Design is the first signal of human intention.

I haven't updated in a while. Things have been so hectic, and I think I started to lose sight of a lot of the things I really care about. After a minor breakdown yesterday, (My mom would probably argue that the term "minor" used in this situation is a bit of an understatement. She is awesome for helping me get through it; listening to me vent for almost an hour and encouraging me, as my parents always have, to do whatever it takes to be happy.) I sat down, sulking, and clicked through some TED talks to cheer myself up. I've always found these addicting and incredibly inspiring (so stoked that there is a whole category devoted to design).

I chose to post William McDonough's talk because I couldn't sleep after watching it. I'm moved by his ideas of what design can be, and what it should be, but even more so by the resolve with which he has developed these ideas into fruition. I am inspired by his enthusiasm; it takes a lot of determination to breach the boundaries of modern thought, only to re-enter them in an effort to help the rest of us escape.

If you like the talk, you should definitely read his book Cradle to Cradle, co-authored by his colleague, Michael Braungart. Using history, science, modern business models, and the idea of design, they begin to address the question: How do we love all the children of all species for all time? prettyyyyy prettyyyy cool.

genius!

The beautiful image above is a prototype for a building designed by Vincent Callebaut. It's pretty funky-looking from this angle. Funky is good.

The cool thing about it is that it's an anti-smog building. Not only is it built using sustainable materials, it uses green technologies to actually clean the air around it! It's currently being built in Paris and is cover with 250 swuare meters of solar photovoltaic panels and coated in titanium dioxide. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but apparently it's good for the environment. You can find out more about it at the green geek.

I must have this bookcase/staircase. Almost anyone in immediate relation to me knows this by now. I figured that an item so essential to my happiness should be mentioned here.

I read about this brilliant idea on Apartment Therapy a little under a year ago. It resides in a London apartment, designed by Levitate Architects in response to a book storage problem.

I will color code my books as well.

I wish I lived in the shire

I HAD to post about this home in Wales. I've always wanted a hobbit hole home and I think this is as close as anyone's ever been to achieving the true essence of hobbit living.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

"It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats--the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill--The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it--and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. No going upstairs for the hobbit: bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor, and indeed on the same passage. The best rooms were all on the lefthand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows, deep-set round windows looking over his garden and meadows beyond, sloping down to the river."

-- The Hobbit, pp. 15-16.

An estimated 1000-1500 man hours, two men, and about 3000 pounds and the family was moved into this lovely home within 4 months of its initiation. The fridge is cooled through air from the underground foundation and water is generated from a nearby spring through gravity.

Go here to find images of the site before building, the process, and ideas behind its construction.