More than half of Americans either own or work for a small business, and two out of three new jobs in the U.S. each year are created by small businesses. It’s clear that we make a big impact with our creativity, hard work and passion.
Read MoreSpring is in the Air! /
No better place to think, write, read, design and relax than a sun-filled outdoor space during warm spring day! Welcome Spring!
MIIM Designs Recognized as Female Entrepreneurs of the World /
Congratulation to MIIM Designs and to our CEO Maryam Eskandari, for being one of the Female Entrepreneurs of the World: Female Entrepreneurs of the World (FEW) is an international organization that supports gender equality and the advancement of women in entrepreneurship. FEW provides a community for entrepreneurs to share experiences in the hopes that transparency of information will inspire others in their entrepreneurial journey.
Read MoreHacking Sustainability /
Last Saturday, MIIM Designs joined Harvard Innovation Lab along with along with volunteers from the Harvard Council on Business and the Environment, the Environmental Action Committee, to resolve some of the most vital sustainable issues: Reducing chemical wastes in lab, reducing gas consumption in urban cities designed specifically for the vehicle and creating a green city.
Read MoreEarth Day 2014 - 7 ways we can turn tomorrow cities green /
This week we are celebrating International Earth Day at MIIM Designs. Earth Day 2014 has been primarily focused on “Green Cities” and the developing the urban environment to contribute in making cities greener. Recently the United Nation’s Sustainable Development committee and the World Economic Forum have been focused on three areas of environmental impact and financial viability.
Read MorePassover, Are You Ready? Are You Free? /
It’s the newest, strangest, hardest holiday one could ask for — and I don’t mean because of the bitter herbs. Passover is a celebration of the blossoming Jewish nation, finally free to self-define. But the path toward self-definition is a rocky one, and our rituals don’t shy away from that fact.
Read MoreThe Ka’abah and Its Symbolism /
According to tradition , the Ka’abah, or the Cube, was first built by the first Abrahamic Prophet, Adam (upon him be peace). What is amazing about this is that the Ka’abah is symbolic not only of the unity of mankind through space, but also through time. Throughout human history, it has always existed as a place of worship of the Divine God. When we declare our allegiance to the One, we are in the memories of billions of footsteps, in the residue of the very first human beings, in the energetic space of thebeing of human.
Read MoreDistributed Design Studio /
Most design studios conduct at least some business in a remote manner. Today’s studios collaborate with outside experts and consultants and contract out specialized work to a third party. The medium for this collaboration is the internet. Be it email, shared files on cloud drives, instant messenger, etc., today’s collaboration with third parties happens over the internet. As we move into a more collaborative era, and as more experts are brought on projects of increasing complexity, the internet becomes an increasingly necessary tool which we will employ to get our work done.
Read MoreWhy We Love + Believe in Design /
Over the past decade, I have evolved as a designer and have found new paradigms for the work of MIIM Designs. We have shifted from an old top-down paradigm of “one solution for all locations” toward a more organic, sympathetic, bottom-up “questioning design” approach in order to design a better world. A designer can sometimes express sympathy by probing and “problem finding”. Sympathy then becomes love when designer executes the design, creating a culturally bound, sustainable, and economical design solution that addresses the needs of users at multiple levels, integrating seamlessly with the world around it, and occasionally daring to imagine a better world. We can address the needs of a community, alleviate poverty, raise educational standards, and enrich the core values of a new generation that will formed by the spaces we create.
Read MoreFeeding My Mind and Spirit on the MIIM Designs Team /
Since June, I have had the pleasure of being part of the wonderful architecture firm that is MIIM Designs. The MIIM team is a group of architects, researchers and designers who are passionate about art and architecture, with a unique lens inspired by Islamic architecture. Through my summer internship with MIIM, I have been given the opportunity to experience architecture from a completely new perspective, both in regards to the method and types of projects.
Read MoreThe Philippines at Risk: How to Rebuild a More Resilient Nation /
Analyzing Typhoon Haiyan
With the Philippines struck by an average of eight to nine typhoons a year, at a significant yearly cost to their economy, they knew something was imminent. It was only a matter of time. As #3 on the World Risk Report’s list of most at risk countries, it is followed at a distance by both Haiti and Indonesia. The Philippines hold such a high place on the World Risk Report because of a high exposure risk due to its geographic location and its relative poverty. Haiti and Indonesia have a much, much lower exposure risk, though I am only using them as a base line because they have had the most recent major natural disasters and could be on the face considered comparable.
Read MoreDiwali: The Triumph of Light over Darkness /
Every November, a row of houses are lit up on my street, twinkling joyfully and confusing most of our non-Indian neighbours. “Wow, they must decorate early for Christmas!” “Hmm…Happy November?” Undoubtedly, the best part about living in the ‘Little India’ that is my suburban neighborhood is the very timely and enthusiastic deliveries of mithai (sweets) by my neighbours’ kids. This year’s kaju barfi is as good as ever.
This weekend, I walked through the row of illuminated homes, seeing colourful clothes and family dinners through living room windows, and flashing trees and bushes everywhere. While my family is Muslim, being Indian has always afforded me the pleasure of being around wonderful and deeply spiritual Hindu holidays from a young age. Friends and Amar Chitra Katha comic strips recounted to me the dramatic tale of Prince Rama defeating the evil ten-headed demon of Ravana, while the city of Ayodhya greeted their prince and his beautiful wife, Sita, with illuminated lamps.
Read MoreMIIM's Promise to Clinton Global Initiatives 2013 /
One of the vital conversations at CGI 2013 was about building “Resilient Cities.” Resilient Cities is an initiative that seeks to build and adapt any city to allow for the infrastructure to quickly be built and the city to be able to rebound from natural and man-made shocks and stresses. Moreover, it strives to build partnerships and to mobilize people and ideas across the globe: according to the initiative, “We are not only mobilizing people, but mobilizing an idea that is working on the ground.” During this panel discussion on urban resilience with Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation, Jim Young Kim of the World Bank, and Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of NYC, moderated by Fareed Zakaria, all of the participants reflected on the major natural and manmade incidences that have occurred from NYC to the tsunamis of Haiti, Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia.
Read MoreSacred Space: Transformations from Within /
Both the major discussions on the mosque at ISNA addressed this issue of the masjid being a space of chastisement or discomfort as opposed to a welcoming space for spiritual growth. Whether it is women who are reprimanded for entering the main hall to pray or youth who are admonished for their dress, rather than opening its arms to the diversity of the community, many mosques often continue to marginalize women and youth, leaving the community to create new spaces of gathering and worship or to perhaps abandon their faith and spiritual practice.
Read MoreEid Mubarak from MIIM! /
We wish all of our readers a wonderful Eid al-Fitr and hope that your Ramadan has been blessed and insightful. Read more.
Summer 2013 #MIIMDesigns /
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From Stranded to Standard: Who’s to Blame for the Failure in Bangladesh Fire /
In the incident that we witnessed last week, the factory burning and collapsing killing 300 people and leaving 1200 people severely injured in Savar, Bangladesh, is the sacrifice that these companies make: buildings and lives. Several companies establish factories and production lines similar to this one in rural and developing countries in order to avoid building and maintenance codes that are established in the United States and Europe, keeping cost and overhead to a minimum and maximizing marginal profit. In the United States, when a building is under construction, there are several building permits that have to be acquired before a building is allowed to have any occupancy. Two of the major building permits are the “Fire Codes” known as NFPA Codes (National Fire Protection Association) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), which allows for the clearance of building materials– dead loads, such as building vertically, and live loads, which is the occupancy rate of each room/floor.
Read MoreWater Down Your Earth Day /
This week the world will
celebrate "Earth Day", many commemorate
this day by planting trees on April 22 trees on April 22. Planting a tree is a
wonderful way to commemorate; however, our studio, MIIM Designs, celebrates the environment
in a number of other ways, namely through sustainable living and our projects
that preserve the environment rather than damage it, extending this celebration
of our Earth to everyday. It is very common for architecture and design studios
to mull over the celebration of sustainability through LEED certifications. Projects
such as Pittsburgh's Phipps Conservatory, one of the "greenest buildings
in the world", written by Architizer,
clearly express why Phipps Conservatory not only met, but rather also exceeded all expectations, allowing it to
receive the Platinum LEED status, meeting the Living Building Challenge
(net-zero water, net-zero energy) and making use of "Sustainable Sites
Initiative". Another example is the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse
in Eugene Oregon, a project that we had the opportunity to be a part of,
alongside Thom Mayne - Morphosis and DLR Group. The Wayne L. Morse
Courthouse received Gold LEED certification. For runoff from rainwater that irrigates
the landscape and natural light is celebrated adequately to allow for an
efficient HVAC system. All of the construction materials were sustainable:
sealants, carpets, paints, and adhesives, preventing 90% of construction waste
from entering the landfills. Considering that sustainability should be of
second nature and an integral part of our day to day, a building to just be
LEED certified is not an aspect that is readily accessible at the tip of our
fingers and simply is not enough.
Maryam Eskandari at OPEN Houston Annual Conference /
Maryam Eskandari will be giving a Keynote talk at Lunch for OPEN Houston Annual Conference 2013 Entrepreneurship and Careers in the New Normal Economy. Maryam will talk about "Social Design - Social Change Through Design"
