Paranoid But Pretty

In his new show at the German Architecture Center (DAZ) Matthias Megyeri has developed a design language for the artefacts of protection and security in public space. Megyeri poses the question: does protection have to be inconsistent with harmony and beauty? His answer is a family of padlocks, chains, fences, and razor wire that he describes as ‘lovable objects’. Megyeri’s show prompted me to Google “design” and “homeland security” once again and question: "Are we safer?"

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A Roof, A Skill, A Market

One hundred million people living in the Sahel region of West Africa are either homeless, or live precariously in short-life structures. Because deserts are spreading, the bush timber they once used to build homes is no longer available; as a result, they are forced to use imported wood and corrugated iron to build houses. These modern materials have poor insulation properties, are unhealthy and uncomfortable to live with and cost cash to purchase that many poor families simply don’t have. To reverse this downward spiral into poverty, the Nubian Vault Association has evolved a unique approach that creates three kinds of value within local economies: a roof, a skill and a market.

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Big, Hairy, and Agile

The UK government’s digital services platform, gov.uk, has won the Design of the Year award — and if I were running a big IT consulting firm grown fat on big government contracts, I’d be worried. Gov.uk is a revolutionary web operation that governments around the world are beginning to notice. Twenty four UK government departments will be on the site by the end of the month. In all, the program will replace 2,000 websites. And it’s all been built in just over a year by an in-house team that began with just 12 people, and now numbers a still modest 150.

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The Ecozoic City

The writer Thomas Berry described the ecozoic as the “reintegration of human endeavours into a larger ecological consciousness”. The ecozoic, Berry believed, would supplant the Anthropocene age, that we live in now, in which human needs take precedence over the health of the earth’s forests, oceans, and other living systems. Our species will only begin to make true progress, Berry believed, when we learn to cherish the vitality of all life-forms equally — not just our own.

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Artefact as Campfire: Where People and Living Systems Meet

In what ways can design help people interact with living systems in ways that help both of them thrive? And, what small practical steps might one take to test the effect of small actions on the system as a whole?

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Cycle Commerce: The Red Blood Cells of a Smart City

Delhi’s many bicycle and rickshaw vendors embody the entrepreneurship, sustainable mobility, social innovation and thriving local economies, that a sustainable city needs. As an ecosystem, they’re also part of the metabolism that makes a city smart. That said, cycle commerce is a challenge for a city’s managers. Many different actors are involved in bicycle commerce — often with differing or downright conflicting agendas. Managing this kind of urban constellation is hard.

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An Open Design School for India

Plans are advancing in India for for a nationwide network of 20 Design Innovation Centres, an Open Design School, and a National Design Innovation Network. During this process, John Thackara was invited to make a short statement to the group by way of a ‘useful provocation’. Here is what he said.

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Healing The Metabolic Rift

The term metabolic rift describes the alienation between humans and nature that opened up with the growth of the the modern economy. Could the growth of bioregionalism and research into 'social-ecological systems' be signs that the rift may be healing? And if so, what are the opportunities for design to contribute?

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German Government Think-Tank Supports Fringe Change Agents

Good news from Germany: A ‘global transformation of values has already begun’. It’s proving tough to leverage changing attitudes into sustainable behaviour — but a transition to a more sustainable society ‘would be welcomed by a significant part of world society’.

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Venice: from Gated Lagoon to Bioregion

Venetians have been shaping the lagoon on which their city is built to meet human needs since the twelfth century. Yet the city is still sinking into the soft mud on which its foundations are built. Unfortunatly, private companies are adding to the environmental strain on the city. But there are solutions that work in ‘hydraulic equilibrium’.

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