You can never have too many wall hooks in your apartment, and mine are always full. But given that your average piece of bent metal will run you $5 a pop at a Manhattan hardware store, I've limited my urge to line my walls completely.
If only I lived out in the sticks, I could use sticks.
Etsy seller Gabriel Rutledge makes hers out of green maple twigs mounted to a distressed wooden board.
John Robohm's Live Wire Farm is a Vermont-based outfit that manufactures goods from local hardwoods, and judging by all of the SOLD stamps on their website, does a brisk business in hooks.
Law enforcement is an extremely complex line of work, as police officers have to keep up-to-date with events and people in the community, but usually from the sidelines or through second-hand information. Tools that can augment police officers' mental models of the communities they serve, especially in an ever increasing information-rich world, are critical to the future of policing.
And that's where graph theory comes in. Graph theory looks at objects (nodes) and the relationships (edges) between them. These objects could be people, computers, or buildings, while the corresponding relationships could be family ties, Internet connections, and roads. As Facebook and other social networking tools continue to bring our world closer together each day, social network applications of graph theory are becoming a hot topic. Ever hear of "six degrees of separation?" Thanks to Facebook, it's now closer to four or five.
Criminal networks are really just a specific example of social networks. Currently, law enforcement agencies use link analysis, a basic application of graph theory, to attempt to understand these networks. Link analysis produces a visual output of relationships between nodes, but "people tend to believe that actors in the center or at the top of a graph are crucially and most important." Instead, Renee van der Hulst describes a framework for using social network analysis (SNA) for crime analysis. Beyond just outputing a visual graph, SNA provides a mathematical approach to quantify the "characteristics of network activity, social roles, positions and associated social mechanisms."
A simple graph of a social network, including nodes and edges.
In 2011, researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University implemented a pilot program of SNA in the Richmond, VA Police Department to test its effectiveness. The Richmond City Police Department asked the researchers to identify the reason behind why "two groups of previously friendly males" were now engaging in a "rash of violence" against each other. The researchers mined a police informational database for details concerning twenty-four persons of interest, as well as any connections four people out.
Atlanta-based Sonya Yong James is the textile designer and fiber artist behind Modern Fiber Lab, which produces handmade, sustainable goods from animal fibers.
I work primarily with wool fibers and various felt techniques. Felt offers an extraordinary range from two dimensional design to sculptural forms for both interiors and personal ornament. No other material is as versatile. Felt is utilitarian, decorative, and completely renewable.
I source all of my fiber from shepherds primarily in the United States. Everything here is a direct link to the natural world.
It's safe to say James has a strong passion for wool felt. In addition to creating the Knit Pod Vessels you see here, she's devoted many Flickr pixels to showing you how the material goes from sheep to studio.
Digitas—one of the world's leading digital marketing and media companies—is seeking a Senior Art Director, who will be responsible for the conception, design and execution of innovative visual materials for integrated, cross channel initiatives including: large web initiatives, online advertising and digital marketing. Individuals should possess strong conceptual and design skills and assist the Creative Director in improving the conceptual, technical and creative performance of staff within his or her group.
Rem Koolhaas led OMA's recently completed scenography project for Teatro Greco, or the Syracuse Greek Theatre, a historical landmark in Italy that dates back to the 5th century BCE. Every summer the theatre stages three classic plays, and for this season's cycle they commissioned OMA to design a temporary stage that will remain up for Aeschylus's Prometheus Unbound (directed by Claudio Longhi), Euripides' Bacchae (dir. Antonio Calenda) and Aristophane's The Birds (dir. Roberta Torre).
The stage—aluminum scaffolding clad with multilayer marine plywood—was designed in three parts, the Ring, the Machine and the Raft. The Raft, the name for the circular stage, "reimagines the orchestra space as a modern thymele, the altar that in ancient times was dedicated to Dionysian rites." The Ring is a suspended walkway that makes a half circle around the stage and backstage area, providing actors with different ways to enter a scene. The Machine is the backdrop, which can be altered to suit different productions. A sloping circular platform seven meters high, it's the mirror image of the stage. It can rotate, "symbolizing the passage of thirteen centuries during Prometheus's torture; Split down the middle, it can also be opened, allowing the entrance of the actors, and symbolizing dramatic events like the Prometheus being swallowed in the bowels of the earth."
There's so many events and exhibitions all over Milan during the Salone Internazionale del Mobile that you could almost be forgiven for skipping out on the long trek to the Rho fair grounds. Luckily for the organizers we're in the minority, and the exhibition halls were packed. So packed it was a little uncomfortable at times feeling more like navigating a crowd at the end of a gig than a trade show.
There wasn't much press-worthy new product launched this year, most companies were content reissuing updates to their classics which could be a reflection on the European recession. In fact, so many of the established design-driven companies focused on their legacies with the use of product timelines incorporated into their exhibition booths that we could have made it a category.
Some highlights included this minimal wall mounted desk/storage unit for small apartments by Core-faves Yael Mer & Shay Alkalay and we're loving the shadows cast by Sunrise, an outdoor table setting by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba for Driade. As usual, the SaloneSatellite was full of inspiration, especially this stunning bench by student Danah Al Kubaisy as part of a materials and fabrication class at the American University of Sharjah. At the Melbourne Movement stand, Tate Anson's Tryst Stool was getting a lot of attention with his water-jet cut pattern technique for bending timber, and Thomas Schnur's Rubber Table was just straight-up awesome!
Thankfully that's not another pirated version of Arne Jacobsen's Swan chair; it's the work of Harlem-based knitwear designer Sinje Ollen, whose "Clothing for Furniture" project covers the classics in custom yarn, and can be seen at the upcoming ICFF in New York. "I specialize in making 'clothes' for '60s furniture that need some help rejuvenating," says Ollen.
Of all the discarded furniture I see curbside in Manhattan, the chief reason they made it to the trash heap seems to be torn, worn or cat-scraped upholstery. Knit covers seem a good way to give them some additional life, while still maintaining the original look...assuming, of course, that you recognize the original look in the first place. At least one commenter on Ollen's Facebook page wrote "I love the chair shape. Did you design that?" It's like an ID history version of Titanic tweets.
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.
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...
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.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Boston's Fenway Park, Objet used one of their Connex 3D printers to crank out a replica of the stadium, created from blueprints and photographs:
MILAN 2012: SALONE INTERNAZIONALE DEL MOBILE
MILAN 2012: SATELLITE EXHIBITIONS
MILAN 2012: BRERA DESIGN DISTRICT
VENTURA LAMBRATE 2012
Imperialist Tendencies: The Real Design Imperialism
New Amsterdam Bicycle Show Recap
Case Study: Icebreaker Merino - Reinventing Wool as a Performance Fiber
Logic over Lust: Remembering Butzi Porsche
Designing Handwashing Part 2: Diverse Nudges in a Hospital
2009 Design Salary Survey
Book Review - Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses
Wallpaper's City Guide: What's Hip in Tel Aviv
Paper View: Sight Unseen's Printed Edition
Book Review - Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving, by Jon Kolko
77 RIGHTEOUS Gifts Under $77
Essential Tips for the Design Professional
Read our back-to-school guide for design students. A must!
Graph of the Internet.
A simple graph of a social network, including nodes and edges.
Google Maps: Designing the Modern Atlas
The Messy Art of Saving the World
Big Idea, Little Printer
The Landscape of User Experience Design in Asia
