Friday, August 28, 2009

The Remaking of Shanghai Local Spaces

Lu, Pan. (2008) The Remaking of Shanghai Local Spaces, http://pi.library.yorku.ca/ojs/index.php/soi/article/view/17740/16530
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2. Masculine aspirations overlooked variety of local spaces of Shabghai urbanity in ways that have raised the power of global capital to the status of becoming the exclusive tool for understanding the foundation of both local & global imaginaries

. some local spaces trivial in math of globalisation, some deeply embedded in local soil, some traverse global & local awareness

. Shanghai is as divided and multilayered, Imaginary layers of shapes that overlap and intermingle in the form of a palimpsest that blurs the indentities of space in spaces of identity

.local > global systems, the micro affecting the global

.Duolun Road, accommodated some of the best known masters of Chinese modern lit., entrepeneurs & politicians
30s & 30s golden time, pedestrian access

3. Duolun Rd Cultural Celebrities St, architectural variety, charm lost

Shaoxing Rd, significant cultural landmark, tranquil, nostalgia

5. localness defined and redefined outside global aspiration

. cultural spaces have been reborn not only in the sense that the formation of local objects - old traditions return, hybridism emerges

6. DDM warehouse, 98 Taiwanese Deng Kunyan

7. Shanghai Sculpture Space, Shanghai Diao Su Zhong Xin, Tian Zi Fang (Shanghai Soho)

.Modern capitalism and modernism once synchronised with the world, came to a halt for nearly 30 years

8. Collin Rowe, 'Collage City'

10. 30s, 50 yrs of de-urbanisation, caused discontent & conflict between urban form and function

11. While the desire of consumption can be projected onto the temporal effect of refurbished urban spaces, time past is not necessarily the only magical spell underpining the charisma of old architecture for locals

12. Shanghai is Hype. We talk about it without seeing the multifaceted reality of this city

. fragmentation

13. Shanghai- decentralising itself in both temporal and spatial terms

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Sustain Me, IDG 09, Foreword

Rod Bamford

Co-Curator

The idea of being 'sustainable' strikes a reactive chord both in personal and glibal terms.

For some 'sustainability' will be understood in terms of climate change or recycling, for others it may attest to cultural relevance or economic survival.

The European Energy Commission estimates that 80% of a product's environmental impact is 'set' during the design phase. We rely more today on design in the shaping of our world than ever before, so how do we design our world, and how does the world respond to design? Design is transforming its 20th century emphasis on style and function, that which is 'designed' does not exist in isolation.

Design: A Better Path to Innovation

Shedroff, N., Design: A Better Path to Innovation, Interactions.15 (6), 35-41. New York: ACM

35. While engineers and designers have an innate appreciation for appropriate and significant innovation, most businesspeople still need to be convinced because of the risks involved and because it's not an easy thing to do.

36. Innovation can take several forms:
better offerings and experiences, better processes, better organizations

38. (Natural Capitalism) Sustainability is the successful management of 4 kinds of capital:
Financial Capital, Manufactured Capital, Natural Capital, Human Capital

Why is sustainability important to all organisations? Because we no longer have the luxury of ignoring it.

39. All organizations need to address how their strategy intersects with sustainability.

Besides being a business imperative, Sustainability is a source of tremendous opportunity.

Challenge most organizations struggle with is in differentiating novel innovation from meaningful innovation. Meaning is the most powerful aspect of customer experience. It can transcend traditional and 'rational' price and performance decisions. It surrounds all products, services, and events, whether we acknowledge and address it or not. And it can be the most effective guide in determining whether an idea or solution is truly valuable and not merely 'new'.

41. Design-led innovation has an edge on other approaches because of its history of user-centered research, prototyping, critique, iteration, and embracing of constraints.

Unlike other development processes it makes room for meaning and other questions to be addressed before requirements are solidified.

The entire concept of design can be described as the prcess of meaningful innovation.

6 Dimensions of Experience:
Breadth, Intensity, Duration, Triggers, Interaction, Significance

5 Levels of Significance:
Meaning (Reality), Status/Identity (Values), Emotions (Lifestyle), Price (Value), Function (Performance)

Annotated Bibiliography

‘We believe that if design today does not contribute towards a better way of living, it is both irrelevant and irresponsible. Our vision is to be able to promote ideas more than products. We do not create a new form to seduce you into buying something you do not need.’
(Trubridge, 2009, The Three Baskets of Knowledge, ¶4)

Discuss this statement and debate the pros and cons of sustainable practices in relation to contemporary design. What changes does this issue provoke in contemporary design practice? Include specific examples.

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Bamford, R. & Williamson, L. (2009)., Sustain Me: Contemporary Design. [Exhibition Catalogue]. Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney: UNSW.

Coinciding with The Sydney Design Festival 2009 this exhibition gives insight into the development of sustainable practices in design with current contemporary design examples. ‘Contextualising the exhibition opens up the similarities and differences between the perceived barriers to sustainable design experienced in the past, for example consumer guilt and the aestheticisation of poverty, and provides an opportunity to reflect on how they are, to a greater and lesser extent, resonant today’ (Moline., K., 2009, Tensions Between Sustainability and Design: Third Time Lucky, Sustain Me: Contemporary Design, [Exhibition Catalogue], Ivan Dougherty Gallery, Sydney: UNSW). This is a valuable resource as it provides solid reference points and is theoretically very well considered by lecturers of varying design disciplines whom are at the forefront of this issue.


Borschke, M. (2007)., Designer Guilt: Why Sustainable Design Matters, D*Hub Powerhouse Museum. Retrieved 08-09 from www.dhub.org.

Resource collated by the Powerhouse Museum Sydney discussing various opportunities sustainable awareness offers to designers and ways in which global warming can be seen as one of the most positive catalysts for contemporary design, citing various examples and with Designer’s input. This article provides differing perspectives from scholars, designers and politicians giving insight into both the pros and cons of this movement. This reference is a useful resource because of its solid references and design examples, as well as its provision of a wide range of reactions and perspectives to this issue, each with strong theoretical backing.


Cerver, F. (1998)., The New Modern Furniture Design. New York: Whitney Library of Design.

This book gives an overall view of modern furniture in its many and varied forms. It gives insight into the philosophies of particular prominent designers, specifically furniture designers Charles and Rae Eames. This resource is useful for its insights into processes of material applications and design development, discussing how a culmination of processes and connections forms the final object outcome. Whilst too broad to be a substantial source, relevant design examples will be referenced and this has also broadened research into some of these designers’ specific works.


Clement, G., Borasi, G., & Rahm, P., (2007). Environ(ne)ment: Approaches for Tomorrow. Canada: Skira

Landscape designer Gilles Clement and architect Philippe Rahm present their contrasting visions for contemporary architecture and design through installations designed for the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Considerations surround biological diversity and uses of energy and climate to inform form. This book considers the relation of humans to design and architecture and various outcomes of this relationship are represented through installations, this work is not dissimilar to that of Designer David Trubridge and is useful as an example of sustainable considerations forging their place into contemporary design.


De Botton, A. (2007). The Architecture of Happiness: The Secret Art to Furnishing Your Life. London: Penguin.

Philosopher De Botton discusses the inter-relationship between history and psychology, and architecture and interior design. Investigating what attracts or repels people regarding their surroundings and the effect this has on areas of design or how it might inform design. This book is relevant in that sustainability must not be ignorant of aesthetics and must address philosophical and psychological needs. This resource not directly address sustainability so has clear limitations, however it informs the basis of a broader consideration of contemporary design and its relationship to human needs.


Eat Green Design (2009). Sydney Design 09. Retrieved 08-09 from www.eatgreendesign.com.

Group presenting a temporary sustainable environment created to explore sustainability issues on many levels for individual interpretation. From ecologically intelligent design principles, environmental responsibility in design and architecture, cradle-to-cradle design and rematerialisation, to how the current trends in food consumption translate to the design industry. This endeavour is an interesting example of local initiatives and their effects, which includes reference to lectures by various contemporary designers discussing sustainable processes in their work or research.


Fry, T., (2009). Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics & New Practice. New York: Berg.

The work of Professor Tony Fry who heads the Master of Design course at Queensland University, exposing the limitations of ‘Green Design’ Design Futuring systematically presents ideas and methods for Design as an expanded ethical and professional practice. This book argues that responding to political, social and ecological concerns now requires a new type of practice that recognizes Design’s importance in overcoming a world made sustainable. Focusing specifically on ways in which ethics and sustainability can change the practice of contemporary design. This book provides solid groundwork for discussing the pros and cons of sustainability and its effect on Design practice, though its shortcoming is that it does not provide specific examples of Designers work to substantiate its theoretical base.


Kane, L., (2007). Arranged Marriage: David Trubridge Unites Craft & Design, American Craft. 67 (5), 54-55. New York: American Craft Magazine.

Article on New Zealand-based designer/maker David Trubridge who is on a mission to persuade people that craft and design can coexist. Trubridge's woodworking skills have earned him his reputation within the craft community, and his brilliantly conceived and executed designs have made him a fixture at destination design fairs such as the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York and the Milan Furniture Fair in Italy. To solve the question of how manufacturing can supply the needs of everyone indefinitely, Trubridge proposes that craft's more lasting value should be recognized despite, and even perhaps because of, its often higher price point, and that design should be undertaken with this in mind. Introduces the relationship between sustainability and Design philosophy and intentions. This resource provides an excellent and focussed example of the contemporary practitioner and the effect of the sustainability movement on contemporary object design.


Lehrer, J., (2009). Greener is Smarter, Print. 63(3), 20-22. New York: F&W Media.

Paper discussing the eight reasons why the principles of sustainable design are at the heart of good design. Discusses the effect of the current economic downfall and the positive aspects to be gleaned from this competitive Design climate pushing designers to create the best work possible. This resource is applicable as it provides reference to the relationship between sustainability and graphic design processes, as well as providing additional discussion on the principles of sustainable design which will be an important point to define.


Maze, R., & Redstrom, J., (2008) Switch! Energy Ecologies in Everyday Life. International Journal of Design, 2(3). 55-70. Taiwan: National Taiwan University of Science and Technology.

An overview of the Switch! Design research program, on how interaction and product design can promote awareness of energy use in everyday life. The design of interventions into energy ecologies and the use of design methods as a platform for exposing existing habits and hidden norms as well as for proposing alternative actions and views. These propositions have been developed through practical experimentation and the materialization of design examples. Central to this groups work is the consideration of how critical practice can enable designers to examine concepts and ideologies underlying sustainable design. This article provides a useful example of current practitioners in design and their conceptual considerations of the sustainability issue and direct discussion of how the issue is integrated into or effects their designs.


McDonough, W. & Braungart, M. (2002). Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press.

McDonough and Braungart explain the principle of ‘Waste equals food’ and explain how products can be designed from the offset to provide nourishment for something new. This resource makes the case for putting eco-effectiveness into practice. McDonough & Braungart’s research investigates ways and means of redesigning various products to make them more ecological effective. This book is relevant as it discusses various situations affected by design as influenced or affected by sustainable practices and how they might be improved, as well Designer’s feeling the pressure to create sustainable objects or use sustainable materials in design. The main limitation of this article is that it is a broad reflection on sustainable practice and gives no direct examples relating to object design. This resource will provide a solid basis for further research and is a good starting point for investigation into sustainable design practice.


Shedroff, N., (2009). Design is the Problem: The Future of Design Must Be Sustainable. New York: Rosenfeld Media

Design makes a tremendous impact on the produced world in terms of usability, resources, understanding, and priorities. What is produced and even people’s understanding of how the world works is all affected by the design of models and solutions. This book focuses on the unprecedented opportunity contemporary Designer’s have to use their skills to make meaningful, sustainable change in the world. In Design is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable, Nathan Shedroff examines how the culture of design often creates unsustainable solutions, and shows how designers can include sustainable considerations into their design processes to produce more sustainable solutions. Discussion includes explanations and examples of sustainable practice and how to implement those practices into existing frameworks, which are useful in consideration of this topic.


Shedroff, N., (2008). Design: A Better Path to Innovation, Interactions.15 (6), 35-41. New York: ACM

This magazine article discusses the importance of innovation in design and the relationship between design innovation and sustainability. This should be considered in relation to Shedroff’s work in the previous reference and is on the same topic, this article is useful solely for its introduction of the consideration of design Innovation to this question.


Trubridge, D., (2009), David Trubridge Design. Retrieved 08-09 from www.davidtrubridge.com.

New Zealand based Designer David Trubridge has sustainable core values and creates work with a strong cultural message. As a contemporary object designer Trubridge is a good example of how sustainable practice can be forged into a Designer’s philosophy to enhance their work and its meaning. This site features various interviews with Trubridge on his practices, as well as notes on his philosophy and designs, which are each relevant to this topic.



Young, P., (2009). Work the Green Dream, Journal of Applied Arts. 24(4), 28-32. Berlin: Illustrative.

Article discussing new movements in graphic design and what practices can be implemented to reduce the environmental footprint of contemporary designs. Discusses definitions of sustainability and interpretations related specifically to graphic design practices. Limited in that it discusses no other disciplines, but a valuable resource in consideration of the Graphic discipline.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Isidro Blasco




New York - based Isidro Blasco who combines architecture, photography and sculptural installations to explore vision and perception.

Currently on show:
Dominik Mersch Gallery
2 Danks Street
Waterloo/Sydney
Until August 29th 2009

http://www.dominikmerschgallery.com/Artist.aspx?id=23

Atmosphere, Atmosphere

Bruno Latour
An entry for the catalogue of Olaf Eliasson The Weather Project, New Tate Gallery, 2003, pp. 29-41

see: Peter Sloterdijk, Olafur Eliasson
http://www.petersloterdijk.net/
www.olafureliasson.net/


Olafur Eliasson's installation The Weather Project, Tate Modern (London) 10/16/03 through 03/21/04.


29. Envelopes, spheres, skins, ambiences: these are the real 'conditions of possibility' that philosophy has vainly attempted to dig out of totally inaccessible infrastructures.

Sloterdijk is to philosophy = Eliasson is to art... tired old divisions between wild & domesticated, private & public, technical & organic, are simply ignored, replaced by a set of experimentations on the conditions that nurture our collective lives.

Sciences have expanded to such an extent that they have transformed the whole world into a laboratory, artists have perforce become white coats.

That we are all engaged ina set of collective experiments that have over-spilled the strict confines of the laboratory needs no more proof than reading the newspaper or watching the television news.

We have entered the experimental age... we have no idea how to pursue collective experiments in the confusing atmosphere of a whole culture.

30. The laboratory has extended its walls to the whole planet.

What is the difference between this collective experiment (example:global warming) and what used to be called a 'political' issue? Nothing. ... These experiments made on us, by us and for us have no protocol. No one is in charge.

31. Old English and Old German 'thing' meant a case, a contoversy, a cause to be collectively decided at the 'Thing', the assembly or forum. Icelandic Parliament = Althing. Things = matters of concern.

...tbc

Insider-Outsider Perspectives of Guanxi

Lee Mei Yi & Paul Ellis
Business Horizons
Jan-Feb 2008

25. The preservation of 'face' and the accumulation of favours owed (renqing) are the key drivers underlying the concept of guanxi, which has been defined as personal relations or connections.

From a Chinese perspective, social chaos is avoided, not by institutional law, but by an individual's acceptance of his proper place and role in society. In such an environment, business cannot be conducted without the facilitating role of guanxi.

26. Guanxi denotes a personal relationship / common point of reference or kinship, if not already existent that must be established through social interaction and reciprocal conduct and implication.

27. Severe handicap to outsiders, must invest resources and income to overcome significant cultural barrier. Biased exchange. 'crooked'

guanxi xue - the use of social relations to accomplish tasks

29. guanxi = corruption?

Friday, August 14, 2009

David Trubridge


The Story

The Three Baskets of Knowledge is a new lighting installation, which was on show for the first time at Superstudio Piu in Zona Tortona as part of Milan Design Week.

In the mythology of the New Zealand Maori, after the creation of the earth and life on it, the demigod Tane was sent up to the heavens to receive the knowledge that mankind needed to live on earth. The ascent was a great struggle against adversity, but once he was admitted into the heavens he was given the knowledge in three baskets or kete. Descriptions of the contents vary, depending on the telling, and are freely open to interpretation. You can gather your own knowledge.


Kete Aronui, knowledge of the earth and the natural world, which is for all (body).

Kete Tuauri, our rational knowledge, which we keep for ourselves (mind).

Kete Tuaatea, knowledge of the spiritual world, which we give out for others (spirit).

These three need to be in balance to live harmoniously on earth. Currently our rational knowledge is dominating our spirit and empathy for the earth. This installation suggests a redress to a balanced state. The three lights shine equally on the earth, overlapping at the centre in harmony.

We believe that if design today does not contribute towards a better way of living, it is both irrelevant and irresponsible. Our vision is to be able to promote ideas more than products. We do not create a new form to seduce you into buying something you do not need. We tell stories to nourish and to spread wisdom. This installation is created to feed your mind, your body and your spirit – to give you something to think about, to connect you to nature, and to nourish you spiritually.

Source: www.davidtrubridge.com

Paul Cocksedge, 2005



www.paulcocksedge.co.uk

In “Bulb,” Cocksedge takes three natural elements - electricity, water, and a flower, to create a remarkably simple lamp with dazzling- yet organic properties. Inserted into a vase of water, the flower stem is used to switch on a small halogen light at the base of the “lamp.” The water within the vase then projects the light- as would a lens- and the flower is silhouetted from the glow. Because the conductive property of the sap is what creates the path for current, once the flower dies, the light will go out.

Source: www.inhabitat.com

Human-Centered Design

Richard Buchanan

Buchanan R., (2004) Human-Centered Design: Changing Perspectives of Design Education in the East and West, Design Issues: 20 (1), Winter 2004

30. Market economy emered in the 1980s, new ideas about modern design also entered the country

'arts-and-crafts' toward 'form and function' - Zhou Zhi Wang

uneasy relationship of traditional and modern approaches to design education in China continues to the present

whether and how China can be transformed from the maker of products design elsewhere in the world to an original source of design

'Equipping for the future: An International Conference on Design Education in China'

31. consider whether past practices and theory in Chinese design are suited to the new circumstances of international economic development.

East vs West, similar problems with different solutions, different social and cultural circumstances

32. Chinese Industry cheap labour costs, technical prowess, well skilled and well educated workers. Japan and Koreans surpassed, but wages will inevitably rise - what effect will this have?

***difference will be the future of design thinking - making products desirable abroad and at home

33. in both cultures, Design Ed begins as apprenticeship (?)

similarity: design <> fine arts = 'making', 'poesis' to make = poetry

devision of arts and design in West (not East) - dominant dialectical thought

34. Design Ed <> Art Ed
Obsessions w style and self expression

West broader, East imitation of Masters and style, West humanism - hujman centered approach

'Design is an art of making products that serve people'

West. balance of fine art, engineering, social science and design harmony

35. West - search for knowledge, no longer is design a self contained discipline

36. East obsession w form, West creative problem solving, not troubled w form giving - but repetitious

Western curriculum more diverse

37. Gen Eds, importance in Western cultures of diversity to creative breadth of product

38. research with Masters - interaction design

39. What are the philosophical and theoretical roots of Chinese Design and Design Education that will continue to influence their development?

欢迎进入上海城市规划馆网站


www.supec.org
Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre

Don't let the mundane-sounding name fool you: The Urban Planning Exhibition Centre is the city's monument to itself, stunningly showcasing Shanghai's development, past and present. Follow the crowds upstairs to a 1:500 scale model representing what the city should look like in 2020. You can find every individual building in Shanghai, from tiny one-story alley houses to towering skyscrapers. Anxious residents crane their necks over the model to see if their pleasant French concession houses will be left standing. The museum also features scaled models of yesteryear Shanghai, plus side-by-side photo comparisons of how various intersections looked decades ago and today—the change is mind-boggling.
Open Monday-Thursday 9 am-5 pm, Friday-Sunday 9 am-6 pm.
30 yuan.
100 Renmin Dadao, People's Square, Shanghai.
Phone 6372-2077. http://www.supec.org.

Source: http://www.professionaltravelguide.com/Destinations/Shanghai/See-and-Do/Sightseeing/Attractions/Museums/Shanghai-Urban-Planning-Exhibition-Centre-p1733421

Porosity & Richard Goodwin



Porosity Studio est. 1996

Ancient Chinese scholars were fascinated with porous rocks that became known as 'scholar rocks'. The more richly porous the structures were, balancing air with mass, the more valuable they became.

The 'Sierpensky Sponge', a theoretical cube which is infinitely porous and hence: 'more than a surface, less than a volume'
(Ursprung, Phillip. (2003) p. 487)

Porosity: The revision of public space in a city using public art to test the functional boundaries of built form.

The vision of the city as a landscape, which responds to the nomadic movements of the pedestrian. Porosity research will map nomadic space and overlay it with sendentary space.

East vs West / Teacher vs Student Centred Learning

www.richard-goodwin.com

The Future Cultures of Design


Prof. Kees Dorst

Discussion 'on the value different cultures can bring to the design professions'. 1

'cultural roots of the design professions are defined by Western thought'. 1

'Modernist design has lost its original ideological grounding. It has now become more of a stylistic preference than a way of constructing a better future world'. 2

'The impact of Modernism has been huge: through Modernism the Western cultures have lost their own ornamental languages, and Western designers have lost the very ability to create ornaments.' 2

Conflict between creating good modern design & being faithful to cultural tradition. 2

'In a complex world, we need all the richness of the different human expressions in the world cultures to feed into our design repertoire.' 3

'We need to understand that ... the way values are seen and created within a culture must be the basis for construing of design within that culture.' 3

Design as a child of Western thought. 3

Descriptors of Cultural Difference; Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance, Long Term Orientation / 'face'. 5

Cultural Codes & Value Systems: Shamanic, Indian/Tibetan, Chinese/Japanese, Revelation Religions, Western Scientific. 8

'Chinese/Japanese tradition seeks harmony with the world: it sees the world as the dynamic operation of opposite forces (like Yin-Yang), where the attainment of balance is a key goal.' 8


Source: Dorst, K. (2008), The Future Cultures of Design, UTS
http://www.keesdorst.nl

The Shanghai Riddle, 2008


Transformation

Maarten BAAS
Contrasts Gallery
Shanghai
15-08-08 to 04-09-08

Baas:
'Wood is not possible to melt. But yet it seems to melt. What is that? You don't actually know what it happening, but you just accept that it is happening.'

Drawing his inspiration from the city of Shanghai, Baas says: 'They do things you just couldn't find in Holland. There are so many contrasts over there. You don't know if something is new or old or fake or real or traditional or modern. This makes a kind of mixture which you can't understand, you just accept it.'

Baas has characterised Shanghai as 'a city full of contradictions, old/new, high tech/low tech, tradition/revolution, fake/real, cheap/expensive, original/copy. Together all these contradictions seem to form a big and interesting paradox, the complexity of which you can't exactly define. What you can feel is the atmosphere, the energy coming from it, a kind of chemical reaction to what's happening'.

Source: IconEye & Wallpaper* Online

Return Brief 101

  • Project Background
  • Problem
  • Research: Covered & Not Yet Covered
  • Research Categories: Contextual, Historical, Ecological, Social, Conceptual
  • Precedents
  • Aims & Objectives
  • Aims Categories: Designer & Client: Ecological, Social, Aesthetic, Functional, Practical, Materials, Manufacture
  • Desired Outcomes
  • Target Audience
  • Ecosystems & People at Risk
  • Required Skills: in house / outsourced
  • Costing: Stage 1: Research & Contextual Development
  • Stage 2: Idea Development
  • Stage 3: Prototyping Project
  • Timeline