Israel-based designer Gal Ben-Arav has created the bamboo bench, a raw bamboo seating idea that not only practical but also sustainable. Bamboos are one of the fast-growing plants in the world, thus making it a sustainable materials in the furniture industry. With its durability & flexibility in shaping almost everything, the bamboo bench can be a simple DIY bench by fixing the raw bamboo sticks inside the cast aluminum legs, to form a complete bench with or without a back.

I like the idea of using raw bamboo as the time past, the bamboo will change color and you will have a truly 'wabi-sabi' piece of furniture.

Up and coming Israeli Jewelry Designer, Elina Gleizer has created an impressive range of fashion jewelry and accessories named Alter Self for her graduation project.

Alter Self is inspired by ergonomics, human curves, anatomy and guide lines. Each item is designed for specific body part and expressing it with slight exaggeration. All made from carved Walnut, traditional silversmithing, combining semi- precious stones, silver, and gold plated brass.

The project was started with a face object, inspired by the eyebrow line and the eye sockets- sunglasses with wooden geometric visor, and two round lenses. Wooden brooch inspired by the heart, dynamic brooch inspired by the rib junction, silver necklace with wooden pendant inspired by the stomach, large linen bag inspired by the hips, and bracelet and knuckle rings inspired by knuckles and joints. Each wearable was made of walnut wood which was refined further by adding metal and semi precious stones.

Portuguese-based product designer, Gonçalo Campos has come up with the idea of Geo Table. Geo is a stone top table that reminds us of where materials come from. 

In this table the stone top is left unfinished underneath. This evokes the state in witch the stone is found naturally. All too often we use materials and shape them at will never respecting their origin and in some cases never even imagining them in Nature. Stone is typically a material that when seen as an object, is very far from it's natural form, usually seen as polished planes that have no resemblance to how they are found in nature. This can be seen as a great feat of man, able to shape its surrounding at will, but also as a very cold and disrespectful use of natural materials. 

Geo table pays reference to both aspects of human behaviour towards nature, keeping one surface flat and functional, while the other is left free and wild. 

Because the bottom part of the stone slab is left raw, besides this strong and appealing concept, the table will be easier to produce, with less chemicals and fisical process involved in its production. This makes Geo a smart union between a sound concept and an efficient product.