9.19.06 | New York Times | It sounds too selfish to say that the struggle to preserve the natural world is also a struggle to preserve the wholeness of our being, but it is a fact nonetheless. There are few better examples of this than the works now on display at the International Center of Photography, in a new exhibition called “Ecotopia.” That word implies something paradisal, but what the exhibition really suggests is the fragile ecology of the place we live — the glory of what it is and the sorrow of what we have done to it.

9.17.06. New York Times | [H]aving traveled to neighborhoods all over the country, from Milwaukee to Louisville, Fayetteville to Portland, Ore., what I’ve come to realize is that what makes a neighborhood a neighborhood is evidence of continual evolution and reinvention. Old houses, brand new ones and all those in between merge in a balance of past, present and future that makes a place feel vital. (This mix also helps guarantee a diversity of ages, ethnicities, income levels and backgrounds.) One architectural era isn’t necessarily better or worse than another — it’s the mixture of ingredients that makes a delectable dish.

9.13.06 | New York Times | I [Allison Arieff] was saddened to learn of the passing of industrial designer Bill Stumpf over the weekend. He’s best known for the ergonomic Aeron chair (which he designed with Don Chadwick) . . . . Equally significant was Stumpf’s thoughtfully articulated philosophy on the purpose and importance of design in our culture, exemplified by his collection of essays on how design shapes our lives in his book, “The Ice Palace That Melted Away.”

When lecturing or writing about design, I’ve often referred back to a particular quote from Stumpf: “If your shoes are comfortable you’re not aware they’re on. If the water is pure you can’t taste it. Similarly when a chair is a perfect fit for your body, it becomes ‘invisible’ and you’re not aware of it at all.”  . . .

Stumpf opted to demystify design. In both his words and the objects he made, he highlighted design’s potential — to do good, to be socially responsible, to be comfortable, to have a sense of play, to be useful — while avoiding its perils. . . . Take, for example, Stumpf’s notion of sustainable furniture: not something crafted from sunflower seeds or wood reclaimed from a high-school gym floor, but simply something beautifully designed and well-constructed that you’d enjoy for years before passing it down to your children and they to theirs. . . .

4.4.06 | Washington Post | The reason I can't blog this morning is that I have just moved to a new cubicle and am totally out of sorts . . . . I don't want to be seen as a Work Station Complainer. Every office has people whose work stations are, at least in their imagination, killing them.. . . Changing workstations can be every bit as emotionally devastating as going through a divorce. There is a pervasive strangeness to everything. There are unfamiliar sounds, light hitting the eyes at an odd angle, peculiar vapors from a photocopier, plus the reorientation of the body with regard to magnetic North.