Storm Windows

We started this project to design and build a better wooden storm window a year ago and the windows are finally installed.  It was a huge effort to get all the assembling, painting, scraping and cleaning done for 30 windows.  The goal was to design a wooden storm that would enhance the architecture of the house, help preserve the old windows and meet all of the Energy Star requirements.  We researched the R values of each material to meet the standards set by the National Fenestration Society.  The glass panels are interchangeable with screens and they can be changed from inside the house.

Modularity

My freshman design class, learning to work with the module.

A Problem with a Solution

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/my-life-with-cables/?ref=opinion

Check out this wonderful piece called My Life with Cables by Christophe Niemann on the NYTimes website. I was delighted to see so many people think this is still a problem even as we transition to wirelessness. There were more than 11 pages of comments on the issue of cord management following this article.

My solution after studying the situation and making lots of prototypes is a cord coat. It wraps around and buttons up the mess. This fully designed product with a market, is crying out for someone to make it!


patent pending

Saving Water

A single person or a couple can dry and store dishes in this simple refined bamboo rack after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its part of the kitchen furniture. It cuts the need to use the dishwasher.

Too Good to Be True Story

Monday was a beautiful clear day at Coney Island. While walking on the beach and telling stories we started searching for a diamond ring, the one left behind last summer by a distraught soul upset by her lover. We didn't find it. That night my sister and I went to see Two Lovers at the 69th Street Cinema. The film was made in Brighton Beach, right in the same spot where we had been in afternoon. Its a disjointed story about a sad guy buffeted by his feelings for two women. In the final scene, he ends up on the boardwalk, with a diamond ring which he throws down on the sand while he contemplates how to end it all.

Finally he picks it up and takes it with him, but I'm sure there is another one there somewhere.

Thinking in Context

What we use integrates with where we live. In the proper context, a product will seamlessly explain its function. The yellow lines on the edge of steps help steer our way. Without realizing it we rely on them to help us navigate.

I love a plain white paper cup, anonymously it enhances the rich color of the coffee and hence the flavor.