Design for the Majority

2009年3月18日星期三

农村的水能源

3月15日，春光明媚，和煦的阳光照耀着绿幽幽的麦田，我们随同王栋（德胜鲁班木工学校学生）来到了他的家-五城镇月潭村藕塘组，离休宁县城大约70公里的村庄。到那个村子只能通过出租车或是自备的交通工具才能到，没有专线公交车，村里的人们也至少要走5里路，坐拖拉机，再坐公交才能到县城里。可能由于与外界来往的渠道受限，使得村里的硬件设备条件比较落后，村里的垃圾等废物尝尝不能运送出去，不得不积累废弃在村里的各个角落。上面三张图是村里流动的水渠，穿梭于每家每户门前，各个小巷。那里的水过去常常被用来洗衣服或是洗菜，不过现在这水已经受到生活垃圾的污染（如第一张图所示），现在村里的人们最多用来养鸭子，基本被废弃了。

但是，根据我们的调研和了解，其实这水渠里有非常丰富的能源可以利用，我们了解到这水源来自附近山上的，殊不知，这其中具有丰富的势能（如第二第三张图）。如果能将这些水势能转化为电能，这样能解决他们村许多生活不便，比如夜晚出门必须带着手电筒，行路也看不见对方的脸，晚上上厕所也不方便照明等等。同时还能清洁水渠道，使之能再被村民广泛利用，提高村民的生活水平和质量。

工具

居民生活用水光有井还不行，还要有汲水的工具，早在春秋战国时期就出现了汲水设施桔槔，同时汲水陶罐也不断发展在很多遗址中发掘出来。

桔槔

原始社会里的尖角漏壶

多样的汲水陶罐多样的汲水陶罐

此外，随着技术的不断发展，先进设施不断发明，辘轳的发明与使用就极大的节省了人力，翻车的发明更是促进了农业灌溉的发展。

辘轳

马钧发明的翻车

以上可供大家参考！

休宁记

09.3.14日我们一行九人坐上去往安徽休宁的客车，路上最为惊叹的就是看到高山，心情极为兴奋。客车开了将近7小时到达了我们的目的地。休息了一个晚上，第二天早上鲁班木工学校的学生来接我们一行人，我们被分为三组，我们一组跟着一个同学来到了休宁县渭桥乡。渭桥乡相比另两组去的地方要富有些，但是还是让我极为震惊，因为在这个乡里经济状况一般水平的家庭每月全家的支出是100元左右，这样算的话一年才1200元，如此低的生活质量，感叹贫富差距之大。一家的劳作下地、养猪、养鸡，有部分是可以卖掉，另外的就是家里一年的食物。渭桥乡到处一片片油菜地，望去很美丽，但是走在油菜地的小路，就可以听到成群的蜜蜂叫的声音，极其可怕。带领我们的那个男孩子说让我们小心点，不要去触碰到油菜花，否则的话就会遭来蜜蜂的袭击，估计那段路是我们走的最为紧张的了。

这次去总算是让我深刻地体会到什么叫贫穷, 印象最深刻的一家人，爷爷、奶奶和孙子一起居住。我的伙伴们进了他的家（由于本人怕狗狗只好在外面转了一圈，没有亲眼目睹房屋内的情形），等她们出来后都向我感慨不已，并把拍到的照片给我看了，真是很凄惨，三个人居住在一个小小的空间里，没有厨房，没有独立卧室，没有卫生间，床也只有一张而已，没有像样的被子，真是想象不到是怎么过的。孙子才12岁，可是已经挑起家里的负担，到田间抓蚯蚓然后钓黄鳝来卖，上山砍竹子给爷爷编制东西来换点钱维持生活。

一天的乡村观察，除了感叹外，觉得应该好好为这群人做一个设计，使得能受益。是该好好想想接下来该怎么去做了！

2009年3月17日星期二

这是在前往休宁县山后乡竹林下村的路上，这儿没有手机信号，沿途有多处已被处理的山体滑坡。（该处是新发生的山体滑坡）

2009年3月15日星期日

來自荷蘭的【展開的書架】

http://www.reinierdejong.com/rek.html

居家裝潢時，總不忘提醒設計師儘量利用整面牆壁的高度，將衣櫃或書架做高、做滿，以便有更大的利用空間。不過，這樣的物盡其用，可能就必須請木工特別訂做，且變成是固定住、無法再移動。
固定式的裝潢雖然工整，但會少了些彈性與變化的可能性；尤其當要搬家或重新裝潢時，這些裝潢帶不走，變成必須拆掉，或將就使用。
因此，現在很多設計師在設計產品時，除了考量風格造型外，實用性也變成重要的元素之一。像來自荷蘭的這個【展開的書架】，就賦予書架不同的面貌，既美觀且實用，因為可以摺疊.....

設計師利用相互交疊的設計，將書架分成5段的層次，主人可以依照書本、擺飾物的多寡，一層層展延開來。書本、東西多時，就全打開；反之，就展開個2層即可，隨心情、隨物品多寡，自由自在進行調整。

开胃托盘

在自助的晚宴上想要吃点东西，必须要先将手中的杯子放下，而后才能拿起盘子挑选自己喜欢吃的东西，不过酒就没有手可拿了，只能交替着使用自己的双手。这“开胃托盘”就解决了这小麻烦，一边可以放置酒杯，而另一边可以放置食物，简单而又方便。

2009年3月14日星期六

90 degree Furniture

So you aren’t satisfied with your folding chairs, huh? You say that your sleeping bag isn’t cutting it anymore. You want true flatness. You want to be able to really fold your furniture up. Kaptein and Bolt will flatten it out for you. Here’s 90° Furniture for your paper-thin, flippy-floppy world.

90° Furniture described by its designers Louwrien Kaptein and Menno Bolt:

Een interieur voor een antikraakbewoner/kunstenaar, bestaande uit 4 delen:
werkunit
zit- en slaapunit
kookunit
opbergunit
Twee gesloten panelen draaien open tot een hoek van 90˚. Ieder onderdeel is een ruimteverdeler en een functioneel meubel, naar believen in of uit te klappen. Het interieur is gemakkelijk te (ver)plaatsen en is toepasbaar in elke ruimte.

And in English!

An interior for an [artist] consisting of 4 parts:
Work Unit
Sitting and Sleeping Unit
Cooking Unit
Storage Unit
Two closed panels rotate open to an angle of 90 degrees. Each component is a room divider and a functional piece of furniture, allowing unlimited combinations. The interior is easy to replace and is applicable to each room.

I imagine these working best in places where they reach floor to ceiling. Yes? More room needed, and quite possibly more attention necessary payed unto unused space. This project also reminds one of a [similar project] made of cardboard. Possibly some recycled materials are in the 90° future?

Also if the translation has terrible mistakes, please notify! Noone hates bad Dutch translations more than me!

Designers: Louwrien Kaptein & Menno Bolt

I think the furniture design will really serve people in Xiuning ,which makes their home more spacial and clean.And also A great furniture design will change their life dramatically.

Scrap Wood Furniture

Making something out of nothing

In our cult of the new and the shiny, it’s sometimes refreshing to remember that it’s possible to make new things out of old things that look old. No, seriously, it’s possible. And Jan Korbes Garbage Architecture has many projects to prove it. Coming from the Gordon Matta-Clark school of architecture, Jan Korbes follows a lot of threads at once. There are a lot of small furniture pieces involving scrap wood and recycled car tires. Some are interesting, some you’ve seen before, but in every instance he doesn’t stop experimenting.

Where it starts to get really interesting is when the objects start to become architecture, or pieces of architecture. The Zee Stair is a great example: an old harbor pole is sawn again to become a beautiful, unexpected stair. Sinus Stairs II takes this a step farther by recycling old doors to create a screen-like staircase, one that begins to take on the mass and shape of a building. Optrek Tranvaal takes recovered doors from other projects and recycles them into a skylight/balcony cut not unlike some of Matta-Clark’s late proposals, where the envelope of the building is cut to create something entirely new. This is someone we’re going to be checking in on from time to time. We can’t wait for the truly big projects to begin.

Designer: Jan Korbes Garbage

2009年3月13日星期五

Design for Poverty winners

Via:http://www.yankodesign.com/2008/10/30/design-for-poverty-winners/

GOLD Rain Drops-by Evan Gant (USA)

Rain water is a largely untapped resource, especially in many developing countries where clean water is scarce. Water harvesting consists of three main components: a catchment area (generally a roof), a gutter system and a water storage area. The water storage area is by far the most expensive portion of this system, which makes it out of reach for many families. The RainDrops system simply allows people to adapt standard plastic bottles to an existing gutter system to collect rain water. This changes water storage from the most to the least expensive part of the system. These are much easier to clean and replace than larger storage units. The repurposing of these plastic bottles will also give value to many bottles that are otherwise headed for landfills. Corruption in the water sector is a real problem in many developing countries. The scalability of this system helps to give more power to the communities in need.
For many communities in the developing world a lack of good hygiene can have deadly consequences. Washing your hands is one of the best ways to prevent the distribution of bacteria. Nearly six thousand children in Kenya die each year from diarrheal diseases, and it is estimated that the simple act of proper hand washing could cut that number in half (kwaho.org). The RainDrops system includes an attachment that allows people to create running water to wash their hands.
Another large benefit to using plastic bottles as a water collection system is that it fits in nicely with the process called SODIS, which uses a combination of the suns UV rays and heat to remove pathogenic microorganisms that cause disease. This process is spreading across many developing countries due to its effectiveness and low cost.
Ultimately the goal of this system is to create a means for people to be able to collect water, which is an essential resource for life. By helping them relieve the monetary burden in an essential area like access to clean water, people will have more economic flexibility to start address unmet needs in other areas.

HONORABLE MENTION - Education for All by Brian Cuellar (Colombia)

In many parts of the world the education programs are inadequate, mostly in the third world countries. This right does not reach the most vulnerable communities. It has been said before but education IS the key to solving all our problems, even poverty.
Education for All is based around a book-mobile. Most impoverished children in the world have never even see a book. The system has storage for books, didactic materials, and lesson plans. It can be transported by a truck, motorcycle or even a helicopter to the most remote regions. It is made in fiber glass which doubles as a wonderful white board to conduct lessons with.