Monday, November 30, 2009

Research of Lamps

The idea of recycled lamps is NOT new, however; the idea of using denim and bamboo is.
A lot of major design firms are working on sustainable or upcycled lamps.
Here are some examples from Droog. The 'Hang on Easy'N'Milk Bottles' They are all very strong compositions in the proportions and layouts of the lamp. The Hang on easy is actually my favorite. It has such a simple design and construction that would be very easy to make out of clothing that is starched. They have a lot more examples, but I find that most of them are created out of new materials, that are sustainable, or recycled pvc/plastics.



There are also many designers out there creating upcycled lamps out of discarded objects.
Below is from the site: Poetic Home Faux Lux http://www.poetichome.com/2008/09/23/fiat-lux-upcycled-lamps/
"Clockwise from top left: Upcycled vintage Tupperwares make cheery pendant lamps via Oak Boston; Chains and wire create a rocker style lamp via Etsy’s Swandieve; I always knew the Dutch were fabulous, and this great street lamp made of recycled soda bottles is another testament to their style via Flickr’s miek37; Reclaimed gear parts create industrial and stylish lamps via Etsy’s sksullivan667."

As for the creation of the light, it is not complicated to wire a lamp. The model I will be using for my project is very similar to what I wanted to create and its a fabric lamp. http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Fabric-Lamp/
As for my design, I researched a lot of antique lamps and found a few styles that I sketched out. I like how the lamp design I chose has almost a modern look to it and I liked the multied tier effect I there is from it.

Upcycled Clothing Furniture Creative Caffiene

For my third project in Social Design I wanted to make furniture out of old clothing specifically jeans. We learned in class that it takes a huge amount of pesticides and chemicals to make a single pair of jeans. In order to solve this and stay sustainable I want to take those "bad" materials and reuse them instead of throwing them away.

For my creative caffiene I wanted to see what had =been= done with upcycled denim already. What I found was that pretty much everything that had been done so far was a bag. Here are some of the products I found made of recycled denim:


For what I noticed with a lot of the images, the product was very crafty and very limited in the design. The idea of furniture breaks away from the simplistic image of demin bags.

Homeless, Who's Problem is it?

http://www.app.com/article/20091130/NEWS03/91130011/1007 I was reading this article I got off of world press. It talks about how there is a growing number of homeless families in N.J. with young children. It gives the story, or part of it, of Ms.Adkins and her two young children. They talk about how a startling number of cases are around like her story. Something happened the family ended in finacial ruin and she now lives in a homeless shelter. It is a sad story, but I generally do not pot blogs about something like this. Everyone knows there are homeless people.

What made me post this was the comments left on the article. Everyone was so quick to condemn the women because she was 'Ms.' Adkins. Apparently, it is her fault she is homless because she does not have a husband. The article does not mention if she was married at any point or what happened to the father of her children. I personally feel that it is wrong to say she is homeless because she does not have a man in her life. That is ridiculous! I also tend to find it wrong to automatically assume it is someone's fault they are homeless.

A few weeks ago my mom was at a McDonalds for breakfast and she met these two men that have been homeless for a few months. They frequent the Towson area and can sometimes be seen on street corners. They are hardworking and go every morning to Labor Ready (a non-profit day labour center for homeless men and women to find a job for the day) to get money for food for the day. If they cannot get a job that day they try to get some on the street. One of the men, Steve I believe was his name, was nice enough to share his story with my Mom who had offered to buy them some breakfast (and found out later afterwards it was this man's birthday as well). He and his son had been working hard to keep the house after his wife died. His son was still in H.S. at the time and he was working in a local Hospital. When the recession hit hard last year he lost his job, then his house and was forced to live on the street. Every day he goes and tries to find work like he did everyday for the last year. There just isn't any available for him (he does not have a college degree, nor is he any kind of skilled laborer). He was a janitor and there just arent that many positions open at the moment. He was a very nice man, and I hope the best for him. Right now they have a social worker on their case and I sincerely hope he can find a job.

My point is, I don't think anyone who is homeless should be condemned. You don't know who might be next, it may even be you. So what if she isnt married? There are HUNDREDS of single mothers in America doing just fine. Things happen that are out of our control that lead to consquences that may leave you homeless. So I ask, if someone is homeless, who's fault is it that they are homeless?