TechnoCRAFT is a new exhibition of more than 800 pieces by over 40 artists that explores that blurring boundary between designer and consumer, in which the consumer can take part in personalizing design. Curated by designer Yves Béhar of San Francisco-based Fuseproject, this exhibition features six sub-themes:

Crowdsourcing mines the collective talent of the community to develop new design solutions and puts the decision-making power in the hands of the masses. One participant in the exhibition, Threadless, is an online apparel store that solicits consumers to design and vote for new t-shirts each week.

Platforms consist of designers creating open, software-based platforms that provide the tools for individuals to create and/or customize their own unique products. From shoes to t-shirts to fantastic creatures, Platforms make it easy for individuals of all skill levels to take on the role of designer. PUMA’s Mongolian Barbeque is an iconic example of this theme.

Blueprints act as ideas that can be given away or sold, putting the power to create in the hands of the consumer. Rather than create and sell a finished product, designers sell or give away instructions so that anyone can create/recreate the design in their own way.

Hacks is a term that has moved far beyond the manipulation of computer software, extending into the public’s consciousness. Tables, iPhones and bikes are revised, modified and manipulated to achieve a new look or new functionality. The Eames Hack High Chair below by the team of McCandlish, Tom Reynolds, Jared Delorenzo, Alexandra Powell, Tim Peet, and Alie Thomer – students at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia - is a prime example of this.

Incompletes intentionally leave room for creativity on the part of the user. The degree to which the end user is involved varies with each design, but all depend on the role of the user to provide input for a design to properly function. With Marijn van der Poll’s Do hit chair you can change the original form with a hammer or other tool into whatever you decide.

Finally, Modules are individual components that come together to create customised creations. Intelligently designed modules allow for the user to develop an outcome that is driven in equal parts by ingenuity and budget. Designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec’s Clouds allows the user to arrange and re-arrange a variety of tiles to create installations and new designs.

Exhibit Information
TechnoCRAFT: Hackers, Modders, Fabbers, Tweakers, and Design in the Age of Individuality
July 10 – October 3, 2010: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco

All photography taken courtesy of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco

The London Design Festival, now in its eighth year, announced the program for this year’s event, which is to be held from 18-26 September. As with 2009, Trafalgar Square will see yet another installation – this time a robotic installation named Outrace by German designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram. The creation will take the form of six massive industrial robotic arms from car designer and manufacturer Audi’s production line. Custom software developed by the designers will allow the public to temporarily control the installation and write texts in light traces drawn by the synchronized mechanical tentacles. These ‘light paintings’ will then be recorded and published online. See the renditions of the installation below.

Here are more of what we loved at SaloneSatellite this year, both from Scandinavian designers.

Boa Shelving/Storage by Tuyo Design

This is the shelving that I would love to have in my home, and I’d actually go to Norway to pick them up if I have to. It is a clever way to display books without bookends, wine without wine racks (although they are already looking for an even better solution to store wine) and more. The felt strips may be adjusted to accommodate more (or less) things as desired. Two strips of felt may be connected from one shelf to another to create more storage options.

My Granddaughter’s Cabinet by Lisa Hilland

This is a series of pieces that Swedish designer Lisa Hilland created called “My Granddaughter’s Cabinet”, which was inspired by family treasures. The piece pictured below is of the same name as the collection, and is a birch cabinet with oak, cherry and birch veneer for contrasting patterns.