Fairey’s original works cover the exterior of the Art of Elysium site, creating an innovative socially distant public art display for all to view and be reminded that “injustice anywhere threatens justice everywhere,” one of many messages on the installation’s panels. More specifically, the works are on display at Live Nation’s Hollywood Palladium at 6215 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles.

The Founder Explains

Jennifer Howell, who founded Art of Elysium back in 1997, explains that the programs and mission of the organization are “…all centered around bringing the healing power of art to those who need it the most. At this moment in time, the world is in great need, and in celebrating our anniversary we wanted to create a moment to honor exactly where we are.” She believes that art can change society for the better and much quicker than any politician or policies have been able to. She adds that “art unites. Art inspires. Art calls to action the people. Art allows us to transcend.”

Fairey Expresses Gratitude

Fairey expressed heartfelt thanks for the opportunity to work with the non-profit, one of numerous he’s been involved with for many years “to help encourage healing through art” in all forms. He told The Hollywood Reporter that he appreciates the Palladium’s generosity in donating their venue for the installation, which since the onset of the pandemic has been restricted from presenting its traditional offerings of large-scale concerts and gatherings.

He added that “the main way COVID-19 figures into what I’m making is that I think the universal anxiety and vulnerability to the virus might open people up to empathizing with their fellow humans in key areas of justice. I see the pandemic as an opportunity to ask people to be compassionate and summon the better angels of their nature…I’m creating a lot of art to encourage people to vote and use their voices, creativity, and other powers to shape the world in an ideal way. My creative response to the world is therapeutic, and I know creating helps everyone feel less powerless and hopeless. I try to demonstrate that principle in my processes and ultimate creations.”

Industry Supporters Lend a Hand

Many industry supporters of both The Art of Elysium and Fairey have also lent a hand in launching the #artheals campaign. Their goal is to motivate everyone to create their own art at home and post it on social media to showcase the wide variety of creative beauty that exists in the global community.

Who the Project Helps

For over 22 years, The Art of Elysium has raised crucial money to support veterans, hospitalized youth, elders, and members of the homeless community, as well as inner-city and special needs schools. In 2019 alone, 32,660 individuals of need were served, 1268 workshops were provided, 2,145 artists volunteered, and 48 facilities participated in programs.

With the pandemic and subsequent rise in suicides, domestic abuse, and depression still very much a part of our reality, the organization hopes that their #artheals campaign will reach more people now than ever before. A spokesperson stresses that the company is “launching this campaign to encourage everybody at home to create and transcend this together.”

You can help by donating $23, and you’ll even receive a downloadable artwork courtesy of Fairey and Obey Giant in exchange.

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Designed by COBE and opened in November 2017, the first thing people tend to notice about this project is its slanted, tree-filled brick plaza. This plaza doubles as a 9,149-square-foot roof, with built-in benches providing amphitheater seating between the second floor of the main building and the street below. It’s here that the public is encouraged to stop, take a seat, and observe the events happening all around them.

A simple plaza would not be nearly as welcoming, because it would seem too much like too many other places in Copenhagen. By creating a public space that’s angled, pedestrians are allowed to feel more comfortable walking onto it from the street. Prior to the construction of the Volunteer House, the front of the main building housed nothing but a parking lot and a couple of flagpoles. There was nothing engaging about it, even though it had previously served as the Copenhagen County Hall. If it weren’t for the presence of Red Cross flags, it would’ve been a totally faceless building, set back from the street just enough to allow people to walk by without ever noticing it. The Volunteer House gives the headquarters a new identity that couldn’t possibly be missed.

“The Volunteer House has an open and inviting architecture that is in keeping with our ambition of being an organization in continuous dialogue with the community” says Anders Ladekarl, Secretary General of Red Cross Denmark.

Underneath the plaza sits an impressive auditorium. Through floor-to-ceiling windows in this space, volunteers can peer out onto a triangular park that sits between the Volunteer House and the main building. This space offers a cool spot to take breaks on hot days and is decidedly more relaxing than the concrete seating above. Further below grade are multifunctional spaces for volunteer training, cultural events, presentations about initiatives taking place in faraway countries, classes for seniors, and activities for kids.

“With the Red Cross Volunteer House, we wanted to create a place that provides optimal settings for the heroes of everyday life — the thousands of volunteers who make an extraordinary effort to help marginalized people,” says Dan Stubbergaard, architect and COBE founder.

The Volunteer House reflects the ambition and humility of an organization known for helping those in need. The architecture expresses the spirit of the Red Cross by raising its profile just enough to be noticeable, but not so much that it looks garish. With this new face, the headquarters of the Red Cross Denmark is now able to function as yet another tool to promote recruitment and fundraising. It’s a symbol of compassion that unites volunteers and the general public in support of healing the world.

The post The Bold Modesty of Denmark’s Red Cross HQ first appeared on Dornob.

To understand the importance of Forensic Architecture, it helps to consider a city dealing with the fallout from something like multiple days of demonstrations during a summit of world leaders. During these meetings, most protestors will exercise their right to free speech, and some of them may even approach the demonstrations with more anarchic motives. The latter group is often dealt with more harshly by law enforcement, which sometimes results in individual members of riot squads being accused of violating human rights.

In some cases, these accusations are backed up by video evidence, but in many others they are not. When crimes are witnessed by others in person but there is no recording of the incident, law enforcement may try to spin the events in their favor. Thanks to forensic architecture, these narratives can now be challenged with scientific evidence.

Since 2011, FA’s team of architects, investigative journalists, filmmakers, designers, coders, psychologists, archaeologists, and human rights activists have been recreating crimes by taking advantage of all available information in the public domain, as well as the information kept by nearby third parties. This includes personal videos, social media posts, sounds picked up by microphones and cameras at the scene, and eye-witness accounts. When all of this data is entered into an architectural software, both the scene and the incident can be digitally rendered. When more is required, FA relies on animations, maps, physical models, and drawings to expose the truth of the matter.

The research agency has also investigated genocides in Guatemala and World War II concentration camps, police brutality in Gaza, the destruction of small villages by drone strikes, hospitals that were purposely bombed in Syria, and the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London, where 71 people perished. Their work is highly sought after by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as lawyers, activists, and adversarial journalists.

The work performed by Forensic Architecture takes on more significance when you consider the crimes, human rights violations, and increasing urbanization taking place in countries all over the world. Many of these incidents are taking place in cities, where we have the technology to document incidents for further review. Although many are concerned with privacy and the personal information being collected, Forensic Architecture has shown that it can all be used for good. This does not mean that our cities will be safer, but it does prove how powerful architecture can be when removed from the aesthetic realm and employed purely for justice.

The post How Forensic Architecture Helps Solve Human Rights Violations first appeared on Dornob.

A concept inspired by Helsinki Design Week, Design Diplomacy is a discussion-based event set in a political forum. That forum is a foreign ambassador’s residence, where the general public is invited to listen to both an Icelandic designer and a designer from the ambassador’s home country discuss topics chosen at random from a deck of cards. What makes it more interesting than the average moderated panel discussion is the fact that these unexpected questions give rise to unscripted answers. Wits, attitudes, theories, and personalities clash in full view of an audience that cannot even begin to predict the next moment.

“Design Diplomacy seemed to fit well with our festival’s vibe,” says Anna Koziol, a Project Manager at DesignMarch. “There’s no VIP invitations and red carpets.” The organizers of Design Diplomacy, and of the festival as whole, endeavor to bring people into spaces that are not typically open to the public, and the residence of an ambassador is definitely a place that fits into that category.

The process of organizing these events does require some diplomatic preparation in the sense that the appropriate designers must be chosen for the discussion. Although the results may be unexpected in terms of the reaction elicited, the planning is purposeful. “Sometimes the choice is supported by international programs that the (hosting) country in question is a part of in a given year,” says Koziol. “This year, the US Embassy invited Leena Cho from Arctic Design Group as a part of their Arctic research program.” Guests can either be emerging creatives or established professionals, because any two people are likely to at least have a few commonalities regardless of their professions. “In most cases, the designers only get to meet each other at the event,” explains Koziol, “yet, of course it has happened that some of them would have already met at some other, professional or not, occasion before.”

Every participant of Design Diplomacy (the ambassador, the two designers, and the public) receives a kind of qualitative benefit. The designers get to share their experiences, habits, business advice, and ways of thinking. Sometimes, two designers might even informally plan to work with each other during the event. At a minimum, the foreign designers get to engage with the local ones, who serve as ambassadors to various design disciplines in Iceland. The audience gets to watch the dialogue inside a space that is publicly inaccessible — something that brings a certain novelty and candor to the conversation in and of itself.

If everybody else learns from the experience of Design Diplomacy, then what’s in it for the ambassador whose residence is the scene of the talks? “Design Diplomacy is a soft-diplomacy force of a kind,” Koziol explains. “Each Ambassador/Embassy gets a chance to shed some light on their country’s culture to both the local scene and foreign guests of the festival. Embassies get a chance to reinforce their importance in cultural exchange, as opposed the perception of being very formal visa-issuing institutions, [an idea] that seems to be very prevalent among the general public.”

It’s especially nice to see architects and designers coming together for amicable discourse because it has not always been the case in the past. Previously, architecture was a profession at war within itself, with philosophical and stylistic differences dividing professionals into several different camps. Some cynics would say that it is still a profession at war within itself, but not like it was in the past. Now, there are bigger issues to tackle than choosing between sparse ornamentation or none at all. Global issues like climate change, rapid urbanization, human health, terrorism, political unrest, and refugee crises make the battles of the past look petty in hindsight.

Diplomacy has a way of bringing realities into focus and turning differences into advantages that everyone can learn from.

The post Design Diplomacy: What Happens When Two Designers Walk into an Embassy first appeared on Dornob.

Flip-flop season is officially here. This is when we traditionally realize we’ve lost one foot of last year’s pair…. No worries: we’ve found great sandals to treat your feet this summer, and the best part is that they give back to others, use recycled materials, and look damn stylish at the same time as feeling comfy.

Combat Flip Flops was founded in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2012 by former Army Rangers Matthew Griffin and Donald Lee. Over the course of several tours in the country, they grew to love the local people and recognized their creativity and desire to work to support their families.

Griffin wanted to help, but how? The idea for Combat Flip Flops hit him one day when he saw a factory in Kabul making combat boots for the military. He developed a company to deploy special ops vets to countries affected by conflict.

“We were going to take military capacity that was established to make tools for war, and we were going to manufacture commercial products for peace,” Griffin explained in his TED Talk. “Flip flops were just the start. We’ve taken a product that people in nearly every country on the planet wear and made it a weapon for change. Right now, all our flip flops are made in Bogota, Colombia, providing jobs and investing in people who desperately need it.”

The Afghan factory makes several styles of the shemagh, a multipurpose traditional scarf. Local cotton is used, and it’s loomed and embroidered in Kabul.

Griffin says it’s very versatile: “Use it to shade yourself from the sun, hide from an ex, or cool yourself off in the shade. The uses and configurations are only left to your imagination.”

The Combat Flip Flops sarongs are also made in Kabul, and for each sarong or shemagh sold, CFF and the manufacturer donate so a young Afghan woman can attend secondary school for a day.

The men’s AK-47 flip-flop “is bad for combat, perfect for peacemaking,” the company says. “This high-speed design is the benchmark of CFF construction and features cast bullet casings, heat-stamped poppies, and that Afghan style we all know and love.” And for good measure the soles are made from combat boot rubber.

“The Peacemaker Bangle and Coinwrap are sent to us straight from artisans in Laos,” Griffin explains, “and they’re made from bombs.”

Each bracelet sold clears three square meters of mines. CFF says 270 million bombs were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War, and almost a third of them are still live. These products made from local craftsmen have a double benefit: they help save lives and also give local people in Laos economic opportunities.

The company makes its Claymore Bag (above) in the U.S., turning a classic military-style bag into a carry-all for business tools such as laptops and tablets. The humorous CFF site offers another use for the Claymore: “Also used as the field expedient diaper bag by BADs (Bad Ass Dads) Keep your manhood while still taking care of those messy ops….”

Oh, and when you’re relaxing in your sarong, shemagh, and flip-flops, take a minute to check out the cool charities Combat Flip Flops works with. Refreshing to find a company that puts its money where its mouth is.

The post Combat Flip Flops: “Cool Stuff in Dangerous Places” first appeared on Dornob.

Along with a host of other challenges, such as environmental, political and economic crises, the world is experiencing a serious shortage of human shelter. Nonprofit institute Cal-Earth, the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture in Southern California, seeks to create a world where every person can make a sustainable and safe eco home with their very own hands, using just the soil they stand on and a couple of inexpensive materials.

Cal-Earth’s mission is to teach the public how to build dome-shaped earth homes, dubbed superadobes, and whole ecologically sound communities, with local resources, from earth to sandbags to barbed wire. These homes are designed to meet stringent standards for not just safety (even the strict earthquake codes in California) and comfort but also energy efficiency, and – not to forget – beauty, as evidenced in these images here.

Their superadobe technology approach, which garnered the coveted Aga Khan Award for architecture, draws from founder Nader Khalili’s “vision of an architecture based on the natural elements of earth, water, air, and fire, and their unity at the service of humanity.” The Iranian took his inspiration from ancient earth building techniques in the Middle East. Online and at their educational and research institute in Hesperia, California, Cal-Earth (founded in 1991) teaches an international crew of interested parties through workshops and other programs, all with an eye towards sustainability and minimal environmental impact.

Graduates have aided people in more than 40 countries in building such beehive-shaped earth homes. The sustainable architecture philosophy can be applied to both basic human shelters and contemporary homes and commercial buildings. Cal-Earth workshops cover such principles as soil, the concept of the arch, site planning, foundations, blueprint reading and much more. NASA, the United Nations and the international press have taken note of this innovative approach to traditional earth architecture.

One cannot currently hire Cal-Earth architects to get a dome built. However, they will put you in touch with past alumni you can contract. One also cannot currently visit the domes. Instead, one can take the workshops and study onsite how to erect one’s own dome structure. Classes are on offer online, and open houses are available to the public. For more information, visit calearth.org as well as their social media sites at www.facebook.com, instagram.com/calearthinstitute and www.youtube.com.

All images courtesy of Cal-Earth (except: feature story image and bottom two pics via Cal-Earth Instagram).

The post The Superadobes of Cal-Earth first appeared on Dornob.

An astonishing one billion people of the world’s population lives in informal communities – sometimes known as shantytowns, tent cities or, if you’re really going for the jugular, slums. Doug Sharp, president and chairman of BSB Design, came up with a tiny, inexpensive home for slum dwellers that can be built in less than one day by one family.

Abod is a sustainable home built from lightweight materials that can easily be delivered by truck, plane or ship. It’s made mostly of non-combustible materials so it carries a low risk of fire (a real concern in communities where kerosene lighting is common). And if the family ever needs to move, the home can be very easily relocated.

The homes are affordable and so flexible in design that they can be easily modified to the needs of each individual inhabitant. Privacy walls, loft expansions, kitchen units, toilet/shower/bath units, unique flooring, and window walls are just some of the possible add-ons to the standard 10′ X 12′ structure. The homes can easily be connected to form mini-communities or even modified to house businesses.

The need for safe housing goes beyond simply protecting residents from the elements. A micro-community of Abod homes could provide the sanitation and stability needed to combat the spread of deadly illnesses in impoverished areas. The community could engender a greater sense of protection from violence and help residents connect with one another. The pride of home ownership can go a long way toward building safer, stronger, healthier communities – no matter where in the world the homes are located.

“Abod Shelters isn’t just a home, it is a place of comfort and safety. They are emergency disaster relief that provide shelter and security. They are classrooms and libraries that nurture learning. They are technical centers and offices that provide an optimal working environment. They are medical clinics that save lives. They are dormitories and hostels for students to feel at home while attending school. They are sanitation facilities that provide privacy. They are churches and meeting rooms that bring people together.”

The post Tiny Metal Shelters Offer a Safe Home in 1 Day first appeared on Dornob.

Emergency architecture is once again in the limelight, with the devastation in Japan at the forefront of global concern. But someone has to think beyond cool concepts and consider the nuts-and-bolts requirements for staying alive, safe and healthy too.

The French designers of NOCC created this unassuming sleeper composed of four precut cardboard panels that can be readily made either at the site of a disaster or easily shipped flat-pack as needed (minimal tools for assembly and fastening are included). In bed mode, the units are built to deform in the middle rather than at the edges, thus conforming to the shape of a sleeping human form in the center.

Modular combinations work as beds for various sizes and ages, but also can be stacked or separated to form tables, stools and other simple furniture objects. Storage slots built into the top can be used to stash personal items up off the ground, too.

While perhaps not the most comfortable cot in the world, cardboard does provide some give under pressure and the structures formed here are made to not buckle under human weight. So the next time someone shows you a bare-bones architectural solution for emergency use, consider what kinds of things it could or would be filled with, too.

“The LeafBed is a patented camp bed solely made of cardboard, a material that is available anywhere in quantities. Leaf Supply produces locally to supply with reactivity and flexibility a product that is simple, efficient, ecological and dedicated to temporary housing.

An adaptable design : The LeafBed is assembled from 4 identical modules that can have alternative uses:

• 4 modules for an adult bed
• 3 modules for kid bed
• 2 modules for a small table
• 1 module for a stool
• A compartment on each module allows user to secure belongings inside the bed while sleeping.
• 2 trestles for a big table”

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