Earlier in the week we looked at unconventional seating design and the use of light as themes at Maison et Objet 2013, now we take a step closer to the design process and look back on a few material innovations we saw at this year’s fair. From wall gardens…
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Alors que nous parlions récemment de son excellent projet Air Drive, voici une autre série du photographe Renaud Marion. Appelée simplement « Les manèges désenchantés », cette série de clichés nous dévoile l’univers de la fête-foraine vidée de son essence, les visiteurs. Plus dans la suite.
Over the past weekend, Core77 ventured up to Boston to check out the inaugural edition of the HarvardxDesign conference, a collaboration between the students of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The conference explored ways to use the principles of design to transform business and education and included both a speaker series and a design challenge. We hit the ground running on Friday night with a series of rapid-fire presentations from the likes of Hunter Tura, CEO of Bruce Mau Design; Paul Pugh, VP of Creative for Software Innovation at frog; and Marco Steinberg, Director of Strategic Design at the Finnish Innovation Fund.
Hunter Tura preached how imperative it is for designers and businesspeople to collaborate as early in the product development process as possible in order to create the most holistically successful results. “The Design School students need to introduce themselves to the Business School students,” said Tura, “because these people will one day control the fate of your brand.” Tura continued with describing how innovation, certainly the buzz word of the conference, has become like irony. “It’s very difficult to define, but you know it when you see it,” said Tura, while showing examples of products that have changed stagnant markets. Most importantly, though, innovation is not some stand-alone goal to achieve—”innovation is not something that exists in a vacuum”—but rather something that is dependent on the design process.
Paul Pugh talked about bucking the stereotypes in design in order to find happiness. He put up the typical design thinking process, with steps like Discover, Concept, Refine, and Deliver. “These are really marketing diagrams about how design works,” said Pugh. “At frog, we try not to stick to that.” The very rigid process of design thinking can be limiting, so teams at frog are allowed to come up with their own processes and ways of working, all in the pursuit of turning a sort of happy chaos into the best end results. Pugh described how software design projects are often regarded as trivial, especially in comparison to social innovation projects. “But look at software design as a humanitarian project,” said Pugh, flipping the modality on its head. “People sit in front of screens all day—we can make them happier and make their lives better. Always think about how products can change a person’s life.”
Lastly, Marco Steinberg stole the show with a passionate and down-to-earth talk about using design to face the world’s biggest problems. “Our challenges are on such a grand scale. Combine that with diminishing resources and now it’s about redesign, not just making the systems more efficient,” said Steinberg. He described the aging populace in Finland where the tax base is shrinking, yet the need for services is quickly increasing. This seemingly necessitates the need for service designers, yet solely using service designers as the solution “will only make the services more pleasant—we’ll just die more pleasantly,” but not solve the root of the problem. Government needs to engage all stakeholders into to administer its services better.
During the panel, Steinberg continued to inspire the audience with his stories of struggling to change the culture of government through embedded designers. “The public sector has no history [of design],” said Steinberg. “If we can figure out how to get in, then we’re not burdened by any legacy.” However, unlike the oft-repeated design thinking maxim of failing early and often, designers in government cannot be allowed to fail since there won’t be another opportunity to try again. Steinberg also offered two “sinister” strategies that he uses to effect change more rapidly: the Trojan horse—”we give you what you want, but load it with what you need”—and creep—”do small things, work at the margins, then take bigger and bigger bites.” Although we had never heard of Marco Steinberg before today, he is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Saturday started off with a somewhat status-quo yet highly enjoyable lecture on using design to shape business strategy from IDEO’s Colin Raney, who proffered Richard Buchanan’s Orders of Design as a basis for understanding business design. The Orders of Design start with graphic design, then evolve to products, to interaction design, and finally to system design, which includes businesses, government, education and other organizations. “Business is the platform for design,” said Rainey. He then described the steps for integrating the design thinking process into business strategy, which include visualizing the system, looking for areas of potential leverage, and then implementing a series of systemic changes to redefine the system.
The Vivacuum is a compact cleaner for people who are visually impaired. The appliance gets its ‘Vi’ prefix by compounding the words visualize and vacuum. The way its works is very simple, the sensors in the vacuum perceive an object and then transmit it via vibrations to the user. One can choose the suction direction by controlling the steel-wheel of the handle. The Braille steel wheel makes it easy to work the thang. An interesting idea that can be further explored for this select market!
Designer: Namsun Do
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(Vivacuum Varooomm! was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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The Blackboard Tablet is a simple reminder that we can use non-digital ways to communicate with family members and even make our famous lists. It offers good-old-fashioned fun and comes with a white bistro marker, although many colors of markers are available in craft stores. A considerate niche allows you to hang it up on the wall and its the perfect size to bring with you.
The Blackboard Tablet is made of thin stained plywood and reclaimed black arcylic. The reverse side of the wood is laser-etched with a geometric pattern. The marker fits perfectly in the cut-out at the bottom of the tablet. The dimensions are: 10 3/4” x 8 1/4”.
Designer: Jonathan Dorthe
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Timeless Designs – Explore wonderful concepts from around the world!
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(For The Non – iPad Addicts was originally posted on Yanko Design)
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All Unitasker Wednesday posts are jokes — we don’t want you to buy these items, we want you to laugh at their ridiculousness. Enjoy!
To save money on our wedding, my then-fiance-now-husband and I decided we would make chocolate suckers for our wedding favors instead of buying a hundred small doodads. Neither of us had worked with candy before, but that didn’t stop us. We headed to a local cake and candy supply store and got all the supplies the nice saleswoman said we would need. We purchased chocolate discs, two candy molds, sucker sticks, candy bags, and headed home.
Making the chocolate suckers was fun and simple. We melted the chocolate discs in the microwave in a pyrex bowl, poured the chocolate into the molds, inserted the sticks, and put the molds into the refrigerator to cool. When the suckers were hardened, we put them in candy bags, tied them with a ribbon and were done. The saleswoman told us if we didn’t have a microwave we could have used a double boiler for melting the chocolate and if we didn’t have a double boiler could just set an aluminum bowl over a pot of water on the stovetop and create one to use when melting the chocolate. But, since we had a microwave, we went the easiest route of all.
Knowing now that melting chocolate is an easy process involving only a bowl in the microwave or a (real or make-shift) double-boiler on the stovetop, I was confused when reader Claw sent me a link to the Babycakes Chocolate Dipper:
It’s a mini-crockpot that keeps melted chocolate warm. You still have to melt the chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler and then transfer the chocolate to the Chocolate Dipper to be able to use it. The one and only time I can imagine using this item is if you are having a chocolate dipping party of some kind … but even if you do have a chocolate dipping party, are you going to have so many chocolate dipping parties that you need a special device? A fondue pot could certainly be a good substitute, and if you don’t have one I’m sure someone in your neighborhood does that you could borrow for the one time that you have the chocolate dipping party. My guess is you could also just use your regular-size crockpot on a low setting to keep chocolate warm.
But, if you’re just working on your own and aren’t having a party, all you need to do is pop the chocolate back into the microwave for a few seconds if it starts to harden. If you’re using a double boiler, you just dip your item straight into the double boiler because the water keeps the chocolate warm.
This seems to me to be one of those items that could be useful once or twice, but otherwise just takes up space. And, since there are so many other ways to achieve the same results, its once or twice usefulness is even suspect.
Need help getting organized? Buy the DRM-free audiobook version of Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week today for only $8.99.
London’s Design Museum, which opened in 1981 in a former basement boilerroom of the Victoria & Albert Museum, is gearing up to move out of its current home–once a banana warehouse–into a $125 million new building, the former Commonwealth Institute, spruced up by OMA and with interiors by John Pawson. Until the big move, slated for 2015, the museum is pulling out the stops, or at least the stories, for an exhibition of memorable objects from its permanent collection.
“Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things,” which opened today, focuses on stories such as national identity (road signage, the Euro), the dominance of plastic in our lives (from 1960s furniture to recent Issey Miyake garments made from upcycled plastic bottles), and Modernism, in which visitors can marvel at the work of designers such as Marcel Breuer and…Erno Goldfinger (Ian Fleming borrowed his name for a Bond villain because of a personal vendetta, according to the museum). Among the objects singled out for special treatment are the Anglepoise lamp and Jasper Morrison‘s Handlebar Table, which is among the latest additions to the museum’s 3,000-object-collection. Another recent acquisition? An AK-47, soon to be followed by a Russian cosmonaut spacesuit. Until you can make it to London (the show will be on view until 2015), visit vicariously via the Design Museum Collection App, free on iTunes.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Afin d’illustrer et d’introduire ses différentes séries de photographies prises durant ses voyages, le designer Gokhun Guneyhan compose des typographies de toute beauté qu’il appose sur chacun de ses clichés. Retrouvez une sélection de ces montages dans plusieurs villes en Europe dans la suite de l’article.
Brazilian firm Studio Arthur Casas has clothed a family house in São Paulo in a shimmering layer of perforated golden metal.
“The client is a stylist and stimulated us with the task of coming up with different possibilities to “dress” the house,” explained Studio Arthur Casas.
Tasked with renovating the three-storey Casa K, the architects decided to leave existing exterior walls and windows in place but overlaid the entire facade with golden panels that are hinged in certain places to act as shutters.
“We used a golden color to give a warmer feeling to the metal panels,” architect Beto Cabariti told Dezeen. “It blends better with the context and with the other materials of the house, such as the wood and stone.”
Tiny dotted perforations puncture each panel and create a repeat pattern of a leaf’s capillaries.
More references to nature crop up inside the house, where a wall of plants lines the edge of a staircase. “As the context is dense and there isn’t much nature around, it was a way of creating nature inside the house,” said Cabariti.
Living rooms occupy the ground floor and open out to a patio and pool of water at the back.
Bedrooms are located on the top floor, while a home cinema and a garage are in the basement.
Other Brazilian houses completed recently include a concrete house by Studio MK27 and a house with a mysterious orange door by Isay Weinfeld. See more architecture in Brazil.
Photography is by Fernando Guerra.
Here’s some more information from Studio Arthur Casas:
Casa K
This house was designed for a young couple with children in São Paulo. The clients already had a built structure; the challenge for the studio was to make a large reform to bring comfort and privacy in a dense urban context.
Above: basement plan – click above for larger image
The division of the space we proposed is quite simple: garage, service area and home theater in the basement, kitchen, dining and living room on the ground floor, bedrooms on the first floor. Even though we changed part of the structure, most of the openings were maintained, which brought up the idea of covering the whole surface of the house to bring unity.
Above: ground floor plan – click above for larger image
The client is a stylist and stimulated us with the task of coming up with different possibilities to “dress” the house, we chose perforated metal panels, with a pattern based in the photograph of a leaf. In this way the proximity of the neighbours became less oppressive and the spaces create an interesting relation with the variations of the sun.
Above: first floor plan – click above for larger image
On one hand the panels filter the light and the regards; on the other we created a patio to bring light to the basement and a slit above the stairs to illuminate the vertical garden. The master bedroom has a generous opening towards the backyard, where the landscape creates a small oasis within the city. A water basin intensifies the sensation of openness in the garden.
Above: long section – click above for larger image
Sliding doors allow different modulations between the dining room, corridor and pantry, bringing flexibility to the house. In the living room large glass windows slide to integrate the space with the garden.
The Studio did the interior design project and as well designed some of the furniture, adapting objects from the 50’s inherited by the client.
Above: front elevation – click above for larger image
Casa K has a discrete urban insertion, appearing as a monolith, but it contains largely diversified spaces, with rich relations between intimate and public functions, always having in mind the serenity demanded by the clients.
Architects: Studio Arthur Casas – Arthur Casas, Regiane Khristian e Beto Cabariti.
Contractor: Alle Engenharia
Consultants: Clamon (Façade Pannels); Edatec (Structural Engineering); Marvelar(Millwork); Snaldi (window Frames); Gil Fialho (landscape).
Project date: 2009
Project completion: 2012
Total area: 566sqm
The post Casa K in São Paulo
by Studio Arthur Casas appeared first on Dezeen.
Core77 Design Awards 2012 Student Notable for Educational Initiatives Retail: Retell. Recycle. Rethink.
In the world of design, the portfolio is paramount, often more central than one’s credentials or awards. As a designer myself, I’m more concerned with the work someone has done and is capable of. Some designers I know have found great success without a master’s degree, and others with master’s degrees still struggle. The reverse is true as well, of course.
I recently stumbled on a blog post from Annie Murphy Paul asking if apprenticeships might be an alternative to college. Here’s what Robert Lerman, a professor at American University, had to say:
An apprenticeship is a structured program of work-based learning and classroom-based instruction that leads to certification in an occupation, and it involves a high level of skill demands and it covers many occupations, depending on the country. In our country, we focus more on the skilled trades in construction and in manufacturing, but it can work in many other fields.
Could that include design? With rising tuition rates, the idea of going to college can be daunting. Some professions, like medicine and law, require strong credentials. But others, like design, are more about the portfolio. Are there other ways to develop that portfolio?
The tech world might reveal some examples. A recent New York Times piece looked at one young man, Benjamin Goering, who joined a company without a college degree:
So in the spring of 2010, Mr. Goering took the same leap as Mr. Zuckerberg: he dropped out of college and moved to San Francisco to make his mark. He got a job as a software engineer at a social-software company, Livefyre, run by a college dropout, where the chief technology officer at the time and a lead engineer were also dropouts. None were sheepish about their lack of a diploma. Rather, they were proud of their real-life lessons on the job.
But not everyone is able to just take the leap. We all need training, especially when it comes to the complex ins and outs of design. Should we be seeing more apprenticeships? Should design studios consider offering them? I can imagine they’d be distinct from internships; the connotation of an apprenticeship suggests learning on the job, and not just serving coffee between college classes.
Lerman might agree. Here’s what he said in the above-mentioned blog post: “Shouldn’t we have space for people who like to learn by doing, who like to combine classroom activity with real employability at the workplace and skill development at the workplace? I think we need both.”
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
