Author: Tom Wilson

Hennepin Island Hydroelectric Generating Station

The Mdewakanton Dakota, who first lived in the area that is now Minneapolis, called the Mississippi, Hahawakpa, “River of the Falls.” Minneapolis owes its origins to the Mississippi and the St. Anthony Falls. Starting in the 1850’s, logs were floated down the river to be processed in sawmills powered by the falls. Later, flour mills… Continue reading Hennepin Island Hydroelectric Generating Station

Less is More

“Less is more” is famously the motto of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969). The idea is to reduce design to its necessary elements. Less famously, Mies picked up the phrase from his teacher, architect Peter Behrens, in Berlin around 1910. Behrens is considered to be the first industrial designer. In the 1930’s Mies… Continue reading Less is More

Blue Tarps in a Park

The homeless at [Tokyo’s] Ueno Park were up early Monday, with hundreds of the park dwellers quietly disassembling their tents and packing their belongings onto carts soon after dawn. Pushing carts laden with their possessions, they plodded toward a small empty plot hidden by bushes and trees. Around 9:40 a.m., about two hours after completing… Continue reading Blue Tarps in a Park

Ikigai: It Gets You out of Bed Every Morning

The [Japanese] word ‘ikigai’ is usually used to indicate the source of value in one’s life or the things that make one’s life worthwhile … . [It’s] used to refer to mental and spiritual circumstances under which individuals feel that their lives are valuable. There is a difference between ikigai and the sense of well-being.… Continue reading Ikigai: It Gets You out of Bed Every Morning