The Team!
iPod-Box by Konstantin Grcic
Beautifully executed “radio” connecting urban indoor life to the wildlife around it.
“A simple housing for David Mellis’ open-source Fab Speakers. Using readily available household items and basic construction methods allow for even further customization and flexibility of the Fab Speakers.”
Caputo and Co. is a line of accessories for men and women with a design focus on function, beauty, and social responsibility.
The “WAZO Design Institute” is an idea incubator and facility which provides local communities training in product development and design research, and thus skills for long term economic sustainability and development. In Swahili the word Wazo means Idea, and Kenya is a place filled with ideas and creative thinkers. WAZO Institute was first established in Kayafungo, Kenya. WAZO systematically connects local trade school youth with, industry practitioners, and government ministries, to deliver educational and income opportunities to artisans and youth. WAZO training’s allow craft centers to find valuable, intuitive, and marketable skills while articulating and developing solutions for immediate unmet needs.
WAZO is the first of many sustainable design incubators that teaches locals the valued skills of product development, and is managed by its participants. WAZO launched its first venture focusing on footwear; specifically, a protective shoe made using the local production practice of repurposing old car tires. In the summer of 2010, the locals of Kayafungo developed the idea for this product with the help of a facilitator, but without a facility. They have the skills in creating the shoe, but no means of distributing it in a meaningful and profitable way. WAZO provides a program that teaches design and business thinking, and provides seed capital and tools to develop products which would generate income or services to these skilled, yet underprivileged communities.
It’s important to note, that WAZO Institute is NOT about giving away shoes; ultimately, it’s not even about making shoes. It’s about supporting craft communities and artisans with a sustainable system where Kenyans can define—and be engaged with— export opportunities and local latent needs, produce a variety of marketable products to benefit the community and themselves, and create effective channels for future foreign aid. WAZO Institute started with 12 trade school students from a variety of trade backgrounds as-well-as two local artisans. Currently, students are interning with artisans from the WAZO program to produce shoes which are being exported to the Netherlands.
The Raspberry Pi sells out. Similar to the One Laptop Per Child project, the goal is to manufacture a computer that is so inexpensive that every student can be given one.
