Design in Africa?

Noted Architect David Adjaye is leveraging his influence and is looking to Africa.

He has begun to document the richness of the continent's art and design.

Article: Drawing Inspiration from African Houses

Expo: GEO Graphics - Art Practices in Africa, Past and Present

2010 Cooper Hewitt National Design Awards

It is nice to see the increased visibility of Design. See the first lady and the winners in the video below.

A Designer Reflects on the City of Detroit

The essay linked below considers the city in enlight of new technological paradigms.

"Borderland/Borderama" is excerpted from Distributed Urbanism: Cities After Google Earth, an anthology just published by Routledge.


This work explores the decentralized systems through which cities are increasingly organized.

"Distributed Urbanism highlights architectural practices that are emerging in response. Unlike early forms of urbanism, in which production, communication and governance entities were sited within a central business district, contemporary urbanism is shaped by distributed mechanisms such as information technologies, (i.e. Google Earth) cooperative economic models and environmental networks, many of which are physically remote from the cities they shape.

Distributed Urbanism presents a series of case studies highlighting the architectural implications of these remote design agencies on 21st-century cities. Edited by Gretchen Wilkins, Senior Lecturer at RMIT in Melbourne, it features work, both imagined and real, by leading architects and theorists worldwide, including projects in Rotterdam, Tokyo, Barcelona, Detroit, Hong Kong, Dubai, Beijing and Mumbai."


Borderland/Borderama Part 1

Borderland/Borderama Part 2

Borderland/Borderama Part 3

India Redesigns it's Census Form

The U.S. is still in the process of counting its 300+ million inhabitants which is only a fourth of what India's census operation has to account for.

With a herculan task ahead it is good to see that the design of the form has been considered.

Article: India's Epic Head Count

DIY: Security Systems

Ok, the time has arrived were wireless technologies could allow apartment dwellers and homeowners alike a peace of mind that their domiciles are secure without the subscription fees required routinely by security firms like ADT and Brinks.

There are some products reaching the market that provide Do it yourself options for monitoring and securing your home.

NYTimes Article: Installing Your Own Home Security System

Simplisafe Website