Taisei Construction Corporation has designed a 13,000 ft, Star Wars-esque structure for possible development in Tokyo. The 6-square kilometer building would house anywhere from 500,000 to one million residents, follow contemporary green planning outlines, and would incorporate the means to protect its residents from the weather/air pressure conditions common to such high elevations. Of course, as one snarky Inhabitat reader points out, “Japan has a wonderful history of designing architectural vapourware,” and that much like “… all Japanese supertall proposals, this… will never be built.” That sentiment comes at somewhat of a relief, because the thought of spending 300-900 billion to build an enormous anthill sounds kind of creepy to me, but either way, the X-Seed 4000 demonstrates an interesting form of development, and certainly serves as a thought-provoking, futuristic concept of where time may take us.

In an ambitious effort to curb waste (and possibly increase their global PR image), Sony has launched a new national electronics recycling program. The Take Back Recycling Program aims to place a center within 20 miles of 95 percent of the U.S. population. Right now, they are starting off small, with just 75 (PDF Alert) Waste Management centers across the country. Consumers can drop off broken or no longer used electronics at these centers for free. Personally, I shudder at the thought of the potentially increased damage electronics and battery cells cause, if improperly disposed of, and I normally choose to just store them in my small apartment rather than put them in the dumpster. Hopefully Sony succeeds in this venture — then there will be no excuse not to do the right thing.

Via Treehugger

Seattleite Justine Ashbee should be the celebrity spokesperson for Sharpie. A 2004 RISD graduate, Justine has been creating her intricate and lively work with the never-fail pens for much of her career — one that has been propelling her out of her home state and into California, New Mexico, and New York galleries for the past several years. The best reason for this is probably the lifelike quality of her work, with each piece seeming to breathe of its own accord, forming depths more often found in painstaking oil portraiture, as opposed to the workings of a $3 pen. Justine’s work, aside from its beauty, also enthralls the viewer by means of its organic quality. Each piece starts as simple curve, and continues to grow through an organic flow, unencumbered by the marks or traces that frequently guide other artists from start to finish. Sharpies, as we all know, are very permanent pens, so the fact that Justine works through this method just about floors me. No word on any upcoming gallery openings, but if any of our Seattle readers have seen her work in person, please drop us a line and tell us about it!

The guys behind the ever-enigmatic Los Angeles-based jeans brand Crate Denim are getting set to show off what’s to come for their Spring/Summer ‘08 Collection, and if past seasons are any indication of their plans for next year, then you denimheads out there best be getting excited. These are the same lads who are responsible for the appointment-only boutique Secret Service in L.A. that I wrote about a few months ago and that many of you were eager-beaver to experience. If you find yourself in Las Vegas on August 26-29, you should make every effort to forge through the desert heat over to the Platinum Hotel. In typical Crate Denim fashion, they don’t tell us much besides what’s on the flyer and this buried treasure-esque map, so if you have other questions, email them at info[at]cratedenim.com, and maybe they’ll get back to you. Fashion is a little more fun when you have to do some detective work to access it, don’t you think?

“More than meets the eye” always brought to mind a gravelly robotic voice and various forms of vehicles racing across the screen at around six on a Saturday morning, right? Not anymore. In the newest addition to the designer toy craze, promoters from the Transformers movie have teamed up with none other than Nike to create a limited edition series of Autobots and Decepticons.

Each robot in the series transforms from a specifically designed color scheme of the Nike Free 7.0. So far two of these gems have been released, complete with their own Nike styled shoe box: Megatron, in shades of black and Optimus Prime, in red, white, and blue. The latest is Marine Convoy, in blue and grey. He is slated for a September release as a limited edition, so grab one early if and when you see it. I know Transformers never looked this good when I was a kid!

While most of us can only be satisfied with the latest advancements in digital photography, there seems to be those who like to keep one foot tucked safely in the past. A few companies have recognized a need to meld the familiarity of the old with modern technology. Zink’s integrated digital camera and printer should immediately conjure up images of a Polaroid camera — you can take a picture, and have a hard copy almost instantly — however, that’s where the similarities end. The camera is 7 megapixels, with a respectable 3x optical zoom; a 2” color display helps you frame and review shots and a SD card means portability and easy expandability. The downsides are the proprietary paper and non-removable battery. Zink is a contraction for Zero Ink, if you were curious; instead of ink, the printer uses temperature and pressure on polymer paper. It’s slated for shipping in late 2007, but we’ll be on the lookout for a preview and get back to you with the verdict.