Designer: Farooq Khayyat
School: M.Arch at the Academy of Art University
Location: San Francisco, CA

Proposal: “Design Rhizome – A Design Collaboration Center”
Rhizome
“Open-ended and indeterminate characteristics can be linked to the process-form of the rhizome. Unlike trees or their roots,… the rhizome connects any point to any other point…It has neither beginning nor end, but always a middle (milieu) from which it grows and overspills, [constituting] linear multiplicities. In contrast to centric or tree-like, hierarchical systems, the rhizome is acentered, non-hierarchical and continually expanding across multiplicitous terrains.” [3]
Innovation is the result of combined ideas. Design Rhizome is a place where design professionals and novices alike join in spontaneous interaction and collaboration to give life to the ideas of tomorrow. Proximity, exchange of ideas, shared resources are the key ingredients for practical creativity and innovation. [8]
The architects, interior designers, product designers, and other creatives can unite in a supportive space with the tech, finance, and government leaders of the day to awaken and strengthen the community.

During pre-civilization, long-distance transportation was a deadly foreign concept. Tribes lived scattered throughout the Earth, isolated from the advancements of others. The boat, the bow and arrow, the bowl; these concepts and inventions took thousands of years to emerge from their primitive design. It was only as cities and the nation-state took hold that innovations proliferated at an exponential rate. It was the proximity of diverse, yet like-minded people that laid the foundation for creativity and innovation. When individuals with similar interests come together, radical breakthroughs and ideas flow naturally. [8]

Design Rhizome keeps this collaborative spirit at the core of its mission. This spirit is enhanced through the lessons of the Parisian cafe and the Beaux-Arts movement. During the nineteenth century, Parisian society was captivated by the Beaux-Arts movement. Wide-eyed artists longed to work with the best masters in the world. Through structured and rigid ateliers (workshops), up-and-coming apprentices gained status and recognition in a highly competitive art community. In contrast to the academia of Beaux-Arts, the Parisian cafe provided an informal and spontaneous arena for free thought and experiences. The Masters regularly gathered at the table of their students to casually discuss and exchange theories and techniques. When the annual Salon exhibited its exceptional collection of Beaux-Arts pieces, the cafes became the true forum for liberal critique. Design Rhizome celebrates the Parisian cafes, using its characteristics and freedom of thought to generate better design. [4]

Design Rhizome is located in the heart of San Francisco’s complex urban network. The Mission and Market St. corridors are the vital arteries for transit, commerce, civic engagement, and creative expression. Rhizome operates as the city’s fulcrum; leveraging the ideas of design leaders, students, creators, and change makers with the needs of educators, entrepreneurs, and local food merchants. Through exposure, proximity, and shared resources, diverse generations of designers can intrinsically learn about emerging ideas and established practices alike.










REFRENCES:
1. Barabási, Albert-László. Linked: The New Science of Networks. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2002. Print.
2. Corner, J. The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention, in The Map Reader: Theories of Mapping Practice and Cartographic
Representation (eds M. Dodge, R. Kitchinand C. Perkins), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, 2011.
3. Deleuze, Gilles, and Félix Guattari. A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia. London: Continuum, 19881987. Print.
4. “Ecole Des Beaux-Arts.” Ecole Des Beaux-Arts. Ed. Natasha Wallace. John Singer Sargent Virtual Gallery, 2000. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
5. Gloor, Peter A. Swarm Creativity: Competitive Advantage through Collaborative Innovation Networks. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.
6. Hight, Christopher, and Chris Perry. Collective Intelligence in Design. Chichester, England: Wiley-Academy, 2006. Print.
7. “Innovators, Not Innovations.” Dschool. Stanford University Institute of Design, 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.
8. Johnson, Steven. Where good ideas come from: the natural history of innovation. New York Riverhead Books, 2010. Print.
9. Lima, Manuel. Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information. New York: Princeton architectural,2011. Print.
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11. Ridley, Matt. The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves. New York: Harper, 2010. Print.
12. “Urban Prototyping Festival Oct 20.” UP San Francisco. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. Weinstock, Michael. The Architecture of Emergence:
The Evolution of Form in Nature and Civilisation. Chichester, U.K.: Wiley, 2010. Print.