darby – Page 12

FutureThinkers

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself head deep in design books while doing research for a potential interior re-design of a local private club. I love being head deep in design books, and the one that continues to blow me away is Fingerprint: The Art of Using Handmade Elements in Graphic Design , by Chen Design Associates out of San Francisco.

Josh Chen is a bad-ass designer, with 20 years of experience in design, broadcasting, journalism, and music. I love renaissance men and women. Within the school of renaissance thinking comes humanism and self-awareness, and it seems much of the design work Chen has compiled and highlighted here is lacking neither.

Take, for instance, the Futurefarmersgroup, also from San Francisco, that fertile ground which nourishes SO MUCH talent. Futurefarmers collaboration includes creating prototypes of an urban planning tool which allows users to visualize The Great Park’s health and creating a “lunchbox laboratory” which will encourage students to screen various algae strains, ultimately helping to find the strains that are optimal as a renewable energy resource. Basically, design used as a superpower for the forces of good and not evil. Think of a modern day Leonardo or Galileo.

Futurefarmers website describes the group as:

practitioners aligned through an open practice of making work that is relevant to the time and space surrounding us. Futurefarmers work across many media. We enjoy creating platforms for sociability, play and culitvating consciousness.

One of my favorite pieces is this sundial watch, by Futurefarmers Amy Franceschini. I don’t wear a watch, but I would wear this one:

Described as:

a reaction to the ubiquity of technological devices in our lives today. Sundial watch reminds us to depend on our own devices. It is an interface with nature…

The sun will always rise in the morning and set in the evening, and the length of the winter days will be shorter than the summer days. This portable sundial physically illustrates the wonders of the sun and its motion through the sky providing a stage for the suns’ shadow to dance upon.

This book is FULL of inspiration and genius creativity from some of the best designers today. And although I am working on becoming a full-fledged interior designer, cultivating ideas from many disciplines, be it graphic design, architecture, music, science, literature, philosophy, film, graffiti, fine art, or nature is what this cross-platform, renaissance thinking is all about. Count me in and on the bus.

Milestones in Bedding

I used to think that only women like my grandma, a tidy Clevelander from a certain generation, made their beds every morning. But now, I find myself drawn to making my bed every morning. I’m not sure if this is a mark of my quickly approaching 40’s or just something new that I quite like, but it is a process, people.

This is no “throw the comforter over the top of messy sheets and make it look like it’s made” kinda bed-making, but an actual deconstruction and rebuilding exercise. I find it satisfying to both my sense of design and tendencies towards organization. I used to think it was a waste of time, as I was just going to mess it up every night, but I find that I like getting into a truly made bed. I am getting old, aren’t I?

Merch Mart Leading Major Shift

Vintage postcard of the Merchandise Mart

Existing buildings seem to be overlooked when the sustainability topic arises, although USGBC’s LEED program has had an EB (existing building) designation for three years now. The shift from new construction to the rehabilitation of the estimated 4.5 million commercial properties already built is one that is necessary, especially considering that commercial buildings account for over 60% of the nation’s electricity consumption.

One of the largest buildings to get LEED certification, The Merchandise Mart in Chicago takes up two city blocks and has its own zip code. Spearheaded by Myron Maurer and Christopher Kennedy, brother of Robert Kennedy of NRDC fame, the Merch Mart received a Silver LEED rating.

With the real estate market morph towards realistic values, this seems to be the time when many property management companies and large commercial building owners are staying put and looking for ways to increase tenant retention and decrease operating costs. Building owners, meet sustainability. Sustainability, building owners.

From the New York Times Sunday business section:

The headquarters of the software maker Adobe Systems received a platinum rating for its three towers in December 2006. Adobe spent 1.4 million on the project, but earned that back in savings in less than 10 months.

The myth that “green” buildings cost more is thankfully being successfully challenged at every turn. I personally am incredibly interested in the LEED ReGreen program, addressing residential remodeling projects using a whole house approach. Helping homeowners to retrofit and build upon what they have, as opposed to using more natural resources by building a new house from scratch, is also an exciting prospect.

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