![](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2012/06/dezeen_one-year-ago-52.jpg)
One year ago...
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This time last year we featured projects constructed from all kinds of unusual materials, including a car made of cartilage that generates its own fuel from algae, pencils created from workshop dust and a table made from polystyrene steamed inside fabric moulds.
![1.3 Chair by Ki Hyun Kim 1.3 Chair by Ki Hyun Kim](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/07/dezeen_1-3-chair-by-Ki-Hyun-Kim_01.jpg)
Balsa wood was the material graduate Ki Hyun Kim used to construct a dining chair that weighs just 1.3 kilograms and concrete proved popular as usual in our stories about some very heavy vases and a house that resembles a half-submerged submarine.
![House in Ropponmatsu by Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates House in Ropponmatsu by Kazunori Fujimoto Architect & Associates](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/07/dezeen_House-in-Ropponmatsu-by-Kazunori-Fujimoto_15.jpg)
Meanwhile, toilets became a talking point after we featured some tree-mounted urinals at a music festival, leading us to count down our top ten stories about loos.
![NSEPS by Silo NSEPS by Silo](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2011/07/dezeen_NSEPS-by-Silo_13.jpg)
See all our stories from July 2011 »
See our review of last year »