Design for change
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 10:47 PM
Logan Molen in Design, Education, TED, Urban planning, Video

Check out this inspiring TED presentation from a young woman whose non-profit approach to design is reshaping education in the poorest county in rural North Carolina.

Emily Pilloton is using grants, her own persistance and supportive educators to give students a design-centric educational environment that not only teaches important life skills but leaves lasting evidence of those lessons for the community as a whole to see and cherish.

It's pretty heady stuff to think a young woman can drive this kind of change amid such poor conditions. It shouldn't be surprising, given her TED bio that reads, in part:

"At graduate school, people were starting to talk more about sustainability, but I felt it lacked a human factor," she said. "Can we really call $5,000 bamboo coffee tables sustainable?" Convinced of the power of design to change the world, at age 26 Pilloton founded Project H to help develop effective design solutions for people who need it most.

 I was once told the best design is design you don't see but which makes your life better, easier, more rewarding. This would seem to fit that bill.

Article originally appeared on LoganMolen.com (https://www.loganmolen.com/).
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