Jimmy Stamp

Jimmy Stamp

 

Jimmy Stamp is a writer/researcher and recovering architect who writes for Smithsonian.com as a contributing writer for design.

Lodgers in a crowded Bayard Street tenement, 1889.

Pioneering Social Reformer Jacob Riis Revealed "How The Other Half Lives" in America

How innovations in photography helped this 19th century journalist improve life for many of his fellow immigrants

Hans Hollein at his office in Vienna, Austria, 20 March 2009.

Remembering the "Eclectic Gusto" of Architect Hans Hollein

A look into what still excites us about the Viennese designer, who died last week at 80

James Rouse talks about the future of the American city at one of his many speaking engagements

James W. Rouse’s Legacy of Better Living Through Design

There are still lessons to be learned from the visionary businessman who built a city

The old and the new and the cardboard meet in Tokyo, by Luke aan de Wiel.

These Intricate Cardboard Models Perfectly Capture the Look and Feel of World Cities

A photographer and model-maker created these dreamscapes, including a forest animal, to convey the essence of the urban metropolis

Laurel Consuelo Broughton, "The World is Flat"

Architects Give the Classic Chess Set a Radical Makeover

The designer behind the traditional kings and queens would resign if he saw these avant-garde game boards

Honorable Mention. Sand Babel: Solar-Powered 3D Printed Tower.

Free From the Rules of Physics and Practicality, 20 Architects Radically Reimagine the Skyscraper

These high-rise designs are sci-fi visions of the future

Michael Jackson: Singer, Songwriter, American Inventor

The King of Pop invented more than just amazing dance moves

The Breakfast Burger at Roosevelt’s Tamale Parlor in San Francisco might be an acquired taste for some people. (photo courtesy MINE™)

Come for the Hamburgers, Stay for the Design Criticism

Two San Francisco designers find inspiration in a surprising place and learn that sometimes form follows fast food

An X-Acto Knife with size 2 blade.

For 80 Years, X-Acto Has Been on the Cutting Edge of Edge Cutting

From its debut as a surgical knife, X-Acto's precision blades have been the Kleenex of cutting

Frances Glessner Lee hard at work on her one of her deadly dioramas, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.

How a Chicago Heiress Trained Homicide Detectives With an Unusual Tool: Dollhouses

Frances Glessner Lee's miniature murder scenes are dioramas to die for

Workers furnish Queen Mary's Dollhouse in the drawing room of Lutyen's London apartment

From Bauhaus to Dollhouse: When Architects Think Small

For some architects, miniature houses are a big deal

A room furnished according to Poe's "The Philosophy of Furniture" for a 1959 exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum

Edgar Allan Poe, Interior Design Critic

What scared the author of 'The Pit and the Pendulum'? Bad design.

The Electronic Start System by OMEGA.

The Timekeeping Tech that Keeps the Olympics Fair

Modern starting pistols are more Buck Rogers than Dirty Harry

Tadasu Ohe’s RIPPLE is inspired by the moment of water and is part of larger series that also includes WAVE and SURF.

Customized Pasta Shapes as Designed by You or Even an Architect

Coming soon to a table near you: print-on-demand pasta

The cottage rented by Edgar Allan Poe from 1846 until his death in 1849, located in Poe Park in the Bronx.

When Edgar Allan Poe Needed to Get Away, He Went to the Bronx

The author of 'The Raven' immortalized his small New York cottage in a lesser-known short story

Place des Vosges in Paris. The location of Victor Hugo's apartment for 16 years.

Victor Hugo: Acclaimed Author, Unknown Furniture Designer

The apartment once occupied by the author of Les Miserables is now a museum dedicated to his life and to 19th century Paris

A redesigned egg carton from Gil Rodrigues.

These Redesigned Egg Cartons and Tea Bags Let You Play With Your Breakfast Meal

To reimagine your morning meal, one designer looks to bridge engineering and another to common sense.

A WOBO wall.

Building Better Bricks by Brewing Beer

When form follows fermentation

None

The Impressive Results of When You Ask Architects to Build With Gingerbread

From Modernist reconstructions to favorite museums, these confectionary constructions are sights to behold

An early Pullman sleeping car

Traveling in Style and Comfort: The Pullman Sleeping Car

The 19th century's definition of luxury came as a train car designed by a Chicago carpenter

Page 2 of 7