Olmec Art

“Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico”, an exhibition of Olmec artifacts, is running at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Extraordinary pieces. Extraordinary presence. It was the first time we had come across them first hand. Here the monumental heads, zoomorphic basalt thrones, engobe ceramics, jadeite celts, are gently spotlit in that subdued ambient lighting…

Design, RES and RESPUBLICA

In Tokyo for EPIC – Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. 6th edition. [Link] Some summary points from my keynote. How could I not respond to Kenya Hara’s wonderful opening keynote and his emphasis on the dialectic of making and its deep connection with human being? [Link] The range of research techniques and methods that I…

EPIC 2010

In Tokyo for EPIC – Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference. 6th edition. [Link] How to improve the design of things – take people seriously – be human-centered look beyond the artifact – design systems, scenarios, stories, experiences, interactions don’t assume the designer knows it all – find out, pursue research and conduct fieldwork Ethnography, anthropological…

Au Bons Crus

design – cultural literacy

This post is in a series of commentaries on a class running at Stanford, Winter Quarter 2010 – “Transformative Design” ENGR 231 – [Link] This evening – a group of friends and colleagues discussing education and schooling with Tony Wagner. Our warm and welcoming hosts were Joan Lonergan and John Merrow at Castilleja School. Topics:…