Our weekly serving of off-the-menu items—a few popular favorites from the week as well as a few morsels that may have slipped your notice.
Philips is Now in the Business of Urban Farming
The Dutch lighting giant’s City Farming division is investing in LEDs that will provide energy for the indoor vertical farms of the near future. A look at their Chicago-based testing facility, Green Sense Farm.
Designing a Mobile Market Stall
New York-based design studio noCOLOUR designed a lightweight, portable market stall for informal street vendors. Inspired by the raffia craft in Ghana, the solution alleviates the daily struggle of Ghanaian street vendors who contend with authorities raiding and destroying market structures.
Feminist Beer
“A woman is killed every 90 minutes in Brazil due to domestic violence,” explains the team behind Brazilian beer brand Cerveja Feminista. Feminista is leveraging the power of design (and a tasty red ale) to confront objectification of women in the beer advertising industry. “Brazilian advertisers must take responsibility and know that portraying women as objects endorses men to think of females as a possession and, ultimately leads to violence.”
Ikea’s Predictions for the Home of the Future
Ikea published 7 ideas that will define the home of 2020. Although none specifically address the kitchen, their insights into everything from storage to materials, fluid spaces and smart objects can also be applied to the ways people will cook and feed themselves in their homes.
To Cage or Not To Cage? That is the Question
NPR reports on a newly published study from the Coalition for Sustainable Egg Supply on the future of chicken housing. After years of researching three models for housing egg-laying hens—traditional wire cages; “enriched” cages that offer more space, perches and nesting boxes; and cage-free houses in which chickens get to move around freely—the Coalition’s findings could be invaluable for designers who might be interested in tackling this industry challenge.
Enjoy that Sandwich, It May Be Your Last
Scientists at the University of Melbourne have published a report on how climate change will affect on 55 household food items including wheat, cheese, beef, fruits, nuts and seafood. “It’s definitely a wake up call when you hear that the toast and raspberry jam you have for breakfast, for example, might not be as readily available in 50 years time,” explained one of the report’s authors, Associate Professor Richard Eckard. H/T Modern Farmer.
100 Years of Iconic Food Packaging
Picks from Cooper Hewitt curators Ellen Lupton and Andrea Lipps, designer/curator/writer Steven Heller and Matthew Bird of RISD.
