Comment by Cheryl Hicks on April 30, 2011 at 3:41pm

On April 20th 2011 Vijay Govindarajan, of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, launched a competition inviting people to submit designs for a prototype of the $300 house (description below). Why has a simple blog post led to such an explosion of creativity? The obvious reason is that “frugal innovation”—the art of radically reducing the cost of products while also delivering first-class value—is all the rage at the moment.

What do you think? Full article in this week’s economist:

Please find link to article http://www.economist.com/node/18618271?frsc=dg%7Ca
Short excerpt below.

Best Cheryl

A $300 idea that is priceless
Applying the world’s business brains to housing the poor
Apr 28th 2011 | from the print edition


Last year Vijay Govindarajan, of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, along with Christian Sarkar, a marketing expert, issued a challenge in a Harvard Business Review blog: why not apply the world’s best business thinking to housing the poor? Why not replace the shacks that blight the lives of so many poor people, thrown together out of cardboard and mud, and prone to collapsing or catching fire, with more durable structures? They laid down a few simple guidelines. The houses should be built of mass-produced materials tough enough to protect their inhabitants from a hostile world. They should be equipped with the basics of civilised life, including water filters and solar panels. They should be “improvable”, so that families can adapt them to their needs. And they should cost no more than $300.

See more at www.economist.com

Comment by Quique alcantara on July 18, 2011 at 10:00am

HI

I was reading an article in NG about Bangladesh (http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/05/bangladesh/belt-text) as a living lab on what living in a future hostile world could mean and remembered this post. I find very interesting the idea that having a house (and owning a plot of land)  would totally mean (and already means) a different thing for many people. Maybe we should look for flexible rather than for tough houses.

Q

Comment by Briony Turner on November 22, 2011 at 11:34am

Interesting research regarding lack of user (not client's perceptions of) centered design in public buildings, impact on wellbeing.

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&tl=en&a...

 

Also lots of research in the UK and Europe on CO2 levels in schools and impact on concentration -well this is relevant to the homes being built as many now look for a home with potential for 'work from home' in it.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1098386/Eco-friendly-school...

Comment by Quique alcantara on November 22, 2011 at 12:30pm

HI, that's a very interesting line of research. I do think that quality of life, wellbeing and  social cohesion are increasingly becoming major topics to be considered for public spaces and buildings design. Specially, we are working in minimally invasive solutions to improve QOL and sustainability of existing (no the new ones) buildings and spaces

Comment by Briony Turner on November 22, 2011 at 2:58pm

well for anyone interested in debating these issues further, i've set up a Linked In discussion group -currently i'm having an interesting discussion with myself, but interestingly random architects and built env professionals are joining and watching so maybe if i can get a bit more dialogue going, they'll join in too!

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/UserCentered-Design-in-Buildings-414...

Comment by Julia Nussholz on March 21, 2012 at 2:56pm

Consuming Energy Sustainably- Consuming Sustainable Energy! What can be done to tackle these challenges?

If you are interested in sustainable energy consumption, this recently published research might provide you with valuable new findings. The research collaboration “Consuming Energy Sustainably – Consuming Sustainable Energy” has brought to light intriguing insights into possible incentives and current barriers regarding sustainable consumption in the heating sector. How to accomplish a shift in consumer behaviour? And what are concrete measures which have to be taken by landlords and politics in order to enhance sustainable energy consumption for heating purposes. This research aims at addressing these challenges by a multi-level approach.

Check the comprehensive download section of the project for the aspects you are mostinterested in: http://www.unistuttgart.de/nachhaltigerkonsum/de/Downloads.html (available only in German)

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