This is not a picture of a torture device. Instead, it is an exploded version of the Mirra chair from Herman Miller at the Autodesk gallery in San Francisco. The chair was taken apart and strung up to demonstrate its recyclability. Approximately 96 percent of the material in this thing can be recycled. The gallery, located in the One Market Building, largely exists to promote two messages: design remains an integral aspect in everyday products, and that design techniques can be exploited to reduce energy consumption and garbage.

Plus, there's the underlying message that designers are way cooler than you will ever be. Some other gems in the gallery. The engine on the right from Adept Aeromotive in South Africa can run on biofuels and weighs less than competing engines. I also liked the surfboard blanks, made from sustainable woods. The surfboard designer doesn't whittle a board out of a block of wood. Instead, the board consists of strips taken from sustainably harvested logs.