Philosophy of Chairs and Interfaces

This counts as a rumination

Furniture Designers Are Shifting Focus

In the course of reading my daily dose of news I came across this article on whether the world needs another chair, or a review of the Milan Furniture Fair. The review takes a pretty hard line against frivolous design and ornament without a justification for existence. Adolf Loos made a similar set of observations in 1910 (thank you industrial design reader) In Loos's essay "Ornament and Crime," he makes an argument that equates ornament with crime. among many sensationalist ramblings on tattoos and the criminal mind, Loos observes, or remarks first:

Woe betide the writing desk that has to be changed as frequently as an evening dress just because the style has become unbearable.

and

A consumer who owns furnishings witch become unbearable to him after only ten years and who is therefore forced to buy furniture every ten years is preferable to one who only buys and objet for himself once the old one can no longer be used. Industry demands it. Millions of people are employed because of this rapid change.

The NYT piece descibes a shift where instead of making furniture look good designers have moved on to new approaches:

As for tackling the emotional challenge, one approach is to design products that are unique, or seem to be so. ...he edgy Belgian design gallery, is to exhibit a series of objects, whose form alters according to where they are and how they are treated.

Perhaps this is the beginning of a trend toward the reconsideration of the interfaces of objects via technology. An interesting future indeed.

PURE FUEL

These are the slides that we used to present our solar group concept.
RISD DeSE 2010 Solar Energy Team

Mentor Summary

Peter Simon

Junior, Industrial Design, RISD

Mini Bio:

Should I write this in the first person? or the third person?

I came to school RISD within a practical, and open state of mind. Over the course of my education I have shifted my learning from technique driven and material based projects to system based investigations that attempt to make intangible experiences tangible and valuable. I am unsure where my focus will take me next, but I am eager to learn as much as I can on the way.

…first person wins...

Mini Project 2 Summary:

In my second project I hope to apply system design thinking to community development within providence. I want to focus my project on creating a sustainable social venture that harnesses, and benefits not just those directly involved, but also peripheral users that may not have direct contact with the venture. I have been reaching out to local government agencies and professionals within social enterprise for guidance and ideas. I am continuing to look for a nonprofit to volunteer with over the course of this project.

I want to focus on learning ethnographic survey techniques as well as honing a business plan that might be able to see a second life outside of a student project.

Mini Summary of Funk

Parametric Model of Solar Cooker Performance
P.A. Funk and D.L. Larson
Bradley University of Peoria, IL
University of Arizona, Tucson AA
1997

Mini Summary:

Parametric Model for prediction of cooking power of solar cookers.
Based on: Solar Intercept Area, Overall Heat Loss Coefficient, Absorber Plate Thermal Conductivity

Intro: each cooker "needs to be suited to its specific climate, customs and economic factors"

Determined factors based on perceived most influential design parameters

Previous testing "identified solar input and overall heat loss coefficient as primary factors" adds internal heat transfer efficiency as third factor.

Heat loss from box cookers added or subtracted by "adding/ removing glazing, adding vents, or adding foam insulation."

Reflectivity of materials drastically diminished by dust/weathered/ wrinkled surfaces.

Conclusion:
Parametric model = needs improvement and evaluation, but "provides a basis for the systematic understanding of solar cooker performance."

Mini Summary of Ozteurk

Solar Cooker (SC)
Experimental determination of energy and exergy efficiency
of the solar parabolic-cooker
Hasan H€useyin € Ozt€urk
Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Machinery, University of C ukurova, 01330 Adana, Turkey
2003

Mini Summary

Energy efficiency = ratio of energy output (increase in water temp due to temp growth) and energy input (energy of solar radiation)

Exergy = maximum useful work to bring a heat system into equilibrium

Instant measurement of energy efficiency = ratio of increased water energy to energy of solar radiation.

Conclusions:
Exergy output is always greater than energy output

Common fact exergy efficicentcy = low in SC's

Improvements could be made in:

Playing with radiation properties of surfaces exchanging heat , playing with geometries of parabolic cookers, playing with driving dimensions, adding fins on cooker surface.

Playing with absorption of cooking pot and reflective properties of SC reflectors

Dimensions can be reduced with a better reflective surface.

Solar Group 1

David Zacher, Cassie Maurer, Peter Simon

Intro:
We chose to develop our service based upon existing models and products. Our approach does not reinvent the wheel, it does however add speed, stability, and practicality to existing models used around the world.

We chose a four pronged approach along the lines of creating a brand, developing the product, using existing distribution models, and expanding the venture through franchise.

Brand:
A brand is a promise. our promises are: 1. this solar cooker will save you time, and 2. This solar cooker will not burn your house down. We have determined that although other promises or objectives merit inclusion, by keeping the message of our venture simple, we can build the brand to later include other promises such as reducing indoor air pollution, or heating a home.

Marketing:
The marketing portion of our solution includes considerations of how to best reach populations with very little available time to experiment and modify their lives. We have also considered how to best communicate our brand within the focuses of practicality of the product offered as well as remaining true to the social constraints of our user group.

Product:
Our product seeks to incorporate solar cooking into the routine of the home, as well as to save time and energy that would previously be spent cooking with biomass. We have also considered how to best design a solar cooker that will not burn your house down.

Distribution:
our distribution model builds upon existing modes where uncommon recourses can reach users that live outside of cities or regional towns. We would use our franchise network to connect smaller regional towns to the cities or manufacturing center headquarters.

Franchise:
The most important part of our system or solution is our proposed franchise network, where we will train "sales people" from the cities to spread and sell the technology to the potential users. Those sales people will then have the opportunity to expand the franchise to other entrepreneurial people that they meet along the way.

Why we are not giving this technology away for free:

1/ People discard free items, when you price a piece of technology then people ascribe more value to that product than they would if it is community owned or donated by a random NGO.
2/ By creating value through price, we are opening opportunities to experiment with new or innovative business models that may potentially sustain the enterprise.
3/ Franchise creates local economies where we may enable the empowerment of our user groups. Our franchise may eventually serve as a model for increased development by our user groups.

Communicating Empowered Healthcare, Reflections on Validity

Social Need Focus Areas

I believe that the field of communication, or more specifically the communication of productive or life altering ideas deserves more social design focus. It is this area where the access and culture of knowledge and problem solving approaches its fullest utility. To build on what Jessie was presenting on Tuesday, there is only so much actual design that we can do for marginalized people, but we can teach problem solving etc… and thereby reach a far larger segment of the population.

I another valid opportunity for social change and design is the empowerment of marginalized populations and the organization of those groups. I have seen successful efforts in the form of artistic empowerment for providence youth, and other forms of direct community improvement through murals, playgrounds and community initiatives.

I also see great social opportunity in interfacing directly with the urban environment from a strategic viewpoint. Within this focus I would approach healthcare as a segment of urban planning that always needs work and design thinking. All people experience healthcare models and systems, yet often they do not even begin to meet the full needs of the citizen, especially marginalized citizens or non citizens who may not be able to afford or confront our built healthcare environment.