Netsuke were miniature sculptures for use as toggles in traditional Japanese dress. They were attached to the obi (sash) around a kimono, from which hung a pouch, pipe case, or series of boxes on a cord. Produced from the 16th century, netsuke were carved from ivory, bone, or wood in many shapes, including peasants, gods, and mythical or real beasts, sometimes humorous. (more…)

Art is what a person sees in an object. Art could be a nail or a piece of nature, depending on one’s perception. I cannot see any borderline between art and design. I do not have a philosophy. I try to follow my intuition, my instinct, my twenty responsibilities, and, of course, most important is quality, the main challenge for a designer in the future will be to act responsibly towards human beings and the environment and to design with sense. (more…)

Designers can be said to fall into two categories: those who design on a logical level and those who design on an emotional level. I would put myself in the latter of these two categories. I create designs that are built around emotion for a future that is becoming increasingly confused and uncertain. This is a very exciting position to be in as current advances in technology are creating many new spaces in which design can develop. (more…)

A dam across the Colorado was proposed for four reasons. The first was to irrigate the arid Southwest. The seconds was to controlled the often unpredictable river and minimize flooding. The third was to collect silt carried by the river, and the fourth was to generate electricity. It was not until the growing cities of southern California agreed to by much of that electricity that the Hoover Dam project finally got under way. (more…)

24 years after the completion of the Hoover Dam, dam engineers were once again eyeing a river for retraining – this one a lot wider and a lot more famous than the Colorado. For more than for thousand years, the Nile had provided the farmers along its banks with rich, nutrient-filled silt to replenish the fields and water to irrigate them, and in so doing had helped create one of the world’s great civilizations. But the Nile, like the Colorado, could also be unpredictable. Some years it was too generous, flooding villages and destroying crops. Other yeas it could be incredibly stingy, causing widespread famine. (more…)

After centuries of distrust punctuated by prolonged military confrontations, the French and British were finally united by a mutual dislike of seasickness. The body of water that has separated the United Kingdom and France for the past 8000 years can be very rough, making ferry crossings sometimes unforgettable. But Britain’s unshakable belief in the importance of retaining what amounts to a moat for security reasons forced travellers into the air or kept them hanging over the rails as they crossed one of the world’s busier shipping lanes. (more…)