Join us Tonight at the Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club in lovely downtown Portland, Oregon as Sam Lanahan of Flextegrity expounds on his Buckminster Fuller inspired work with structural materials composed of icosahedral arrays!
Flextegrity "Innovations in Structural Optimization. Making things stronger and lighter- why geometry matters!"
Making load bearing materials- A new look at discontinuous compression continuous tension structures. The discussion will explore the structural and symmetrical integrity of the icosahedron and what it means to constrain the twelve degrees of freedom. From there we will weave omni-axial, omni-extensible arrays into virtually any form. We will explore the unique characteristics of the resulting arrays and potential applications.
I had the great good fortune as a young man to travel with Buckminster Fuller on a trip to Southeast Asia where he was the guest of many heads of State. His influence on me is immeasurable. Afterwards I spent two years exploring the geometry of geodesics and tensegrities with Joe Clinton at Union College. I earned a MS in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon, after which I founded a company with others that pioneered Geographic Information Systems applications for mobile data collection in the electric, cable, and telephone industries. Naturally, this work dovetailed nicely with my interest in spatial topologies. In 2004 I reinvigorated 'Flextegrity' by continuing my earlier explorations into the development of a 'universal material.' I now hold two patents and a third pending in structural optimized materials based on icosahedral arrays.
Tuesday, May 15th
6PM PST
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR, 97209
Not in the greater Portland area? No problem! Join us live on our broadcast channel —the show begins at 6pm Pacific.
Posted by
core jr | 15 May 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Following last year's remarkably successful inaugural exhibition at the Terminal Building, WantedDesign is back and bigger than ever as a major satellite event to the 24th International Contemporary Furniture Fair. Core77 is pleased to partner with the event in support of their first Student Design Challenge, which, along with the Live/Work design contest and the iGet.it pop-up shop, are new for 2012.
For the student Design Challenge, WantedDesign has invited students from six schools—three stateside and three French—to participate in a three-day digital fabrication workshop:
The "Design Students Challenge" will be an engaging live workshop that allows design students, ambassadors of their schools, to express their creativity and technical ability. Over the course of three days, design students from the U.S. and France will use one material, one conceptual tool (e.g. computer software), and one fabrication tool (a laser cutting machine) to design and construct a lighting design of their own invention. At the end of three days, the designs will be presented and be judged by the public and a jury of design professionals... Participating schools are Art Center College of Design, Parsons The New School for Design, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), ENSCI les ateliers, Ecole Boulle and Ecole supérieure d'art et design Saint-Etienne.
We had the chance to chat with the creator of the design challenge, François Brument.
Core77: Can you introduce us to your personal work and your interest in exploring digital manufacturing?
A hundred years ago, the industrial revolution had totally changed the way we conceived of and fabricated objects. A century later, how should we approach the digital paradigm? My aim is to investigate how thinking, conceiving, fabricating, distributing digitally can profoundly change the design practice.
Where did the idea for the Student Design Challenge come from? Why did you choose this particular format?
The idea came to me when I was a jury during students design diplomas. A lot of them were using laser-cutting techniques, but they were using it as a way to escape from manual modelmaking—not exploring its untapped potential as a new technology. The idea, then, is to create a very short format to explore a fast and expressive use of laser-cutting and digital conception techniques.
You've run this project before in France—how do you anticipate this transatlantic iteration to be different or similar to the previous challenges?
I've always thought the digital battles as fun moments to compete and share skills and visions... but I've been really surprised how quickly design and aesthetic approaches of each school were appearing. I'm very eager to see how students will express themselves and enjoy this moment together.
continued...
Once again Core77's Hand-Eye Supply is participating in Portland, Oregon's Starlight Parade, this year defending its title of Best Illumination! As a part of this extravaganza we held an open call to find a group of "Portland's Most Inspirational Makers" who will literally be paraded through the streets on our float "The Brain Storm". After receiving 52 nominees and over 1200 votes we have our winners! Reflecting Portland, Oregon's diverse maker culture our winners this year hail from a variety of fields.
Our official Maker Overlords who will be gracing the float:
- Film Maker and Teacher Courtney Hermann
- Designer David Stoops of Blackstar Bags
- Robot Builder Amy Wiegand of Team Pandamonium
- Tinkerer and Teacher Steve Davee
We are very honored to have this team for our float and encourage all Portland readers to turn out to cheer them on at the Starlight Parade on the evening of June 2nd. The parade offers an eclectic mix of parade floats, marching bands, and people representing local businesses and organizations. It draws more than 250,000 spectators to downtown Portland and is broadcast live on KPTV (Channel 12 on your TV dial.)
We really appreciate the enthusiasm displayed by all our nominees and their posses!
Here are some pics from our announcement party, where in addition to celebrating our Maker Overlords we invited party-goers to create designs that will be compiled and illuminated in our float - "The Brain Storm"
Photo Courtesy of Lindsie Reitz // Suite
Overlords Steve Davee and Courtney Hermann with Kerri Beth Elliot
Photo Courtesy of Lindsie Reitz // Suite
continued...
Let's celebrate! Tonight in lovely Portland, Oregon Core77's retail store Hand-Eye Supply is celebrating our 2012 return to the Starlight Parade. We held an open call to find "Portland's Most Inspirational Makers" to grace our float. After receiving 52 nominees and over 1200 votes we have our winners!
Hand-Eye Supply cordially invites you to a celebration of "Portland's Most Inspirational Makers"! We'll announce our winners for 2012 who will be waving and smiling atop our Starlight Parade float, "The Brain Storm," an illuminated homage to making and Portland's endless creative spirit.
Join us as we toast our nominees, our winners and each other with tasty beverages and food!
Party-goers will have an opportunity to get involved and get a behind the scenes look at the components that make up the float's electronic brain.
Starlight Parade Float / "Portland's Most Inspirational Makers" Party
Friday, May 11th
5PM - 9PM PST
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR, 97209
RSVP on Facebook
Posted by
Carly Ayres | 11 May 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Coming together to recognize the magic that happens when Arts and Tech intersect, CreativeMornings has partnered up with John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and their STEM to STEAM initiative (previously) to host a series of unified events around the world. This June, CreativeMornings chapters will be hosting events under one common theme: The Intersection of Arts + Technology.
With chapters in over 25 cities around the world, CreativeMornings has grown substantially in the past year and is excited to present this themed month, a first of its kind, in partnership with RISD. The topic of the Intersection of Arts + Technology resonates strongly with the STEM to STEAM initiative, which aims to foster innovation through the addition of Art and Design to STEM education and research.
The STEM to STEAM initiative looks to enact policies and collaborations that recognize and protect art and design in education. With design-focused organizations such as Kickstarter, Airbnb, and Apple revolutionizing industries and sparking innovation, art and design represent an undeniable driver of progress. With budget cuts on the rise, however, arts are often the first to be cut from education, putting at risk the next generation of creative doers and makers
"After several conversations with John Maeda, we were inspired by RISD's STEM to STEAM initiative and we're honored to partner with them on this new effort to recognize the vital importance of art and design in the global economy," said Tina Roth Eisenberg, creator of CreativeMornings. "I am interested in the magic that happens when arts and technology come together, and the topic is timely and relevant for CreativeMornings' attendees around the world."
continued...
Posted by
Carren Jao | 4 May 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Hammocks should be the universal symbol for rest and relaxation. Whenever I catch a glimpse of one, I instantly imagine palm trees, beaches and gorgeous sunsets. The only catch? Hammocks are usually solitary affairs.
Now, Knowhow Shop, a co-op fabrication shop and design studio in Los Angeles, puts a decidedly fun spin on things with their plan to build a six-sided hammock at Santa Monica's Bergamot Station People's Park this Cinco de Mayo. This scaled-up hammock is deliberately enormous with enough space for a few friends to scooch in.
Knowhow Shop's Kagan Taylor and designer Linda Hsiao graciously sent Core77 some photos during their dry run last week.
Using polyester rope, oak spreader bars (nettles) and laser cut plywood shuttles to aid in the knotting, the team built this nifty hammock for sharing in just one afternoon. Looks like they had a lot of fun, which bodes well for their community event at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (SMMoA) this Saturday.
If you want in on the action, plus a crash course in knots, sign up here. You might even walk away with a few plans to make a mutant hammock of your own, just in time for spring/summer BBQs, don't you think?
Join us Tonight at the Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club in lovely downtown Portland, Oregon as Tom Burkleaux of New Deal Distillery shares harrowing tales of his adventures in artisanal spirits!
Spirits as a Journey without a Map: Rediscovering Craft without Guidance, Musing of a Cranky Distiller
What does it means to discover a lost craft? Does it matter how we do things, or just the result?
A question answered in three parts:
1. What is an artisanal company?
2. Learning a new craft in the wilderness
3. Working with spirits
Tom became interested in spirits as a consumer in the 1990's, when it was simply the '90s, not yet a dream. In 2001, He wondered why couldn't spirits be made here? In an attempt to answer this question, and driven by the joy of making things, He started New Deal Distillery. Licensed in 2004, New Deal was an early pioneer in craft distilling. It wasn't until 2007, that other distilleries began to appear and help create what is now South East Portland's Distillery Row. Now, in the last few years, the rest of the world has taken notice of Oregon as a center of artisan, small-batch spirits. Beside being a distiller, Tom's been a few other things including student, machinist, postal worker, cook, soldier, ship yard worker, academic, barista, and programmer.
Tuesday, May 1st
6PM PST
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR, 97209
Not in the greater Portland area? No problem! Join us live on our broadcast channel - the show begins at 6pm Pacific.
Posted by
Ray | 1 May 2012 |
Comments (3) 
This past weekend was the occasion for the second annual New Amsterdam Bicycle Show, a one-stop expo for a diverse group of cycling-related brands and upstarts. While it's quickly become one of the major cyclist-centric events in the city, marking the felicitous intersection of Dutch sponsors such as KLM and New York's own Transportation Alternatives, the show is still an order of magnitude smaller than similar events on the West Coast.
TA provided complimentary bike valet service
Nevertheless, the strong attendance—some 4,500 cycling enthusiasts over two days—affirmed the growing popularity of pedal power, not least because the crowd represented a reasonably accurate cross-section of the NYC cycling faithful. In addition to the exhibitors in the entrance hall and the main atrium, the New Amsterdam programming included a solid lineup of notable speakers.
From L to R: Moderator Matt Seaton, Tom Vanderbilt, Lara Lebeiko & Caroline Samponaro
The panel on bike lanes—featuring writers Tom Vanderbilt and Matt Seaton alongside Caroline Samponaro of Transportation Alternatives and Lara Lebeiko of Bicycle Habitat—was interesting for its breadth, as the issues surrounding infrastructure served as a point of departure for a variety of topics related to cycling in the city. (I, for one, learned about the "Idaho Stop" law.)
Bicycle Habitat's Soho location happens to be the closest bike shop to Core HQ...
Yet it's more or less a given that these types of events are a canonical case of 'preaching to the choir'—literally, in the case of Eben Weiss, better known as BikeSnobNYC, who suggested that cycling become a religion for greater legal recognition. The Brooklyn-based writer and sometime competitive cyclist attracted the largest crowd of all the speakers, filling the makeshift auditorium with longtime readers (myself included), who relished the rare opportunity to hear the inimitable BikeSnob speak in person. True to his uncompromisingly snarky web persona, Weiss delivered an incisive, entertaining presentation on both cycling policy—in short, money, if not religion, is required to grease the wheels of justice—and his bread-and-butter of quotidian grievances. Ever the lovable curmudgeon, Weiss decried (among other things) cycling epiphenomena such as "shoaling," "salmoning" and "circling" with the gusto of a stand-up comedian working the crowd... or, perhaps, an evangelist and his flock.
BikeSnob himself saw fit to poke fun at this wine bottle holder...
Ben Fried of Streetsblog
As for a takeaway message, every single one of the experts agreed that the conversation needs to move beyond traffic laws themselves towards an ethic of non-alienation: in short, to always yield to pedestrians. In his talk on Day Two, Ben Fried, Editor-in-Chief of Streetsblog, admitted that he'd roll through a light if he thought it was silly to wait, but that he always stops for pedestrians, even if he has right-of-way. Caroline Sampanaro of TA advised cyclists to adopt the practice as a sort of 'golden rule' of cycling; Tom Vanderbilt spun the saying "a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged" into "a conservative is a pedestrian who's almost been hit by a cyclist (in a crosswalk)."
Bobbin Bicycles
Bookman lights are the only product that have the honor of being 1.) at this bike show, 2.) sold at the MoMA Store and 3.) a Core77 gift guide pick
Lastly, the forthcoming bike share program also came up in various contexts, specifically as a potential 'tipping point' for what Fried called the "mainsteaming" of cycling.
Seth Rosko started at Brooklyn Machine Works before starting his own shop
I first met Luke of Truce Designs at the Oregon Manifest—he made custom panniers for Cielo's third place-winning entry
Iride's eye-catching red singlespeeds are handcrafted by master framebuilders in Italy
More bikes, gear and donuts (!) after the jump...
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 26 Apr 2012 |
Comments (1) 
Design magazine & resource Core77 has called New York City home for nearly two decades now—so it is with great pleasure that we announce the
first annual Core77 Open, a timely snapshot of new work from the ever-evolving NYC design community, to be exhibited during NY Design Week: We're seeking FIVE DESIGNERS from each of the FIVE BOROUGHS to show the world the best the Big Apple has to offer. Creative people have long rep'ed their hometowns through art, music, film and even food, and Core77 thinks it's time to bring DESIGN into the conversation.
Whether you're born'n'raised or freshly-rooted, diehard Gothamite or bridge-and-tunnel, represent your borough by submitting your best recent work to the Core77 Open.
Our team of NYC design experts will select the five best works from each of the boroughs—25 pieces in all—to exhibit at a gallery space in NOHO during the ICFF, from May 18–22, 2012. Furniture, fashion, objects, print, even interactive all qualify for submission, so submit today and show us where design resides in our proud city.
Posted by
core jr | 16 Apr 2012 |
Comments (1) 
The cycling movement is looking to blossom this spring with more cyclist-friendly initiatives than ever before, and NYC is increasingly an epicenter for large-scale policy and publicity programming. After a successful first year in the five-floor Chelsea space (former home of storied art organizations such as Dia and X-Initiative), Manhattan Media is pleased to bring the New Amsterdam Bicycle Show downtown to the Skylight Soho.
Images courtesy of NY Press
It's all about the bike in New York City on the weekend of April 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Manhattan Media's bike-tastic event, The 2012 New Amsterdam Bicycle Show: Benefiting Transportation Alternatives. In its second year, this event returns, bigger, better and "bikier" to Soho's chic and bike-friendly venue, Skylight SoHo, in Manhattan. Just as New York City embraces bicycling, improving the urban landscape with hundreds of miles of bike lanes across the boroughs, this new consumer-focused bicycle show will again feature the many nuances of bicycling—from bikes for commuting to racing, transporting and pleasure rides.
Indeed, the scope of the show is far broader than that of your average bicycle event as a something-for-everyone extravaganza of anything and everything related to bikes. Unlike major U.S. tradeshows such as NAHBS or Interbike, 'New Am' caters to everyone who has ridden a bike—past, present or future—which is to say, everyone.
Thomas of Horse Cycles with Brad of Geekhouse
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 16 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
The coming weeks will see plenty of student exhibitions as graduating classes the world over complete their degrees and enter (or re-enter) the professional world. SVA's Design Criticism is no exception, and in two short years, the annual conference has become a highlight of the ever-growing NYC design event calendar. At once a celebration of the MFA candidates' myriad interests and the culmination of two years of coursework and research, the 2012 Conference takes the theme of "Eventually Everything," moderated by Change Observer co-editor Julie Lasky.
This year's conference is comprised of four themed panels, each introduced by keynote speakers, including media historian Stuart Ewen; Pentagram partner Michael Bierut; 2×4 founding partner Michael Rock; cultural historian Jeffrey Schnapp; and Interboro Partners principal Daniel D'Oca. Topics to be addressed include the absence of firearms in design collections, the persistence of an anti-ornament bias in architectural discourse, Main Street USA as rhetorical trope, and the need for designers to make repairable products.
The full agenda is as follows; each panel consists of brief keynote and student presentations followed by a group discussion:
Eventually Everything: The 2012 D-Crit Conference
Wednesday, May 2, 12:30-7:00 p.m.
The event is free and open to the public. Register at dcrit.eventbrite.com
Panel 1: Calculated Nostalgia Keynote Panelist: Stuart Ewen Anna Kealey, Unpacking the Pastoral Food Package: Myth-Making in Graphic Design Ann Weiser, Main Street, USA and the Power of Myth Katya Mezhibovskaya, Collection/Recollection: On the Place and Meaning of Nostalgia in Home Merchandising and the Domestic Interior
Panel 2: Working/Not Working Keynote Panelist: Daniel D'Oca Derrick Mead, Designing for Repair: Things can be Fixed Erin Routson, Towers to Town Homes: Public Housing, Policy, and Design in the US
Panel 3: Speaking Surfaces Keynote Panelist: Michael Bierut Keynote Panelist: Michael Rock Cheryl Yau, Intrinsic Expressions: Uncovering the Performativity of Figurative Typography Julia van den Hout, Patterns of Ornament: Technology and Theory in Contemporary Architectural Decoration
Panel 4: Man, Machine, Morality Keynote Panelist: Jeffrey Schnapp Amna Siddiqui, Whiz Kids: Exploring New Definitions of Touch Through Intelligent Play Tara Gupta, Honed/Toned: A Critique of Fitness Culture Barbara Eldredge, Missing the Modern Gun: Object Ethics in Collections of Design
At least a couple of those names might be familiar to longtime readers: former Design Awards intern Barbara Eldredge covered the SHOT Show for us earlier this year and we're fans of Julia van den Hout & co.'s CLOG.
Check out videos from last year's conference, "Present Tense," here. Even if you're not going to make it to check out their super nifty website to find out more about the program and the next generation of design writers, critics and curators.
In the meantime, stay tuned for a short series of previews—we were glad to have the opportunity to hear from Molly Heintz, Avinash Rajagopal and Vera Sacchetti last year—and we'll be posting Q&As with some of this year's grads shortly.
Posted by
LinYee Yuan | 12 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Tuesday night in New York City, our friends over at Sight Unseen launched their first printed edition, Paper View, a collection of stories and personal reflections that document the inner lives and studio spaces of designers from around the world. The book features 24 brand-new and archival pieces that exemplify two and a half years of studio visits and interviews and was published with the support of Karlsson's Gold Vodka's UNFILTERED project.
Paper View is divided into four sections— My Mother or Father Was An Artist, I Studied X and Now I'm Doing Y, Material Obsession and Strange Ephemera—each addressing a larger theme that emerged from their interviews with designers. "For us, it's always been about discovering the universal truths behind what it's like to be a maker, regardless of medium or discipline," the editors Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer explain in their foreword.
Monica Khemsurov, co-Editor of Sight Unseen
Studio visits, process deep-dives and inventories of favorite things fill the pages. My favorite subsection was more of a design interlude filled with an inventory of "8 Things"—from a who's who of design publications, brands and retailers that include the founders of Roman and Williams, Sebastian Wrong (Established & Sons), Nacho Alegre (Apartamento magazine) and Jade Lai (Creatures of Comfort).
continued...
Posted by
Carly Ayres | 11 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Photos by Jess Chen unless otherwise noted
Illustration by Ray Hu“I remember talking to college classmates of mine, there was this general feeling of like anxiety and panic about what our lives were going to be like and the choices we were going to have to make once college ended... I just want to give you the message that it's all going to be cool in the end. It doesn't really matter that much the choices you make as long as you keep alert enough and nimble enough to keep changing course along the way.”
Jonathan Harris spoke to a full auditorium at the Rhode Island School of Design last Thursday, telling stories from his life and some turning points that happened along the way. An artist, programmer, and world explorer, Harris's work focuses on humanizing the Internet in a rapidly expanding digital age.
Harris framed the lecture in four parts chronologically, around turning points in his own life: Internet, Real Life, My Life, Our Lives. Starting with his early twenties, Harris spoke about his focus on the Internet and on looking for stories hiding in data. An interest in collecting found objects led him to the concept of "partial obstruction, partial revelation"—the idea that in leaving space, it allows people to come closer and fill that space with their own experiences. He applied this technique to a lot of his early web work.
Jonathan Harris - "I Want You To Want Me" (2008)
“I actually saw the web as a very human place. I saw all of this data, this messy data, that was there had been put there by people and so it was very human. I was very interested in demonstrating this principle when I was a kid, that the web was actually a very human place.”
An attempt to "tease out some of the poetry" from the mess of the Internet led to several projects, including We Feel Fine. Essentially a search engine for feeling, We Feel Fine scans the latest blog posts every two or three minutes looking for phrases following 'I feel...' or 'I am feeling...' Those phrases are collected in a database including the gender, age, and location of the author, as well as the weather conditions when they wrote the sentence. Since its genesis seven years ago, We Feel Fine has amassed about 20 million feelings.
Jonathan Harris - We Feel Fine (2006)
Changing courses dramatically, Harris concluded his first quadrant with a few thoughts on data. "I think data is a very good approach for certain types of insights that you're after, but it's an incredibly limited approach for other insights and it can actually lead to quite superficial insights a lot of the time." Harris no longer believed, as he did in his twenties, that life's problems could be solved through data. Starting to feel like there was a level of depth his data-based projects weren't reaching, Harris began to do projects that involved intense real-world experiences documented himself.
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 10 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Reporting by Christina Beard
Designers typically don't reveal their mistakes or share how they stumbled into a solution. But Alex Lin of Studio Lin did last week at his AIGANY talk hosted at the Museum of Art and Design. Through a series of Do's and Don'ts, Lin revealed some of his successes and failures in design, production and fabrication. Some of his most beautiful work was created when he had no idea what he was doing or through collaborations.
After graduating from the Yale MFA graphic design program Lin worked at 2x4 for 6 years before co-founding DEFAULT. A few years later he parted ways and created Studio Lin—a studio founded on a desire to explore new territory through challenging collaborations with creative visionaries in the fields of architecture, industrial design, art and fashion. In just a few years Studio Lin has created a body of work that provokes and inspires the design community.
Lin challenged the audience to get in over your head and take on more than you can handle. While at 2x4, he took on way more than he could handle, by totally jumping into projects and working long hours and weekends. Lin was unsure how to start a project designing environmental graphics for the student campus center at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Feeling overwhelmed, he started to create simple pictograms of 'things students do.' Hundreds of pictograms he created were later transformed into 20-foot tall, vinyl portraits of Mies van der Rohe, welcoming the students as they entered the building. He confessed that he had no idea where he was headed.
continued...
Posted by
Ray | 5 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
As our Twitter followers probably know, we had the opportunity to attend the annual PSFK Conference last Friday. (The 2012 edition of the annual event shares its name with PSFK's first print magazine, "Need to Know," which was distributed at the event.) Featuring some two dozen artists, entrepreneurs, trendspotters, technologists and media personalities, the conference served up a broadly informative and inspirational mix of content, and, as always with the day-long series of talks and presentations, the profusion of ideas quickly precluded the possibility of stopping to reflect on them. (Lunch, of course, provides just enough respite to catch up with other attendees and speakers.)
While we await the forthcoming videos of the talks from PSFK, we've compiled our notes (mostly from the pre-caffeine-crash morning session, for better or worse) with a few finessed caricatures for flavor, plus photos and all of our Tweets for good measure.
Photos by Glen Jackson-Taylor; text and illustrations by yours truly
Jonathan Harris
"[Cowbird] is a new approach to participatory journalism... it's a contemplative space, like a church or a forest... an archive of stories that slowly becomes more beautiful."
-Jonathan Harris
Artist Jonathan Harris of Cowbird recounted his chronicle from Brooklyn-based art star to peripatetic soulseeker and back again. Over the past half decade, his artwork has come to address the possibility of translating meaningful real-life experiences into digital media, using photos, video and spoken word as a means of capturing and preserving the essence of those stories.
* * *
"The signals are out there."
-Robert Kirkpatrick
Robert Kirkpatrick of UN Global Pulse started with the premise that the Internet has become a veritable 'nervous system' of the digital world over as individuals intentionally and unknowingly generate massive amounts of data every minute of every hour of every day. His company is looking to harvest this raw data in order to identify patterns in real time, specifically to meet the needs of the increasingly-connected second and third world.
* * *
Graham Hill demos the foldable "ThinBike," which he developed with Schindelhauer Bikes
As founder of Treehugger, Graham Hill knows a thing or two about, say, reducing one's carbon footprint; his latest venture, Life Edited, started with his concern with reducing what might be called an 'urban footprint.' As the name of his new company implies, Hill has taken Dieter Rams' maxim "less, but better" to heart as an approach to maximizing space and utility through design.
* * *
Simon Collins of Parsons the New School for Design
"Never EVER give in to bad design." -Simon Collins
* * *
Steve Clayton
"Technology is reaching the point where complexity leads to more simplicity."
-Steve Clayton
Steve Clayton of Microsoft shared several projects from their Lab-like space, Next, including a particularly gasp-worthy desktop videochat peripheral in Illumishare, as well as the "Wearable multitouch projector," a new platform for augmented reality.
* * *
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 5 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
The IDSA's annual run of Design Dialogue Conferences kicked off this past weekend with the Mideast event in Detroit; the four upcoming regional events will take place over the next month, including the Midwest Design Dialogue in Chicago and the Northeast Design Dialogue in Philadelphia next weekend, April 13–14.
We're pleased to announce that we'll be hosting a portfolio review at the latter event, which takes the timely theme of "Forward Thinking through Vintage Perspectives":
Getting design right is now recognized as essential for business success. Design thinking is equally beneficial in the social domain. How is design practice evolving to meet expanding demands and opportunities? How can design best use the lessons of yesterday and today to evolve and reimagine the future? Philadelphia and the rest of the northeast are full of history, and daily reminders of how an entrepreneurial spirit built this nation and how innovation and design thinking have helped our country grow and flourish. So what better place to tackle this dialogue? We will consider explore and envision what the future through the lens of the past and how we got here. We will take a journey from the past, and take a hard look at the present to bring the future of the design practice into focus through the lens of our history and creative journey to the present.
The two days in the City of Brotherly Love is subdivided into three topics—"To know your past is to know your future"; "Change is the new Norm - Now What?"; and "What's next? Thinking beyond design"—each of which will be addressed over the course of half a day following a series of workshops on Friday morning. The conference will feature notable speakers Peter Bressler, Eric Chan, Hilary Jay, Deb Johnson and Bill Moggridge, among many others; the portfolio review will take place on the evening of Friday, April 13.
See the full schedule of events here, or register here.
The following weekend, April 20–21, will see the Southern Design Dialogue Conference in Atlanta; the series concludes in Seattle on May 4–5.
Head over to IDSA.org for more information.
Posted by
core jr | 5 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
The New York Auto Show 2012 is in full swing and today, Toyota will be unveiling the 2013 design of one of their flagship brands. The car is all-American from concept to production—not only will it be built in the United States but it was also designed and engineered from Toyota's Calty studios in Ann Arbor and Newport Beach. Join Core77 Managing Editor, LinYee Yuan, and the Calty design team for an exclusive live chat about what drives Toyota Design. Get a sneak preview of Toyota's new designs and have an opportunity to ask the Calty design team questions about their process, design considerations and more.
Tune in and submit your questions through the livestream via Facebook or ask questions via Twitter (include the #ToyotaDesign and those who tag @core77 will get special notice!)
TOYOTA DESIGN LIVE
Thursday, April 5th
2PM EST
Livestream on Facebook
BONUS: Here's a sneak peek at the Calty design studio's process for designing the Lexus LF-Ch to get you excited about today's talk.
Tonight, the Core77 welcomes metalsmith Lyle Poulin to the Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club hosted at the Hand-Eye Supply store in Portland, OR. Come early and check out our space or check in with us online for the live broadcast!
Lyle Poulin, Hand-Forge
"The Modern Blacksmith: Tradition, Tools and Technique"
Tuesday, April 3rd
6PM PST
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR, 97209
Whatever happened to the village blacksmith? Not so long ago, villages were organized around trade districts, and each one had a blacksmith shop. Traditionally the blacksmith shaped hot metal on the anvil for the village's many needs: from horseshoes, wheels, and gates to tools and weapons. Though our needs, wants, and fashions have evolved since then, the fundamentals of forging metal are largely unchanged. Come and learn about the work of the modern blacksmith in a historical context. We'll explore the diversity and evolution of the blacksmith's various tools and techniques through the ages, including a look at the future potential of metal work at the intersection of old craft and modern technology.
A full-time metalsmith living in Portland, Oregon, Poulin was raised in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where he worked in his family's metal shop from the age of eleven on. He has an eclectic portfolio that takes his foundation in custom architectural ironwork as a point of departure. A self-taught bladesmith and jeweler, he currently specializes in jewelry, blades and forged implements for the home. He is the resident artist at Hand Forge and is an active member of CMAG, Portland's Creative Metal Arts Guild.
Posted by
Perrin Drumm | 2 Apr 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Photography by Perrin Drumm for Core77
With the proliferation of handmade, handcrafted goods entering the mainstream furniture market and capturing the attention of a wider audience, the Architectural Digest Home Design Show is doing its best to keep up with the times. But as it's a largely commercial affair, with huge crowds drooling over shiny new cooktops (though I think that may have been due to the free meatball sliders at the Sub-Zero booth), the show felt divided. The main hall housed your usual suspects—big flooring manufacturers and name brand kitchen and bathroom appliances separated by aisles packed with men in broad shouldered suits and women dressed in the latest from Liz Claiborne.
Dovetail Bench by Analog Modern, one of the exhibitors at MADE
But a quarter of the exhibition space was devoted to MADE, where all the artisans, craftsmen and independent studios making one-of-a-kind designs were cordoned off. MADE is why I went. The usual suspect here were reclaimed wood benches, handmade, naturally oiled wooden chairs and mid-century inspirations made, yes, mostly out of wood. There were also some beautiful felt pieces (usually paired with wood). Our friends at the American Design Club had a well-trafficked booth packed with goods from their long roster of designers, and Matter's lighting display, namely their naked bulb chandelier, stopped me in my tracks. But that's just a taste of MADE. Check out our full gallery of images from this year's Show!
» View Gallery
Posted by
An Xiao Mina | 30 Mar 2012 |
Comments (0) 
At USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab, groups presented on their ideas for improving the city.
Los Angeles is a city without a center. A recent exhibition across the street from LACMA gave away donuts as a testament to this fact—concentric circles that are quite good, which literally have nothing in the middle. And yet, as the second largest city in the United States, with a record number of people moving in and out, it's certainly dynamic and lively, and anyone who lives hear knows it's a hub for creativity.
Recently, I've encountered a number of groups trying to create some kind of civic center to Los Angeles. One of the more compelling is the City Works Campaign, an effort, as they say on their site, to "improve cities and spur innovation by mobilizing creative people to find varied solutions for urban problems." Part of their platform is LA Here and Now, a solutions-based workshop in collaboration with USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab.
I had the pleasure of attending their workshop this past weekend, which aimed to gather the creative, civic set of Los Angeles in exploring five themes: improving city experiences, fostering local economies, volunteering and (re)connecting, re-skilling and education, healthy and happy cities, and creating greater access to city services.
Group discussions included a discussions session with post-its centered around what-if possibilities of an improved city.
This weekend's workshop, A Smart Cities Incubator, broke up into groups by geographical region, recognizing that Los Angeles is more of a patchwork of communities with distinct needs, rather than a single, urban entity whose challenges can be tackled with broad policy changes. In our groups, we discussed the five themes and proposed to focus on one, and in the course of a couple hours then narrowed down that theme into a more actionable issue.
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 29 Mar 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Grad students at the Interactive Telecommunications Program—ITP for short—at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts have produced far more amazing projects than we could possibly cover in these pages, not least because many of the projects deal in pixels themselves. Alumni aside (full disclosure: one of them landed here in our very offices), we do the best we can to cover their student shows.
Just about a year ago, NYU announced the first extension program of the storied department with one of the inaugural programs at NYU Shanghai, the "first American university with independent legal status approved by the Ministry of Education."
ITP's Shanghai program will offer a unique opportunity for an incoming class of 32 graduate students to explore the imaginative uses of technology in one of the world's most exciting and quickly changing cities. ITP's facilities will be located in downtown Shanghai. In addition to classrooms the site will feature a workshop for physical prototyping: a machine shop, firmware programming stations, electronics prototyping tools, and digital fabrication. An equipment room giving students access to digital photography, video, and audio equipment will also be on site.
ITP Shanghai has the same degree requirements as its 20+ year-old sister (or parent?) program, and courses will be taught in English.
Interested? Find out more at the Open House tomorrow night, Friday, March 30 at 7PM, at the original ITP, 721 Broadway, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10003.
Already sold? Start your application here.
Posted by
Perrin Drumm | 29 Mar 2012 |
Comments (0) 
The gods of panel discussions must be working overtime for me this month. I've been to an inordinate number of them, some good, some not so good and none as great as Phaidon's "Viewing Art in the 21st Century: Experience, Screen and Page." It was meant to take up the case for Phaidon's The Art Museum, a "monumental," "colossal tome" that gives door-stopper a new meaning. I have some personal gripes with the book's claim to be "an imaginary museum created and curated...[with] the finest art collection ever assembled." I don't take issue with the art that was chosen—you can't go wrong with a sweeping view of everything from "Byzantine mosaics through Benin bronzes to the abstractions of Brice Marden." The "Mona Lisa" is in there too, of course, prompting one panelist to wonder if anyone still gets inspired by it anymore. Rather, I question the premise of the book itself. Isn't any art book a curated experience, one that can be said to act like an art museum without walls? I suppose, then, that the main difference here is that this book is massive, making it more museum-like than Phaidon's other art offerings? I'm not sure, but woe be the UPS delivery man who had to unload these at the store.
This wasn't addressed by the panel members—Cecilia Dean of Visionaire, Alexander GIlkes of Paddle8, Anne Pasternak of Creative Time and writer Glenn O'Brien, moderated by art critic and curator Carlo McCormick (who let us in on his secret to never feeling overwhelmed or stressed out by museums: smoke pot beforehand). What did follow was a lively hour-long discussion about whether print, as a medium, can stand in for the experience of viewing art in person. Dean made the case for the computer screen as a kind of light box, providing a better viewing experience in some instances, but for certain forms, like video or installation art, there simply is no substitute for an immersive physical space. Imagine racing down Carsten Holler's slide at The New Museum—in a book. That's not to say that if you can't see a work in person you might as well not see it at all. People who don't live near the works they want to see should still be able to access them in some form, and that's where books and the Internet—especially sites like Art.sy—play such a huge role.
The conversation got a bit heated when the topic of curation came up. O'Brien quipped that nowadays everyone thinks they're a curator simply because they can choose things, like collecting their favorite images on Pinterest or Tumblr. While I agree that the term 'curator' is tossed around ad nauseam right now (ushering in a fresh crop of self-promoting model/dj/curators), I highly doubt my fellow Pinteresters would call their boards of cupcakes and shoe obsessions an attempt at curation. Dean pointed out that, at least as far as the Internet goes, there's just too much stuff and we need people to filter that experience for us. Pasternak agreed, adding that anyone can try to play curator online, but there's always room for an informed voice. For more discussion on what curation means today, see m ss ng p eces' new video for Percolate, featuring today's up-and-coming Internet curators.
Tonight, Core77 is excited to present Michael Davis-Yates to the Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club hosted at the Hand-Eye Supply store in Portland, OR. Come early and check out our space or check in with us online for the live broadcast!
Michael Davis-Yates: Leaptronic Audio - "This is How We Do It, Now..."
Tuesday, Mar. 20th
6PM PST
Hand-Eye Supply
23 NW 4th Ave
Portland, OR, 97209
Michael Davis-Yates has been building speakers for himself and friends for the better part of a decade, in the summer of 2010 the brand LEAP was born as a way to present his designs to the rest of the world, and provide enthusiasm for audio gear in a yet undetermined niche. In the last two years LEAP has created products such as boom-boxes, hi-fi speaker systems, and audio oddities such as singing mirrors.
When the joy of creating an awesome thing turns into the dream of creating a marketable product things can get a little hairy for the uninitiated. Michael's talk will focus on the daily struggle a non-manufacturing maker is faced with in the process of moving from concept to production.
Posted by
Perrin Drumm | 20 Mar 2012 |
Comments (2) 
Is it time to rebrand Design Thinking? Bill Moggridge's salon for the Cooper-Hewitt has always been a place for lively conversation on a range of interesting topics from a tribute to Eva Zeissel to how design can offer solutions in an urban metropolis. Bill and the guests at his Design Talk last Thursday night passionately discussed the relevance, efficacy and even the branding of Design Thinking. Panel members included Helen Walters, a design journalist and Core77 columnist, Fiona Morrisson, the former Director, Brand & Advertising for Jet Blue and Beth Viner, an Associate Partner at IDEO, all of whom had different kinds of opinions of and experience with Design Thinking based on their backgrounds. Walters was the most outspoken of the bunch, but this isn't the first time she's been vocal on the subject. In a piece she wrote for Fast Co. Design called "Design Thinking Isn't a Miracle Cure, but Here's How It Helps," she questions the reliability of the term 'Design Thinking.'
continued...
Posted by
core jr | 14 Mar 2012 |
Comments (1) 
This Thursday, Cooper-Hewitt director Bill Moggridge will discuss design thinking vs. design practice with Core77 columnist Helen Walters, Fiona Morrisson and Beth Viner. Each of the panelists brings a unique perspective to the program: Helen writes about creativity and design for numerous publications and speaks about the business of design at conferences around the world; Beth is an Associate Partner at IDEO where she works with both internal design teams and clients on design strategy and innovation; and, until earlier this month, Fiona was the Director, Brand & Advertising for JetBlue Airways.
This is the third talk in a vibrant conversation and presentation series, which runs through June at the WNYC Greene Space. The program will be webcast live at www.cooperhewitt.org/live, allowing viewers from across the world to learn from some of the brightest design minds in the industry. To register for the talk, visit www.cooperhewitt.org/calendar.
Bill's Design Talks
Thursday, March 15th
6:30PM - 8PM
WNYC Greene Space
44 Charlton Street
New York City
FOR CORE77 READERS: Cooper-Hewitt has offered a special discount for Core77 readers! Enter the special promo code: core77 for a $10 ticket for Bill's Design Talk!
Posted by
core jr | 7 Mar 2012 |
Comments (0) 
Wondered about the history of the Levi's 501? Where did the idea for the Barcelona chair come from? New York City's School of Visual Arts MFA program is presenting its first documentary film festival on Saturday, March 24th. In addition to screening a group of three short docs from the Objects of Desire BBC series and Selling the Sixties: How Madison Avenue Dreamed the Decade, the Film Festival will host the New York City premiere of The Book: the Last Chapter?, a documentary about the fate of the book in the age of the iPad and the Kindle.
Curated by Steven Heller, co-chair of the MFA Design Department at SVA, the festival will also include conversations with Alan Yentob, filmmaker and creative director of the BBC, and legendary advertising creative George Lois.
Full-day pass is $15 and you can pick one up here!
Saturday, March 24th
1 - 9pm
SVA Theatre, 333 West 23 Street, New York City
$15 pass includes all screenings
MILAN 2012: SALONE INTERNAZIONALE DEL MOBILE
MILAN 2012: SATELLITE EXHIBITIONS
MILAN 2012: BRERA DESIGN DISTRICT
VENTURA LAMBRATE 2012
9(unknown*no*no*0)&guid=ON&x_utmac=MO-385556-14){kind=small}
