Speaking of eco-design… the ever-outspoken Philippe Starck (who proclaimed, recently, that “design is dead“) has just released details of his latest project: a household-scaled wind turbine dubbed “Democratic Ecology.” The personal wind turbine is designed to fit neatly into the lives of eco-driven aesthetes, and will be available for a relatively reasonable €400 (about $630 USD). The turbine was designed to be almost invisible, and is apparently capable of producing 20-60% of a home’s energy needs (though we’re not sure exactly how that estimate was calculated).

The turbine was designed in collaboration with PRAMAC, a company that develops and manufactures a wide range of power generation equipment, materials handling equipment, and photovoltaic components. It is set to go on sale in Europe this fall, and will be one of the first personal-scaled wind generators on the market.

Details aside—it’s exciting to see how the once high-minded worlds of art and design are increasingly coming into play in the very tactical global business landscape. It’s also interesting to see Starck work on such an exciting project after his recent remarks on how badly he felt, as a designer, for bringing unnecessary material goods into the world. Design, it seems, is enjoying a bit of a renaissance in that it’s often an integral part of innovative solutions. We talked about Sam’s Club’s redesigned milk jugs yesterday, and now we’re seeing the reinvention of yet another product.

What’s next? What will you reinvent?

via gizmodo.