In back alleys, street markets, and hidden workshops around the world, micro-entrepreneurs churn out new ideas and products to get by. We could philosophize on this all day. But here in Observed we ask our correspondents to say nothing. We invite you to take a long glimpse through the lenses [...]
Makeshift is excited to announce the launch of our first video series, Manufactured, about people and their craft. As a follow-up to Philippa Young’s article ”Seeing through Scrap” from the Re-culture Issue, we visited Cyrus Kabiru’s studio in Nairobi, Kenya to give you a more intimate look at his work. Thanks to filmographer [...]
Cynthia Smith, the Cooper-Hewitt’s curator of socially responsible design, travelled to fifteen cities over a year to dig up the most innovative urban solutions emerging from the global South. She shared stories of her travels with us last week during a tour of her latest exhibition, Design with the Other 90%: [...]
While flooding in Thailand continues to affect millions of inhabitants, cause hundreds of deaths, and drive up global rice prices, many are dealing with conditions with some serious makeshift ingenuity. The Tumblr site Thai Flood Hacks has already documented dozens of cases of flood-adapted vehicles and structures. From floating tuk tuks to a bridge made [...]
Robert Neuwirth is the author of the recently published Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy. We’ve read some excerpts and excellent reviews, including this one from the Wall Street Journal. We also blogged last week about his Foreign Policy article, in which he discusses “System D”, a concept developed from [...]
At Makeshift, we’re fascinated by the inner workings of squatter cities—how informal infrastructure emerges organically to support community, trade, and basic needs. Researching Making Do in Nairobi’s industrial slums, the thought of such an intricate squatter city forming in New York would have seemed far-fetched. Yet today I headed to Wall Street [...]
Millions of tonnes of electronics are disposed each year, triggering a chain of devastating effects. Most units end up in landfills, where hazardous components seep into groundwater. Of the units recycled, most are shipped to less regulated emerging markets—often labeled as donations—where their valuable components are extracted with little regard [...]
In back alleys, street markets, and hidden workshops around the world, micro-entrepreneurs churn out new ideas and products to get by. We could philosophize on this all day. But here in Observed we ask our correspondents to say nothing. We invite you to take a long glimpse through the lenses [...]
Organic growth is the goal of any economy. Regrettably, such development is lacking in certain parts of the world. In an effort to fill this void, many well-meaning individuals seek to provide impoverished areas with in-kind donations—goods and services given freely which could be given cash values. This may seem [...]
I step off the Providence streets into an industrial complex. Scattered about the lawn are a menagerie of sculptures from repurposed industrial parts, bikes, and scrap metal. To my left, engine innards from a massive ship. To my right, a towering garden of flowers, organic texture hammered into steel. This [...]