made out of banana leaves.  But the possibilities, as Superuse has proven, are endless - and we love the challenge.

So go forth and inventively recycle!

Via VSL

The Architectural Digest Round-Up

This past weekend Brastilo was on location at the Architectural Digest Home Show in NYC.  Our booth rocked (don’t you love the mock Portuguese mosaic?), and we had tons of visitors. 

And, true to the beauty of a show like this, we heard some wonderful feedback about being able to touch our pieces and see them in real life.  People really liked the Blue Paper Bowl, and they were impressed by the details of the 2-Door Pine and White Lacquer Cabinet, including the wood veneered wheels.

 

The show was attended by people who are in the furniture trade, architects, interior designers and, of course, consumers. It’s always great for us to interact with our consumer and we really appreciate everyone who visited our booth.  We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you!

So what else was on view?  Quite a bit actually, and it ran the gamut from contemporary to old-fashioned.  One trend I noticed was repurposing wood for flooring.  There were a number of booths that seemed to focus on the use of reclaimed wood, and we’re in full support of the many environmentally friendly ways to source wood.  Despite the plethora of flooring booths, one in particular stood out.  The Mountain Lumber Company specializes in antique flooring sourced from old mills.  Founded in 1974 in Virginia, Mountain Lumber scours the depths of the world to find the best wood that can be re-used for commercial and residential purposes.  The best example?  They’ve reclaimed wood from handcrafted vats once used in the Guinness factory in Ireland.  That’s right, folks – all you Guinness drinkers can now have Guinness on your floor, and not from simply spilling it.  The wood is gorgeous.  Grainy, grey, with a healthy layer of patina to boot.  I fell in love with this idea and I hope you do too.

One of the weirdest things I saw at the show was the EcoSmart Fire.  The fireplace is very contemporary looking and is “fuelled by a renewable modern energy (Denatured Alcohol), [that] burns clean and is virtually maintenance free”. It also doesn’t require a flue and is therefore able to be placed anywhere in your home.  The versatility of this fireplace really is something and, as a city girl, that’s definitely appealing.  I have to admit though, while I love the idea of an eco-friendly fireplace, there’s something romantic about a brick fireplace with wood a-crackling.  You snuggled up under a blanket with your big bushy dog and a hot cup of cocoa.  Sigh.  But, seeing as I can’t build a fireplace in my 60 year old building in my one apartment on the 4th floor, the EcoSmart might have to suffice.

Finally, one of the most amazing organizations I found at the show is Green Demolitions.  In short, the program allows you, the consumer, to donate any of your old architectural elements – be that a full kitchen, a generator, an HVAC system, or simply some antique furniture.  The organization will come in and remove everything, if you so desire, at a discount.  Then, they bring everything to one of their 3 stores in the Northeast and sell everything back into the community.  And then, and this is the part that amazes me the most, 89% of all profits made in the stores are donated to Recovery Unlimited “whose mission is the sustaining and expansion of the All Addicts Anonymous program.”  89%.  Astounding!  So, in short, the organization does great things for the environment by preventing you from trashing your wonderful kitchen cabinets that you simply decided to change because those orange lacquer things are so last season.  And then, to top that off, it donates almost all of the profits it makes from reselling those orange lacquer cabinets to help people in need.  I don’t know about you, but I suddenly feel great about my fellow man. 

That’s the round-up everyone.  Hope you enjoyed it and we can’t wait to see you all at our next show...ICFF, perhaps?

The Brazilian Catwalk

At Brastilo, we are always looking at other industries for inspiration.  Whether that be the new Virgin America plane interiors (which are spectacular, from what I hear), or the NASA’s noble attempt to create a book of the night sky that makes it visible to the blind, we like to look at these other areas to see the possibilities that are out there for great design – design that solves problems or makes people’s lives better/easier/different/more beautiful.  This is precisely why we love monitoring Sao Paolo Fashion Week, in which, we’re proud to say, our Blue Paper Bowl was once featured. 

Fairly new to the couture scene, these shows celebrate Brazilian design, which is becoming ever-more popular in the fashion market.  The perennial favorite, Alexander Herchcovitch, maintained his reputation for creating beautiful, wearable pieces – but this time he did so for Zoomp as well as for his signature line.  Personally, I love his dresses.  They’re just conceptual enough to play with standard forms, but also totally accessible – like something you might wear to a friend’s fancy dinner party. 

Alexander Herchcovitch


Zoomp

Another designer, Ellus, did amazing things with scarves, stuffing old toys to create these 3-dimensional looking neck art objects.  I love it when designers get just a little bit crazy!  I also love Ellus’ jacket made of medals.  It reminds me of a sociological theory on which I once had to write a paper about how medals carry signals of stature that the rest of society knows to read as “important” or “impressive”.   Wow - I almost made fashion boring, just then.

   

Thanks to the revival of punk, seen at Osklen, we don’t have to worry about fashion being boring!  This buckle dress is fantastic and truly innovative!

And then, revisiting Brastilo’s theme of recycling and being good to the environment, Cavalera recycled fabrics instead of merely creating couture gowns.  As Cool Hunting so gracefully points out, the site of the shoot on the Tiete River “raised conscience about the pollution and trash that we collectively produce.”  For a first-hand account of the show, and to see just how relevant it actually was, read Diane’s post.

 

These are only a taste of what’s coming out of Brazil’s fashion houses.  As Vogue points, Sao Paolo Fashion Week is wacky, fun, and conceptually bizarre.  But, it’s put the city on the fashion map and shows just how spectacular and creative Brazilian design really is.