COVID-19 or The end of coherent action? https://washyourlyrics.com/ Anecdote 1: My downstairs neighbours have had people over for dinner on Friday. In a pandemic. Anecdote 2: A South London yoga instructor suggested we all ‘clap for carers’ and ‘millions’ of people did it at once last Thursday. I only heard about it the next day because… Continue reading COVID-19 or The end of coherent action?
Can makers help the NHS during COVID-19?
Can makers help the NHS during COVID-19? (In light of conversations with Alyssa Alabassi and her experience of front-line support of COVID-19 right now) Could we support the NHS with access to light industrial talent (design students, prop makers, fashion designers) to manufacture ‘good enough’ face shields and protection scrubs for front-line NHS staff while… Continue reading Can makers help the NHS during COVID-19?
What Anne Frank can teach us about a crisis.
I live in London and my local supermarkets seem to have run out of hand sanitiser. It’s March 2020 and in the midst of a frenzy around the 50+ cases of coronavirus in the UK, Jack Monroe writing about what to stockpile for Brexit back in November 2018 doesn’t seem like a bad idea anymore.… Continue reading What Anne Frank can teach us about a crisis.
How the internet will eat your home
How the internet will eat your home (This post will link all the threads of client work I’ve had since I wrote my book on Smart Homes. You could call this ‘the missing chapter’.) So the UK government has just announced it will start fining landlords who rent out properties that are below an E rating… Continue reading How the internet will eat your home
Turncoats: Nuclear Homes Arguments
I’m speaking at tonight’s Turncoats an evening of architecture debates. I’ve been asked to talk about the nuclear home so here are my five minutes for and five against. For: The nuclear home helps people develop a variety of skills like picking things up when they’re done with them, cook an egg for a loved… Continue reading Turncoats: Nuclear Homes Arguments
Better reading
It’s incredibly hard to read Dominic Cummings’ blog post without wondering what his everyday life must be about. What he reads, who he hangs out with, who he goes surfing/golfing with will help create a world view where Peter Thiel is a reference and machine learning can help civil service keep things ticking along for… Continue reading Better reading
Low Carbon Design Institute: ideas for a net zero compliant design education
It’s Christmas Eve, I’m reading the introduction to Ezio Manzini’s ‘Design, When Everybody Designs‘ and I just got angry again. Anger, for a 39 year old woman, is an incredibly useful tool. It’s the step that comes before action. Back in October, I wrote a little twitter rant about the idea of a Low Carbon… Continue reading Low Carbon Design Institute: ideas for a net zero compliant design education
Far from the madding crowd: modern art museums in rural Japan.
Far from the madding crowd: modern art museums in rural Japan. I just spent 21 days on holiday in rural Japan, my third time there. 31 million people visited Japan in 2018 and most will stick to the shinkansen (fast train) that connects the large cities (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima) or areas like Nara, known for its… Continue reading Far from the madding crowd: modern art museums in rural Japan.
Women Interrupted: the untold stories of women in design and architecture.
Women Interrupted: the untold stories of women in design and architecture. In researching my first book on smart homes I ended up uncovering a lot of women’s work. Work that wasn’t very well documented. Work that was largely forgotten. Then through my work travels, I kept visiting homes, museums, galleries where I would find out… Continue reading Women Interrupted: the untold stories of women in design and architecture.
How to organise diverse events : a production checklist
How to organise diverse events : a production checklist Yesterday, the 4th edition of Ada’s List annual conference took place at the Financial Times building in London. I volunteered to produce it back in July and I wasn’t even in the country when it took part (holidaying / writing retreat for my new book). And everything… Continue reading How to organise diverse events : a production checklist