Design 21: Social Design Network

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After the Fall

No Downtime (or downturn) for Design

The current economic crisis, combined with environmental issues poses threats as well as challenges for designers. . Tied to the question is is the issue of consumption. Faced with new realities and knowledge of the consequences of ignorance call for us to redefine or reinstate the role of design. Design as a response to necessity vs luxury, or both, prompts us to look at use-patterns in a much wider context than what the 20th century consumerism did. There is a paradigm shift..... We as a consumer society have understood how to share our resources and exploit them selfishly. Time has come to also share our risks; design must play a significant and responsible role for the collective good.

On the other hand, recession should not mean regression.... progressive ideas come from the need to be frugal and inventive at the same time; to do more with less, is the challenge 21st century designers must embrace.

cc: CarbonCities

ID: After the Fall

Pratt Institute Faculty and Students Plan Net-Zero Carbon District in Brooklyn

At Pratt Institute School of Architecture, Planning and Urban Design, Professors Viren Brahmbhatt and Meta Brunzema are co-teaching this semester an interdisciplinary graduate Urban Design Studio, a course that proposes to explore design and planning strategies for net-zero carbon development. On December 15, 2008, the students presented their work and research to a wide-ranging jury comprised of professionals, academics and city officials as well as community representatives; Daniela Morell of Metropolis was in attendance. Below is the link to the review of this project on Metropolis Blog.

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Logo for a dance studio, help me with your comments!

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The Armadillo facemask and vest has been nominated for the Brit Insurance Product Award 2009. You can vote for it to win the Blog Vote, by voting at www.designsoftheyear.com in the categorgy Product. The de-mining equipment project was initiated by Design without Borders and carried out by Kode Design.

The next generation protection equipment targets the working conditions of manual deminers. The redesigned vest and visor reduce loss of lives and casualties in mine affected populations through faster and more effective clearing of landmines.

Landmines affects people in 80 countries around the world. The only way to make mine infected areas habitable again is to remove the mines. Manual mine clearance is a cheap and flexible method for mine removal. Ensuring and supporting security and efficiency in the operation are vital tasks for the equipment that the people working in the mine fields use.

The redesigned equipment increases efficiency in mine clearance operations as the work situation for the deminers is greatly improved. The equipment is competetive on prize, and is already ordered by several private and NPA demining teams. The project has won several national and international design awards. The equipment is marketed by ROFI under the brand name Armadillo.

More information: www.norskform.no/mines

Forum for the Future is running a (free) event at the Design Council next week following a project with IDEO and the Local Government Association called i-team.

Three dynamic local authorities pioneered the i-team scheme. The event will unveil their innovative ideas for the first time and look at how design can be used to tackle the big sustainability challenges in the publuic sector.

Leading figures in this field such as Sue Siddall, Head of IDEO London and John Thackara, sustainable design & innovation expert will also be holding sessions on the day, giving you the opportunity to question traditional approaches to climate change, generate new ideas and build a network of new contacts.

Find out how: - Kirklees will incentivise new parents to reduce their energy use by saving themselves money - Suffolk created a simple yet elegant scheme to significantly reduce their business mileage. - St Helens local authority will encourage 12-14 year olds to take the lead on climate change with a cutting edge viral marketing campaign

Register to attend online. For more information contact Fiona Bennie

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