A big truck tractor was towing this entire 1200 square foot house balanced on two huge steel I-beams and a bunch of wheeled dollies. Progress was slow but steady as it inexorably moved toward its next incarnation. Just that morning it had departed its original home where it had been seasonal housing for migrant workers.

The owners of this seeming mirage had searched for just the right orphaned house to adopt as their own, lovingly place it on a new foundation, and refurbish it. Many houses would not be suitable for such a trip; generally only well-built wooden structures can withstand the stress of such a move. This house had all the qualities they were looking for: charm, integrity, and affordability. The entire cost of the house and having it moved was $10,000.

By the time they have it completely fixed up with new plumbing and electric service, an insulated stucco exterior, new energy-efficient windows, a metal roof, a completely rebuilt front porch, all of the interior walls resurfaced, and miscellaneous repairs, they estimate that the total cost of the project will be about $50,000, including the land. Not bad for what in most regards will be as good as new!

Of course new is not what they wanted; they bought this early twentieth century house (it's actual date of construction is unknown) precisely because of its special vintage quality. It reminds one of the owners of the house his grandmother lived in, with 9 foot ceilings, three smallish bedrooms, tongue and grooved fir flooring, cast-iron radiators, built-in cabinets, drawers and even ironing board, and the intangible quality of a by-gone era. They plan to retain the original floor plan intact, only altering a walk-in closet to become the mechanical room and turning a room off the kitchen into a dining space.

The house made the entire trip with just a few places where the plaster cracked in one corner, which is easily repaired. This is one very solidly-built house, made from the sort of fir that no longer can be bought. There was only one place under the kitchen sink that had suffered leak-induced rot over many years; everything else is as straight and true as any carpenter would want.

Another late twentieth century vintage home of about 800 square feet came from property leased from the Federal government and the house needed to be moved. With local help, the buyer of this little home added an additional room onto the original to comply with the homeowners' association square foot minimum. She has thoroughly enjoyed the process of remaking this simple cabin into her charming home, imbued with the wonderful quirky qualities that spring from her fanciful mind.

Once a house is moved it must comply with current plumbing and electrical codes, so these elements were completely redone. Most of the windows were replaced with second hand units that gave her just the views that she wanted. The exterior was resurfaced with rough-sawn lap siding and a new metal roof was installed. The original interior plastic paneling was replaced with sheetrock, and decorated with lots of natural wood trim. The whole feeling of the place is one of lovingly crafted touches wherever the eye lands. The new owner says, “I would much rather live in something recycled than buying something brand new which has no character. I let this house come together…it just evolved!”

Creating new life for old or abandoned houses has got be one of the most sustainable ways of making habitation. This is the ultimate form of recycling, where most of the basic components of a house are utilized intact instead of being tossed into a landfill or burned. There is a tremendous savings in the embodied energy of the house (in both materials and labor), so that all that needs to be done is to repair and polish the original dwelling to create a whole new life for it. Hoorah for these people who have the vision and willingness to take on these projects!

Florian Weiss (no linking possible due to 100% flash on their end :-( over from our friends at PARK just dropped me a note sharing some closer information about the upcoming Design Management forum to be held (again) in Cologne in November this year. Chances are that you might meet me there physically as well ;-)

Interestingly the topic of Service Design (no link to the Wikipedia entry here as it seems to be reasonably promoting KISD and their stakeholders in the topic) seems to follow some sort of pig cycle as from my perspective it makes its way to the top 3 topics every now and then. Funnily enough my very own doctoral thesis that I’ve started back in 1998 dealt with Service Design and I’ve been investigating the mechanisms (usability) as well as benefits (usefulness) from investing into proper Web Based Service Design.

Needless to say that after the collapse of the Internet Bubble in early 200 nobody (in my specific case one insurance and a bank that funded my research at that time) was interested any longer in the topic so I’ve dropped it later on … In any case a quick Google search suggests that the topic is still up-to-date ;-)

After all a good (academic) resource to surf after is ‘Designing for Services‘ a project led by Lucy Kimbell in late 2006/2007. In contrast to other similar initiatives that are poorly documented this one shared insights and stuff via a blog and I greatly appreciate this!

—– snip —–

5th Design Management Forum at 07th & 08th November 2008 in Cologne

For businesses the customer satisfaction is a permanent challenge, because the wishes and demands of people grow continuously with the technical progress. Companies that pro-actively identify the interests of their customers open up new and profitable opportunities if they develop performance and service offerings that create good and pleasant experiences for the customer. Systematic and strategic management of service design helps the business to gain competitive advantages and to conquer new markets. Experts from the economy, who have gone new and innovative ways in the conception and design of experience worlds and services, present their knowledge and experience at the 5th Design Management Forum for further discussion.

This year lecturers from Germanwings (DE), Molecular (US), Aliagroup (UK & IN), Isobar (UK), Deutsche Bank (DE) and McDonald’s (DE) will provide corporate insights and present innovative approaches to Service Design Management.

Further information and application: http://www.design-management-forum.org

—– snip —–

On my recent trip to London for the Design Festival, I did not limit my search for aesthetics to home interiors and accessories. I stopped in a bookstore and checked in on some British cookbooks that are easier to find in the UK than in the US like Tamasin Day-Lewis, Leith’s Cooking School series, and the new Gordon Ramsay Cooking for Friends. Ditte Isager is the photographer who shot Gordon Ramsay’s new book, and I will admit that the photos sold the book. I am so enchanted by Ditte’s work, that I keep the book on my bedside table to look at before going to sleep so I’ll have nice dreams! Ditte’s signature photographic style is unmistakable and totally addictive. Her recipe for a fruit meringue cake looks fancy but is simple to make. Don’t be afraid of meringue! It will be your new friend! Click here for the full recipe or just click “read more” below. -Kristina

About Ditte: Ditte Isager was born and raised in Copenhagen. She was educated at Danish technical school of photography and Schiller studio and is now living in NYC. Specialized in interiors, travel, and food, her clients include Gourmet, Traveler, Domino, Martha Stewart, Gordon Ramsey, Fritz Hansen, to name a few.

Fruit Meringue Cake

Meringues
2 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
½ cup sugar

For topping:
whip cream
fruit or berries, whatever you feel like

1. Whip the egg whites, vinegar and sugar for around 5 min to it is thick and shiny.
2. Put a little bit of flour on baking paper and make a circle around 20 cm in diameter with the whipped egg whites.

3. Bake it at 305 degrees (F) for around an hour to it is crisp, turn off the oven and leave the meringues there until it is cold.
4. Whip the cream, you can add some berries to the cream too, and decorate the cake with whipped cream and berries

Why Ditte chose this recipe: This is my favorite cake soooooo easy and so delicious! I always make it for birthdays, dessert when friends come over for dinner ………any occasion.

Images are 4×5 polaroids taken with a Linhoff camera.

When it comes to mobiles, everyone knows that they can make great nursery decorations and playthings for babies, but sophisticated, abstract mobiles can also function equally well as artsy decor for grownups. Such is the case with Frazier & Wing’s beautiful recycled magazine mobiles. Made from hundreds of paper cut-outs from old magazines, and strung in linear cascading forms, Frazier & Wing’s chandelier-esque mobiles make a stunning centerpiece for any room: nursery or grownup.

READ MORE AT INHABITOTS >

I should share some snippets from last Friday when I’ve joined several of my peers in The Hague, NL. However please allow for some digesting of my impressions and thoughts! I will write a follow up for sure ;-)

After all what we’ve touched in our panel discussion as well as during the ‘after show’ talks has been (amongst others) the question how to best enter the ‘Design Management Sphere’. From regular email conversations as well as face2face talks this seems to be an urgent question in particular for fresh (design) graduates.

What I usually respond (and this is not meant as ‘fobbing off’) is that independent from their focus of study (let it be design or business administration just to name the two most dominant ones) graduates should try to gain as many and rich experiences in their field of profession as possible. This enables them to comprehensively explore the pros and cons of the field and will help them to render more precisely which domain of the Design Management sphere they are most interested in: Digital, Brand, Corporate, Industrial, Consumer, Services, just to name a few.

Ultimately and this is what I truly believe in: Design Management to a large degree is to a large degree nurtured by the application of (for sure!) cross-disciplinary experiences and skills that tend to rather grow over time. This does however not mean that undergraduate BA & MA programmes in Design Management are not useful. This is however a different discussion to be discussed at another time.

So, for those of you who are seeking for these cross-disciplinary experiences delivered in a highly condensed format you might want to have a look at the MoHo Website. Here’s a snippet from their vision statement:

“Innovation is hampered by a myriad of factors in today’s globalised world. The lack of communication between knowledge centers such as engineering, marketing and design in companies, creates distortions and miscomprehensions between people that heavily penalize the innovation process.

These problems are further amplified if economic reality is brought into the picture. Too many products have been ‘invented’ in the past with little or no potential for economic success. ‘Inventors’ very easily forget the importance of market reality.”

Unfortunately I haven’t been aware of this initiative and hopefully they will share some of the findings publicly soon!

Side note:

These are the facts & figures of the event I do miss more designers here for sure:
# 7 days in Palo Alto
# June 1 - June 8
# 1 house
# 16 partners
# 15 endorsements
# 15 engineering students
# 3 design students
# 15 business students
# 10 social entrepreneurs
# 10 artists
# 5 venture capitalists
# 2 design professors
# 3 business professors