The Technological Disobedience of Ernesto Oroza

July 21, 2017

Design

...nion, artist Ernesto Oroza was just graduating with a degree in industrial design in a country with no industry or use for his skills. Almost all the engineers had abandoned Cuba forty years earlier during the revolution, so even before the “Special Period” of the early 1990s people had to improvise their own technology with cast-off parts. Oroza and a fellow artist Diango Hernandez collected these improvised objects: things like TV antennas made...

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Homegrown Revolution at the Alt-Car Expo

Mr. Homegrown

October 19, 2007

Bikes

...car we put together an Xtracycle. While it’s hard to improve on the basic design of the bicycle, the Xtracycle is a great way to haul cargo. We can easily pack just as many groceries on this bike as we used to in the Sentra. The chief objection that we hear is that cycling is not safe. We used to use this excuse not so long ago before we hopped back on our bikes. We respond by saying no it isn’t safe, but neither is any other mode of travel. Cycl...

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A Bicyclist’s Bill of Rights Part II

Mr. Homegrown

February 9, 2008

Bikes

6 Comments

...ns in all roadway projects and improvements. 6) Cyclists have the right to urban and roadway planning, development and design that enable and support safe cycling. 7) Cyclists have the right to traffic signals, signage and maintenance standards that enable and support safe cycling. 8) Cyclists have the right to be actively engaged as a constituent group in the organization and administration of our communities. 9) Cyclists have the right to full a...

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Journal of the New Alchemists

Mr. Homegrown

April 25, 2014

Appropriate Technology, Aquaculture, Gardening, Thoughtstylings, Water and Power

3 Comments

...) covers mostly their agricultural experiments, but occasionally dips into urban planning and other subjects. Biodome. Image: Journal of the New Alchemy. It’s interesting to look back at their work to see what ideas went mainstream and what faded away. What didn’t stick is what Nassim Taleb would call “top-down” approaches to design epitomized by the 70s fixation on geodesic domes and self contained ecosystems (though we’re starting to see a resur...

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078 Mark Lakeman on City Repair

Mr. Homegrown

March 14, 2016

Design, Permaculture, Podcasts

...lanning firm Communitecture. He is also an urban place-maker, permaculture designer and community design facilitator. And if you’re on the West Coast of the US, you have a chance to participate in a series of workshops this month. For more information visit marklakeman.net. To find out about events in Los Angeles visit change-making.com. If you want to leave a question for the Root Simple Podcast please call (213) 537-2591 or send an email to root...

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