A new methodology of engineering design, Biomimicry Design, introduces a completely logical and intriguing way of thinking. Its foundation, rooted in nature’s ingenious system of biomimicry, is both innovative and unique. The word biomimicry can be broken down into the words “bio,” which means life, and [...]

Bangkok, Thailand’s capital city, is rapidly sinking. To make matters worse, sea levels around the country are rising rapidly. Rather than constructing levees or dams, S+PBA bothered to ask — Why not use nature’s existing resources to prevent natural disasters that are affecting not only Thailand’s biggest cities but its most vulnerable populations? The company’s [...]

Trying to stay cool? Syrians have been using these earthen houses for that exact purpose since 3,700 BC. Made from mud, straw, dirt, and stones, the beehive-like dwellings are lean, green, and super-cool to look at. Beehive houses, built throughout the rural farming communities of Syria’s hottest deserts, are also found in it’s largest urban [...]

                        The Why Factory, a research group headed by architect Winy Maas, is asking another question: Why can’t artwork be big, beautiful, and help save the planet? The group has a new plan for Phuket, Thailand — and it involves a series of graceful [...]

As anyone who’s ever taken the 101 freeway knows, traffic in LA is a strange beast. Of the 50 most traffic-riddled metropolitan areas in the United States, Los Angeles is the worst. So it should come as no surprise that thinkers at Caltrans and the Van Alen Institute are hosting an exhibition about the potential [...]

Self Help Graphics, a nationally recognized center for Latino arts, announced the move to its new home this week. SHG’s mission is complex, but thorough: to develop and nurtures artists in printmaking, to advance Latino art broadly through programming, exhibitions and outreach to diverse audiences in East Los Angeles and beyond, and to identify and [...]