As a non-architect, the architecture of Donald Judd is as amazing as his grasp of the craft:

When is the new if,
yes is the new no,
small is the new big,
slow is the new fast,
who is the new how.

If you have space you’re not using in your basement, garage, barn, or business, think about inviting a local emerging artist or art student to use the space.

We need to turn philanthropic and funding and public investment metrics on their head. We need to start measuring success on how well these institutions map a community’s assets and how well they engage and combine these assets in new ways.

I meet so many people these days who are reluctant introverts, people who want to connect with others in ways that may be beyond their comfort/habit zones. First step: ask for anything - directions, advice, ideas, help. Ask when you’re standing in lines, traveling with people, accept any excuse. Many people love the flattery of their opinion or help.

I was told recently that the Finish people are a dour, serious people, with of course positive deviants like my buddy Jim Kulma who has one of the more exquisite and never tiresome folk humor of anyone outside Finland. Expect that as we achieve more global connectivity, humor will spread far and wide, visiting unlikely regions because it’s soul-nourishing, at least.

Yes, networks are the new hierarchies when it comes to asset sharing and collaboration, and we need to go beyond networking to netplaying. This is where we have far more fun and take a far more experimental view toward connecting.

If we’re going to entertain the possibility of walking neighborhoods, we’re going to either have to bring people living closer to shopping and services, or the other way around. We should consider more multi-use buildings in multiple locations, what you still find in many neighborhoods in Japan where scale is actually an asset in the design of communities rather than a constraint.

From a walkability perspective, large scale becomes ironically more of the constraint.

Why can’t every classroom and every class have a community-based mentor and champion who comes in occasionally to connect everything to current trends and issues in local and non-local contexts. They can be people from business, religious, entertainment, media, arts, agriculture…

It’s a good idea to have a regular day where homeless and resource constrained people in the community have access to personal services like hair, attire, jobs, and health services. And it’s a great idea to ask them to, on that day, also give their time to people in the community who can use any help they can give.