Amy Smith shares simple, lifesaving design

Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but simple solution: a tool for turning farm waste into clean-burning charcoal.

Amy Smith designs cheap, practical fixes for tough problems in developing countries. Among her many accomplishments, the MIT engineer received a MacArthur “genius” grant in 2004 and was the first woman to win the Lemelson-MIT Prize for turning her ideas into inventions.

Source: TED

Ross Lovegrove shares organic designs

Designer Ross Lovegrove expounds his philosophy of “fat-free” design and offers insight into several of his extraordinary products, including the Ty Nant water bottle and the Go chair.

Known as “Captain Organic,” Ross Lovegrove embraces nature as the inspiration for his “fat-free” design. Each object he creates — be it bottle, chair, staircase or car — is reduced to its essential elements. His pieces offer minimal forms of maximum beauty.

Source: TED

Design Ideas Worth Spreading

November 28, 2009
9:00 am	to	12:00 pm

As part of the Singapore Design Festival 2009, TEDxGreen and TEDxSingapore is jointly organising a public event themed Design Ideas Worth Spreading. This event features videos of thought-provoking ideas and talks from TED Conferences. Participants will learn, share and engage in conversations about these ideas and their own, and be inspired to make a difference in their world and lives.

Design encompasses more than making great products, and includes everything that humanity does and creates, and is also about our continual search for ideas and solutions to questions that affect all of us: How can we design a better world to live in? Live a greener, self-sustainable existence on this planet? Lead happier lives? Be more creative? Create a future we can believe in?

Date: 28 November 2009, Saturday

Time: 9am to 12pm (registration and networking from 9am to 9.30am)

Venue: Singapore Management University, School of Accountancy, Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium, Level 3

This event is open to the public and there is no charge for admission, but
registration is required. To register, visit our website: http://www.tedxsingapore.sg/DesignFestival2009.php.

View the Design Ideas Worth Spreading press release.

Image credit: Singapore Design Festival 2009

Ray Anderson: The business logic of sustainability

At his carpet company, Ray Anderson has increased sales and doubled profits while turning the traditional “take / make / waste” industrial system on its head. In a gentle, understated way, he shares a powerful vision for sustainable commerce.

Ray Anderson’s company makes Flor, the line that made modular carpet tile sexy. But behind the fresh design is a decades-deep commitment to sustainable ways of doing business — culminating in the Mission Zero plan.

Source: TED

Janine Benyus: 12 sustainable design ideas from nature

In this inspiring talk about recent developments in biomimicry, Janine Benyus provides heartening examples of ways in which nature is already influencing the products and systems we build.

A self-proclaimed nature nerd, Janine Benyus is the author of Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, a book that has galvanized scientists, architects, designers and engineers into exploring new ways in which nature’s successes can inspire humanity.

Source: TED

Alex Steffen: Inspired ideas for a sustainable future

Worldchanging.com founder Alex Steffen argues that reducing humanity’s ecological footprint is incredibly vital now, as the western consumer lifestyle spreads to developing countries.

Alex Steffen is cofounder and executive editor of WorldChanging.com, an online clearinghouse of information and inspiration on the environment.

Source: TED

William McDonough: The wisdom of designing Cradle to Cradle

Green-minded architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account “all children, all species, for all time.”

Architect William McDonough believes that green design can prevent environmental disaster — while also driving economic growth. He champions “cradle to cradle” design that considers the full life cycle of a product, from its creation with sustainable materials to a recycled afterlife.

Source: TED