Project M

Project M, Buy A Meter Project, 2007.

During the recent Live Earth Concerts for A Climate in Crisis, I was struck by the tension between the initiative's global aspirations and the small, personal lifestyle changes suggested during every intermission — use electronic bill paying to save paper and mail, buy CFL bulbs, turn showers off while you soap up. It's the old "Think Globally, Act Locally" maxim applied to a huge media event.

Project M works on the "act locally" level. This innovative summer design camp was created by John Bielenberg in 2003 and was inspired by Samuel Mockbee, who founded The Rural Studio for Architecture in Alabama and won the MacArthur Prize for his work. Every year Project M brings together 8-10 young designers for an intensive design experience: the designers have to conceive and develop their own project...

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One Man's Literary Compass

When I look at my bookshelves, I see my life. Whole glimpses of previous interests are represented, from my collection of Latin American fiction to the many reminders of the years I spent living in Italy (the novels of Primo Levi and Italo Calvino). There is my love of Ian McEwen, Susan Sontag and Paul Auster (which brings back memories of long-ago Saturday mornings spent in the New York Public Library researching and writing his bibliography). There are books about volcanoes and periodic tables; film books and architecture books...

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