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For Media Design Practices, two tracks better than one

From high-tech research to creating social change, the Media Design Practices program’s two new tracks foster a hotbed of ideas. Department Chair Anne Burdick explains how.

Dotted Line: Why did you recently introduce two tracks?

Anne Burdick: Bringing new practices to design and media is a key aim of our program. So when we see an emerging direction that offers our graduates opportunity and adventure, we go for it.

We saw our alumni generally heading in one of two very different directions: future-oriented research and experimental media or on-the-ground social engagement. We felt if we created a curricular experience tailored to these orientations, we could create a vibrant dialogue and an environment that becomes a hotbed for new ideas.

DL: Talk about the two tracks.

AB: The two tracks are Field and Lab. The curriculum for each is built on a project-based model in which students approach complex situations from multiple perspectives. But the time frame and context that structures their work differs substantially.

Lab track prepares students for work in high-tech, future-focused settings. Before working on a thesis project, Lab students work on five “inquiries”— three-week intensives in which they investigate recent advances in culture, science and technology. Each inquiry is team-taught with researchers, experts, and industry leaders.

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Yahoo! names Tesla Model S car of the year

Yahoo! Autos tested 100 vehicles — from the amped-up Ford Shelby GT500 to the pared-down Toyota Prius C — and named the Tesla Model S their 2013 car of the year.

Art Center alum Franz von Holzhausen and a team of 11 spent eight months designing the Model S, an electric luxury sedan styled somewhere between a Jaguar XJ and an Audi A7.

Bucking the electric car stereotype, the $50,000-and-up Model S goes form zero to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and seats seven with room for groceries. Designers took a page from the aviation industry adding 17-inch center-console screen with connectivity to the Web, navigation and the car’s systems.

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IxD leader Maggie Hendrie sizes up future of smartphones

IxD Dept. Chair Maggie Hendrie

IxD Dept. Chair Maggie Hendrie

Apparently, size might not matter — at least when it comes to the future of smartphones.

The tech world was buzzing this week with news that IBM might have found a way to make microchips smaller, cheaper and faster by substituting silicon with carbon nanotubes.

(Developments in the silicon microchip were what allowed big-as-brick cell phones to shrink to pocket-size smartphones and tablets.)

But Maggie Hendrie, Interaction Design Department chair at Art Center, told Marketplace that size isn’t the most important feature for smartphones when looking ahead.

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Flea, Carnegie Hall cellist to play at Art Center

Flea, the famed (and sometimes pants-less) bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, will share the stage at Art Center College of Design with some interesting company: a Carnegie Hall cellist and a Caltech physicist.

Part of the Muse/ique classical concert series, the show on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. will explore vibrations of all kinds with a program that includes Bach, Coltrane, Vivaldi and the Beatles.

Crossover cellist Matt Haimovitz — known for his blend of pop, jazz and rock — will play a Jimi Hendrix-style version of the National Anthem on his 300-year-old Venetian cello. And Caltech physicist Sean Carroll will rap about String Theory, the idea that vibration is at the center of all life.

A pre-concert reception will include wine and tours of Art Center galleries. Tickets are $60; $10 for students (go to http://www.muse-ique.com and use promo code “Student”); and $30 for alumni, staff and faculty (use promo code ACenter).

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Students turn lamps into art for New York exhibit

Eszter Che (in blue) and her New York-inspired piece "Manhattan Rose."

Illustration student Eszter Chen has designed a floral take on New York in an unexpected spot: a ceramic lamp.

The piece, titled “Manhattan Rose,” is wrapped with hand-painted roses and ladybugs, the state flower and insect, and a map of Manhattan with stems as streets and leaves as signs.

“When people think of New York, they think of love and passion,” she said. “Instead of an urban place, I wanted to use more natural elements.”

Chen and 11 other students in Ann Field’s Illustration for License class, which applies illustration to interior products, have spent the two weeks hand crafting New York-themed lamps. Coronet Lighting will display the pieces as part of its “Lamps as Art” exhibition at the Boutique Design New York Show Nov. 11 to 12.

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GM design chief, alum Wayne Cherry receives lifetime award

Wayne Cherry (inset) and the Cadillac Sixteen

General Motors design chief and Art Center College of Design alum Wayne Cherry will receive high design honors a decade after retirement.

Cherry will be awarded the Detroit Institute of Ophthalmology’s 2013 Lifetime Design Achievement Award at the EyesOn Design show in June.

Cherry joined GM in 1962 after graduating from Art Center, and his 41-year career with the carmaker yielded such classics as the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. He also oversaw the creation of Pontiac Solstice, Chevrolet Corvettes and Hummer H2 while serving as vice president of design from 1992 to 2003.

But perhaps the most legendary design during his tenure was never built: the Cadillac Sixteen, a 2003 concept car with a 16-cylinder engine and more than 1,000 horsepower (a sedan has 150).

Despite rumors (and hopes) of a limited production, the ultra-luxury, four-door sedan was shelved in favor of the Cadillac XTS. But the Sixteen has resurfaced on screen, including in Adam Sandler’s 2006 comedy “Flick” and, more recently, in the 2011 film “Real Steel,” starring Hugh Jackman.

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Art Center’s Car Classic showcases nearly a century of design

Art Center College of Design celebrated nearly a century’s worth of vehicle designers and designs — from the 1924 Rolls Royce to the 2011 McLaren — at Car Classic.

The annual event, held Sunday at the Hillside campus, drew a crowd of 1,200 and featured a cameo from “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno who arrived in his jet-powered EcoJet.

Nearly 90 vehicles were parked in a series of style-themed vignettes, including colorful all-American classics, a series of French Citroens from the ‘70s and a progression of cars built for speed, from a 1947 Indy racer to the 2011 Leela Spyder.

A section of the field — a ’61 Cadillac Coupe, ’88 Fiero, ’64 Corvair Monza Coupe and a ’58 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Coupe — was dedicated to designs by Ron Hill, an Art Center alum and former chair of transportation design. Hill also received the Lifetime Achievement award for his 30-year career that spanned Corvettes, Camaros and Cadillacs.

“The theme of inspiration makes our car show unique,” said Stewart Reed, chair of Art Center’s undergraduate and graduate Transportation Design programs. “While other Concours d’Elegance events showcase the world’s most historic and luxurious vehicles, Car Classic draws a parallel between the vehicles on display and the people who created them.”

The event also benefitted Art Center students: General Motors Foundation donated $100,000 for Transportation Design scholarships and programs, and undergrads had a chance to talk shop with industry leaders.

“You get to meet world-class designers as car lovers,” said fifth-term Transportation Design student Marcello Raeli. “I talked to [General Motor design executive] Clay Dean for 40 minutes until I realized it was him.”

Click here for more photos.

Alum Henrik Fisker makes electric cars cool

Fisker Karma and Henrik Fisker

Electric cars have their criticisms: failing batteries, lack of plug-ins and egg-shaped designs.

Design veteran and Art Center alum Henrik Fisker — who worked on the BMW Z8 roadster and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage — recently told the Wall Street Journal there’s not a “huge” market for electric cars.

Interestingly, Fisker has also spent the past seven years designing one.

Since leaving Aston Martin in 2005, the Danish-born designer raised more than $1.2 billion to start his own company. Fisker Automotive last year launched its only product, the aptly named Fisker Karma, the world’s first luxury, electric, extended-range vehicle at a price tag of $100,000.

About 1,500 Karma models have sold in the U.S. and Europe (high-profile customers include Leonardo DiCaprio and Justin Bieber) and the company has plans to expand into Dubai and China.

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Designmatters Safe Agua Peru wins Tech Award

Safe Agua Peru projects Balde a Balde, left, and GiraDora.

The Art Center team behind Safe Agua Peru has won a Tech Award for creating cost-effective ways to clean and conserve water in Peru.

Each year, Silicon Valley’s Tech Museum of Innovation honors 12 “techmanitarians,” humanitarian efforts with a tech angle, in six categories, including health, education and sustainable energy.

Selected from more than 1,000 international entrees, the Safe Agua Peru Designmatters project is being honored with the Katherine M. Swanson Young Innovator Award, along with Angaza Design, which allows off-the-grid Africans to pre-pay for clean solar power.

Two cash prizes of $75,000 and $25,000 will be awarded in each category. Winners will be announced Nov. 15 at the 12th annual Tech Awards gala at the Santa Clara Convention Center.

The Designmatters products being recognized are GiraDora, a human-powered washer and spin dryer, and Balde a Balde, a portable faucet that delivers running water from any bucket. Both products were designed with families living in Cerro Verde, a 30,000-person slum surrounding Lima, Peru.

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