You may recall that I moved a few months back. Well, my son's room is finally coming together. He doesn't have anything super special, just a bed, dresser, places to store toys... You know, a kids' room.

Tonight, I noticed one thing that his room needs: hooks for hanging jackets or sweatshirts. A short time later, after putting the little man to bed, I'm bouncing around the blogosphere, checking out other design blogs. Over at Blue decor, there it is: The Gumhook.

Japanese industrial designer Gaku Otomo has developed a "soft, silicon hook perfect for people, things and walls." For people, because there are no sharp edges so kids won't hurt themselves on it. For things, because you won't catch your clothes on it. And for walls, because even when you remove the Gumhook from the wall, there are no marks left behind.

The online store that Blue decor linked to is in Europe, where it's listed for 11.00 EUR (roughly $16US). Not bad, but I'm sure shipping from the Netherlands to Boston would be killer. Does anyone know a store in the U.S. that carries the Gumhook?

After seeing a strong response to last week’s posting of 13 Interior Design Scholarships, I decided to try and find as many architecture scholarships as I could.

This was done over only a few days, so I’m sure there may be other scholarships that I’ve missed. If you know of any scholarships that I didn’t list, please email me and I’ll update the post to include it.

As I did with my list of ID scholarships, I am leaving out school-specific scholarships so that students at every school learning architecture can benefit.

AAF Fellowships and Scholarships

AAF Minority/Disadvantaged Scholarships
Award: between $500 and $2500
Eligibility: Open to high school seniors and college freshmen who plan to study architecture at a NAAB-accredited program.
The nomination form is due in the first week of December and the application, an essay, statement of disadvantaged circumstances, letters of recommendations, transcripts and a drawing are due on January 15 of each year.

The AAF’s Traveling Fellowship at the Sir John Soane’s Museum
Award: $5,000 grant to travel to England to pursue research on any aspect of the work of Sir John Soane or the Sir John Soane’s Museum and collections.
Eligibility: Open to students in graduate degree programs in the history of art, architecture, interior design or related fields.
Applications for the fellowship will be accepted until March 1.

The RTKL Traveling Fellowship
Award: Each year, one $2,500 fellowship is awarded to a student submitting the winning proposal outlining a foreign itinerary which is directly relevant to his or her educational goals. Students must complete travel prior to graduation. Applications are due February 15.


ACSA Competitions

New Visions of Security: Re-Life of a DFW Airport Terminal
Description: “Major changes to airline operations, passenger expectations, and aviation security over the past 30 years, along with the aging terminal buildings, make it necessary for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to explore designs for a major terminal re-life. This competition will require students to develop design solutions to “re-life” American Airlines’ Terminal A at DFW. The competition is intended to allow for a complete interior and exterior re-design of the current crescent shaped two-story terminal necessary to respond to post 911 security requirements, current airline operational needs, passenger use patterns and expectations, and concession development.” (For full description and dates, click here.)
Award: First place: $20,000; Second Place: $10,000; Third Place: $6,000

ASCA/AISC Assembling Housing
Descripton: “The eighth annual ACSA/AISC competition will challenge architecture students to design ASSEMBLING HOUSING in an urban context of the students and sponsoring faculty selection. The project will allow the student to explore the many varied functional and aesthetic uses for steel as a building material. Steel is an ideal material for multi-story housing because it offers the greatest strength to weight ratio and can be designed systematically as a kit of parts or prefabricated to allow for quicker construction times and less labor, thus reducing the cost of construction. Housing built with steel is potentially more flexible and adaptable to allow for diversity of family structures and changing family needs over time.” (For full description and dates, click here)
Award: First Place: $2,500; Second Place: $1,500; Third Place: $750

ASCA/AISC Open Category
Description: “The ACSA/AISC Competition will offer architecture students the opportunity to compete in an open competition with limited restrictions. This category will allow the students, with the approval of the sponsoring faculty member, to select a site and building program. The Open Category program should be of equal complexity and comparable size and program space as the Category I program. This open submission design option will permit a greatest amount of flexibility with the context.” (For full description and dates, click here)
Award: same as “Assembling Housing”

ASCA/PCA Concrete Thinking for a Sustainable World Competition
Description: “Students are challenged to investigate innovative uses of portland cement-based material to achieve sustainable design objectives. The competition offers two separate entry categories, each without site restrictions, for maximum flexibility.

• Category I – Recycling Center: Design an environmentally responsible Recycling Center focused on reusing today’s materials to preserve tomorrow’s resources.
• Category II – Building Element: Design a single element of a building that provides a sustainable solution to real-world environmental challenges.
  

(For full description and dates, click here.)
Award: A cash prize of $10,000 divided among the top winners in each category, and pcaStructurePoint software (valued at nearly $10,000), which combines PCA’s suite of concrete design software with an array of structural engineering resources, awarded to each winning school.


AIAS Scholarships

AIAS/AIA Trust Scholarship Program for Emerging Professionals
Eligibility: Open to students in the fifth year of an undergraduate professional degree or the first year of graduate professional degree.
Award: Five scholarships of $750 each
The application deadline for the 2007-2008 school year is Friday, December 14, 2007.


AIA Scholarships

AIA Corporate Architects and Facility Management Scholarship
Eligibility: Applicants must be one of the following:
• In the third or fourth year of a five-year program that results in a BArch degree;
• In the fourth or fifth year of a six-year program that results in a MArch degree;
• In the second or third year of a three- to four-year program that results in an MArch degree and with an undergraduate degree in a discipline other than architecture.
Award: Number of awards varies per year; amounts usually range from $1,000 to $2,500.


Again, I don’t expect this is a complete list of every possible scholarship for a student of architecture, but I hope it helps one (or several!) of you to defray the costs of schooling. There area also a variety of scholarships and grants for young practicing architects; I may compile a list of those as well.

Earlier today, I logged onto my Facebook account and saw an ad for what looked eerily like the Ford Focus I sold after I moved to the city. I wiped my glasses clean (just to be safe), and looked again. It wasn't a Focus, but in fact the new 2008 Saturn Astra.

The Astra is all new, in America at least (the Opel Astra has been competing with the VW GTI and other hatchbacks in Europe for some time). The specs page wasn't loading all the way when I tried to check it out, but according to Edmunds.com, the Astra is going to have a 140-hp, 1.8L 4-cylinder motor and will be available as a three- and five-door hatchback. Saturn is playing up the driveability of the car, offering up 18" wheels and "sport seats" on the three-door.

What do I think? Well, I love small, "tossable" cars. With 140-hp, it's not the most powerful sport hatch on the market, but I've always appreciated handling over sheer power. Design-wise, I think it looks a lot like my old Focus, but with the signature Saturn bug-eye headlamps.

I don't think it will set any records, but will be a good choice for someone looking for a car with a lot of reliability, good economy, and a little sport. Just like my Focus.

In reviewing some of the trends on designboston over 2007, I've noticed a number of readers contacted me with questions. By asking me questions, these readers were directly telling me what they want to hear, read and know.

I would like to build this into a regular feature on designboston. Are you looking for a designer or architect for a project? Wondering about a new shop , gallery, or product? Whatever it is, if it's about design, designboston (along with my great readers) can get an answer.

Depending on how many questions you send in, I may run a new question ever other week, or even every week.

Hopefully this "Ask DesignBoston" column will be well received and helpful for everyone!

I know my friend Adam Denison is having fun.

After years of being seen as the official vehicle of the old, out of touch white man, Cadillac has emerged as a force to be reckoned with.

The newly redesigned 2008 Cadillac CTS was recently named Motor Trend magazine's Car of the Year. Two upcoming versions of the CTS also won the Eyes On Design award at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit: The high performance 550hp 2009 CTS-V won the award for Best Production Car; the CTS Coupe won the Best Concept Car.

GM must be really enjoying themselves, as the Chevy Malibu (which I've talked about before here and here) won the North American Car of the Year. Congratulations to Adam and the rest of GM.