Mapping the D.center

3 Comments

1. Fred Scharmen
   Posted October 13, 2009 at 5:53 pm | Permalink

   I’ll start. I’m most interested in #03 ACTION NETWORK. As the description says: “All of the various entities act as they see fit, making connections when necessary, through the center or otherwise.”

   It seems to best describe what’s been most effective about the d.center so far. It’s a place where resources can come together as needed, without the necessity for one unified position or consensus to precede action.

2. Drew
   Posted October 15, 2009 at 10:49 am | Permalink

   I like #s 9 & 10. Nine expresses the design center as a vessel within which an idea is achieved through the collaborative addition of thoughts. The organic nature of ten is what appeals to me- the idea of the design center as root from which good ideas grow. It would also make a great t-shirt!

3. Paul Bowman
   Posted November 16, 2009 at 4:10 am | Permalink

   Smart City’s last show has some interesting discussion related to of network structure for design/art/culture-production.

   Second half of the show, with Aly Khalifa of Raleigh NC’s DesignBox and SparkCon, has maybe the more relevant discussion. Among other things, he talks about trying to apply decentralized/leaderless organization principles a la Wiki, The Starfish & The Spider, &c.

   The first half also includes discussion connecting or overlapping with the Design Center strategy problem. I thought this bit, from one of the guests, put the question of organization in an interesting light:
   

   Leadership and the way we look at leadership is going to change, just as the rest of culture is changing around us. And being an emerging urban citizen has new definitions, has new constraints. It’s hard to stay aware of everything you need to stay aware of, and to raise a family, and to spend time with your partner, and to do all the things that you’re passionate about on a volunteer scale. So we really feel like we’re trying to cross new ground and make a more powerful leadership structure, by sharing our combined assets — but to become one voice back to our community and to the people that we work with.

   … Because of the proliferation of information: thirty years ago it was hard to be a subject matter expert in more than one area — so let’s say it’s environment, or neighborhoods — because you had to have subscriptions and books and magazines and things that just had cost and time associated with them; with information everywhere, you have people who can jump through and really be subject matter experts in local food economy, in neighborhoods, in urban redevelopment, in all sorts of things environmental. And so I think what we’re heading to is more of a city citizen who has an awareness on all fronts, who expects a lot out of what that living experience is going to be like. And I think that’s really quite empowering for us — to think about, there’s an entire model change that may be coming, as to how we interact with each other and with our cities. But information is making all the difference in the world on that front.