hola at alexquinto dot com

Introduction

This is the personal site of Alex Quinto. My interests are in design, information design, research, social and environmental change. Below are some of the main projects I have worked on. My current interests include the archival of designs for human development, as well as studying design methods and processes for sustainability.

More details:
CV | portfolio [PDF for screen] , [PDF for print]

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Grow-in structures

Thin biodegradable grow-in structures.

Center for Design and Human Development

A public archive of designs for human development.

Design methods for sustainability

What if we could create social and environmental change by paying closer attention to how we design?

Hyperborder

A book about the U.S.-Mexico Border and what its future might be like.

Now House

Retrofitting a World War II house to achieve net-zero energy costs and reduce emissions.

What if Greenland was Africa's Water Fountain?

Greenland is melting. Africa is thirsty. How Greenland can show stewardship, share its water wealth and declare economic independence from Denmark.

Massive Change

Based on the premise that design has emerged as an ingenious human activity that can shape nature, culture, and business, Massive Change documents recent developments in global design from the perspective of twelve topics: energy, image, information, living, manufacturing, markets, materials, military, movement, urbanization, and wealth and politics.

Massive Change was a collaboration between Bruce Mau Design and the first two classes of the Institute without Boundaries.

We began our research by immersing ourselves in the twelve topics. In two weeks, we produced four volumes of early resesarch that provided 1200 examples of design applied to the twelve topics of our research.

We also talked to various experts. Here, a hydrolisis demonstration takes place in one of the seminar series we organized.

After two years of prototyping and designing...

...the Massive Change team had completed a touring exhibition, a book, a website, radio show, and other related projects.

For more information, visit:

http://massivechange.com/
http://brucemaudesign.com/

The mundane reality of scenario planning

Future scenarios are often developed without designers. If designers are to make a contribution to future planning processes, what methods are suitable for that task?

Towards a sustainable design framework

How can design studios implement sustainability initiatives? Two issues are at stake. Designers need to document their methods and provide evidence of the value they create. Having metrics in place that assess the impact of a design on society, profits, and the planet are also required. Having a sustainable design framework in place can help designers move towards more sustainable practices.

Alex Quinto. 2004-2010.