Archive for the ‘Environment’ Category

Life as a house, part II: A house is a work of art

Sunday, September 28th, 2008

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Virtual friend Bethany Buffington, who wears philosophy on her brow and has poetry in her heart, judiciously commented on part I of this post (as it appears on Myspace), suggesting that the proper way to create a house is as an outer expression of one’s inner beauty. One who cultivates inner beauty and chooses to let it shine by expressing it in the material realm in whatever form (house, object, performance, etc.) is certainly an artist. And I wholeheartedly agree that a proper dwelling should be a work of art. And this invites a proper digression into the concept of beauty
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Evolutionary Design: design according to Nature

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

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The way we currently design houses, consumer products, and other technological artifacts is obsolete and harmful. While there is a growing consciousness concerning environmental impact and so-called appropriate technology and some progress is noted in the mainstream, the most promising ideas are found at the “fringe,” in the domain of a group of visionaries here called the “outlaw designers.” The inspiration for the right solutions can be found all around us by appropriately drawing from Nature’s design techniques. It requires a profound change in our compartimented way of thinking to properly understand Nature’s systemic and synergetic quality. Applying this holistic view to the design of houses and other products will lead to better integration with the surroundings, with the users, and reduce considerably the environmental footprint. We briefly list architect Eugene Tsui’s principles of Evolutionary Architecture, which represent a Nature-inspired, bold and necessary departure from tradition in building appropriate shelters. In the same spirit, we also propose a series of 12 evolutionary design principles to be applied to small scale technological products.
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Milk paint

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

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Modern paint products are known to offgas nocive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for periods up to several years after initial application. This is especially worrisome in sealed indoor environments, such as modern hyperinsulated homes where such compounds add up to a myriad other household airborne chemicals which collectively impose a significant burden on our immune system. While low VOC commercial paints are now available at a premium on the market, there are also many ancient recipes to make paint from simple natural ingredients. Experimentation in the Omnilab has led to a promising recipe for paint based on milk; the results and advantages of this paint formulation make it an interesting alternative choice for the environmentally-conscious. (more…)

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How to live practically forever

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

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Proper nutrition is an old problem where much of the available information to this day is confusing or contradictory. Yet, the quality of our diet is in direct relationship with our health and longevity. We have known since the 1920s that the industrial, large-scale approach to farming led to a progressive decline of seed strains and produce quality. Only recently has the organic food movement become sufficiently important to offer a serious alternative to health-conscious individuals. While a vast number of scientists are becoming increasingly obsessed with artificial means of prolonging life in ways which are frankly creepy, there is a vast body of ancient wisdom which supports the notion that simple changes to one’s lifestyle - with regards to diet, exercise, sleep patterns, mood, and yes, spiritual life and self-actualization - can lengthen life expectancy dramatically. Furthermore, there is ample scientific evidence to validate this claim. (more…)

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Remember the 80s?

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

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Building on the social progress of the sixties and the many innovations rooted in the seventies (such as the personal computer, the cellular phone, and the Internet), the eighties was a hopeful decade. It saw the end of the cold war, the birth of a new environmental consciousness, and positive progress in both science and art. However, many initiatives and innovations which developed in a promising manner in the eighties have failed to live up to their expectations. Indeed, the mood has shifted from hopeful to cynical, from possibility to pessimism, from spiritual to material. Thankfully, there are signs of a turnaround. (more…)

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The true wisdom of Chief Seathl

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

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There is ample evidence that our expansive materialistic industrial society has much to learn from aboriginal cultures which, throughout the world, have certain traits in common: a profound connection to Nature and deference towards its sacredness, societies built of small, human-scale units centered on family and community, and a system of government based on consensus and wary of the long-term impact of its decisions. Chief Seathl, who became chief of the Suquamish tribe in 1808 at the age of 22, captures well that spirit and wisdom in his famous speech given in 1854. It speaks of sound values, of recognizing the sacred character of Nature, of the attachment to the land where one’s ancestors are buried. It also describes the decline and resignation of the American Indians, and indirectly warns White Man of the future environmental and social consequences of his recklessness.  (more…)

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R. Buckminster Fuller, outlaw designer

Monday, February 25th, 2008

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R. Buckminster Fuller (July 12th, 1895—July 1st, 1983), engineer, poet, philosopher, architect, inventor, and visionary was the quintessential modern Renaissance man. Among many other descriptions, he was called “the PR man to the Universe.” His original and profoundly individual way of thinking led to a catastrophic business failure and bankruptcy in 1927; he had been attempting to innovate in the very conservative business of construction, which has traditionally been strangled by regressive codes and territorial trade unions. Profoundly shaken, he chose to embark on a lifelong experiment as “Guinea Pig B” to find out what one individual could do to help all of humanity become an enduring success, in a manner which would be sustainable and environmentally sound. He worked ahead of his time and left an impressive legacy of tools and knowledge in mathematics, architecture, engineering, philosophy, etc. One of the highlights of his life’s work is that he understood the importance of working at the interfaces, of transcending the boundaries that exist between the fields of human endeavour. In this line of thought, he was inspired by Nature’s synergetic mechanisms, its systemic quality, which makes it difficult to understand if you look at only one aspect at a time. This philosophy led to unique and extremely valuable inventions, with the geodesic dome being the most recognized.     (more…)

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