Transportation Alternatives is running a contest for the redesign of the 9th Street and 4th Avenue intersection of Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.
There is a cash prize for the winner and first two runner-ups. The registration deadline is July 31st. Any and everybody is encouraged to enter.
Enjoy!
Submitted by design news on Sat, 2008-03-15 07:01.
ROXY is a dome for your home!
Italian designer and architect Giulio Neri is producing a simple spherical lamp based on the plywood domes construction method. The lamp can be purchased as a kit for self assembly or ready made. It can be recycled and uses low consumption bulbs.
This piece of furniture shows how simple geodesic structures can be. It's intention is to bring geodesic structures at home, to delight us with their beauty, in useful furniture elements.
I hope that anyone interested in the Platonic solids will visit my website:
www.PlatonicSolids.info
I am a long-time follower of Fuller. I saw him speak in New York in the early eighties. Some of you may remember the educational product I created. It was a tensegrity model construction kit called FANTASTIX. They used to sell it in the BFI store among other places. I recently finished a computer-animated video about the Platonic solids. It is called Platonic Solid Rock. You can find it on YouTube. I created an informational website to go with the video. It has lots of great downloadable graphics like the spinning shapes in this posting. There are also lots of other educational and fun resources on the site. Check back from time to time for updates. I will soon be publishing a ninety-page book on the Platonic solids with beautiful color graphics. I hope you enjoy it!
The numbers seem nutty. There are 6.5 billion people on this planet, 90% of whom can't afford basic products and services. Half of them, nearly three billion people, don't have regular access to food, shelter or clean water. Yet, whenever we think, or talk, about design, it's invariably about something that's intended to be sold to one of the privileged minority—the richest 10%.
The $1 million chaise longue. The fast car. The sleek computer. The beautiful book. The super-legible typeface. The toothbrush, power drill or MP3 player that's ingenious enough to be priced a little higher than its competitors. Museums, books, magazines, and blogs are stuffed with such things. Tens of thousands of designers devote their working lives to producing more.
It's not that there's anything wrong with designing things like that. But when you look at the bigger picture, doesn't it seem strange that so much time, energy and resources should be consumed by creating luxuries for relatively few people, when so many essentials are needed urgently by so many more? Why are designers so focused on designing for the wealthiest 10%?
"That question always reminds me of the quote attributed to the bank robber, Willie Sutton, when someone asked him why he robbed banks," said Paul Polak, president of International Development Enterprises, a non-profit organization that encourages innovation among poor farmers in developing countries. "His answer was: ‘Because that's where the money is.'"
Fair enough. Designers are entitled to earn a living. But if you flick back through design history, they haven't all focused on the privileged minority. Think of R. Buckminster Fuller's emergency housing, or the sustainable products devised by Victor Papanek for use in developing countries. Their work has already had tremendous impact. Fuller's geodesic domes have provided shelter for hundreds of thousands of people in desperate circumstances; and Papanek is lauded as a pioneer of socially responsible design. Yet, both have been treated as bit-part players in design history, as have other designers with similar goals.
That's changing. Designers, like so many other people, have become increasingly concerned about the plight of the needy majority, and many of them are now using their skills to address it. Some do so by devoting part of their time to voluntary work for non-profit organizations, such as Architecture for Humanity or Engineers Without Borders. Others have chosen to work full time in humanitarian or sustainable design.
The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York is exploring this phenomenon in "Design for the Other 90%," an exhibition opening Friday. It is hard to think of a more important or inspiring issue for a design museum to address right now. It is equally hard to imagine a more appropriate venue than the Cooper-Hewitt, whose home is the wisteria-clad Carnegie Mansion built on upper Fifth Avenue at the turn of the 20th century by the robber baron, Andrew Carnegie. Having made a fortune in the steel industry, Carnegie gave most of it away to endow schools and libraries. This is the first time the Cooper-Hewitt has devoted an exhibition to humanitarian design. "It's a call to action," show curator Cynthia Smith, explained. "There's a big interest among design students and design professionals in finding socially responsible design solutions to the underpinnings of poverty."
"Design for the Other 90%" analyses 30 humanitarian design projects, all addressing basic needs in the areas of shelter, health, water, education, energy and transport. As anyone who has dipped into the quagmire of development knows, it is a ferociously political field with diverse, often conflicting opinions. Humanitarian design is no exception, but the Cooper-Hewitt hopes to skate around the schisms by presenting a diverse range of approaches.
Some of the featured projects were invented by their users, others by design professionals, many were collaborations. There are emergency solutions to disasters, such as the biodegradable Global Village Shelters, which have been used as cheap temporary housing after hurricanes in Grenada and the US, and are now pitched in Andrew Carnegie's garden. There are ingenious responses to ongoing problems, such as the Lifestraw, a drinking straw that helps prevent the spread of typhoid, cholera and other waterborne diseases by making contaminated water drinkable; and the Ceramic Water Filter, developed by IDE in Cambodia and now manufactured there.
Many humanitarian designers focus on helping the needy enhance their earning potential by setting up new businesses, or running existing ones more efficiently. The Bamboo Treadle Pump enables poor farmers in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and India to pump up groundwater during the dry season.
The Big Boda Load-Carrying Bicycle provides cheap transport in Kenya and Uganda to carry hundreds of pounds of cargo or two passengers using pedal-power. And thanks to the KickStart MoneyMaker Block Press, eight workers can produce up to 800 building blocks a day from soil and a small quantity of cement.
"I was stunned by how simple, simple solutions could have a direct impact on people's lives," said Cynthia Smith.
"This is an incredible project that has the potential to transform the lives of the people in greatest need," said Yves Béhar, the San Francisco-based product designer who has developed the hardware for the XO1. "How could any designer turn down the chance to be part of it?" » Panel discussion link
Submitted by Christine Young on Sat, 2007-04-21 17:41.
I'm a new member and would like to get some feedback on my review of the 1994 documentary, Ecological Design, Inventing The Future. I have been an admirer of Buckminster Fuller ever since I read his book, Grunch of Giants. I would like to become more involved with BFI on a humanitarian level and for future writing projects. The review can be found at the following address: http://home.comcast.net/~flickhead/Bucky.html
The Centre for Design promotes environmental sustainability through a directed program of research, consulting, professional development and knowledge sharing.
The Centre is recognised internationally as a leader in the development of design methods and tools that support sustainable product design. Our programs focus on sustainability and eco-efficiency as a source of innovation and responsible business development.
The Centre has access to extensive national and international networks including research centres, companies and institutions that enable the development of best practice products, buildings, services and policies.. This also keeps us informed of current policies and regulations, and the latest trends in sustainable design and innovation across all major sectors.
The Centre for Design has a strong multidisciplinary research team and access to specialist expertise and resources from within RMIT University. Collaborative projects are undertaken with industry, government and community stakeholders to develop pragmatic solutions.
The Centre for Design is based in the Faculty of the Constructed Environment at RMIT's city campus in Melbourne. RMIT is one of Australia's largest and most respected technical and design universities.
This document is some of the early work Buckminster Fuller sponsored and constitutes a method for creating reliable data for building geodesic models. However, the mathematical foundations on which this document is based is not evolved as that which exists today. This document represents very good documentation of the computer program used to create the geometry data for many of the domes built throught the 1970s. This document is not a simple or elegant treatment of building domes but a scientific divulgence of the math applied to creating the data necessary for designing domes.
Miquel Calvo, from www.mobile-living.com has put together a short video about the Mobile Living exhibition that took place during 2006.
Organized and presented by Exhibitions International and International Design Network Foundation and curated by David Shearer and Miguel Calvo, this event took place in the spectacular 18,000-square-foot Skylight Studios Gallery, Soho, NYC. Mobile Living exhibited the unparalleled advancements in our society that have enabled our modern nomadic lifestyle. Mixing art, design and technology, this will be a groundbreaking presentation, running concurrently with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF), May 21-23, 2006. Mobile homes, mobile phones, mobile computing, travel, and transportation were all topics addressed in the show. Special educational components including a film series and special exhibition components were presented. A conference featured speakers who addressed both the current and future aspects of nomadic living.
A group of designers in Minneapolis has created an online training program for sustainable design.In particular, classes are offered in Innovation (starts Jan. 30th), Mapping with GIS (starts Jan 30th) and Systems Thinking (summer session). The innovation and systems classes use Bucky's design principles along with biomimicry. » Click here to find out more
Submitted by Joshua Arnow on Wed, 2005-11-16 17:37.
C 36 molecule
Physicists Charles Piskoti and Alex Zettl, along with chemist Jeff Yarger, of the University of California, Berkeley, reported in June 25.1998 issue of Nature that they isolated a smaller fullerene sphere that contains just 36 carbon atoms.
Submitted by Joshua Arnow on Wed, 2005-11-16 17:24.
We believe that the development of a sustainable future is the greatest and most inspiring design challenge of our time.
O2nordic aims to influence and inspire industry to look at sustainability as a business opportunity, and authorities to formulate a clear and attractive sustainability vision.
O2nordic connects people in Sweden as well as between the nordic countries as a permanent meeting place and a place for action.
O2nordic is part of the international O2 network.
O2nordic - The Concept House
The Concept House is NCCs way of showing that a zero energy conference building which is self sufficent concerning electricity, cooling and heating is possible to build.
Economical Aspects
The choice of builing a conference building has to do with the possibility of financing the house through the conference business. The cost of builing the house is about 75 mskr compared to 26 mskr for a conventional building due to the advanced energy systems.
Social Aspects
A conference building let's many experience the house. The house is also designed to allow interaction with the surrounding nature.
Ecological Aspects
Zero energy consumption means much lower environmental impacts compared to a conventional building.
Motion Mower by Axel Borg
The task was to enhance the excercise aspect of hand mowing by connecting it with the excercise bike. It was made in cooperation with Stiga GGP.
Economical Aspects
No fuel consumption means lower costs.
Social Aspects
The mower is silent and fun and connects well being with a useful purpose.
Ecological Aspects
No engine and no exhaust as well as making manual mowing more attractive is positive.
Kerstin Sylwan's lamp utilize the energy of the sun by both fibre optics as well as a new type of solar cells. It functions in different ways at different times of day by giving room both for socializing and privacy.
Economical aspects
In this project energy and cost conservation go hand in hand.
Social aspects
The design is playful and modular to give the user many possibilities in making hers or his own expression. As the lamp is a system consisting of several small lamps it leaves the user to decide how to use his or hers lamp. It is not, however, possible to avoid being part of the group as the small lamps will run out of energy when used on their own.
Ecological aspects
As this lamp is lit with sunshine and runs on the energy it can charge from it, it unavoidably raises awareness of how much energy we use. All the small lamps are also very easy to disassemble, making it possible to reuse the materials once the life of the lamp itself is over.
Submitted by Joshua Arnow on Wed, 2005-11-16 17:17.
The Product-Life Institute in Geneva is an independent institute which lives exclusively from contract research (studies, in-house seminars, teaching workshops and conference contributions), i.e. from selling our knowledge and time. The researchers of the institute work together or independently in their function as consultants to industrial companies, government authorities and universities. For many studies, we form project teams with other researchers and institutions. Our main focus is to develop innovative strategies and policies to foster the move towards a more sustainable society, for both industry and government.
Submitted by Joshua Arnow on Wed, 2005-11-16 17:14.
COSMIC FISHING: An Account of writing Synergetics with Buckminster Fuller. by E.J. Applewhite. Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., New York, c1977 hardback.
E.J. Applewhite on Synergetics
In his efforts to clarify the meaning and importance of synergetics , E.J. Applewhite Jr. stands second to none — except, of course, Bucky himself. What Ed says on synergetics is source material, and his contribution to the subject cannot be overstated.
Submitted by Joshua Arnow on Wed, 2005-11-16 17:07.
Color sketch of the Jitterbug Transformation (1948)
"The difference between synergetics and conventional mathematics is that it is derived from experience and is always considerate of experience, whereas conventional mathematics is based upon "axioms" that were imaginatively conceived and inconsiderate of information progressively harvested through microscope, telescopes, and electronic probings into the non-sensorially tunable ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum."
—RBF to EJA, Somerset Club, Boston, 22 April 1971 From the Synergetics Dictionary
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