ruins – thoughts on the aesthetic

An exhibition currently at the Tate in London is exploring British images of ruin since the 18th century. Ruin Lust, an exhibition at Tate Britain from 4 March 2014, offers a guide to the mournful, thrilling, comic and perverse uses of ruins in art from the seventeenth century to the present day. The exhibition is…

Stanford Daily | Top 10: Classes

The Stanford Daily, the venerable student-run newspaper, has included my design class (An archaeology of design – ten things [Link]) among Stanford’s top 10 [Link] – “the courses you have to take before you graduate”. It’s great to get this recognition, and from the students (nearly a third of Stanford undergrads sign up). What is…

design thinking – cultural ecologies – better teams

There’s a great recent post on Tim Brown’s Design Thinking blog from Tim and Jane Fulton Suri – [Link] They present four tips, inspired by biology, to create better teams: 1. Design a Fertile Habitat 2. Create Simple Rules 3. Be Productive 4. Expect Collaboration I think Tim and Jane are again raising the question…

critical design – what if?

I am in Manhattan at Bard Graduate Center, celebrating its twentieth anniversary, its explorations of decorative arts, design history and material culture in research, pedagogy, exhibition and curatorial practice [Link]. Like any good celebration we’re looking forward as well as back. This morning was about imagining the future of museum and gallery exhibition. This afternoon was…