Saturday marks the start of the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef project’s introduction to the national stage (at the Smithsonian, that is). The “woolly celebration of the intersection of higher geometry and feminine handicraft” is the concept of two Australian sisters. Their art and science project is ultimately activist–it’s intended to raise awareness of the disappearing nature of the marine world–and it’s viewable through April 2011 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Go east, young crafter.
Crochet Coral
Project Chol Chol in the Bay
Haily Zaki of de LaB (LA’s Design East of La Brea Project) tipped me off to tonight’s Project Chol Chol trunk show featuring wares from the fair trade Mapuche line. The event in Woodside will include textiles, scarves, and other products to benefit a non-profit that promotes economic and social development through training, education, and microeconomic development projects. My main question about the colorful Chilean items: how was the orange shawl made, and how do I get my hands on one?
SOCAP Starts >> Kiva’s Growth
As Matt Flannery opens this year’s Social Capital Markets conference at Fort Mason by describing the need for “connected capital,” the organization that he co-founded, online microloan platform Kiva, is readying for its fifth year of enabling loans domestically and abroad. We talked about the Mission-based organization’s goals for growth as part of a pre-conference series with conference speakers.
Q: How are you looking to expand beyond tens of millions of transactions to date?
A: We’re looking to make Kiva a global brand on the consumer-facing end. Currently 80 percent of our users are in the US, and we’re looking to make the site look less American. We’re trying to localize and internationalize in Japan, Holland, and all across Europe, largely through enabling more languages.
Now that you’re a household name, what do you think most distinguishes Kiva?
We work in a third type of interaction beyond profit-maximizing donations and charitable donations. Our lenders want their money back, and while they’re forgiving, they want accountability.
SPUR Welcomes GOOD Design
After issuing an August call for local problems (not your average ask), the SF Urban Planning and Research Organization will host an evening of design-inspired ideas with GOOD magazine come Thursday. The Mission Street event will be moderated by Ms. Gelatobaby, LA’s own Alissa Walker, and will center around a lineup of problems and prospective solutions that include the following:
- Challenge #1: Foster civic engagement through technology and online media. Submitted by Lisa Frazier, President/CEO of the Bay Citizen. Design response by Ben Barry and Lee Byron of Facebook.
- Challenge #2: Increase the use of solar hot water use in California. Submitted by Molly Sterkel, California Public Utilities Commission. Design response by Kate Lydon & Anton Willis of Civil Twilight.
- Challenge #3: Reframe urban density as a channel for public good. Submitted by Alexa Arena, Forest City. Design response by Larissa Sand of Sand Studios.
- Challenge #4: Connect aging farmers with the next generation of agricultural landowners. Submitted by Steve Schwarz, CA Farmlink. Design response by Allison Arieff & Bryan Burkhart of modernhouse.
- Challenge #5: Create a landscape that fosters forgetfulness. Submitted by Nader Shabahangi, President & CEO of Agesong. Design response by Sarah Kuehl of Peter Walker & Partners.
- Challenge #6: Increase public transit ridership and decrease driving in San Jose and Silicon Valley. Submitted by Kevin Connolly, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. Design response by Brute Labs.
- Challenge #7: Develop a system to store disaster response supplies across the Bay Area. Submitted by Gregory Smith, Director of Disaster Services, American Red Cross. Design response by Brian Singer of Altitude.
Feeling Green? Get Thee to Storenvy
Lots of us are wary when we hear that something’s available to us for free. “Are you sure?” and “Are you trying to con me?” are our usual reactions, but in a Chris Anderson-inspired sphere where “Free” is a non-scary reality, a startup like Storenvy has a real shot. 
And it should: the idea for a social store community that offers no-cost virtual storefronts is a strong one when coupled with good UI and eye-catching design (Kansas-to-California founding duo Jon and Janette Crawford have new addition Willo O’Brien to thank for that). DIY store owners are offered CSS color pickers and social features in the company’s aim to democratize e-commerce. And for the non-merchants among us, browsing shops like Fashion Loves People and Clothe Your Neighbor as Yourself is a great way to spend your clothing dollars supporting independents.
Save the Bay on Why Our Waterways Need Not be Trashy
The headline may make you groan, but I’m a big fan of Oakland organization Save the Bay’s just-released voting mechanism for choosing which local waterways require most immediate attention. Internet users can select from the 225 spaces in the Bay that are most in need, including Colma Creek in South San Francisco, thanks to Google maps integrations. And while you might have liked what Arcade Fire put together recently with the Google API, you won’t love learning what’s clogging our local water, including toxic levels of plastic bags, cigarette butts, fast food containers, old tires, et al. Where is it most important to you that they’re removed?
Local Celebrations >> Design + Radio Stories
This humpday I’m already bracing myself for Thursday’s goings on; most notably, Catapult Design’s annual SF party and Youth Radio’s book party to celebrate its book “Drop That Knowledge,” now in print by UC Press. You can hear co-author Lissa Soep on KQED’s “Forum” tomorrow morning discussing youth radio stories, and stay tuned for designer-humanitarian Catapult co-founder Heather Fleming in conversation with Women 2.0.
Sonoma Welcomes You, Scribe Winery
A Big Apple-based pal turned me onto Scribe, a Sonoma winery whose vineyards stand where an industrial turkey farm was the most recent occupant. Once founders Kristof Anderson, Andrew Mariani and Andrew Avellar cleared the buildings and debris (no small feat), a cellar and hacienda have had room to shine. When I visited over the weekend, a group of Cal architecture students were on hand to plan a set of packable and reusable houses for migrant workers that will be tested on the property later this year. The winery is currently “soft opened” for tastings and will be hosting its first wedding this weekend. Mazel tov.
DIY Urbanism Opening Tuesday
Should you not have gotten enough good summer food over the long weekend, tonight’s programming at SPUR on Mission promises a “mobile street food party” organized by the SF Carts Project. If you’re able to make it past the creme brulee cart and the Pizza Hacker, an exhibit designed by Rebar awaits inside as part of DIY Urbanism: Testing the grounds for social change, which explores the intersection between hands-on urbanists and the traditional planning process. A $10 to $20 donation will get you in for the exhibit curated by Ruth Keffer (and while the recent economic decline and reduced public resources will be covered, it’s not all doom and gloom post-recession):
Fortunately for San Francisco, a city with a long history of entrepreneurship and social activism, citizens have displayed great wherewithal and ingenuity in the face of budgetary stalemates—resulting in an outpouring of innovative do-it-yourself projects ranging from activating stalled construction sites, to constructing temporary public plazas and parks at street intersections, to designing pop-up storefronts, to creating a national forest in the heart of the Tenderloin.
Welcome September + Architecture & The City Festival
Hearing about “Investigating Urban Metabolisms” so soon after lunch may have you reeling, but program details for the seventh Architecture and the City Festival may get you ready to digest (tours, films and lectures, that is). For the month of September, the American Institute of Architects’ local chapter has planned events that consider how information, building and transportation systems act almost like a human body in their intricacy. Maybe that’s why a Food Foraging Tour post-SF Design Awards sounds so good.
IMOW
