Unearth New Finds at DIGS!

Happy Birthday Gaea!

This is one of our favorite times of year, when we celebrate our designers and artisans coming together for social and environmental change. Working in sustainable, recycled or reclaimed materials reduces the environmental impact industry causes. Working with artisans using Fair-trade practices instead of factories preserves their craft traditions and gives them viable income which assists in alleviating poverty,giving them the ability to make better choices for themselves and their families.

Thanks for supporting Digs!

Recycled newspaper made into "wood"

In my mother's best efforts to keep me busy on a rainy day as a kid, she would sit me down at the kitchen table with a stack of old Good Housekeeping's, a jar of elmer's, and a couple of wooden tongue depressors.  I would roll strips of the magazine paper into something that resembled a jewelry bead, then string the gluey mess into a necklace with some kite rope.  I then presented this masterpiece to my Mom; a handmade gift just for her!  Love her for at least pretending to wear it to work -- even if ended up in the glove compartment of her car as soon as she left the driveway. I recalled this happy memory when I read this article on TreeHugger about Dutch designer Mieke Meijer's recycled paper "wood" -- however, our two art-forms could barely be held to the same standards.  Meijer stacks, clues, and rolls recycled newspaper into "logs", in which she creates fantastically beautiful and functional furniture and home decor.  Surely none of this stuff would wind up in the glove compartment!

Check out the full article and pics here!

Stefan Sagmeister talks on 'happiness'

Austrian-born graphic designer and typographer Stefan Sagmeister's 7 rules for creating happiness on TED.

Gigantic Recyclable Installations

Italian firm StARTT (winners of the MoMa/P.S. 1 Young Architects Program) turned the stone courtyard at the MAXXI Museum into an artificial oasis of enormous red poppies and shallow reflecting pools.  The most incredible feature:  The entire Whatami installation will be recycled or "replanted" in other parts of the city that needs a splash of color.  Check out all the pics at Inhabitat.

Section 2 of the High Line is now open!

Section 2 of the High Line opened this past weekend!  The renovated train track with views of the Hudson is now doubled in length thanks to Section 2.  The new tree-lined extension boasts an expansive sun lawn, lounge, and drop-out section where you can see through the walkway into the skeleton of the structure.  The High Line is arguably one of the best places to "people watch" in the city!

Check out the High Line's Flickr Pool!

Designing More with Less Symposium, Cooper Union

Designing More With Less symposium at Cooper Union's new Morphosis building (one of NY's greener buildings) gave me a chance to check it out from the inside.  The downstairs lecture hall and gallery spaces are well thought out and I liked the use of crinkled mesh on the ceiling of the auditorium. The semi- transparent rippling water effect covered up the mechanicals, while being calming and textural without being distracting but enough about my idle observations of the space and onto the discussion at hand. MUJI was hosting, IDEO's Iaian Roberts, Jeremy Heimans of Purpose/ Avaaz.org and Simon Mainwaring who just wrote book We First (which I am looking forward to reading) were presenting, speaking and taking questions...Robin Dorian was the moderator, co-founder of Find Eat Drink.

[caption id="attachment_734" align="alignleft" width="512" caption="Designing More with Less speakers"][/caption]

The presentations were short but all seemed on point.  Iaian talked from a design point of view, Jeremy from a social media perspective and Simon from a marketing view point. I took note when Iaian pointed out that design needs to step back and look at the problem/solution not get bogged down in design with a capital D looking to how developing countries solve basic problems from inception with fresh eyes vs. with our myopic western view from plenty. He cited  Zipcar as a good model of shared ownership & that it removes 15 cars from the road…also cited an interesting fact that most cars generally sit idle for 90% of the time in garages etc.  Natura Brazil is another example of rethinking how brands approach markets from the solution first not the traditional design protocol and also ITunes & the new cloud will completely shift an already vastly changed industry streaming music questioning how we see “ownership” in the future and the potential consumption/waste ration of CD & DVDs/packaging etc. within only the last 5 years .

Heimans talked about brands need to look at marketing as a “dialogue not monologue with consumers” and must find compelling easy ways to engage and communicate on mass levels for sea change. They recently did the “Meu Rio” campaign in Brazil using this method. He made it seem easy to mobilize millions across the internet in real time by grasping the root of the issue with clarity and honesty while keeping them engaged…he also looked about my son’s age, amazing, and boy do I feel old!

Simon Mainwaring a guru in marketing circles, had some compelling statistics and was also very well spoken, something that stuck for me was the notion of valuing the wealth of a company by its partnership with community, shifting power to the consumer, contributory consumption where social enterprises give back with every purchase and cross sector collaboration to respond to market shift towards mindful consumption, social entrepreneurship, social media inspiring social activism. I look forward to more compelling lectures sponsored by Muji and to reading Simon’s new book We First.

- Rhea Alexander

[caption id="attachment_733" align="alignleft" width="512" caption="Cooper Union Morphosis Building"][/caption]

Designer Saara Renvall at ICFF

Based in Helsinki, Finland, Saara Renvall is a designer working with furniture, objects, jewelry, spaces, and interiors.  After finishing her 3-year training as a carpenter, Renvall graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki and received her Master of Arts in 2002.  She has studied for shorter periods in India, Denmark, Japan, and the UK, gaining expertise in different design cultures. We asked Saara a few questions about her experience at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair 2011 (ICFF) .  Here's what she had to say:

What left best impression on you?

I think the carpets were special across the board, the quality of design and materials were lovely.

We also liked the Vitra showroom especially for the pamphlet, helps navigate New York and the showrooms having special installations for the fair but overall it wasn’t very special this year, perhaps the rainy weather…New York itself though is always so inspiring, the Alexander McQueen show was so inspiring it well made up for the lackluster ICFF.

What are you taking back from ICFF to Helsinki?

Post cards from a Singaporean group, they were really well done.

What did you see too much of?

Too much wood furniture and way too big, not enough sustainable thinking and were the city garden concepts, it was all over Milan this year and the year before.

[caption id="attachment_580" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Carpet Texture"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_581" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="More of the beautiful carpets showcased"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_583" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Carpet Detail"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_584" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Copper Lights by Tom Dixon"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_587" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Eskayel booth"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_586" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Eskayel baskets"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_588" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="An inspiring lighting idea"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_592" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Layers of fine, overlapped fabric"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_593" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="paper baskets"][/caption]

Thank you to Saara Renvall for the interview and the pictures!  DIGS will soon be a home for her beautiful baskets!

Public Bucket Lists

An abandoned house in New Orleans was transformed by artist Candy Chang into a public bucket list.  The top reads, "Before I die..." which prompts passersby to pick up a piece of chalk and anonymously pour their most deepest desires.  Most responses were sweet, like "... see my students become teachers", and "... see peace in the world".  Others set some serious goals, like "... cure cancer" and "... sing for millions."  Some, just wanted to "... fall in love."  See all the responses here.

Artsy Surprises in the Park

Jaume Plensa's Echo in Madison Square Park is an ode to everyday people.  Made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, the 44' head demands the attention of fast-paced New Yorkers, yet the tranquil disposition of the young girls face juxtaposes her size and hypnotizes even the toughest city-slickers to revel in her serenity.