Topic: Smithsonian Institution

Shop and Fly

Fast Company looks at the retail destinations of four major airports.READ»

Organizational Storytellers Take on the Economy - Focus is Innovation, Hyper-production

Organizational storytellers are gathering again in Washington, DC this spring just in time for the cherry blossoms. This, their 9th year, promises a tour de force on the power of narrative to generate solutions for our troubled ...READ»

Scientists Developing iPhone App to Crowdsource Plant Research

A group of scientists and researchers from the Smithsonian, University of Maryland, and Columbia University is working on an iPhone application that turns budding scientists into valuable research contributors. The application ...READ»

50th Anniversary of Space-Monkey Success

Fifty years ago, two girls, Able and Baker, went to space. After their brief spaceflight on May 28, 1959, the two pioneers were hailed as heroes and made the cover of LIFE, which lauded them as America's Space Travelers. Able, a ...READ»

Fast Cities 2009 Reader Nominations: Washington, DC

Nominations for the 2009 Fast Cities of the Year are pouring in. Here's an entry on behalf of Washington, DC: DC is one of the most diverse cities in the world. We have people of so many different countries because we are where all ...READ»

Amazing Tree-Recognizer App Headed for iPhones

The botanically-minded among you will be fascinated by the developments of an upcoming augmented reality application being created by The National Science Foundation. As we reported in "Scientists Developing iPhone App to ...READ»

Social Design Gets Its Own Curator

With the Cooper-Hewitt appointment, a design movement claims a more prominent place on the agenda.READ»

6 Scintillating Proposals for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture

It's a plain truth that national museums in the U.S. have been humdrum at best, composed mainly of bricks and compromises. But if the six shortlisted designs for Washington, D.C.'s new National Museum of African-American History ...READ»

Team Doctors, Report to ER

Is your team headed for Intensive Care? Our specialists offer prescriptions for the five illnesses that can afflict even the best teamsREAD»

Contributors

Ryan Blitstein Translating academic research into real-world policy is no easy feat. That's one reason journalist Ryan Blitstein is drawn to stories of its success. This month, the Chicagoan traveled to Boston to visit the hub of a ...READ»

Minister of Culture

Job Titles of the FutureREAD»

Fast Company Library

Books previously featured in Fast CompanyREAD»

On Retaining Separation of Church and State

In today's headlines, I see where Obama thinks it's a good idea for so-called faith-based organizations to get government money to work on "resolving social problems", and then he says in the next breath that he ...READ»

The Mind Reader

He studies who we are and what we want, then reinvents the things we've always known.READ»

Living Dangerously - Issue 30

In My Humble Opinion: "Oz uses more fiber optics than any other theme park in the world."READ»

Silicon Valley: Arrington’s Twisted View

Yes we all know it is true, when we think "Start Up" we think Silicon Valley. There is no argument there. Here at East Coast Blogging, we often wade in and ponder this what's and why's that make the valley such a special ...READ»

Letter From the Editor: The Best Rivalry in Business, Refreshed

When you're in the media business, you worry about the cost -- and the risk -- of creating a new product from scratch each time. Movies, music, magazines: We all share the same challenge. In comparison, the idea of creating the same ...READ»

Evolution of a Typeface: Neutra

1. Neutraface House licensed the name of midcentury architect Richard Neutra for a typeface. Its success parallels a Neutra resurgence; his Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, California (above), sold in May for $16.8 ...READ»

• Typographreaks

Masters of the (Information) Universe

Are you drowning in data? Meet three know-it-alls who find the material that really matters.READ»

Experience Required

It's the new mantra of strategy and marketing: If you want to keep your customers' attention, then you've got to deliver a compelling experience. Bob Rogers and his colleagues are designing such experiences.READ»

Obamabilia: Royalty-free "Kind Eyes" Already Stimulating the Economy

YOU SHOW me yours, and I'll show mine. My Obamabilia, that is. I just watched a CNN story on the Mt McKinley-sized dune of opportunistic landfill featuring Obama's face, "with kind eyes," according to an ad for ornamental plates. I ...READ»

Masters of Disaster

We asked eight turnaround experts, from professors to investors to managers, who have brought companies back from the brink, to give us their recipe for rescue. Here's the 411 on the 911.READ»

What I Didn’t Get to Say to Michelle Obama (But Maybe My Message Still Got Through)

The National Design Award honoree took your statements about design and the U.S. all the way to the White House. Did he get his moment with Michelle?READ»

• Tom Dair's Smart Design blog

Streamlining HP

Sam Lucente's business is corporate design. Persuasion is his game.READ»

Levi's Fashions a New Strategy

A dynamic new team looks to stamp innovation on an old brand.READ»