Dwell July/August 2016

Amanda Dameron, Editor-in-Chief • amanda@dwell.com / @AmandaDameron “ We are born with an operational system that is integrated. Everything is working together. Nature’s design has the senses coordinated in order to provide protection and efficiency in the environments that we originally inhabited. Humans are very adaptive, more adaptive than many other creatures. We are all over the planet and generation by generation making further adaptions.” Charlie Morrow “ We see ahead when we make designs that are materialized in the future, when we write problems that anticipate solutions, when we link one step to another in navigating our lives....” John Maeda “ The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” Mark Weiser “ Everything changes…

LETTERS I wanted to voice my appreciation to your publication for always including accessible design in your magazine. My wife is a wheelchair user, and accessibility is essential to the layout of our home. I love your magazine and have been pleasantly surprised that almost every one of your issues seems to highlight some sort of accessible living. This small gesture means a lot to me and my wife, and I wanted to thank you for being so progressive and inclusive. Susan Hoyle Sacramento, California Thanks for the April issue. It debunks a common belief that universal design—designing to accommodate people of diverse ages and abilities— means sacrificing beauty. I’m sure that Ron Mace, the architect who coined the term “universal design,” would have enjoyed reading this issue. Jim Mueller…

Carlos Chavarría Born in Madrid, Carlos Chavarría moved to the Bay Area six years ago to launch a career in photography. He was recently chosen as one of Photo District News’s 30 emerging photographers to watch. Chavarría visited the tech-filled home of Scott MacFiggen and Regina Bustamante in San Francisco’s Noe Valley neighborhood for this issue (page 102). “I had an amazing time photographing them in their backyard at dusk—there was a magical light,” Chavarría recalls. Would you live in a smart house? “I can’t think of a more convenient city than San Francisco for living in a smart home, since a lot of aspects of life here are based on new technologies and connectivity.” Michael Friberg Based in Salt Lake City, photographer Michael Friberg lives with his wife and…

Ekco AD65 Radio Wells Coates designed the AD65 radio, shown here in a rare green version, for British electronics company Ekco in 1932. New technology made this wireless device possible, but it was the visual shift from wood cabinetry-like casing that made the piece stand out. “ Seemingly banal products . . . are key symbols of the modern age, crucial pointers to the future, and a continual reminder that we live in a world defined largely by technology.” —Penny Sparke, design historian 1 ET Personal 55 Typewriter Italian architect Mario Bellini led electronics company Olivetti’s design division from 1963 to 1991, producing calculators, typewriters, and personal computers. He invented a tapered profile to reduce the heft of this machine, designed between 1985 and 1986. 2 Algol 11 Television Unlike…

After Hurricane Sandy devastated New York in 2012, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan initiated a competition for solutions to improve resiliency in vulnerable areas. The result was Rebuild by Design. Architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group proposed one of the winning concepts, Big U—eight continuous miles of integrated coastal protection surrounding southern Manhattan, including a raised berm to act as a buffer for flood-prone areas. The $335 million project will be more than just a giant wall to protect the city from storm surges; it will also enhance surrounding neighborhoods with high-water barriers doubling as seating, raised cycle paths, and skateboard ramps. Officially named the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, the first 2.2-mile stretch is scheduled to break ground in 2017. big.dk…

While NASA anticipates getting people to Mars sometime in the 2030s, new companies are chasing the dream of a colony on Mars with startup aggressiveness. Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for one, will work with NASA to land and operate its unmanned Red Dragon spacecraft there as soon as 2017 (detailed plans will be released in September). The federal agency can’t afford such boldness— it now accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the federal budget, down from nearly 5 percent at its height in the 1960s. Flying to Mars is, of course, tricky—several unmanned NASA missions to the Red Planet have already failed. However, the dream persists. Musk has said establishing a Mars base could be evolution’s next giant leap. spacex.com…