Bee Station – Cohabitation

Posted: March 18, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Beauty of Design | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

Image source James Hutchinson: The ceramic orb creates a protected space for a sugary energy boost for tired bees battling the urban terrain.

This gorgeous, thoughtful piece of design is already making the rounds on the web, see Core77 and Inhabitat’s blog posts, but I think it is too special not to mention.

James Hutchinson has designed a resting station for bees, aimed at encouraging urban residents to offer a moment of respite for the busy little insects. It is James’s hope that it may help prevent the alarming loss of bees occurring around the world, known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

Co-Habitation

I love the design for all the same reasons as the other design blogs, but especially due to my personal obsession around co-habitation. The general concept suggests design should not be solely human-centred, but as my dear friend Carla Gould would say, should be life centred. Seeing what James Hutchinson has done is an example of “bee” centred design, where he has taken into consideration all the needs of the insect and used that to drive his design process.

That the final object is desirable to humans and easy to install in any backyard is a sign of total, thoughtful design methodology. But, the real insight to me is the recognition that there is more than one species to design for.

Brickworks Evergreen – Urban Ecology

Posted: October 16, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Beauty of Design, Genius of Place | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Photo setting the scene of the brickworks, found on the City of Toronto Website.

Yesterday I was on the discussion panel for a quick chat after the screening of two films; “Second Nature”, and “Brick by Brick”. I say quick, because ultimately I may have said two things, which is extraordinarily rare for me. But I did make a couple of connections that will hopefully lead to some interesting opportunities.

The second movie; “Brick by Brick” traced the history and inception of the Brickworks in Toronto by Evergreen, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing nature into the city. I was aware of the project, but now that I am equipped with more information, I recognize how important and valuable this project is.

Integrating nature into the industrial

From the EBW Blog: This fallen cottonwood tree bears evidence of what may be lurking in the ponds of the Weston Family Quarry Garden. Photo: Andrew Simpson. Co-habitation? Wonder how they'll ultimately feel about the Beaver munching on their freshly installed trees?

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Nature as Stakeholder

Posted: June 18, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Biomimicry Methodology, Genius of Place | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

User focus group interviews in nature, if only it was this easy... image by "Mundo"

Continuing the discussion around Genius of Place, a couple of different conversations have recently raised some ideas to bounce around.

Biomimicry with nature as only a source of inspiration does not guarantee “sustainability”. I’ve already discussed that here. Nature must be a stakeholder in the project, recognized as an entity with needs that must be met and designed for within the project. As a designer, this language opens up tangible paths, as every discipline of designers has a suite of tools for understanding the array of stakeholders, from users, to decision makers, to influencers, and everything in between. This then opens an intriguing question; “How to evolve existing methods so that they can be used on a different species?”

What would a focus group look like from nature? Ecosystem focus group studies to understand the impact of a building?

How do you “interview” the organisms who may be the end users of your site, manufacturing process, or shipping network?

How do you capture and communicate those needs as design opportunities and design criteria?

Shifting design tools away from human centrism

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