I want to build a small ORM ([Object Relational Mapping](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-relational_mapping)) framework in PHP. I want to do a mixture of an MVC approach, with the same controller/method/variable approach used by CodeIgniter.

There are a few frameworks out there already which do this, but things like

* Form validation
* Pagination
* CRUD
* And AJAX

are very difficult to do in these frameworks. My main goal, other than to have the entire functioning of the system be done using objects, is to use the DRY principle as much as possible. This mainly means very little repetitive code for form validation and CRUD etc.

I'm looking for ideas on how such a framework would be organized, what the architecture would be, and how a typical request such as a signup form and how to validate it, would be handled by this framework.

Please share your thoughts/ideas. This will be released as an open source framework, free of charge, when its finished.