IDEO and Steelcase update the classroom desk

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If you travel back in time and show a student from the 1950s an iPad or Twitter they'd have a tough time making sense of it; show them a classroom desk, though, and they'd see it's changed little.Steelcase's IDEO-designed Node chair aims to change that, with a modern re-fresh of the schoolroom desk-chair combo.

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Its most significant feature is the casters that allow students to pivot and swivel, following dynamic presentations, or quickly move the desks into circles or conference tables depending on the task at hand. Off-the-floor storage is provided underneath the chair, and backpacks can also be hung from the armrests for quick access to materials. And the generously-sized desk surface is meant to hold an entire laptop without any precarious cantilevering.Steelcase and IDEO have even taken the physical receiving of the Node into account: Shipped in three pieces, the Node can be assembled in 30 seconds without tools!Read more about the Node and the methodology behind its design here.via fast company

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Zen and the Art of Design

"This may sound reductive, but we are too often caught up in the patterns that shape our daily lives to question them. We must learn to observe them without filtering everyday moments through our preconceptions. We can submerge our hands in the river of lived experience, but as soon as we try to grab hold of the water, it flows out of our grasp. Some may feel sly and cup their hands to trap the water, but they will only see what the liquid reflects. Others stare into the river, but only see what rocks and creatures struggle beneath its surface. But those who choose to observe the river without preconception can shift their idea of self out of the way of what they observe. They become the river. Then, in that observation, they can capture more directly what they have experienced and share it with others. It can become the work."

  

 

 

On the importance of self-expansion (NY Times)

As I read this article, I couldn't help but think of Charles & Ray Eames, the midcentury power couple who redefined design. From reading about them and watching their famous movies, the relationship appeared to be one of "self-expansion"; where your partner enables you to achieve more than you could have on your own. Their creative contributions to the world are a result of enhancing each others lives.