Doors of Perception Report
May 2009
With i-Borg in New York
by John Thackara

i-BORG
A new sign on Manhattan Bridge as you enter New York warns, "No Idling: $2,000
fine". Fat chance. The city would make more money if it fined people for using
iPhones whilst walking along. It's as if everyone has been Assimilated; iBorg,
disguised as cellphones, cling limpet-like onto everyone's hands.

DOCTORS OF TOMORROW
But I have to hand it to the iBorg: they're good at social innovation. Take the
example of family doctoring. Tamara Giltsoff, a service designer, introduced me
to a wondrous new outfit called Hello Health. Their website is so well-written
that I have to quote it direct: "Once upon a time, going to your doctor was
simple. You knew his first name, or perhaps just called him 'Doc'. He lived just
down the street and made house calls. And if you were sick, you would see him
that day, because, well, you were sick. Then things started to change. Although
medicine has made some amazing advances in keeping us healthy, we now have to
contend with dietitians, insurance premiums, running shoes, deductibles, HMOs,
OTC drugs, specialists, fat-free salad dressing, and therapists. Daunting, isn't
it? But don't worry, we've made going to the doctor easy again". Hello Health
combines the virtues of the old-fashioned neighbourhood doctor, with new tech
platforms. "We love technology, the Internet, and especially our iPhones",
say Hello Health; "You can talk to us like you're talking to a friend: through
emails, texts, phone calls, instant messages, or face-to-face conversations.
Also, everything's online, from making appointments to accessing your records.
It also helps we're close by, living and working in your neighborhood".
Anyway, the whole thing is quite brilliant - and to cap it all, Hello Health's
principal communication platform is a video on YouTube:
http://tiny.cc/7C1UX
http://tiny.cc/y4nEK

ALL DAY BUFFET
Even iBorg have to eat. Indeed, insofar as they have a destination as they
wander the city, it's usually to their next watering hole. An intriguing
alternative to traditional venture funds is actually called All Day Buffet. One
of its founders, Mike Karnjanaprakorn, told me (over breakfast, of course) that
their idea is to "invest in creative misfits and entrepreneurs". I ask him how
this is different from existing social venture capital funds. "We're like
a record label - minus the evil", Mike tells me; "we find super-smart people
and give them the resources, connections and collaborative structure they
need to launch their purpose-driven ventures and turn their ideas into
successes". Their method revolves around internal collaboration.
"Our secret sauce (there's the food thing again) lies in a cross-disciplinary
culture that cultivates rampant idea generation, productivity, and happiness".
If you want to taste this recipe for yourself, Mike is organising a social
innovation conference called The Feast on 1 October.
http://tiny.cc/Fja08

HUNGRY NEW YORK
Phemonena like All Day Buffet won't last long if food runs out. Claire Hartten,
recently returned to New York from the UK (via the Doors 9 event we did on food
systems,in New Delhi) has launched a group called Hungry New York to foster
synergies between sustainable food projects, and buildings. Claire's idea is
to bring together specialists from the green-building world (engineers,
architects, developers, educators, etc.) with those, like cheese-seller Anne
Saxelby, and restaurateur Carlos Suarez, who are finding entrepreneurial ways
to grow more sustainable food systems. A first event, organised with the
New York Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, features Carolyn Steele,
author of Hungry City.
http://tiny.cc/oEAMu

HIGH LINE
I was taken on a sneak preview visit to The High Line. It's an elevated public
park on a 1.5 mile elevated railway that runs along the West Side of Manhattan.
Everyone is rightly proud that this historic rail structure has been saved from
being razed by developers. 150 million dollars have been found to to create a
"one-of-a-kind recreational amenity� a linear public place where you will see
and
be seen". It's a spectacular site, and the work is being beautifully done - but
the project feels strangely out-of-date before it even opens. The High Line
website features "before" images of the site before restoration, with masses
of weeds and greenery. The "after" site, that I visited, features concrete
walkways, high-design benches, and artful planting. What I missed, amidst
the designerly order, was a sense of productivity and abundance.
The good news is that Phases 2 and 3 of the project venture into
vast unused railway yards - perfect sites for city farms.
http://tiny.cc/uNPzA

GROWING AND GREENING, PREENING AND TWEAKING
An interesting exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, curated by Maura
Lout, echoed my feeling that too much of New York's surface is paved and
impermeable. "Growing and Greening New York" seemed to be a friendly critique of
the Obama reconstruction budget with its emphasis on bridges, roads, tunnels -
and restored railway lines. Infrastructure can be renovated, the show implies,
by softer means - "tweaking much of what exists" to create a healthier, more
sustainable place to live. In New York, of all cities, it will take time for
this soft notion of infrastructure to take hold - but once it does, the
potential for digging up paved surfaces and retrofitting productive gardens,
with so much water all around, is stupendous.
http://tiny.cc/plgdT

DESIGN WRITING BOOM (COURSES IN NEW YORK, LONDON)
One warmly welcomes the imminent arrival of 30 highly-trained competitors into
the buoyant market for design writing. (Can one write through gritted teeth?).
Not one but two new masters programmes in design writing have started. At the
School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York, "fifteen stellar students and an
all-star faculty" are learning how to "research, analyze and evaluate design and
its social and environmental implications". In the UK, part-time students on the
London College of Communication MA are switching into my market from careers in
design and architecture, teaching, social networking, and trend forecasting.
http://tiny.cc/bSyS7
http://tiny.cc/IhNLA

DESIGN ACROSS BOUNDARIES (DESIGN COURSE, NEW YORK)
But why be a sheep? Instead of becoming a design writer, I have a better idea
for you: Liz Danzico, its co-founder,, told me that a couple of places are still
open on her new Interaction Design course at SVA. Danzico promises "a range of
experiences that cross visual, conceptual, and technical boundaries".
http://tiny.cc/JJz2E

EUROPE

SOCIAL MASHUPPING (CAMP, GLASGOW)
Europe's social innovators are more outdoors-inclined than New York's iBorg:
they all seem to be keen campers. The organisers of Social Innovation Camp,
"an experiment in creating social innovations for the digital age", are looking
for
the best ideas for web-based tools that can change stuff that matters. A camping
weekend in Glasgow brings together some of the best of the UK's software
developers and designers with those at the sharp end of social problems.
Their mission is to turn six back-of-the-envelope ideas that could change
the world into social start-ups - complete with working software.
And all in under 48 hours.
http://tiny.cc/VN1KC

UNGOV CAMP (UNCONFERENCE, BIRMINGHAM)
LocalGovCamp, for its part, is an 'unconference'; this means is that no agenda
is prepared and distributed in advance. Instead, sessions at the event are
decided upon and scheduled during the first part of the day.
http://tiny.cc/V7whp

AN EDAP IS BORN (ENERGY DESCENT ACTION PLAN)
Two years after the group was formed, Transition Forest Row has just published
its first version of an Energy Descent Action Plan, or EDAP. Subtitled 'a
community work in progress' it is a combination of storytelling, cartoons,
drawings and practical steps to an oil-free 2030.
http://tiny.cc/zIMfM

URBAN FOODPRINTS (ACTION RESEARCH, THE HAGUE)
The arts centre Stroom, in The Hague, has launched a two year project called
Foodprint: food for the city. A range of activities will explore the influence
food can have on the culture, shape and functioning of the city, using The Hague
as a case study. Artists and designers are invited to develop project proposals
that will connect entrepreneurs, farmers, food experts and the general public.
One of the kick-off events is a symposium on 26 June featuring inter alia
Carolyn Steel, author of 'Hungry City', and me.
http://tiny.cc/fB8c1

DESIGN IN A CRISIS (CONFERENCE, LINZ)
What's the best way to use design during the crisis? This year's
Design-Organisation-Media conference (DOM) in Linz will explore different ways
companies are using design to deal with complex business problems. Speakers from
Nike, Shell, Siemens, Arup, and Ideo will be joined by researchers, professors,
et moi. My chosen topic is: "Inwieweit sind die Methoden aus dem Kreativbereich
f�r die Wirtschaft relevant und wie k�nnen diese erfolgreich im Bereich der
Strategieplanung und Innovationsentwicklung eingesetzt werden?".
May 14 - 16, 2009, Linz/Mondsee
http://tiny.cc/P3VcB

EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES (EVENT, HELSINKI)
Juha Huuskonen and Tuuli Sotamma invite you "Emperor's New Clothes" in Helsinki
on 16 May. "People no longer want to be passive consumers, instead they want to
have an active role in searching for better solutions. How can designers open up
their work process and allow access for others to participate?" The event starts
with a presentation, by Professor Heikki Hy�tyniemi, about "the search for
balance in complex systems".
http://tiny.cc/OvpcM

MY PLAN TO SAVE THE CITY OF NICE $250 MILLION (MONEY SAVING TIP)
The demise of architectural trophyism coincides with an interesting debate about
the use of existing, but abandoned, industrial buildings. Until the bust, most
large empty buildings would have been jumped on by developers and turned into
egregious lofts. These days, the pressure is off and cities are considering more
interesting uses. The question of grand architectural statements is raised by
the transformation of the Var Valley, near Nice, into an Eco Valley This vast
project, which will last 30 years, spans 25,000 acres from the Mediterranean
coast to the Alpine foothills. The project's leader, Thierry Bahougne, wondered,
in our discussion in Nice, whether the commission of a signifcant
architectural...something...would attract potential stakeholders and give
coherence to the enterprise through time. I'd be in favour of involving
architects in Eco Valley - but not to make grand architectural statements.
Rather than splash out $250 million on a signature building, a more exciting
design challenge would be would be communicate the success of Eco Valley as
a narrative about the restoration and nurture of its existing watersheds and
biodiversity. The great national parks don't have signature buildings in them,
so why Eco Valley? Read more at:
http://tiny.cc/5tOEl

ECOSONIC (EVENT, MANCHESTER) )
Scientists from Britain's Natural History Musem, and the Meteorological Office,
are helping to develop two unique "citizen science" ways to record an urban
microclimate. A centrepiece of the Futuresonic Festival is Climate Bubbles:
People across the city of Manchester will test air flow circulation by mapping
the path of bubbles blown around the city, and share the results online. The
game enables the Met Office to get a snapshot the Urban Heat Island phenomenon.
And in Biotagging Manchester, people will traverse a range of microclimates
including cooler and warmer areas of the city; they will use "micro-tagging"
to record animal and plant life in Manchester's Philips Park. The idea is to
discover and map Manchester's urban wildlife in new ways. Futuresonic's
director, Drew Hemment, tells me that "both of these science-based
artworks revolve around a three-way interaction between technology,
environmentalism and society".
http://tiny.cc/1iEJh

FESTIVAL OF DESIGN ACTIVISM (EVENT, LEEDS)
I'm not sure what design in-activism would entail, but design activism
"encompasses a wide range of real-life, socially and environmentally-engaged
actions". A practitoners' conference will facilitate the sharing of knowledge
and understanding of practical engagement in design activism. A concluding
Gala Event includes cabaret, music, an awards ceremony, board games and
"making new friends". Aaah.
2-4 July 2009, Leeds, UK.
http://tiny.cc/gQlE5

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT IF.... (MANUAL)
The Manual of Dott 07 is now available to download, and it's free. We didn't
want to call it a book, which is frozen; and it's not a Catalogue, which is
backward-looking. So we called it a Manual.
http://tiny.cc/VYNTb

CALL FROM SYSTEM: CHILL ! (INNOVATION GONE MAD)
Two Intel researchers, Margaret Morris and Farzin Guilak, are developing "mobile
therapy" - a system of just-in-time personal coaching, by the system, that is
triggered by physiological indicators of stress. Mobile Heart Health, as it's
called, uses body sensors to help people "tune in to early signs of stress, and
modulate reactivity that could potentially damage their relationships".
Breathing visualizations and "cognitive reappraisal cues" appear on your cell
phone when a wireless ECG detects deviations from your baseline heart rate.
The only flaw I can see in this project is that my heart will literally explode
the first time that a cellphone tells me to calm down.
http://tiny.cc/H7vuC

CONTROL THE CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION
The market for design writing is about to be flooded by milleniallist newcomers,
so I need to grab a monopoly hold on key communication channels before it's too
late. So, please pass this newsletter on to everyone you know - and tell them to
subscribe.
http://tiny.cc/GNWM4


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