Walls begin white. Color transforms them.
Somehow white gives off the impression of incompleteness, newness, and blandness. In order to develop an environment that instills a specific mood in the people in the room, people generally turn to color. The color of walls, floors, ceilings, cupboards, moulding, and window frames is essential in creating an atmosphere within a room.
The ability to completely alter a space without having to change its physical structure brings so much freedom to its inhabitants. Feelings of claustrophobia can be cured by lighter shades on the ceilings and walls. Illusions of warmth come from walls with orange and red tones.
Moving into my house where the wall color changes every few months and no cupboard or shelve remains white, I have really learned how color can transform moods. Now I sit in the green room, where I feel bright, wily, wacky, yet calm because the color is solid and secure. I look at pictures and remember when this room was bright red with blue trim. It made for a much smaller feeling room instilling strange emotions from seeing the familiar color combination of red and blue.
The power to actually alter the feelings, moods, opinions, and levels of calm with the simple act of applying paint to a wall is fairly amazing. Most people are very aware of the ways in which colored rooms affect their ability to enjoy their time spend inside those walls. This awareness affords many their first basic understanding of color psychology and color theory.
Color transforms the space. The space transforms the people. The people transform the color.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Dangerous Designs; Buttons Knobs Switches Dials
In our households we have the luxury of being able to saunter around flipping switches, turning knobs and pressing buttons until we are comfortable and satisfied. These actions become so commonplace that children grow up with the expectation to get what they want when they want it without considering the source. Wasting water has little effect on the conscience when one has grown up to understand that the faucet will always dispense water if you turn it.
Out of sight, out of mind. Flip the switch and on turns a light. Press the button and music starts. Turn the knob and water boils. Turn the dial enough and heat sneaks into every corner of the house. How much are we able to intuitively understand about the sources of these utilities by the ways in which we interact with them? The danger lies in the lack of understanding, and through that lack of understanding the lack of appreciation.
Middle class suburban folk do not need to know where their water comes from, as long as it keeps coming and as long as brita filters continue to be manufactured. Electricity is even more mysterious. I truly have no idea what actually happened that allowed energy to transfer from some unknown source to the outlet that allowed my computer to charge and me to sit here pressing buttons and making letters appear on a lit screen. For some, these unknowns are exactly what signifies progress and sets the mark for our standard of living. While we surely have progressed in order to reach this point, I still argue that the comfortable shell we hide inside now is dangerous. It is dangerous for the individuals physical and mental health and for the health of the world provides us with the means to live. It is far too easy and commonplace living within the current electrified suburban or city design to give our fingers and mouths the most exercise. Wake up, press buttons, turn knobs, eat food. Press buttons, turn key, arrive at work. Press buttons, wait for moving platform to arrive. Ride the platform up stairs, flip switches, turn on computer. Press keys dial numbers. Repeat the processes to arrive home again only to press another button and turn a knob for entertainment until you fall asleep. Plan ahead and press buttons so the moving pictures will stop once you drift off.
The design of the suburban life is comfortable and easy and exciting in a lot of ways. However, with the comfort comes the danger. Without understanding where the things we use come from, we are able to ignore the effects our use has on those sources. Without having to understand things like electricity, plumbing systems, water systems, and central heating and cooling we are less equipped to take care of ourselves and more likely to waste due to that lost connection.
Out of sight, out of mind. Flip the switch and on turns a light. Press the button and music starts. Turn the knob and water boils. Turn the dial enough and heat sneaks into every corner of the house. How much are we able to intuitively understand about the sources of these utilities by the ways in which we interact with them? The danger lies in the lack of understanding, and through that lack of understanding the lack of appreciation.
Middle class suburban folk do not need to know where their water comes from, as long as it keeps coming and as long as brita filters continue to be manufactured. Electricity is even more mysterious. I truly have no idea what actually happened that allowed energy to transfer from some unknown source to the outlet that allowed my computer to charge and me to sit here pressing buttons and making letters appear on a lit screen. For some, these unknowns are exactly what signifies progress and sets the mark for our standard of living. While we surely have progressed in order to reach this point, I still argue that the comfortable shell we hide inside now is dangerous. It is dangerous for the individuals physical and mental health and for the health of the world provides us with the means to live. It is far too easy and commonplace living within the current electrified suburban or city design to give our fingers and mouths the most exercise. Wake up, press buttons, turn knobs, eat food. Press buttons, turn key, arrive at work. Press buttons, wait for moving platform to arrive. Ride the platform up stairs, flip switches, turn on computer. Press keys dial numbers. Repeat the processes to arrive home again only to press another button and turn a knob for entertainment until you fall asleep. Plan ahead and press buttons so the moving pictures will stop once you drift off.
The design of the suburban life is comfortable and easy and exciting in a lot of ways. However, with the comfort comes the danger. Without understanding where the things we use come from, we are able to ignore the effects our use has on those sources. Without having to understand things like electricity, plumbing systems, water systems, and central heating and cooling we are less equipped to take care of ourselves and more likely to waste due to that lost connection.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Gaviotas Creates Topian Technologies
“Appropriate technologies” are designed with special consideration for the environmental, ethical, cultural, social, political, and economical aspects of the community they are intended for. These technologies are created with a few crucial design constraints: affordability, durability, accessibility, ease of use.
The Gaviotas community in Columbia have successfully invented wind turbines, solar collectors, water purifiers, soil free hydroponic systems, and simple, efficient pumps in order to bring basic amenities and services to the people of the llanos. Rather than considering their designs “Utopian,” Paolo Lugari (founder of Gaviotas) insists, “Utopia literally means no place. We call Gaviotas topia, because its real.”
In the expansive plains east of the capital city of Bogotá, the indigenous Guahibo Indians and colonists of the area can only access to contaminated surface waters and live 16 hours from the nearest city with no paved roads to get there. Lacking fundamental services, Paolo Lugari brought together doctors, engineers, and experts from the Universidad de Bogotá and all over Latin and Central America to create devices to allow access to clean drinking water through pumping and purification.
To access the pure water in natural underground reservoirs, a mechanical engineer Alonso Gutiérrez invented a sleeve pump. By lifting a lightweight sleeve rather than the inner piston, the new pump didn’t require the application of force against atmospheric pressure, thus creating the opportunity to draw water from deep within the ground. The sleeve was light enough for a child to lift. Another engineer Luis Robles and some local children then developed an idea to attach the pump to a seesaw. As part of the Columbian government’s Agua Para Todos (Water for Everyone) program, this Gaviotan technology reached over 600 llanero villages.
During the 80’s, Gaviotans also designed a new hospital using solar technology to serve themselves and llaneros in surrounding villages. An interesting technology is this solar kitchen used in the hospital.
The kitchen uses low-viscosity cottonseed oil inside piping heated by the sun to heat pressure cookers. Sunlight superheats the oil which is then sucked into a holding tank on the roof by a heat siphon. A 40 watt micro pump run on batteries charged by photovoltaic cells is manually turned on, forcing the hot cottonseed oil through coils that loop around stainless steel pressure cookers and then return to the roof to re heat. Insulation of the tank allows the system to run 24 hours a day. Leftover charge in the battery can illuminate the rest of the hospital for the night. This is an example of a technology that may be too complicated and expensive to replicate for individual homes, but is perfect for public facilities like hospitals which serve most of the surrounding peoples.
Gaviotan engineers also brought their technologies out of the llanos and into the cities to help urban populations. Engineers trained street kids to help create hydroponic gardens on rooftops. The harvest leftovers were bountiful enough to supply a women’s cooperative and a reigonal grocery chain.
Gaviotas is an real example of the usefulness of appropriate technologies. It worked for Gaviotan engineers because the inventors refused to patent their products. This allowed the designs to be used and shared by those who needed them.
Here is a Solar Kettle, designed to purify water through by boiling it and then cooling it to a palatable temperature.
From: Gaviotas; A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman
The Gaviotas community in Columbia have successfully invented wind turbines, solar collectors, water purifiers, soil free hydroponic systems, and simple, efficient pumps in order to bring basic amenities and services to the people of the llanos. Rather than considering their designs “Utopian,” Paolo Lugari (founder of Gaviotas) insists, “Utopia literally means no place. We call Gaviotas topia, because its real.”
In the expansive plains east of the capital city of Bogotá, the indigenous Guahibo Indians and colonists of the area can only access to contaminated surface waters and live 16 hours from the nearest city with no paved roads to get there. Lacking fundamental services, Paolo Lugari brought together doctors, engineers, and experts from the Universidad de Bogotá and all over Latin and Central America to create devices to allow access to clean drinking water through pumping and purification.
To access the pure water in natural underground reservoirs, a mechanical engineer Alonso Gutiérrez invented a sleeve pump. By lifting a lightweight sleeve rather than the inner piston, the new pump didn’t require the application of force against atmospheric pressure, thus creating the opportunity to draw water from deep within the ground. The sleeve was light enough for a child to lift. Another engineer Luis Robles and some local children then developed an idea to attach the pump to a seesaw. As part of the Columbian government’s Agua Para Todos (Water for Everyone) program, this Gaviotan technology reached over 600 llanero villages.
During the 80’s, Gaviotans also designed a new hospital using solar technology to serve themselves and llaneros in surrounding villages. An interesting technology is this solar kitchen used in the hospital.
The kitchen uses low-viscosity cottonseed oil inside piping heated by the sun to heat pressure cookers. Sunlight superheats the oil which is then sucked into a holding tank on the roof by a heat siphon. A 40 watt micro pump run on batteries charged by photovoltaic cells is manually turned on, forcing the hot cottonseed oil through coils that loop around stainless steel pressure cookers and then return to the roof to re heat. Insulation of the tank allows the system to run 24 hours a day. Leftover charge in the battery can illuminate the rest of the hospital for the night. This is an example of a technology that may be too complicated and expensive to replicate for individual homes, but is perfect for public facilities like hospitals which serve most of the surrounding peoples.
Gaviotan engineers also brought their technologies out of the llanos and into the cities to help urban populations. Engineers trained street kids to help create hydroponic gardens on rooftops. The harvest leftovers were bountiful enough to supply a women’s cooperative and a reigonal grocery chain.
Gaviotas is an real example of the usefulness of appropriate technologies. It worked for Gaviotan engineers because the inventors refused to patent their products. This allowed the designs to be used and shared by those who needed them.
From: Gaviotas; A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman
Monday, November 15, 2010
Under Where?
Underwear. What is it there for? Why do we consider underpants as a staple, a given, a necessity in our daily ritual of dressing and preparing for the day to come?
What are the main goals? Bantering with various friends, it seems we do this to have an extra protective layer...a layer of warmth...a layer of protection from rough pants...a layer to protect from exposure.
If these are the reasons we wear underwear, why do so many pairs seem to prove incapable of achieving these purposes?
On a trip to Macy’s over the weekend to purchase new underwear, the experience was much more of a game than I expected. Dodging between racks and tables stacked with thin, flimsy, synthetic fabrics priced at unreasonable amounts because the perceived uniqueness of the design and the idea that one will become attractive once inside them.
Slinking from table to table, seeing a pair that may finally fit the cut as plain, cotton underwear with fabric to warm the bum, you think you finally find a normal pair only to turn it over and read some statement attempting to define my character or making some commanding remark.
This bickering makes me feel like a worn out old woman. But I’d rather take that role and knit pick for functionality and simplicity than simply slip into a little pair of these just because they’re the most common things around.
What are the main goals? Bantering with various friends, it seems we do this to have an extra protective layer...a layer of warmth...a layer of protection from rough pants...a layer to protect from exposure.
If these are the reasons we wear underwear, why do so many pairs seem to prove incapable of achieving these purposes?
On a trip to Macy’s over the weekend to purchase new underwear, the experience was much more of a game than I expected. Dodging between racks and tables stacked with thin, flimsy, synthetic fabrics priced at unreasonable amounts because the perceived uniqueness of the design and the idea that one will become attractive once inside them.
Slinking from table to table, seeing a pair that may finally fit the cut as plain, cotton underwear with fabric to warm the bum, you think you finally find a normal pair only to turn it over and read some statement attempting to define my character or making some commanding remark.
This bickering makes me feel like a worn out old woman. But I’d rather take that role and knit pick for functionality and simplicity than simply slip into a little pair of these just because they’re the most common things around.
Limmer Boot Ergonomics!
The five areas of ergonomic research offer a useful basis with which to criticize, praise, or analyze a design. They generally cover all of the bases and prioritize certain aspects of the design. Safety, comfort, ease of use, performance, aesthetics are the five categories with which to base criticism and are ranked in order of importance. I really agree with the priority each area is given. For items designed to be used in rigorous or technical situations, it is especially important to prioritize performance and comfort over aesthetics.
Limmer boots are quite possibly the optimum example of an ergonomically designed item that adequately addresses each of these areas. For hikers, workers, and general frequenters of the outdoors, feet can be exposed to harsh weather conditions, wet landscapes, heavy pack load, slick boulders, heavy tools, and unstable ground.
To assure safety, Limmer boots use a seemingly simple design to cover all the bases. The boots use a single piece of full grain cow hide to minimize seams and improve protection from water. Limmers have a reenforced leather fiber heel counter (a piece placed in between the lining and the outsole). The heel counter is present to protect the foot from a side impact and stabilizes the heel within the boot to prevent ankle turning. The boots also use side supports to protect sides and arches from impact. There is a toe box with reinforced fibers to provide protection from falling items. The shoes use a Vibram® sole which is an extremely tough and abrasion resistant bottom to protect feet from sharp protruding objects and to offer grip to prevent slipping.
In terms of comfort, the single seam and full grain leather feature on Limmer boots protects feet from water which can cause frostbite, colds, and fungal problems. The seam on the boots is located at the concave curve of the arch. Many other shoes use back strap pieces which require back seams. This creates an inflexible, rigid heel which can cause discomfort near the achilles tendon when descending. Seams can also create a ridge which can give the wearer blisters. As the designers stated “Back seams are a perfect example of a design that is not ergonomic.” One piece shoe backs with no seams allow the boots to mold to the wearers heels. Added ergonomically designed ankle and heel padding add needed comfort.
An open cell foam padded tongue with outer bellows facilitates the ease of use by facilitating the ease of entry while maintaining its water proof qualities. Limmer boot manufacturers create a custom shoe fitted to each foot specifically. If shoes create any discomfort, the company encourages the wearer to return them to the shop for adjustments.
In terms of performance, these boots are expected to last least ten to fifteen years at least. Among the crews working in the White Mountains, wearing out Limmer boots to a state of disrepair is a rare feat. A friend from a White Mountain trail crew met a retired crew member who worked in the Whites from 1978-1981, wearing the boots everyday. He still sports the boots today, 32 years later.
Check him out.
Limmer boots are attractive because if you know what they are, you know what they can do. Their aesthetic value is high because their simplistic appearance transcends period fashions. In a society where items like shoes barely outlast the rapidly changing fashion tastes, consumers are left with more things that accomplish less individually. Good designs consider the items ability to last and to fulfill its purpose.
The true effectiveness of their design is seen in consumer reviews and reactions. It has become tradition for hiker to photograph their feet in Limmer boots as the reach challenging and picturesque heights. It must feel good as the designers to know just how effective their product really is.
Here is the first picture sent to Peter Limmer showing the boots on top of Kathmandu in Nepal.
Sources: http://www.limmerboot.com/#
Limmer boots are quite possibly the optimum example of an ergonomically designed item that adequately addresses each of these areas. For hikers, workers, and general frequenters of the outdoors, feet can be exposed to harsh weather conditions, wet landscapes, heavy pack load, slick boulders, heavy tools, and unstable ground.
To assure safety, Limmer boots use a seemingly simple design to cover all the bases. The boots use a single piece of full grain cow hide to minimize seams and improve protection from water. Limmers have a reenforced leather fiber heel counter (a piece placed in between the lining and the outsole). The heel counter is present to protect the foot from a side impact and stabilizes the heel within the boot to prevent ankle turning. The boots also use side supports to protect sides and arches from impact. There is a toe box with reinforced fibers to provide protection from falling items. The shoes use a Vibram® sole which is an extremely tough and abrasion resistant bottom to protect feet from sharp protruding objects and to offer grip to prevent slipping.
In terms of comfort, the single seam and full grain leather feature on Limmer boots protects feet from water which can cause frostbite, colds, and fungal problems. The seam on the boots is located at the concave curve of the arch. Many other shoes use back strap pieces which require back seams. This creates an inflexible, rigid heel which can cause discomfort near the achilles tendon when descending. Seams can also create a ridge which can give the wearer blisters. As the designers stated “Back seams are a perfect example of a design that is not ergonomic.” One piece shoe backs with no seams allow the boots to mold to the wearers heels. Added ergonomically designed ankle and heel padding add needed comfort.
An open cell foam padded tongue with outer bellows facilitates the ease of use by facilitating the ease of entry while maintaining its water proof qualities. Limmer boot manufacturers create a custom shoe fitted to each foot specifically. If shoes create any discomfort, the company encourages the wearer to return them to the shop for adjustments.
In terms of performance, these boots are expected to last least ten to fifteen years at least. Among the crews working in the White Mountains, wearing out Limmer boots to a state of disrepair is a rare feat. A friend from a White Mountain trail crew met a retired crew member who worked in the Whites from 1978-1981, wearing the boots everyday. He still sports the boots today, 32 years later.
Check him out.
(Photo taken by Emily Dalymeyer)
Limmer boots are attractive because if you know what they are, you know what they can do. Their aesthetic value is high because their simplistic appearance transcends period fashions. In a society where items like shoes barely outlast the rapidly changing fashion tastes, consumers are left with more things that accomplish less individually. Good designs consider the items ability to last and to fulfill its purpose.
The true effectiveness of their design is seen in consumer reviews and reactions. It has become tradition for hiker to photograph their feet in Limmer boots as the reach challenging and picturesque heights. It must feel good as the designers to know just how effective their product really is.
Here is the first picture sent to Peter Limmer showing the boots on top of Kathmandu in Nepal.
Sources: http://www.limmerboot.com/#
Monday, November 8, 2010
Hace Frio, Que Debo Hacer?
How can I design a simple way to stay warm for the winter? Living in an old farmhouse without the luxury of central heating, I must get creative in order to successfully roam the house and relax or work in various places without interrupting myself with shivers or complaints.
Step one: What are the places on the body where we lose most heat? Covering the head and toes is essential. I must knit myself a soft woolen hat that I can wear all day without transferring my distractedness to an itchy head from a scratchy cap. Socks are also one of the most crucial stay warm items. By wearing very long woolen socks I can stack functions, keeping my legs and feet warm.
Next comes the actual body. I am finding that one can insulate far better by wearing loose clothing of quality fabric rather than skin tight clothing. The extra room allows for movement which heats the body.
Aside from what I put on your body to warm it, there are things I can redesign in the space around me to select for a warmer climate. Curtains for the windows! Homemade window insulation! Cups of tea and piles of people. With this knowledge I will hopefully be prepared to design my getup and my environment to prevent shivers, lost sleep and grumpy moods throughout the winter.
Step one: What are the places on the body where we lose most heat? Covering the head and toes is essential. I must knit myself a soft woolen hat that I can wear all day without transferring my distractedness to an itchy head from a scratchy cap. Socks are also one of the most crucial stay warm items. By wearing very long woolen socks I can stack functions, keeping my legs and feet warm.
Next comes the actual body. I am finding that one can insulate far better by wearing loose clothing of quality fabric rather than skin tight clothing. The extra room allows for movement which heats the body.
Aside from what I put on your body to warm it, there are things I can redesign in the space around me to select for a warmer climate. Curtains for the windows! Homemade window insulation! Cups of tea and piles of people. With this knowledge I will hopefully be prepared to design my getup and my environment to prevent shivers, lost sleep and grumpy moods throughout the winter.
Word and Image as Teaching Tools
Children’s book authors may know best the benefits of placing words and images together to help the reader better receive the intended message. Images are essential components of a story as children are learning to process the visual representation of language. The idea is, hopefully the child will be better prepared to understand the word if there are familiar hints close by. If for whatever reason the child cannot process the words on the page, they will at least understand the concepts through looking at the pictures and so are able to still enjoy the story. The image may also just help to reinforce the names for objects the child already knew but perhaps not well enough to conjure up on their own.
Take this example. Here the words “Crocodile” “Hips” are conveyed well through the use of silly and bold images.
Images are so important in the learning, understanding, and absorbing processes that they remain in children’s books for a large part of the developmental years, gradually being phased out in the later years of elementary school. Early on the words accompany the images, and as one grows older the pictures are a treat, occasionally accompanying the words.
Something to chew on....if pictures are so crucial in tackling the difficult task of conveying complex ideas or concepts to very young children who have yet to develop the use of language, then why do they become merely extras or bonuses in educational texts as those children age?
Take this example. Here the words “Crocodile” “Hips” are conveyed well through the use of silly and bold images.
Images are so important in the learning, understanding, and absorbing processes that they remain in children’s books for a large part of the developmental years, gradually being phased out in the later years of elementary school. Early on the words accompany the images, and as one grows older the pictures are a treat, occasionally accompanying the words.
Something to chew on....if pictures are so crucial in tackling the difficult task of conveying complex ideas or concepts to very young children who have yet to develop the use of language, then why do they become merely extras or bonuses in educational texts as those children age?
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