The flavor of invention - oscillating tension belts may answer questions poised by microturbines

Inspired by the vibrations wind forces produced upon the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Shawn Frayne suspended a taut membrane with coils between two small magnets which, when exposed to a low wind can create enough electricity to power small devices such as lighting or clock radios. The current project was developed for rural areas without electrical infrastructure however it is hoped that the current design can be scaled up somewhat to produce more power without the inevitable noise problems.

There is a pretty snazzy video interview and some diagrams on this Popular Mechanics webpage.

While not every idea solves every problem perfectly, it is little ideas like this that I really appreciate as they show how solutions to our perceived problems could already be staring us right in the face.

All we have to do is learn how to look around.

The 'Euc' is back...

I was trying to remember the last time I was at the Euclid Tavern. I can almost pick it out of the smokey haze of what I assume are high school memories. Was it that long ago? Was it the first time I had seen a 'Church of the Subgenius' sticker outside of the house?

I suppose growing up in the abundance of Cleveland folk-lore and surrounded by the hopes and dreams of living in a vibrant rock and roll city gave the Euclid Tavern a reputation that may be hard to live up to.

Regardless. Among years of rumors and months of speculation the Tavern has thrown open its doors and is already booking musical acts to rekindle of legacy of a primier local venue.

I suppose now it is our job to support it.

Euclid-tavern.com

-special thanks to Marc at studioTechne for the heads up.

Millenium School Competition

Millenium School Competition

Registration Deadline - 2008 Feb.29 (leap year day!)

I know I have started throwing some competitions up here lately as the season is beginning (I don't know why so many always hit in the winter to spring time), usually at great inconvienence to myself and my schedule (dang it) however with all the recent discussion on how difficult it is to get your message/talent/vision out there I find these idea competitions a wonderful way to at least keep the mind nice and agile.

The Millenium School is a "design competition for school buildings in developing countries located in the tropics". Designs have to withstand many natural forces (typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes) as well as be cost effective and have use and site flexibility. Sounds like a fun project for anyone.

You can read more about the mission and timeline on the web site that would probably be more succint and current than I could keep here.

Viktor Schreckengost passes away

Word came down the wire today that Viktor Schreckengost had passed away Saturday while visiting family in Tallahassee, Florida.

A spry 101 Viktor will be remembered fondly for his toys (I remember my pedal wagon fondly), his prolific love of functional design and the creation of Cleveland Institute's of Art Industrial Design Department.

A native Ohioan who had currently resided in Cleveland Heights he will be sorely missed. Cleveland lost an amazing talent this weekend.

resources:

Viktor Schreckengost dot org

Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion - in preparation of the 26th.

I couldn't make the upcoming LAUNCH trip to the Glass Pavilion so I packed up the car, grabbed the delightful MarJ and headed west towards Toledo.

We first went through the Museum of Art (due diligence states we had to see the main building since we were there anyway). I could go into all the pieces that I saw and enjoyed at that museum but really I was mostly just excited to cross the street and look at the Glass Pavilion.

My first thought was that it was a lot 'shorter' than it seemed in pictures which is fine. My second thought was 'Gee, that is quite a bit of curved glass, I wonder where it all came from'. I remember from an MMFX conference that large curved glass sheets are difficult to come by in the States. A little digging led us to the information that the glass was from China but curved in Germany before finding a home in Toledo. Quite the environmental footprint.

It was also uncovered that the plenum between the exterior glass skin and the interior rooms was heated in winter (while the main interior spaces were cooled) and that the 'wasted space' between the walls was to achieve the proper thermal barrier.

Regardless the building was quite nice. MarJ and I couldn't decide if it was the vistas or the way that the interior views were constantly layered and reflected that allowed such a 'raw' and 'cold' building to seem warm, welcoming and at times, intimate.

I spent quite a bit of time pointing out the fine detailing (much to MarJ's chagrin I am sure) and would like to congratulate the teams that constructed the building, the client for taking such an amazing leap of faith and of course SANAA for pushing forward with such a beautiful design.

I won't go on further as you should take the trip yourself.

We are all in this together...

Earlier this week the True Art Gallery in Collinwood, Ohio was broken into. 33 art pieces by various local independent artists were taken as well as some of the 'usual business fair' of a computer, stereo system and the gallery phones.

One has to wonder the intent of stealing from a local gallery that is showing typically 'unknown' work. Not only would it be extremely difficult to profit from taking these pieces (I have no idea where you sell them) some of them were rather large and cumbersome so it wasn't a matter of sheer convenience.

Whether this will truly be a blow to the burgeoning Collinwood Area which is currently undergoing a renaissance of sorts is yet to be seen. It may just be the event to catalyze the neighborhood to unify for greater security and safety by spurring inhabitants to keep a better watch on the street and to call in suspicious behavior to the local police.

My heart goes out to the owners of True Art Gallery and the artists and I hope that the pieces can be found and returned.

A $500 reward is being offered for information on the theft. Call 216.486.0859 or the Cleveland police at 216.623.5618.

LAUNCH Roadtrip - Toledo Art Museum Glass Pavilion

Back Seat Architect: Toledo Glass Pavilion
Saturday, January 26th, 2008

In the spirit of seeing what the world has to offer (at least our conveniently located corner) and in lieu of the last roadtrip up to the Henry Ford Museum and Cranbrook some members of the local LAUNCH community (who's new website I am attempting to work on in all my spare time) are organizing another roadtrip to sunny Toledo. Home of the Mud Hens, Klinger, Pilkington Glass and the first non-smoking music venue I ever went to.

This funtime excursion will be to explore the Toledo Glass Pavilion which was designed by SANAA ltd. of which Kazuyo Sejima will be lecturing at Carnegie Mellon on Jan. 22nd.

I suggest if you have the time, would like to talk design with some local folks or just want an excuse to visit the Delmenhorst of the Midwest I would suggest you see Bradley of ClevelandDesignCity who is organizing this event about sharing a ride (save the planet and all that).

White House Redux Competition

What if you were wanting to design what the White House would look like today? Well, it seems you have the chance.

Introducing the White House Redux ideas competition being held by Storefront for Art and Architecture

JURY

Stefano Boeri (Editor-in-chief, Abitare magazine, Milan)
Beatriz Colomina (Director of the Program in Media and Modernity, Princeton University)
Liz Diller (Diller Scofidio + Renfro, New York)
John Maeda (President Elect, Rhode Island School of Design RISD)
Geoff Manaugh (BLDGblog and Dwell magazine, San Francisco)
Mark Wigley (Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Columbia University)
Laetitia Wolff (Editorial director, Surface magazine, New York)


PRIZES

The best competition entries from around the world will be exhibited in the Storefront Gallery (New York) in July 2008, and in a special page on the gallery's website. They will also be published in Surface magazine. The authors of the three best projects, as chosen by the jury, will be flown to New York and given three day's free accommodation in The White House Hotel on the Bowery.

First Prize $5,000
Second Prize $3,000
Third Prize $1,500


TIMELINE

January 15, 2008 Competition launched
March 1, 2008 Online submissions accepted
April 20, 2008 Registration and submissions deadline
May 2008 Jury selects winners
May 2008 Winners announced
July 2008 Exhibition and prizegiving at Storefront for Art and Architecture, NYC

Breuer Tower...what can I say. We were smiled upon. Or at least we got a wink and a nod.

There really isn't all that much that I can add to the seemingly incessant coverage of the former Ameritrust Building being being purchased by K&D for $35,005,000.00 today (is the new sales tax part of that?).
K&D is a development group based out of Willoughby, Ohio who does quite a bit of residential development including the, at times, regrettable Stonebridge Condos.

However, one cannot overlook K&D's optimistic outlook for the city. I for one am entirely in favor of the former Marcel Breuer masterpiece being converted into a residential tower (in part) and would actually investigate a cost analysis upon whether it would be at all beneficial to call the tower a domicile. It would be closer to work cutting my commute to mere minutes, I wouldn't have to ever drive into the city at rush hour (unless coming home from someplace else), I could threaten people with my inferred tough demeanor gained by actually living downtown and I could research and document all the amazing places downtown that I ignore on my journey to and from home to work. Heck,I may even purchase enough junk by my own person to necessitate the increase in county jobs by at least one person.

Regardless of how much the building is worth, how much was spent on it and the effort it took us to get here (thanks again to Susan Miller and crew) I would like sigh a brief sigh of relief that I won't have to witness much more ham handed demolition done in the name of some special person who gives all bearded people a negative persona. I am sure his family is very nice, and although I don't like the tie in the picture on his website I am sure he has plenty of nice ones at home that he saves for special occasions.

It has been a big day. I am going to bed.

Check out the ClevelandDesignCity for more such amazing and well crafted/spell checked articles.

Also, what will come of all this? Oh man, are we in for a DOOZY!

Roadtrip - Fuller/ Noguchi and Eero Saarinen

This past Sunday a few of the Cleveland LAUNCH members decided to head up to Detroit to check out the Buckminster Fuller/ Isamu Noguchi exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum and the Eero Saarinen exhibit at Cranbrook Art Museum.

As a special guest (having worked with Eero and student of Fuller, as well as being a Cleveland architectural institution himself) Peter van Dijk was able to join us.

With Detroit being only 3 hours from Cleveland the LAUNCH team decided to take its first impromptu roadtrip and check out the 'local' exhibits. The Buckminster Fuller/Isamu Noguchi exhibit was first on our list. Included was an actual Dymaxion House as well as some sculpture, a Dymaxion Car, some tensigrity models and a few films.

Heading North for half an hour brought us to Boomfield Hills, home of Eero Saarinen's old office and Cranbrook CEC. Unfortunately our Cranbrook alum was unable to make this particular trip (for he no doubt would have steered us to some fine establishments for sustenance, instead we had flaming table side cheeseburgers). The campus of Cranbrook is rather amazing, sprinkled with fine buildings, sculptures and parks. I was lucky enough to visit once during Graduate school at Kent State and was immediately jealous that I did not take that option.

Regardless the Saarinen exhibit was huge. Various models, construction drawings, full scale mock-ups, photos and films overwhelmed the senses. I was trapped admiring the details and hand drawn construction documents for the TWA terminal for quite some time. Once in a while Pete would pull one of us over to a particular exhibit to tell us a story about someone who worked on it or working on the project himself. There were cartoons and photos of the staff on a far wall which were typically being admired by those of us in the profession. Luck also aligned for one of Pete's old coworkers from Saarinen's office to happen to be at the exhibit at the same time as us and we were lucky enough to be introduced.

In fact the whole trip was amazing, in fact I am more than willing to go back. There is something about seeing an exhibition of successful and impressive work that really does invigorate and excite me. I am constantly surprised at how simple it is to really grab some fellows and head out for a quick daytrip to admire some well done work.

I am quite sure that the LAUNCH group will be organizing more trips to come.
*cough cough*

resources:
"Reconsidering Eero" Metropolis Magazine
The Buckminster Fuller exhibit ends the 15th of January
The Saarinen Cranbrook exhibit ends the 30th of March

Great Design Can Change the World...

Rule number one according to Sir Michael Bichard the current director of the UK's Design Council.

The Design Council is a government organization that strives to "...helping business become more successful, public services more efficient and designers more effective." On their site they have a nice collection of case studies regarding challenging the status quo for good design.

Bichard has also helped come up with these "Five Rules of Design"

1. Great design can change the world and move people
2. If you think good design is expensive you should look at the real cost of bad design
3. Design, creativity and innovation are essential if we are to meet the global challenges of sustainable development
4. Design is not just about products and communications, it's also increasingly in the services we receive or buy
5. To consume design is a creative act - and everyone can be creative!

While I may not agree entirely with all the rules (perhaps withholding any consumption is an act of design by inaction) I find it interesting that a governmental body would create a "national strategic body for design" and am curious to delve into how that sort of agency would work in the United States. It isn't that they police design, calling out what is considered poor ideas, but instead utilize funding and agency research to further design base businesses which almost sounds akin to National Endowment of the Arts but is more business related.

Instead of being used as a reference guide or a council of decision makers per say, the Design Council instead acts as an information aggregator and business advisor which attempts to help businesses boost competitiveness through the use of good design strategies.

I thought this went pretty well with the current posts, especially Roger K. Lewis's article on design review boards

Fun Resources:
Downloaded Design Council Resources

Ganked from Core 77

Core 77 - Greener Gadgets Design Competition

Greener Gadgets Design Competition

Can we save the world through good design? A lot of people think so. I know I would like to think so.

Core 77 and the Greener Gadgets Conference have announced a design innovation competition "to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle and social development."

Submissions can be accepted until January 27th, 2008 at 11.59 pm EST
Finalists will be notified January 29th, 2008

Finalists will be shown at the February 1st, 2008 Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City.

Granted the competition seems to be laid on quickly but I think there is plenty of time to finesse out some of those ideas I bet most of you have kicking around your noggins. Prizes are US$2500 for first and US$1000 for both of the runners up.

Intent:
Design Brief
We're inviting designers to explore the concept of "Greener Gadgets." Designs should seek to minimize the environmental impact of consumer electronic devices at any stage in the product lifecycle. Areas of sustainability to consider include:

1. Energy
2. Materials / Lifecycle / Recycling
3. Social & educational development

Participants are encouraged to consider their designs as part of the entire product ecosystem, and should think as holistically as possible. Designers may choose to focus their entries on a particular area of human enterprise (learning, playing, communicating, etc.), or a particular context (work, home, school, etc.), a particular material, or a specific device. Entries may also seek to create new paradigms for products and services

Ultimately, we are looking for "great gadgets" of the greener kind.

A Public Arbiter of Good Design - Design Review Boards

What is the basis for the arbitrary regulation of design?

I mean seemingly arbitrary regulation. I suppose that statement stems from the provision that unless design aesthetics reflect a thought process inherent within a specific project than the application of "design" as a commodity, is relatively arbitrary. Which of course must be justified and judged by a relatively arbitrary collection of judges (the design review board) that may or may not render their decision based upon a understanding of intent any more than personal preference.

Roger K. Lewis of the Washingtonpost argues that while land use and zoning regulations have a practical and legal backing most design reviews are hard to quantify. Personal taste and opinion may unduly influence critique in such a manner as to be detrimental to the community that would be affected by a proposed project. Once the possibility of political and personal intents are added to the equation the entire design review process becomes even more dubious.

There are the classic murmurs how those with an intimate familiarity with design should take the time and effort to populate their community's design review boards, however many people find these positions an easy way to feel important/connected and to profess personal ideologies upon a community that may or may not follow the same beliefs. One colleague stated, when I had considered joining my local design review committee (which I ended up not submitting a CV for), was that I "must not have enough work to keep me busy" with the assertion that those on the review boards are not talented enough to find enough work so instead they critique (similar to the adage that those that cannot do, teach) which is such a seemingly bitter statement that it doesn't even deserve a rebuttal.

Instead I agree with Lewis, that design review boards would do well to create a set of community standards and ideals, to maintain a high level of professionalism and intellect on the board coupled with a passion for the community that would be indicative of a strong belief system and personal reverence for the neighborhood that are, in effect, being protected. Only through creating a raised level of expectations for design can communities elevate the inferred value that is placed upon aesthetics and the rigor of problem solving. Whether the boards should be elected positions or even how this level of decorum would be maintained is beyond me. I don't profess to have all the answers (all the time) but I do suggest that systems in place and effect are continuously questioned in order to prove that they are working to our benefit and that they are still effective.

It isn't so much that I feel design review boards are a flawed system, or even that my personal interaction with them has been awful. Instead I found the article interesting in the assertion of how the system could be improved to the advantage of the design community and the 'city' as a whole.

Harnessing the awesome heat power of...people

We have all been in places where the crush of human bodies has resulted in uncomfortable temperatures. In some places this unavoidable occurrence can only be countered with a large mechanical cooling system.

Until someone discovers a way to utilize this energy.

The Stockholm Central Station is configuring a mechanical system that instead of simply removing the excess heat from station they intend to capture this energy to heat an adjacent office building.

The proposed system will utilize a closed loop heat transfer system that will distribute water warmed up by people in the Central Station to a new office building that will house a small hotel and a few shops.

The additional cost of the pipes and pumps is not, by itself, cheap. However projections of system use offer a 20% reduction in energy use from a standard heating system that when added to overall cost of the building makes the added cost seem "not that much" according to Karl Sundholm of Jerhuset, a property administration company run by Swedish government.

If proved viable restructuring building systems to take advantage of the occupant usage instead of merely treating building program as a 'problem to be solved' may become an effective way to structure design solutions for occupied projects. Besides generating power (don't forget to check out this link on crowd farming) I wonder what other potential solutions are in the proposal phase...