Arts & Culture / Design

The History of the Minivan

The iconic car changed the way families drove

March 26, 2013

The Debate Continues Over How to Rebuild New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward

Five years in, the merits of Make It Right’s housing project are under new scrutiny

March 22, 2013

A Partial History of Headphones

Modern headphones have their origin in opera houses, military bases and a kitchen table in Utah

March 19, 2013

A New Meaning to Green Urban Design: Dyeing the Chicago River

The story behind how the Windy City gets its yearly watery makeover

March 15, 2013

Who Really Invented the Smiley Face?

It’s supposedly the 50th anniversary of the original design of the iconic image, but its history since then is surprisingly complex with millions of dollars at stake

March 13, 2013

The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse

The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion

March 12, 2013

An Early History of the Parachute

It wasn’t a military expert or an aviation pioneer, but a Russian actor who developed the first viable parachute

March 7, 2013

Winged Migration: The 77-Carat Butterfly Brooch That “Glows” in the Dark

The piece by Taiwanese artist Cindy Chao has a surprise revealed only under ultraviolet light

March 5, 2013

Hot Air Balloon Travel for the Luxury Traveler of the 1800s

Visionary designers of the 19th century believed that the future of air travel depended on elaborate airships

March 5, 2013

Digital Files and 3D Printing—in the Renaissance?

3D printing is a new technology that seems poised to change the world, but its origins date back all the way to the 15th century

March 1, 2013

The History of the Lava Lamp

At 50, the legendary relic of the college dorm room is still groovy after all these years

March 2013

How to Survive China’s Pollution Problem: Masks and Bubbles

The air quality in China’s biggest cities is famously atrocious, but designers think they may have found a way to combat the issue

February 26, 2013

With Biodesign, Life is Not Only the Subject of Art, But the Medium Too

Artists are borrowing from biology to create dazzling “biodesigns” that challenge our aesthetics—and our place in nature

February 21, 2013

Micro Apartments Are the Future of Urban Living

To combat the housing crisis in major American cities, architects are designing smaller, more efficient apartments that will change the way urbanites live

February 21, 2013

The Drones of the Future May Build Skyscrapers

Innovative architects are experimenting with small unmanned aerial vehicles to prove that drones can do more than cause destruction

February 15, 2013

World War I: 100 Years Later

Unmanned Drones Have Been Around Since World War I

They have recently been the subject of a lot of scrutiny, but the American military first began developing similar aerial vehicles during World War I

February 12, 2013

Imagining a Drone-Proof City in the Age of Surveillance

As drones become common as tools of the military and intelligence agencies, how are architects and designers responding?

February 8, 2013

The Privacy Wars: Goggles That Block Facial Recognition Technology

For designers, the battle over what it means to be private in a very public world is a new frontier to be conquered

February 6, 2013

Drone Couture: Designing Invisibility

While scientists work toward perfecting the invisibility cloak, one designer has already developed a line of clothing that makes people invisible to robots

February 1, 2013

American Myths: Benjamin Franklin’s Turkey and the Presidential Seal

How the New Yorker and the West Wing botched the history of the icon

January 25, 2013