Home. OpenStructures Water Boiler by Unfold. Istanbul Design Biennial: Belgian design studio Unfold have created a 3D printed ceramic filter for an open source water boiler and purifier that was developed by Jesse Howard in collaboration with Thomas Lommée for use in the developing world. The machine was first devised by Howard and Lommée of Intrastructures, a design studio that makes and uses components from the OpenStructures open source construction project. Read more about the OpenStructures system in our earlier story. Unfold developed the original design by replacing its plastic bottle with a glass bottle, which has been cut in half to hold the water filter. The ceramic water filter has extruded pockets filled with activated carbon, which acts as a natural purification device, and attaches to the OpenStructures system via a 3D-printed adapter designed by Fabio Lorefice. We recently reported on another Unfold project presented in Istanbul, which explored how 3D printed objects can be as unique as handmade ones.
Les limites des bonnes intentions : le design social n’est pas si simple. Julie Lasky pour Metropolis Mag vient de signer un très pertinent papier sur les limites de la conception sociale. A l’heure où l’engagement social des designers se multiplie, sous de multiples formes (sociétés à but non lucratif, initiatives sociales d’entreprises, mobilisation étudiante, partenariat avec des ONG, compétitions de design…) et de multiples sujets (allant de la conception d’abris d’urgence, aux purificateurs d’eau ou au four solaire… ), nombreux sont ceux qui jugent ces travaux certes bien intentionnés, mais pas nécessairement concrets.
Où sont les résultats de toutes ces initiatives ? Pour David Stairs, directeur des Designers sans frontières (DWB), qui estime que son taux de réussite sur les projets est de l’ordre de 10 %, la conception sociale est un secteur qui ressemble à l’industrie des services alimentaires : il est facile d’y entrer, mais difficile d’y réussir. Car le passage à l’échelle est le Saint Graal de l’innovation sociale. Image : Safe Agua. The Machine - Agenda. Www.londondesignfestival.com. News from the Flux | superflux. Global Design Forum | One day to set the global agenda for design. Www.dezeen.com/dezeenstudio/ The new industrial revolution - Design. There's more to a machine than its function. In the 19th century, the Luddites considered it a worker's most dreadful enemy; The Machine was an impersonal menace with no empathy for the starving masses, and — in order to keep their presence necessary and their families fed — the workers proceeded to physically destroy the technology that was ushering in an irreversible social change.
Different machines trigger different changes, though. As the manufacturing industry is not as predominant as it used to be, today's innovations might open up new possibilities for the future instead of sweeping it away. It's an optimistic point of view, of course, but I have to admit an exhibition like The Machine makes a pretty strong case for it. Itself sitting in a recently repurposed mining area, now transformed into a creative hub called C-Mine that has been hi-jacking visitors from Manifesta 9's more charismatic Watershei venue, the show is the first joint project of Design Hub Limburg. 3D printers could "print ammunition for an army" News: advances in 3D printing could allow people to "print ammunition for an army", according to Ronen Kadushin (pictured above), one of the pioneers of the open design movement. Kadushin spoke to Dezeen following the news that a pro-gun group in America is developing open-source blueprints for weapons that could be downloaded and printed at home.
"It is frightening for governments because it means the total dissemination of arms into a community," Kadushin said. "You know, you can basically print ammunition for an army, and this is very frightening. " Kadushin said open-source design and the "maker" movement risked being tainted by misuse of new technologies. "All you need is one person that makes a 3D printed weapon, kills somebody with it, and then it goes to the press and the same bad press that hackers have will project onto makers," he said.
"This is a very, very dangerous situation. " Above: 3D printed gun components Above: Ronen Kadushin's Flat Nouveau chair RK: Yes. RK: Yes. RK: Yes.