Design 21: Social Design Network

Conflux Festival is happening this Thursday Sept 13 - Sunday Sept 16 in Brooklyn, NYC.

"Conflux is the annual New York festival for contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological and social practice. At Conflux, visual and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers and the public gather for four days to explore their urban environment."

I'm presenting my MFA thesis project, Maintenant, on Thurs Sept 13 & Sat Sept 15 @ 11 AM - 12.30 PM @ Luna Lounge 361 Metropolitan Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211

Conflux Maintenant

I found an interesting post this month from Eve Simon, on Beaconfire Wire, that questions how designers can use their powers to create a better future. Something beautiful about the way Eve questions the designer's power, in context of social challenges:

QUOTE:

Creating social change through design has been at the core of our society since before the first quill dared to put the notion of freedom on paper. Designers have always been a little ahead of the curve in leaving the world a better place then when we found it. We have conceived of entire cities from dust, made history from a single perfect image, changed the face & fabric of society through our work, and brought people together in one voice - all through the power of the visual.

So, ...I pose this question: In a world where there is no shortage of social challenges to tackle, how can designers continue to use our power for good in order to form a more perfect union? - Eve Simon (2007).

With the forthcoming EcoLabs event; The Greening of Design and Illustration, the latest Eco-Labs paper, Should Change be Radical?, by founder Jody Boehnert exemplifies the voice and thoughts that will be seen at the event.

Using three significant projects as examples the paper evaluates; the Open Architecture Network, Massive Change, and Transition Towns, describing how new such "design models characterized by systems thinking and the democratisation of design have the capacity for radical change."

EcoLabs founder Jody Boehnert will be delivering this paper at the Sustainable Innovation 07 Conference. A great read.

"Sometimes I wonder... is my work beautiful because I'm beautiful... or am I beautiful because my work is beautiful... it is probably a little of both"

designerslashmodel

I have just come across London based PR agency Camron, and looking through their client list came across a future UK concept: ECO.

ECO, opening in Chiswick this November, is a new retail concept. Set up by Italian-born Nicola Giuggioli, his sister Livia Giuggioli, her husband, actor Colin Firth, and financier Ivo Coulson, and designed by architect Guy Stansfield, ECO will bring together a carefully selected range of household products, appliances and building solutions that will combine technology with good design – from ideas to improve insulation and lessen energy-use to eco-friendly furniture, paints and wallpapers. - Camron.

As a designer one tool I often use is Autodesk / Autocad. I design House & Site plans that insure the retaining of sediment. Aquatic life in Georgia is rapidly decreasing due to the amount of construction that is going on in the south. This is due to the lack of sediment control on a property when building. The toxins find their way into the creeks and rivers which then wind their way into the larger lakes, thus killing the fish. The process of studying the topography on a piece of land, then taking the appropriate steps to keep chemicals and building materials from washing off of the construction site is a major part of what I do day in and day out. Retaining walls, and sediment fencing, placed in the correct places, keep most of these harmful substances on the property where they can be properly disposed of (usually).

Another interesting part of my work is calculating the square footage of all the impervious areas on a site (roof, driveway and any concrete) that will cause rain water runoff. I then provide several ways to capture rain for recycling in these areas. The rain water is recycled into the individual homes using things like underground "flo wells". These wells store and filter the water to prepare it for general usage again. In some cases the water is filtered into a cities water recycling facility. However this is dependent upon the county that I'm working with.

To most peoples surprise, there are many counties in Metro Atlanta that require the...

I am still a student in Industrial Design, but i think it is part of our job to make this world a bit better. As artists we can educate people to think another way, we mussn't let them think such as : it would be great if, someone should ... ... We can act for education, environement, ... . By some small acts, the point is that we must think about it every second in the creative process, and keep in mind it is possible.

Good morning to you... Its beautiful outside, its about 54 celsius outside. Perfect day to go the beach? I dont know if I will, people have been coming home pretty red, but that doesn't stop them. I called an escort line, you know, one of those phone service where they have a pretty girl holding a phone say things like "call me for a good time". I asked her if she looks like the girl in the picture, she said no.. and started crying, I asked her if she wanted to talk about it. She told me that her parents divorced and she ran away from both of them. She went on to tell me that she lived on her own, working at a 7 11. I wonder if there are any in heaven. Maybe they have Macs' in hell. Anyway, she told me that she lived in a single bedroom apartment with a dealer. He told her to not pay any attention to what ever happend in that apartment. She was 14. She told me that he never touched her inapproprietly, no one did. She was pretty at one point, she told herself that everyday in the mirror. She would stand in front of that broken mirror, and say... Irene you are pretty. She said it was her form of self confidence. After she told me that, there was an awkward silence. She thanked me, then hung up the phone. I was suprised. I felt bad for some reason.

Yesterday after work when I was driving home I saw a man. Its usually native americans standing on the highway sticking their thumbs out expecting someone to stop for them. I always want to, I feel bad for not. But my mom ...

Do I find it really disgusting that here in the first world countries we have clothing lines for our animals, when in third world countries there are human beings that have nothing to wear at all. Or the fact that we have gourmet food for our animals, when there are also human beings that have no food at all.

Think About It...

La propuesta contempla la transformación de la pesada parrilla metálica en un sombrero vegetal, un jardín elevado y colgante, bajo este elemento se ubicaran los distintos volúmenes que contendrán el programa. Estos volúmenes repiten de manera distorsionada la volumetría anterior desmaterializándose hacia la punta oriente, aquí los volúmenes se parten, reconociendo el carácter principal del edificio durante su historia… los quiebres y los desacuerdos. Se accede a los distintos programas a través de una serie de vigas lanzadas como por accidente sobre los distintos accesos, estas son verdes al igual que la parrilla que hacia el lado oriente comienza a ser disminuida. Junto a la calle Namur se encuentra un volumen destinado a oficinas, será el soporte económico de la obra cultural. Centro cultural Gabriela Mistral y cerro Santa Lucia se convierten en uno, la placa verde será la proyección de la naturaleza en nuestra alameda más allá de los límites del cerro santa.