EVENT Design.nl has announced PechaKucha Maastricht will take part in the Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti organized in association with Architecture for Humanity, which will help raise funds for the reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Photo: Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross By Editor Design.nl / 16-02-2010 PechaKucha has joined forces with Architecture for Humanity to host the Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti. It only took seconds to destroy so many bright hopes and dreams in Haiti. The 280 city PechaKucha network is joining with Architecture for Humanity to help rebuild Haiti 20 seconds at a time. On Saturday 20 February 2010 which... Continue reading

EYEBLOG INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR MARGOLIN Victor Margolin, Professor Emeritus of Design History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a lucid thinker and vivid critic, shared some critical thoughts in our two-part interview on Eyeblog. His overview of basic ideas in design thinking brought to light some thoughts that could foster positive change in society – and in design itself, which all too often forgets its chief goal: the wellbeing of all mankind. I'd like to stress your attention especially to the second part of the interview where Victor Margolin points out some major problems of design education while offers... Continue reading

CRITIQUE Sometimes the best solution is focusing on projects and ideas that call for positive change and especially on the people behind them. Strong minds and great personalities who could bring changes from theory into practice on all levels (research, education, practice, critique) and at the same time have a power/position to make things happen is what design is so desperate for right now. Design profession needs to move closer to the edge of the already existing research and, at the same time, foster a strong critique. I am sad when I see strong attempts to suppress design critique. I... Continue reading

Whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime. — Edmund Burke Architects' work symbolically and literally overcomes the forces of nature to provide shelter and build infrastructure as it is the case of Architects for Humanity and their endeavors in Haiti. The question of the relationship between man and nature is a perennial philosophical problem that inevitably invokes the notion of the sublime. Philip Shaw, lecturer at the University of Leicester explains that we extensively turn to the feeling of sublime, ”whenever... Continue reading

AUTHOR: Vuk Ćosić* You are alone at home, living your life, and you suddenly feel the urge to change the world around you but need a place to start? Here’s a simple recipe that might come handy. If you follow these steps you won’t be locked in the constant feeling of despair. Possibly you will even make the next step (not covered here) and stage a revolution of your own. Ingredients (serves whole society) 1 Injustice 1 Good will 1 Determination Level: Medium hard Time: ASAP Photo: Ksenija Berk 1. Feel First you have to properly identify the injustice that... Continue reading

AUTHORS: Vuk Ćosić & Irena Woelle One of the key concerns of any society is the work and integrity of educational institutions. In many countries, especially those in which the recent decades were marked by turbulent wars or violent changes in government, the rules of the educational system and their implications are often subject to revision. More often than not, even basic facts are questioned. Institutions tend to shape themselves in line with their dominant policies, the religious affiliation of the majority, and strength of military structures, etc. In many cases, educational institutions are selective when deciding on the content... Continue reading

Under Construction ... As the European Mobility Week is coming to an end, it has revealed fundamental differences in perception between European countries of what a sustainable mobility actually means. They might have been united in the political union of EU, however the mentality of each individual member state around the issue is a completely different story. The awareness raising campaign might aiming at sensibilising citizens to the use of public transport, cycling, walking and at encouraging European cities to promote these modes of transport and to invest in the new necessary infrastructures. All this nice activities do not have... Continue reading

AUTHOR: INDEX Design to Improve Life www. designtoimprovelife.dk In some regions in the developing world, young girls can miss up to 50 days of school or work because of the complications and sometimes stigmatisms related to their period. INDEX: Award finalist She28 believes that a girl's life does not have to stop every 28 days because of her menstrual cycle and that missing valuable time in school is not only a "blood cost" to women and girls, but to their families, communities, and nations as a whole. She28 empowers women and girls through education, advocacy and entrepreneurship. A simple, common,... Continue reading

CRITIQUE The world economic turmoil has thoroughly altered the maps of the business world as well as the functioning of various professions, education and research. Design academies worldwide are facing a crisis brought about daily by the social and political changes, distribution of power, natural disasters, economic models, financial risks, education reforms, precariousness, competitive advantage struggles and good old ignorance. One of the biggest problems I frequently face, chiefly in graphic design projects, is that of designers being utterly unprepared for working in business environments. With all due respect, I am not referring to those successful individuals and collectives who... Continue reading

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CRITIQUE It could be you: seeking for a shelter and running for your life on tomorrow's news! Not a single day passes by without alarming news on natural disasters (Haiti earthquake, floods in China and Europe, volcanic eruptions on Iceland ...). As they would not be devastating enough there have to happen terrible disasters caused by human factor, like not so recent BP oil spill. Disasters unfortunately happen frequent enough to become yet unwanted part of our everyday life. It is about time to finally include a specialist knowledge on how to deal with all sorts of disasters into a... Continue reading

CRITIQUE "The question of whether humanity has a predilection toward the good is preceded by the question whether there exists an event that can be explained in no other way than by that moral disposition. An event such as revolution. Kant says that this phenomenon (of revolution) can no longer be ignored in human history because it has revealed the existence in human nature of a disposition and a faculty toward the good, which until now no politics has ever discovered in the course of events." Friedrich Nietzsche. The labour question in the vast field of design has in past... Continue reading

CRITIQUE “A basic assumption in order for design to be taken seriously as a profession and as a relevant methodology vis-a-vis commercial, social and cultural, as well as the complex global and systemic challenges we face is the existence of sufficient scientifically valid knowledge about the effects if design about design processes and methodologies, the role of the designer and design theory as such. And it requires relevant structures and models, which can cater for the necessary flow of knowledge from the source of the research to design students and practitioners and to others, for whom this knowledge is of... Continue reading

CRITIQUE “A man’s errors are his portals of discovery.” James Joyce Remember how many times you’ve tried to make a positive change, to give people an opportunity to develop, to show themselves, to get their ideas boost. You have thought you’ve done your best and yet you have continuously witnessed how they’ve let their chances slip through their fingers. They have failed in your eyes. Again! Photo: Ksenija Berk. Let’s be fair and think for a moment how many times have we actually took enough time to analyze the causes of someone's failure? And what or who has actually failed... Continue reading

HOSTING DANISH DESIGNERS A vision of Danish design’s future - a manifesto When I hear a new design manifesto has been launched my reaction usually goes: "Oh, no, not another manifesto!" Nonetheless, I must admit I have been pleasantly surprised by the third edition of the political manifesto launched by Danish Designers in January 2010. It is fresh, proactive, introduces the the triple bottom line - "social responsibility, financial feasibility and the well-being of the natural environment between 'people, profit and planet'". The manifesto also raises the important question that separates it from it's more utopian predecessors: "how do we... Continue reading

Whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime. — Edmund Burke Architects' work symbolically and literally overcomes the forces of nature to provide shelter and build infrastructure as it is the case of Architects for Humanity and their endeavors in Haiti. The question of the relationship between man and nature is a perennial philosophical problem that inevitably invokes the notion of the sublime. Philip Shaw, lecturer at the University of Leicester explains that we extensively turn to the feeling of sublime, ”whenever... Continue reading

EVENT Design.nl has announced PechaKucha Maastricht will take part in the Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti organized in association with Architecture for Humanity, which will help raise funds for the reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Photo: Talia Frenkel/American Red Cross By Editor Design.nl / 16-02-2010 PechaKucha has joined forces with Architecture for Humanity to host the Global PechaKucha Day for Haiti. It only took seconds to destroy so many bright hopes and dreams in Haiti. The 280 city PechaKucha network is joining with Architecture for Humanity to help rebuild Haiti 20 seconds at a time. On Saturday 20 February 2010 which... Continue reading

CRITIQUE Sometimes the best solution is focusing on projects and ideas that call for positive change and especially on the people behind them. Strong minds and great personalities who could bring changes from theory into practice on all levels (research, education, practice, critique) and at the same time have a power/position to make things happen is what design is so desperate for right now. Design profession needs to move closer to the edge of the already existing research and, at the same time, foster a strong critique. I am sad when I see strong attempts to suppress design critique. I... Continue reading

EYEBLOG INTERVIEW WITH VICTOR MARGOLIN Victor Margolin, Professor Emeritus of Design History at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a lucid thinker and vivid critic, shared some critical thoughts in our two-part interview on Eyeblog. His overview of basic ideas in design thinking brought to light some thoughts that could foster positive change in society – and in design itself, which all too often forgets its chief goal: the wellbeing of all mankind. I'd like to stress your attention especially to the second part of the interview where Victor Margolin points out some major problems of design education while offers... Continue reading