Ah, the beginning of another semester... I am again, in Laura kurgan's studio this semester, and we are doing a redesign studio in New Orleans. While I was initially hesitant to really focus my energies at school, I'm now very excited about the group of 7 that we are, and the work that we will do. Each of us is focusing on a specific institutional redesign, from healthcare, to education, infrastructure, cultural institutions, etc. We are going to N.O. in March, which will be exciting, and will be meeting key players in the redesign effort. I am focusing on healthcare design, and have been talking to people involved on many levels- planners, architects, business developers, administration, to find out pressing issues in regards to the redesign of the N.O. healthcare system. I'm also setting up a lot of meetings with non-architecture people- doctors, medical students, and other healthcare staff to try to figure out the key issues in navigating healthcare in the city, post-Katrina. This research sets up the initial premise for my design project, which will be networked to other student's work on a distributed level. More to come-

On a different note, I went to the Pecha Kucha event tonight in Williamsburg. http://www.pecha-kucha.org/ It's the second Pecha K. event in NYC that has happened, and it was really excellent. I left my studiomates at school, working hard at their computers, and found my way to Williamsburg, where this was all happening. It all occurred at some loft space with soft wood floors, meaning, the floors literally felt like they could cave in at any moment... but tons of people were there, presenting evocative work, architects, designers, artists... lots of fun, interesting work. I highly recommend going to Pecha Kucha if you are in NYC for the next one.

Most of all, it was great to get out of the studio again (yet again) and see how the culture of design manifests in NYC. LOTEK was the final presenter. If there was ever a fat lady that signals the end of a vibrant performance, Guiseppe and Ada could fill those shoes twofold. I have to admit, that when they arrived in the latter half of the night, the auditory level of social vibrancy lifted as we all know, they can stir up a storm.

That's all for now, my first post of the semester.

Going back to New Orleans, has anyone out there done some interesting work? Anyone done work in health related design realms there? Get in touch, I'd like to talk to you.

Miki