Why Design Now?

30 Sep 2010, Posted by Rupam in art,awareness,design,events, 0 Comments

Couple weeks ago I visited the “Why Design Now” exhibition at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, taking advantage of the free entry on labor day weekend.
Why Design Now? focuses on designers from around the world answering the question by creating products, prototypes, buildings, landscapes, messages and much more – all aimed at addressing the social and environmental issues of the world.

How can we power the world with clean energy? How can we shelter communities in sustainable environments? How can we close the loop of materials extraction and disposal? How can we enable people around the globe to generate and share wealth? How can we improve the quality of life for all people through health-care innovations? How can we communicate ideas effectively and creatively?

These were some of the questions designers were trying to solve. As designers are beginning to be more conscious of the issues happening around the world, the context of social design will gradually become a dominator in the design industry. Designing products and services that solve problems is needed in order to improve the lives of human beings.

These two were my favorite:

The Solvatten Solar Safe Water Purifier makes unsafe water drinkable by using solar energy. By combining UV, heat, and a filter to purify water, the Solvatten allows families and households a means to attain water that meets World Health Organization’s guideline of safe water. Simply putting the container in the sun for 2-6 hours, people will have access to safe drinkable water immediately.

The issue of unsanitary water can be eliminated with Solvatten where sun is abundant.

Kind of reminds me of the Aquaduct project, IDEO created few years ago.

Ad Specs offers low-cost corrective eyewear to underserved patients, allowing them to fill their own prescription without expensive optical equipment. World Health Organization estimates over half a billion people in the world need vision correction, but have limited access to resources.

Designed by Joshua Silver, the lenses are filled with fluid (clear circular sac of silicone oil) which has a high refractive index that fits between two clear and durable plastic membranes. A syringe is connected to the lenses by a tube, which allows wearers to adjust the amount of liquid in each sac according to their prescription. Sacs are sealed off with a valve once the correct vision is adjusted.

Uncorrected vision impacts people’s ability to read, write, learn, work, and their daily life. However, with the low-tech solution of Ad Specs these glasses can be deployed easily at $19 a pair.

http://exhibitions.cooperhewitt.org/Why-Design-Now