(This post is part of the project: “The Social Impact of Milan Design Week 2013″). Background It was in summer 2011 that Hélène Le Drogou, a psychologist and activist concerned with the plastic waste of the Colombian Amazon, invited the…
La Cuccagna Project: A Farmhouse in the Centre of Milan
Cascina Cuccagna is the name of the XVIIth century farmhouse in the centre of Milan that creates exchange opportunities for people from different generations and cultures. It is a bottom-up project dedicated to culture, environment, food and social interactions. THE…
Indego Africa: entrepreneurship and independence
INDEGO AFRICA is an innovative non-profit social enterprise, the name stands for “independence, development, and governance”—three life-changing attributes that Indego Africa is helping instill in 250 Rwandan women in order to lift them and their families out of poverty. The…
Fog Catching
The human body contains from 55% to 78% water. To function properly, the body requires between one and seven litres of water per day to avoid dehydration. Globally, one every five person doesn’t have access to clean drinking water.…
Design for the other 90%
Design for the other 90%, the name is useful to explain the global situation: while the richest 10 percent of the world’s population enjoys the vast majority of consumer goods and services, 5.8 billion people (or 90%) struggle to gain…
IOU PROJECT: Fun, Profit and Social Good.
Internet is the way to get people to see their clothes and listen to their messages. The recently launched web site IOU project is not the latest clothes brand but it is a bridge between Indian artisans and consumers. The head…
REcreating the extraordinary from the ordinary
REcycle REdecorate REdesign is the slogan of Katie Thompson, an interior designer from South Africa. It’s quite interesting how Katie recreates unique furniture, lighting and interior accessories from pieces of discarded junk. Each piece is infused with its own previous character…
The ECONOMICS of HAPPINESS: a must-see film in 2011
The Economics of Happiness is a film I’m looking forward to in 2011. Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page are the filmmakers. The film synopsis and trailer present a clear idea about the sense of well-being: life is becoming…
Asumaison, a different way to shop and socialise in the city
Asuman is a Milan based stylist and artisan. A year ago, she started Asumaison, a different way of shopping and socialising. The philosophy of Asumaison is based on alternative models of shopping, a kind of reaction against the industrial scale…
Experiencing the English countryside at London Design Festival by Mara De Matteis
The London Design Festival, a nine days celebration of design, ended in September 26. The Festival is an alternative map of the city (where you can get lost!). It is a different way to enjoy London space and time, looking…
Inclusivo Project
INCLUSIVO is a fair trade and social action project that objectives are to eradicate extreme poverty in Chile. It generates work for micro factories with low costs production and minimum expertise, key factors to overcome poverty in short term. The…