“Chishen Chiu is a young designer based in Miao Li, Taiwan. His design thinking has been heavily influenced by his urban surroundings, consisting primarily of small, family-owned factories that produce everything from paper tubes used for rolls of tape to metal parts that find their way into computers and electronic devices.”
“FlexibleLove™ experimental furniture incorporates an ‘accordion-like, honeycomb’ structure to create durable furniture pieces produced from widely-available, low-cost recycled materials. FlexibleLove™ furniture pieces, such as FlexibleLove 16™, are made wholly from recycled paper and wood products, and are produced using pre-existing manufacturing processes in order to reduce their overall impact on the environment.”
It is neo-nomad love and not Barbarella. The installation by Jonathan Harris and Sep Kamvar I want you to want me is displayed at the MOMA, in exclusivity for the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibit. Info via the RoomWare.
Urban Typhoon Workshop in Koliwada, Mumbai: March 16-22, 2008
Participatory Urban Design & the Future of Alternative Communities
“The Urban Typhoon brought together artists, architects, activists and academics from all over the world with the residents of Koliwada, Dharavi to collectively generate ideas, visions and plans, and archive biographies and histories. The workshop’s philosophy is based on the idea that communities should be allowed to determine their future and that everyone, no matter the age, language or qualification should be allowed to participate in the process.
The Urban Typhoon workshop is a global experiment in participatory design. It is directly connected to the various communities of Dharavi and its grassroots community groups.
The workshop is multicultural, multidisciplinary and multimedia. Students, urban planners, architects, designers, artists, sociologists, media artists, political activists, utopists, and other nomads to come together for a week to imagine the future of Koliwada.
The objective is to produce creative alternatives for the future of a neighborhood threatened by a redevelopment plan of the government as well as a multimedia testimony to the unique spirit of Koliwada.”
Found this while hypertexting… looking at the organizers of UBIQUITOUS CITY:
“The micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working / dining, cooking and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use.
Informed by aviation and automotive design and manufactured at the micro compact home production centre in Austria, the m-ch can be delivered throughout Europe with project individual graphics and interior finishes.
The product was first launched in Munich in November 2005 with the development of a case study village sponsored by O2 Germany, which is currently occupied by students of TU Munich.”
Sabine Seymour, CEO of moondial edited the Fashionable Technology book:
The interplay of electronic textiles and wearable technology, wearables for short, and fashion, design and science is a highly promising and topical subject. Offered here is a compact survey of the theory involved and an explanation of the role technology plays in a fabric or article of clothing. The practical application is explained in detail and numerous illustrations serve as clarification. Over 50 well-known designers, research institutes, companies and artists, among them Philips, Burton, MIT Media Lab, XS Labs, New York University, Hussein Chalayan, Cute Circuit or International Fashion Machines are introduced by means of their latest, often still unpublished, project, and a survey of their work to date. Given for the first time is a list of all the relevant information on research institutes, materials, publications etc. A must for all those wishing to know everything about fashionable technology.
The work of Cati Vaucelle is featured in this book! She mentions Touch.Sensitive, the project I collaborated on with her :)
This Inflatable Lounger (GBP 20; about $40) built-in two speakers that you can connect your i-Pod, MP3 player, or CD player. It also has another desirable feature to make you time at sea more enjoyable. The Inflatable Lounger features it is easy to inflate and deflate, and does not need batteries or power cables. Of course, most important of all, it has a acceptable price.
Kaare Klint’s Safari chair (1933) was inspired by an English camp chair. It was one of the first Danish chairs that could be taken apart and delivered unassembled. Materials: Ash-natural or smoked. Manufacturer: Rud Rasmussen, Denmark.
