ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) calls for design solutions in the face of the disaster in Haiti.

In a global appeal following the devastation in Haiti, Icsid has launched a call to designers from all disciplines to unite in an open dialogue with international relief organisations to assess potential design-effective rehabilitation projects. In support of the UN’s efforts to help the Haitian people overcome challenges in relation to the country’s reconstruction plans, designers, academics and design students, as well as experienced developmental workers are encouraged to join the discussion and become a fan of the 'Uniting Designers in Disaster' page on Facebook.

Designers have a strong desire to support the relief effort. This forum is intended to help identify tangible opportunities and empower the design community to contribute to the cause.

"As an international non-governmental organisation with over 50 years experience implementing projects of global appeal, Icsid is poised with the strategic understanding of the processes required by NGOs to develop and implement result-driven and effective initiatives," stated Icsid President Dr. Mark Breitenberg and Provost of California College of the Arts. "What we aim to do with the forum is engage designers to exchange information about initiatives and opportunities where they may contribute their design and problem solving skills. In addition, we are hoping that the dialogue between the design community, development workers and representatives from international agencies will subsequently facilitate relief efforts, such as those currently being prepared by the UN to help the people of Haiti meet long-term stabilisation and reconstruction objectives."

Among its key mission statements, Icsid strives to provide an international platform for the design community to be heard as a powerful voice. Although active participation and contributions will continue on the Facebook page, in an effort to take immediate action, all information posted via the forum will be actively reviewed in order to select opportunities for immediate international activities.

"This is a call to think in order to act," stated Breitenberg. "Our immediate goal is to gain a better understanding of the relief efforts needed in order to facilitate the development of design-led solutions that impact Haiti's quality of life."


For more information, please contact:
Andrea Springer
t: +1 514 448 4949 ext. 232
e: [email protected] 

“Save the light bulb!” say the Magicians of Light

Quite unexpectedly, a new resistance movement – “Save the light bulb!” - saw the light of the day at the FutureDesignDays Light Now conference 2009. The speakers – Ingo Maurer, Paul Cocksedge and Moritz Waldemeyer, along with the panel, consisting of Monica Förster, Sandra Edberg and Rikard Eduards – and a very enthusiastic audience defended the incandescent light bulb, which is now threatened with extinction. As Ingo Maurer said about the ugly low-energy bulbs: ”Nice engineering, terrible light”.

Bruce Munro’s exterior installation ”Field of Light”

What happens when light interacts with other materials? What happens when it passes through crystals, or gases, or liquids? What happens when a light source moves at speed, or is viewed in a mirror? These are the questions that inspire three of the most talented and pioneering lighting innovators of our time: Ingo Maurer, Paul Cocksedge and Moritz Waldemeyer. Each is more than a mere designer: their work crosses boundaries to embrace science, art, culture and business. None of these maestros is ever content simply to design another light fixture – they see each project as a chance to manipulate light in a new way, or discover a new property of this most mysterious of raw materials. Maurer, Cocksedge and Waldemeyer are true magicians of light, but they are also prophets, pointing to how lighting design will change in the future. At FutureDesignDays LightNow 2009, they discussed the latest trends, techniques and technologies that will affect the spaces we live and work in for years to come.

Pieke Bergman’s handcrafted crystal pieces ”Light Blubs”

It goes without saying that climatic influence and sustainability gave rise to discussions at this year’s LightNow conference, as well as last year. But the challenging, the playful and the thought-provoking lighting design is definitely here to stay – of which moderator Marcus Fairs showed the audience some telling examples in his introduction; such as  Pieke Bergman’s handcrafted crystal pieces ”Light Blubs”, Bruce Munro’s exterior installation ”Field of Light” and Peter Coffin’s UFO project. A very inspirational start of the conference, before the ”Poet of Light”, Ingo Maurer, took the stage.

Peter Coffin’s UFO project

”The incandescent light bulb; my first love”

The audience was full of expectation to meet Ingo Maurer, who visited Stockholm for the first time, giving his fourth (!) speech throughout his whole career. Ingo Maurer took them back to the childhood and the day-dreaming; he often used to lie down in the grass, watching the sunlight shining through the crowns of the trees or being reflected in the water. The fascination of natural light and how it affects people, is still an important driving force in his daily work. ”It is not the shape of anything that makes us feel good – or bad: it’s the light”, said Ingo Maurer with emphasis.
Thereof his love of the incandescent light bulb, now living on borrowed time*. ”The traditional light bulb was my first love”, Ingo Maurer said – with a smile, but undoubtedly being serious.
To Maurer, the incandescent light bulb stands for something existential and deeply human; to ban it would be devastating. Maurer had, however, a trump card: A new prototype of a modern light bulb (”for our souls and well-being”) has taken shape in his head.
On the whole, 75-year old Ingo Maurer would like to see more “sane insanity” on the design scene of today, which according to him has stagnated in it’s expression. To get inspiration he likes to visit the Burning Man in Nevada, USA. ”I wasn’t sure that I would survive my first visit there”, said our greatest lighting designer with a laugh, and left the stage.

If you are familiar with Design Addict, you surely noticed that there are a lot of talented people who express their opinion and questioning in our Forum. We have decided, every now and then, to draw your attention on subjects which seems to us worthy of interest.

So here are the subjects of this week:

Real Estate and Design

Is High Concept Engineering Eclipsing Design in Architecture?

And another one just for fun: laughably crap replica

 Picture by Brent

The variations are a popular exercise in all forms of art, visual as much as musical. In the field of design, the clocks by George Nelson and the designers from his studio are one of the rare examples of a line of products that seems infinite.

Some brilliant hunters in our Forum decided to gather a maximum documentation about them. As passion doesn't have any limits, they overflowed this initial subject by digging out clocks created by other talented designers.

The contents is so rich that it was divided into different threads... and the quest is not over.

Part 1: Nelson eye clock 1

Part 2: More about Nelson Clocks 2

Part 3: More about Nelson clocks 3

Part 4: Still more about Nelson Clocks 4

Part 5: Still more about Nelson Clocks 5

Part 6: Even still more about Nelson Clocks 6

What will be the next subject of research? Jens H. Quistgaard's pepper mills? It would be a beautiful homage to this great designer who recently disappeared.