Hasta La Ideas

We’re saddened to report that last week a Yale student was killed when her hair became caught in the lathe she was working on. Michele Dufault was an astronomy and physics major due to graduate in just a few weeks, and she was working on a project late at night in a school machine shop when the horrific accident occurred.

As industrial design students we’re often around dangerous machinery. The realities of scheduling might find us pulling all-nighters–and then working with blowtorches or tablesaws, and the lack of sleep can make us forget basic safety like tying one’s hair back. We hope machinery-using students will learn from Dufault’s terrible accident and double-check their safety procedures prior to using machinery.

Our sincerest condolences go out to Dufault’s family.

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Since we’ve been talking about what it means to build adaptive capacity in these current times, we were pleased to connect with two designers who found themselves applying some of these skills when faced with the reality of an unexpected natural disaster.

Tobias Ottahal and Hamza Vora, two graduates of Emily Carr University of Art + Design, went to Karachi to expand their horizons, put their degrees to the test and teach third year design students in the Visual Studies department at Karachi University about human-centered design. What they did not expect, however was that this opportunity would take place during the Pakistan floods of 2010.

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The latest corporation & design school team-up comes from Electrolux and Milan’s Domus Academy, who together produced the ReSource project to rethink the kitchen environment. “This was a true collaboration, not just teaching,” says Bruno Lizotte, Design Manager at Electrolux. “The impressive response shows a dynamic way of looking at appliance design, offering novel solutions for the kitchen environment.”

The resultant nine concepts rethink how we clean, store, cook, freshen and recycle.

The ReSource concepts include sustainable thinking and cultural reference points – both of which are increasingly important issues for product design as our planet’s resources disappear and our changing habits and lifestyles are fed by multi-cultural influences in our quest for novelty.

Check ’em out:

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The Fashion Institute of Technology has chosen two commencement speakers this year—because the college, part of the State University of New York, will be holding two separate commencement ceremonies. “We believe that by structuring commencement in this way, we will be able to put a more personal focus on the students themselves,” said FIT president Joyce F. Brown in a statement released yesterday. On the morning of Tuesday, May 24, students from the School of Art and Design and the School of Graduate Studies will hear from Aerin Lauder, senior vice president and creative director for Estée Lauder. (According to the New York Post, Lauder is preparing to launch her own “fashion and lifestyle brand that will include accessories, housewares, china, and jewelry.”) That afternoon, Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh will address students from FIT’s Jay and Patty Baker School of Business and Technology and the School of Liberal Arts. Both ceremonies will take place at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Center, but you can catch the speeches, pomp, and circumstance online: FIT will be livestreaming the events here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Last Monday, our Brazilian friend Claudia offered to drive us to the airport…until she realized that Monday was her “car-free day.” Cars in São Paulo have to stay off the road one day a week, a regulation that was introduced to reduce the city’s heavy traffic. Even the city’s own mayor uses a helicopter in order to be on time for his meetings. Of course it’s a pity that we lost our ride to the airport but somehow we appreciated the sustainable sound of this solution to reduce heavy traffic in a city where traffic is a monster. That is, until our friend explained that this “sustainable idea” resulted in most people buying two cars allowing them to (again) drive all week long. It’s not easy being green.”
–Observations on São Paulo, on our way to Argentina

Two designers, six months and a dozen countries.

São Paulo’s traffic rule is just one the everyday discoveries for the It’s Not Easy Being Green project, an initiative by two designers exploring sustainability in materials and design around the world.

A year ago, Aart van Bezooyen and Paula Raché decided to embark on a unique project focusing on sustainability in materials and design. Instead of the usual desk research we started planning a creative journey around the world. After a lot of thinking and pinpointing countries to visit, it was time to get an around-the-world ticket and to start writing friends and colleagues for local contacts and country information.

Today, It’s Not Easy Being Green is an official event for the Hamburg European Green Capital 2011 program that started March 1st 2011. Over the course of 184 days, Aart and Paula are offering inspiring lectures and materials workshops to explore the practice of sustainability by meeting, discussing and working with local creative youth and professionals. “In previous workshops we experienced that many designers find it hard to put sustainability into practice,” explains Paula. Aart adds: “We planned this six month ‘out of office’ [tour] to document existing examples and hear people’s experiences from a firsthand account.”

Instead of offering quick answers, this project is more about raising questions and creating awareness with the help of great people, places and things along the way. During the journey we’ll conduct explorative research focused on sustainability. For instance, at the Delft University of Technology we focused on local (natural) materials. At University of the Arts Bremen we focused on bioplastics. We will also explore the status quo of sustainable packaging design and design management education overseas.

First Impressions From Curitiba, Brazil. March 5-17, 2011

On March 4th, we traveled from Rio de Janeiro to Curitiba by bus. What should have been a 12-hour bus trip turned into an 18-hour experience due to heavy traffic surrounding the Carnaval holidays. During Carnaval, thousands of people travel in two directions: while one half travels to Rio de Janeiro to party at the biggest street festival in the world, the other half escapes to the coast to relax—it seems we were caught somewhere in the middle.

Curitiba’s Skyscrapers vs. Parks

Curitiba is the 8th largest city in Brazil and often recognized as the most sustainable city in Brazil. Before our journey we read articles about the city’s recycling programs and world-famous bus system that allows almost everyone to get anywhere with public transport. The city also has many parks and forests to enjoy on foot or bicycle. In other words, the city serves as an example of green urban planning.

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