Angela's intangible problem , tangible design

Intangible Problem: Loss of Heritage and Skills

First off, here's an excellent article on design and craftsmanship (http://www.abitare.it/highlights/how-do-you-link-traditional-crafts-to-contemporary-design/). It addresses handicrafts, model-making, and using CAD for design. These designers discuss where is the "happy-medium" where we can design with the handicrafts in mind while still using machinery to get our designs produced.

Aside from that, worldwide there is a loss of traditions, values, and skill sets. Ranging from East Asian Lacquerware to Indian Costume Making, there has been a mass-disintegration of meaningful techniques and age-old systems. We currently live in a world where the products we consume are made thousands of miles away and traditional know-how is no longer valued.

One company that is dealing with the loss of craftsmanship is UNESCO. (http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=2081) One of the safe-guarding techniques they are using strengthens local markets and also targets new markets, by selling the products on the Internet.

Here's a video on the last Swill Basket Maker from 2006: (unforunately the video doesn't show up when embedding) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnFockM5ok I found the product he created to be fascinating.

In France, a system known as "Maitre d'Art" was established. It honors noble craftsmen of France from jewelry makers to haute couture tailors. The idea of this acknowledgment was to bring appreciation and awareness to fine crafts. A program was also set up by the Comite Colbert (started by Jean-Jacques Guerlain in 1954) where high standards of learning are set for young students or apprentices in order to preserve the traditions of craftsmen. Below are just several images of the craftsmen and techniques they use.

karen tinney - intangible problems

Because I am still interested in a variety of issues, I chose to explore three different intangible problems which I think are somewhat related to one another.

UNEMPLOYMENT IN AMERICA:

OBAMA’S GREEN JOBS: The intangible problem which this system addresses is unemployment in America. The plan works towards creating jobs in American manufacturing communities while working towards the greater problem of climate change and oil shortages which plague us all. The problem of unemployment is intangible because it is tied to greater political and social implications and is a result of greater changes taking place in the world. This design scheme addresses this problem while also addressing another.  It takes a problem which must be immediately fixed (global warming) while serving to benefit those who are in need in America (the unemployed). It is also interesting that there are numerous products that could come out of this – if many manufacturing communities are involved in this plan we will come out with many technological solutions based on the resources of that specific area.

PRESERVING TRADITION

EPA’S BROWNFIELD PROJECT: This project works towards solving the intangible problem of preserving tradition. This problem is intangible because the preservation of tradition requires an incentive to keep our material histories alive. This project solves this by treating that history and tradition as food for new and useful objects. The restoration and re-development of mills helps to reconnect communities (as mills are commonly placed at the heart of towns) by providing new housing or even new jobs if the mills are restored to technologically current factories.

LOCAL DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING IN AN INCORPORATED SOCIETY.

ETSY AND PONOKO: These two systems of manufacturing and distribution address the intangible problem of local design and manufacturing in an incorporated society. This problem is intangible because it is tied to the greater nature of capitalism and the inability for local design and manufacturing to become successful and competitive compared to outsourced goods. These two companies target specific customers (those who are interested in local goods and handmade objects) and link them to sellers who can serve them. I think these two companies are interesting as sources for young designers to begin getting things manufactured (Ponoko) and for getting their name out there and developing a customer base (Etsy). 

CHELSEA BRIGANTI: INTANGIBLE PROBLEMS

INTANGIBLE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH STEM CELL IMPLEMENTATION:

_GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS

_ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

_PUBLIC UNEASINESS

_THE 'RELIGIOUS RIGHT'/ 'RIGHT TO LIFE' ORGANIZATIONS

_PUBLIC EDUCATION ON STEM CELLS

_EMPATHY

[ORGANIZATIONS/ SYSTEMS WORKING TO ADDRESS INTANGIBLE PROBLEMS]

"Stem cells are engines of creation and chaos, any change they make may affect the very nature of humanity and will make us all ultimately question who-or what we are becoming."-Christopher Thomas Scott, "Stem Cell Now"

"Stem cells are the key to therapeutic cloning and regenerative medicine."-Michael Bellomo, "The Stem Cell Divide"

"Stem Cells are capable of becoming any type of cell in the human body."-Michael Bellomo, "The Stem Cell Divide"


"There are currently 400,000 frozen human embryos in the U.S that might be thrown away--why not use them to enable life-saving research?" -Dr. James Thompson, stem cell scientist

THE FUTURE FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH HAS JUST BEEN MADE MORE "TANGIBLE" WITH THE HELP OF FEDERAL FUNDING, THANKS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA. BELOW IS HIS PUBLIC SPEECH ADDRESSING THE ISSUE:

Andrea Kim: Assignment 4 - Intangible Problem

Intangible problem:

Many different types of issues may arise when a child becomes aware that he or she may have been adopted. With this particular situation, there is no set outcome. Some may embrace their adoptive family and have no interest in their birth family, whereas others may constantly wonder. Timing is a huge factor; finding out at the age of 5 is different to finding out at the age of 30. Situations like having Caucasian parents as an Asian child may stir up a different type of emotion. Being adopted may bring feelings of loss, rejection, low self-esteem, curiosity, or guilt. A loss of identity may occur because the child may not know the who, where, when, and why. Health issues are another concern because of the inability to access to medical histories. (Depending on the biological parent who wants to keep the information open or not.)

I think this is an intangible problem because it is an issue that has many answers. It changes from person to person. This intangible problem can also be seen and understood in the view of the parent who gave up the child.

Possible solutions:

Websites such as:

http://www.givenright.com/

http://www.isrr.net/about_isrr.shtml

http://reunion-registries.adoption.com/

Internet searches are a method that can be used to find a parent(s). Hiring an investigator or an agency to seek biological parents is another option. This issue is interesting because there is no physical object you can give to a person and expect it to solve something.

JAKE SHAPIRO : intangible problem

I have always been interested in the idea of incorporating technology with nature. Technology, to me is a result of our seperation from nature. I think a lot of solutions lie in the blending of the line between the two.






Intangible problem: Clean water. It's expensive it takes a lot of process and it gives off carbon emissions. Only a small percent of our water is drinkable and we have managed to contaminate a great deal of it.

Tangible solution: The Living Machine. This "machine" mimics natures very own Britta Filter. Wetlands do the same thing our huge inefficient water treatment plants do, only a lot better. By harnessing elements from nature and incorporating them into our own systems we can efficiently and safely clean waste water.

Haewon_Intangible problem and object

Rob Spalding

Design and the Elastic Mind: SoMo3 by Chrispin Jones, Graham Pullin, Anton Schubert, and Mat Hunter

During this upcoming thesis year, I am interested in exploring twenty-first century etiquette—specifically the decline of these social practices in favor of technology or simply less refined behavior. SoMo3 addresses the former issue. Technology is introduced into our lives at such a rapid pace that our social behavior is strongly impacted from sheer surprise. Social norms continue to become outdated and updated on a daily basis, leading humans to question (or not question, as the case may be) the line between private and public, acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Appropriately, SoMo3 attempts to use its interface to allow users to decide when and where they can make phone calls on their mobile phones. According to MoMA’s website, “the Social Mobiles are not working products but rather sparks for further discussion about the social impact of mobile phones. The SoMo3 musical phone requires its user to play the melody of a telephone number to make a call; the public performance of dialing is a test of whether or not it is appropriate to make a call.” The intangible problem here is the etiquette of making a call in a public space. SoMo3 is its tangible solution (though it is, unfortunately, not in production).
I appreciate this solution because it transforms the use of a mobile phone into a hyperbole of itself—tones we associate with making a private call become the propellant for social awareness, letting the user know that no call in a public space is private. In other words, the designers have used already-existing properties of mobile phones to solve their problem instead of bringing in a new interface. They have accentuated the idea of a public call as performance by integrating a more concrete concept of performance—a musical instrument. The idea of playing an instrumental solo in a public place has been unchanged by technology (read: mortifying to most people), thus the SoMo3 is a successful thought provoker and behavior modifier.

Now…if only this could be reality.

Energy and New York City

Map is designed to provide information of the specific location. This green map is designed to provide information about New York City in terms of energy. This map indicates both problems and solutions, which is created to promote energy awareness and action in New York City. There are total three maps that each map provides different information, and they are categorized in wake up call, Energy bright side, and powerful investments. Each section provides current problem, and solution that involves people with daily life style, and investments.

We live in the city, and energy is the engine that actually runs the city to activate. However, we are only looking at the city because energy is intangible. The green map is a product that provides visual information about energy, and creates awareness of energy and action.

Intangible Problem- Carl Frisk

Public transportation in large cities is commonplace, but many citizens understand that there is a much faster way to get around, by bicycle. Because of this many cities around the world have begun taking cues from Copenhagen and improving their accessibility to ride bicycles in the city and provide public usage of bikes. Some problems with cycling in the city include storage, safety, and maintenance. This can all be solved with the implementation of a city-wide bike sharing program. The most successful programs are not simply city-funded bike rentals, they are complete transportation systems involving analysis of traffic patterns and the initiative to make big changes to the existing infrastructure if needed. The intangible outcomes of the bike-sharing programs include improved health through exercise, improved air quality, fewer cars with less time spent looking for parking spaces, and reduced noise pollution. With all these elements already in place, Copenhagen has begun to improve other areas of its citizens lives. They are now seeking to provide the city with 20% organic food and are taking on the goal of becoming the cleanest city in Europe and the world.

With cities like Paris, Barcelona, and Beijing all recently introducing improved bike-sharing programs, Copenhagen has opened up a design competition to improve upon their currently outdating system. They're seeking to provide an attractive product for the city's guests that is easily integrated and implemented in the existing city.
A link to the competition page: http://www.cphbikeshare.com/default.aspx

The Luxury of Less

Interesting discussion on the availability and possible excess of choice. Choices can provide happiness, but too much choice can also limit happiness.



The Curation Cure
Interesting IDEO Article relating to similar themes

Intangible Problem: Made in Transit

Made in Transit by Agata Jaworska changes the way we manage and preserve food. Switching food preservation schemes from "best before" to "ready by" Jaworska proposes a new scheme for food distribution and freshness. Food is harvested while in the packaging rather than preserved by it, hence, it provides slower transport for the supplier and food quality is mantained at its best by the time it reaches the consumer.
This project exemplifies small immediate changes designers can propose in order begin to shift the trend towards standardization, centralization and identical products to the cultivation of quality. Local economies are shaping the new framework for design innovation and the new "multi-local society" (as Ezio Manzini calls it) success will also depend on the ability of these economies to exchange local traits. Slower transportation and respect for food natural processing appear to be a more viable solution for local food exchange without compromising quality. Resources are saved by not having to implement further preservation methods but instead working with the natural process of food.
The intangible design opportunity is the transformation of current production and consumption paradigms. Made in Transit targets a specific area of the chain and improves it as it offers benefits to several parts of the system (producer, supplier, consumer). A shift of perspective on food preservation results in a smarter and more efficient way to deliver increased freshness.

Monica Bhatia: Intangible problem to a Tangible solution

I started reading this book the other day called The Science of Fear: Why We Fear the Things We Shouldn't--and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger by Daniel Gardner and am interested in incorporating the idea of fear into my interests in education , fun, irresponsibility, adults, and public space. At the beginning of the book Gardner points out that after 9/11 the amount of air travel greatly decreased for almost a year. It's understandable that people were afraid, so car travel increased immensely! And because of all the people driving the amount of accidents increased as well. But all these people never realized that this was because of an irrational reaction to fear.

Intangible problem: Parents afraid of children playing outside without supervision, going to the park by themselves, meeting strangers, crossing the street by themselves, and all the other bad things that could happen when you let your precious child out of your sight.

Tangible solution: With the Wii you can play sports, learn an instrument, play with friends (real ones or made up ones), dance, be a hero, drive, go to a carnival, bake a cake, build a bear, answer trivia, and do so many other things in front of your TV.

Of course I don't think that this is the best solution, but it is interesting the way video game meets reality in a new way where movement is largely accounted for, different controllers are used to not let us forget the history of whatever you're playing, and it is safe.

Intangible Problem

Tangibility as an Incentive For Consumers to Help

In an article I recently read, The Turn Towards Tangibility, I was inspired by a story about a consumer’s incentive to the buy the BoGo (Buy One/ Give One) flashlight from Sun Night Solar. In developing countries, two billion people rely on kerosene lanterns (expensive given petrochemical rise and Global Warming- carbon dioxide), candles (not adequate light) and single use battery flashlights (expensive and can result in groundwater battery contamination) for lighting at night. In developing countries children are able to read and learn at night when they have been working all day with Sun Night Solar’s photovoltaic charged LED flashlight. It’s an opportunity for a brighter future. While a consumer buys the flashlight for $25 he/she is donating one to a non-for profit in Africa. The consumer’s flashlight is a tangible reminder of someone using the product in Africa.

“As a new form of philanthropy, the “Buy One, Give One” phenomenon has stolen the hearts and wallets of many philanthropists, as well as those who have never donated money to overseas causes before. Instead of the money disappearing into an organization, people know exactly what they are giving because they get it too. It’s a win-win with tangible consequences."

Amanda Huffingham

Intangible Problem by David Lee

FIRST

INTANGIBLE PROBLEM:
The specific problem addressed by FIRST is a lack of interest in science and innovation in children today. However, Dean Kamen believes that the solution for this problem holds the potential to solve many of the world larger issues.



SOLUTION:
Dean Kamen in a speech prepared for the First Competition
"We need you to be able to tackle energy challenges, advance our abilities in medicine, and develop entire new industries. Innovation is absolutely an essential part of the solution. Even before the current financial crisis, we were in a deep competitive hole. Too many people were making money from money, or money from flipping houses and hamburgers. Too few were using hard-earned science and engineering skills to devise real solutions. We need more of you to make your investment in learning and thinking — to be innovators. But we have to hurry. World leaders may be able to bail out the banks by printing money, but you can't bail out a generation by printing diplomas. It takes hard work, but it's worth it."

FIRST seeks to stimulate interest in science and technology in today's youth through competitive robotics competitions. Another goal is to change a culture that has higher regard for the talents of star athletes than the abilities of scientists who are making breakthroughs in science and medicine.

By inspiring future generations to seek careers in science, the goal is to encourage the future innovators who will find the cure for cancer, develop cold fusion, and create the technical solutions that will make the world a better place.



























Metrics
According to a 2005 Brandeis University study comparing non-FIRST students and FIRST participants, FIRST students are significantly more likely to go to college, get graduate degrees, and volunteer in their communities. Additionally, they are twice as likely to pursue careers in science and technology, and four times as likely in engineering. (from PopSCI)

Learn more about First founder Dean Kamen


Organizations with different solutions to this Intangible Problem

Austin Children's Museum
Engineering Sunday - explore engineering first hand through playful activities presented in collaboration with students from The University of Texas's Cockrell School of Engineering. Sponsored by the Monsanto Fund (Focus Areas: Nutritional Improvement through Agriculture, Healthy Environment, Science Education and Our Communities)














Maker Faire
An event created by Make Magazine featuring DIY projects resembling a carnival with science and technological wonders replacing human oddities with mechanical ones. Inspires interest in technology through exibition of homemade mechanical marvels.

Intangible Problem [Leigh Ann]

Intangible Problem:

The American public has lost the agricultural knowledge that used to sustain us. Children and adults do not understand the origins of their food, how or what elements effect the production of food, or what foods are native and seasonal in their geographical region. This problem is intangible because it has to do with knowledge; it is not a functional or systematic problem, but it is one that will effect the function of our bodies and our food system.

Solutions:

School Farm Programs: These programs educate children about growing food with hands-on experience. Kids get to see the progress from seed to food as they learn how to take care of plants and the land. Their experience in the garden is often reinforced throughout their curriculum in the classroom. In some programs, like the Edible Schoolyard, cooking the food they grow is also part of the learning experience.

Edible School Yard (Berkeley, CA)

Added Value (Red Hook Community Farm)

Ag in the Classroom (California)

Alemany Farm (San Francisco, CA)

Empowerment Through Food (Brooklyn, NY)

Community Garden Guide: Community gardens encourage people of all ages to come together and learn about growing. Especially in urban settings, it gives people who are typically more disconnected from nature a chance to experience working with the land. People are given a space to foster community, but they also have a space that teaches them first hand about the possibilities and limits of our environment.

ASG Grow Kit: This kit includes materials to build a garden bed, seeds for planting, tools for kids to help gardening, and curriculum materials for teaching about agriculture. This is an easy way to set up a smaller version of school farming program.

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture: Stone Barns is a farm, education center, and restaurant that aims to promote community-based food production. By opening their doors to the public, people can visit and learn about the farm as well as participate in classes and workshops about food preparation.

Social Entrepreneurship. haha.

thought this was pretty darn great. very funny. watch the end...

Eliana Alborta: Design Precedents

Design Precedents

Product Value_YooRi Lee

Not Design Related

A song for all you hip-hop heads. Enjoy.