Have a new photo essay in Design Observer this week. This time, I’m focused on Manila’s rich SMS/texting culture, and how that influences the design of storefronts, public space and even Starbucks trinkets. Did you know that the Philippines is the world leader in texting per user? In the United States, users send, on average, [...]
When I moved to Asia, I packed up only two carry-on size luggages. “That’s it?” my friends asked. “That’s it,” I said. I couldn’t think of anything else. I had my casual clothes. My nice clothes. A couple dresses, a few pairs of shoes. Jewelry. Electronics, of course. If I needed something, I figured I [...]
Thinking a bit about collaborative consumption, coworking spaces, collective access. I grew up in a small apartment in Silverlake, Los Angeles, but when we had family over, we had family over. Grandparents, aunts, uncles–we all piled into the room with trundle beds and couches. When we needed a plumber, we called Uncle So-and-So who recommended [...]
A detail of a bus sign in southeast Beijing, and a danchengpiao (单程票: single journey ticket) for the subway. With its increasing sprawl and traffic, Beijing reminds me so much of my hometown, Los Angeles, except for one key issue: public transportation. Beijing’s public transportation, soon to boast the largest subway network in the world, [...]
Parking ticket receipts discarded on top of the parking machine at UCLA. First comes the ticket, then comes the receipt. Why the reason for so many discarded cards? The delay in spitting out the receipt, and the lack of clarity that a receipt is in fact coming after the parking ticket. The purchaser frequently leaves [...]
The hazards — and indicators — of abundance.
How do receptacles for specific objects encourage usage? Discourage usage? What if I wanted to discard a wadded up receipt, and there were no other rubbish bins around?
One of the challenges of self-propelled transportation is portability. On the one hand you have the efficient bike, but it’s too big to carry on the subway. On the other hand you have the longboard, but it’s not practical for long distances. And yes, bikes fold now, but they’re still heavy and difficult to manage. [...]
Southern California, as we all know, is car country. But it’s also very concerned with sustainability and clean energy. How to reconcile? Priuses have been quite popular, as have Honda’s hybrid lines. But another solution is emerging: use the big car to get from city to city, and then provide transportation options within each city. [...]
I took hundreds of photos on my train trip, and I’ve been sifting through them slowly. Something interesting to observe is the patterns that emerge, the little themes I didn’t realize I was collecting. Here’s one: how do we regionalize sustainability? Two examples of recycling bins: the above is from Eagle Nest, NM, on the [...]
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