ART/TECHNOLOGY: Perception of an Object Designed to link the digital with the physical world, Memory Stücks are our favorite hybrid of art, history, and technology. Each creation is made up of a USB stick embedded in an object like a table, chair, or rock. They are memory sticks and artwork at the same time, meant to explore and record the sensations that encompass an inanimate object's experiences. We've all heard the expression "if these walls could talk"; design team Beta Tank takes it one step further by giving inanimate objects a "voice".

Beta Tank says, 'The USB sticks are functional and they have data pre-stored on them. Our take is an artistic/poetic/critical one because we create this data and put it on the sticks... but by doing this we are also preempting a near future where tangible objects and products of our world will be tagged with digital information. You can connect each of our Memory Stuecks to a computer and access their memory data from your computer.' Beta Tank is based out of Berlin and London, and has had their work exhibited in, among other places, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

INTERACTIVE: Dancing a tango with technology 'Tango Bueonos Aires and filetado' is an interactive installation in which noise generated by the viewing public influences sounds of tango music and the streets of Buenos Aires. By playing louder, faster and more vibrant tango music the more the viewer moves, it actually motivates the viewer to dance with it. 'Tango Bueonos Aires and filetado'  also brings the noise to life with a sensory screen. At this year's international DMY Design Festival in Berlin, lucky guests had the opportunity to try the screen out. The Performance Installation plays at varying speed and volume depending on what the audience does. Eduardo Fuhlman and Monica Pujol of FBG Innovation Lab wanted to embody the spatial relationships of the city on the screen, and to show the correlation between humans and the noises of urban life.

DESIGN: friendswithyou in your pocket FriendsWithYou iPhone Skins are the cutest way to keep your iPhone safe and unique. Not only are they they adorable, they also protect your phone. We are always digging the work of the Miami-based duo, who specialize in designing toys, which explains why their iPhone skins are so playful. With a signature Mr. Phantom covering your iPhone, you'll be ready to haunt the streets night and day with a friend in your pocket. The FriendsWithYou editions are among the highlights at Infectious iPhone Skins, which have proven themselves immensely popular among iPhone owners who are also design buffs. We at MINI Space will stick close by our FriendsWithYou.

VEGETABLE OF THE WEEK: Weedrobes Nicole Dextras is a Vancouver-based artist paving the path towards eco friendly clothing with designs consisting of vines, rose-buds and thorns. Her weedrobes are created to symbolize the simultaneous harmony and disruption between human bodies and the environment. Many artists create their art hoping to immortalize a particular space and moment, but Nicole Dextras does just the opposite with her 'Ephemeral Art' collection of Weedrobes by designing evanescent gowns and robes from thorns, yucca leaves, vines and flowers which can only survive a short time. She uses plants from her own yard as well as from Vancouver's VanDusen Botanical Garden to weave together corsets, ballgowns, shoes and jackets.

A branch connected to rose buds tied to grass suddenly becomes a striking and unforgettable piece of wearable art, that not only celebrates nature, but according to Nicole Dextras, also helps to close the chasm between humans and nature that society and alienation construct. 

ARCHITECTURE: Floating Citadel Imagine living in a luxurious, state-of-the-art, glistening new apartment building complete with parking spaces and large terraces...that exists purely on water. The Dutch are in the process of designing Europe's first-ever floating apartment complex, complete with a floating road leading the way into the Citadel. Waterworld has nothing on the 'New Water' project. More than just a beautiful complex of splendor for the wealthy, the Citadel is also eco-friendly and highly energy efficient, thanks in large part to an ample supply of greenhouses designed around the complex. It will use 25% less energy than a comparably sized building on land would. It's slated for a December 2010 opening with 60 rentable apartments, each including a personal garden and a view of the lake. The Netherlands is absolutely replete with wetlands, and project developer Koen Olthius hopes the Citadel will be a step forward in the progress towards accepting and embracing the rising water level across the globe instead of fearing it. Holland itself is home to numerous floating houses and villas, but a project this colossal is quite the novelty. Follow Koen on Twitter to keep abreast of the latest news about the Citadel.

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