Moshe Safdie and Design for Humanity

At Back to Tap, we like to imagine that all architects and designers genuinely care about the world around them and how people interact with the buildings and objects they create. If people are going to go to the trouble of designing and building homes, offices and entire cities, it is important that they consider the people who inhabit these spaces.

The way we interact with water is particularly important. The way water enters our homes - the pipes and taps we use, and the way it leaves, and is filtered and returns to its source, has a huge impact on the environment, our health and well-being.

This symbiotic relationship between design, architecture, the environment and our health has frequently been ignored. We hope that in the future, more thinkers like Mosh Safdie will drive changes in the water and the built environment impact on our daily lives and the environment. We would love to read about any other inspiring designs.

The Majestic Plastic Bag

A great reminder that the vast majority of all plastic that we use ends up in our oceans. Has anyone else spotted a majestic plastic bag migrating to the sea recently?

Submerged Arcology: innovative ways to clean plastic from our seas

Back to Tap always enjoys learning about innovative solutions to plastic pollution and waste, and we enjoyed a number of this year's entries to the Evolo 2011 Skyscraper Competition. In particular, the Submerged Arcology by Serbian architects Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, and Milica Pihler. The ocean going column is designed to catch plastic waste for removal from the seas and recycling.

While this is a concept, it reminds us of Zigloo's Gyre Seascraper. With oil rigs and offshore gas drilling platforms being built left and right, one wonders when we are going to take seriously the need to clean-up our oceans and become aware that environmental stewardship is at least as important as exploiting the resources around us?

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

Photo© Milorad Vidojevic, Jelena Pucarevic, Milica Pihler

One more reason to ban the bottle and go Back to Tap!

Plastic waste and electroscrap damage the health of thousands of people, animals and plants around the world.

For the Greener Good: Life After Plastic from National Building Museum on Vimeo.

Culture, Nature & the Future

How will we adapt to the future without plastic? Are people ready to accept that we must change patterns of consumption in order to protect the environment and repair the damage that has already been done.

In this TED Talk, cultural historian and ethnographer Wade Davis describes the interlinking webs of belief and ritual which link humanity - it is through connecting with these universal values and humanism that attitudes towards the Earth and its resources can hopefully be changed.

Enjoy the talk and we hope you will get in touch with Back to Tap to start a discussion on some of his points.