Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category
DO Lectures
August 3, 2011
The idea is a simple one— that people who Do things can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things, too. So each year we invite a set of people down here to come and tell us what they Do. They can be small Do’s or big Do’s or just extraordinary Do’s. But when you listen to their stories, they light a fire in your belly to go and Do your thing, your passion, the thing that sits in the back of your head each day, just waiting, and waiting for you to follow your heart. David & Clare Hieatt (Co-founders of The Do Lectures)
The Experience
August 3, 2011
The Experience is a project by Architects of Air. They seek to bring a visual surprise and excitement into the environment and to create the optimum conditions where people can be moved to a sense of wonder through the particular phenomenon of luminous colour. The principal idea behind a luminarium is to give the visitor an experience of light and colour that will be appreciated for its beauty.
“It isn’t an isolating experience. In Antwerp, where the structure occupied a public square near the city centre, a dear old couple slowly ambled past me. Meanwhile, a younger pair waxed lovey-dovey on the floor, and children rolled around. Plenty of people roamed about, pleasurably lost, smiling with wonder, delight and, who knows, perhaps something approaching contentment. I sat down, leaning against a rounded wall, and others soon followed my example. Unwittingly, I’d helped create instant community. The public square had moved indoors.”
Donald Hutera, performing arts journalist for The Times of London, Time Out magazine & The List (Scotland).
More images HERE
Sun Boxes
June 23, 2011Sun Boxes, by Craig Colorusso, are an environment to enter and exit at will. It’s comprised of twenty speakers operating independently, each powered by the sun via solar panels. There is a different loop set to play a guitar note in each box continuously. These guitar notes collectively make a Bb chord. Because the loops are different in length, once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time. The sounds of Sun Boxes have been described as both soothing and energizing. A unique combination of adjectives often used to describe yoga, or meditation. When experiencing the piece, Sun Boxes allows the participant to slow down, and notice the subtleties of the composition unfold. With the abundance of technology and hustle of this culture it is a much needed concept to not only be allowed, but also encouraged to slow down.
Sociologically Funny
June 23, 2011A virtual art project in Second Life turns real in a way Jeff Crouse never expected.
A story from the Story Collider. Recorded live at our show at Pacific Standard, Brooklyn, November 17th, 2010.
Rendering the 20th Century
June 23, 2011‘Rendering the 20th Century’, contains a compilation of scans taken from out-of-print architectural journals, otherwise impossible to get hold of, and defining key movements in the evolution of architectural practice. Rather than concentrate on finished projects, the specialization here is in drawings, collages, and dioramas. The most spectacular images are those of the futuristic and experimental utopianism of the 60s and 70s.
‘Rendering the 20th Century’ RNDRD
Journey to the Center of the World
March 17, 2011
“Nyiragongo Crater: Journey to the Center of the World” by Paula Nelson via BOSTON.COM
Taking Earth’s Pulse
March 17, 2011
In the wilds of the San Jacinto Mountains, along a steep canyon, scientists are turning 30 acres of pines and hardwoods in California into a futuristic vision of environmental study.
They are linking up more than 100 tiny sensors, robots, cameras and computers, which are beginning to paint an unusually detailed portrait of this lush world, home to more than 30 rare and endangered species.
Much of the instrumentation is wireless. Devices the size of a deck of cards – known as motes, after dust motes – can measure light, wind speed, rainfall, temperature, humidity and barometric pressure, detecting the presence of a warm body or tracking the progress of a chill wind up the canyon. Keep reading HERE.
Like this:
PIGHOUSE
March 3, 2011
CAIRO, Egypt
A project by: Alexander Prusakov
Pighouse
The project PIGHOUSE was submitted for consideration for the 2010 Central Glass Architectural Design Competition in Tokyo, Japan. The brief called for new ways to envision the age-old problem of HOUSING. Our entry won the Merit Prize, placing within the top ten of more than six hundred international entries.
Architecture or Revolution
As Cairo hurtles toward revolution, it appears some of the challenges that have plagued Egypt’s minority of Coptic Christians have been side-lined in the face of larger issues of democracy. Picking the scab off Le Corbusier’s dictum of “ARCHITECTURE OR REVOLUTION”, and with Egypt, the country, in sharp focus again, we believe it’s time to dust off our project; to raise the possibility of an architecture developed in alignment with a grassroots ethos; to stave off revolution for the Zabbaleen, a community of Coptic Christian garbage collectors living on the fringes of downtown Cairo.
Housing for Pigs/Compose for Life
Nothing beats the pig’s ability to chow down garbage and process in into useful fertilizer whilst fattening into delicious pork. PIGHOUSE suggests that our ideas for HOUSING look beyond notions of mere “accomodation”. Housing pigs on the roofs of existing buildings in Manshiyet-Nasr, Cairo, imbues the existing housing with CIVIC and COMMUNAL function, invigorating a host of other activities such as rooftop planting and cultivation.
More at Architizer
ICA Talks
February 20, 2011
Talks from the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. The public discussions cover the period 1981–1994.
TooGOoD
February 19, 2011
Absolutely in love with Studio Toogood. Under the creative direction of London-based designer, Faye Toogood, the Studio collaborates with clients who seek alternative ways of developing their brand or their interior.
Electronic Literature Collection V.2
February 10, 2011
“Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 2″ is a just-published, Creative Commons licensed multiformat volume from The Electronic Literature Organization.
Electronic Literature Collection, Volume 1
Ape Typologies
February 4, 2011
These are quite handsome I have to say.
A project by Kenyan photographer James Mollison.
He says:
“While watching a nature program on primates I was struck by their facial similarity to our own. Humans are clearly different to animals, but the great apes inhabit that grey area between man and animal. I thought it would be interesting to try to photograph gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans using the aesthetic of the passport photograph- its ubiquitous style inferring the idea of identity.
I decided against photographing in zoos or using ‘animal actors’ but traveled to Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia to meet orphans of the bush meat trade and live pet trade.”
Expats and Natives
February 4, 2011
Lucia, Jonathan (USA), Aaron – Mexico, 2005
Yumi, Surayoum, Carsten (Germany) – Costa Rica, 2003
James (USA), Daniella, Ivana, Alba – Mexico, 2004
Frances (England), Nick, Lek – Thailand, 2003
Kaerolik, Robin, Eric (Canada), Erika, Rosio – Nicaragua, 2003
Leticia, Leonardo, Siggi (Germany) – Mexico, 2005
“The portraits in Expats and Natives were made in small-scale tourist destinations of the developing world – islands in Thailand, surfing villages in Nicaragua, coastal towns in Mexico. We traveled to these destinations in search of natural beauty, indigenous culture and respite from the urban pace – irresistible notions inherited from centuries of storytelling, photographs and advertising.
In these areas, where there is seemingly little interaction between tourists and locals, we noticed a significant population of mixed families— travelers who stayed and became expats, living with their local wives (or less frequently, husbands) and raising a family in a new culture. We found westerners who had come for similar reasons as us, drawn by the exotic or the escape but who had chosen to remain, and locals who had found a different future outside of their culture. These families came together as a consequence of tourism, a new manifestation of the complicated mixing of cultures that began along trade routes and continues through flows of capital and travel.
In some situations, these families seemed to echo the historical power dynamics between genders as well as between citizens of the developed and developing worlds – age differences, obvious gaps in background and economic levels, tensions and disillusionments. In other cases, the equity and tenderness of the family seemed to undermine easy judgments about status and power. Most frequently, the children in these pictures grounded the families in their shared futures.
As the largest industry in the world, it is often through tourism that the cultures of the developed and the developing worlds meet. These families suggest the layered history and unknown futures of these relationships formed in the intersection of two worlds. ” – Sasha Bezzubov and Jessica Sucher
Luminous Earth Grid
February 2, 2011
Luminous Earth Grid is the massive-scale personal project created in 1993 by the American designer Stuart Williams.
Luminous Earth Grid, an array of 1,680 energy-efficient fluorescent lamps, swept over 10 acres of undulating landscape, 50 miles north of San Francisco. Said the artist, “I see the project as a poetic statement on the potential harmony between technology and nature.” Over a five year period, Williams launched a rigorous fund raising campaign throughout Northern California, and raised nearly half a million dollars to realize the massive project. It was widely acclaimed by critics around the globe and drew tens of thousands of visitors.
“The glowing green grid can be seen as an icon of computer imaging technology, which in this ‘real life,’ incarnation, gently melds with the flowing shape of a lovely landscape… a dream-like vision of symbiotic unity.” - Stuart Williams
Stephen Mallon
February 2, 2011
I am really liking these series. In his statement, Mallon writes:
NEXT STOP ATLANTIC: Can you imagine if you were on the last drop? You get on the train expecting to get out at Atlantic Station and end up hitting the Atlantic Ocean instead. Seeing these massive mechanisms being tossed into the ocean like a toy in the bathtub is a ping in my heart. I have always been attached to these machines, their surreal beauty integrated into their functional engineering. At first I was stunned, the moments of violent recycling, watching the water quickly adapt to its new underwater houses. After being pushed and stacked like a sardine in these subways cars over the past decade, it is nice to see the sardine actually getting one of these as its new steel condo. These unbelievable photographs were captured over the past three years from Delaware to South Carolina. Since the 1600′s man has artificially created reefs. The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s recycling program has been involved for the past decade, retiring over 2500 subways cars to the ocean to help rebuild underwater reefs along the eastern seabed. These are my images, seconds before these mass transit vessels join history in building homes for life under the sea.
Chemotherapy update
February 2, 2011
A project by Filippo Minelli. He writes:
In the best catholic tradition on December 25th 2010 i was pregnant, but it wasn’t jesus in my belly. I discovered that i have a tumor at the liver.
I put up this blog called Chemotherapy update to make friends and relatives receive news about the events I’m living directly from my iPhone in a funny way.
Viva la vita
Grow Your Own
January 27, 2011Policing Genes
“Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with pharming – genetically engineering plants to produce useful and valuable drugs. Currently undergoing field trials are tomato plants that produce a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease and potatoes that immunise against hepatitis B. Many more plant-made-pharmaceuticals are being developed in laboratories around the world.
However, the techniques employed to insert genes into plants are within reach of the amateur…and the criminal. Policing Genes speculates that, like other technologies, genetic engineering will also find a use outside the law, with innocent-looking garden plants being modified to produce narcotics and unlicensed pharmaceuticals.”
Social Housing For Crabs
January 18, 2011
“The space of the aquarium is projected outwards onto the gallery walls with multiple fluid shadows of the crabs in movement. more than just a playful game of calculated steps and patience, ’Crab Island’ alludes to various conditional tensions and paradoxes that we face in our daily progress along the lines of fixed, existing environment and cultural relations.”
For their solo show ‘Moving Sideways’ at the Tang Contemporary Art gallery, the Hong Kong-based architects of MAP Office built a residential building for a community of 100 sea crabs. Their installation consists of 24 identical aquariums and represents a standardized social housing unit which you can find plenty of in Hong Kong. However, the building reverses the traditional logic of luxury as density decreases from top to bottom. According to its creators, ‘Crab Island’ aims to explore notions of displacement, territory, economy, social movement and/or play. Text by Designboom.
Are You Musical?
January 13, 2011
BBC is now running an experiment – How Musical Are You? – that assesses your overall relationship with music. It takes just 25 minutes (just?) The experiment was designed by researchers at the Music, Mind and Brain Research Group, University of London, and your participation will contribute to their research into the musical brain. You will have to sign in or register. Take it HERE.
Cognitive Cities
January 8, 2011
The Cognitive Cities Conference (#CoCities) aims to bring the vibrant global conversation about the future of cities to Germany. We believe that collaboration and diversity lead to the best results. By inviting bright minds with different perspectives, it is our ambition to enable not only an in-depth exchange about the current state of affairs, but also to foster new projects and contribute to the ongoing global discussion. We see CoCities as a platform for exchange and mutual inspiration. We invite urban planners, designers, technology geeks, environmental experts, public officials, urban gardening enthusiasts and cultural influencers to be part of the conversation. We can only make our cities more livable if we work together to improve them.
Cognitive Cities Conference
Test you time
January 8, 2011
Reaction time is the time it takes to react to something. It can be considered as an index of your speed of processing: It shows how fast you can execute the mental operations needed by the task at hand.
Reaction Time is a basic measure used in many psychology studies. Participant are most often asked to push a button when done with the task, which can be as varied as detecting an object, memorizing a word, or identifying an emotion. As brain processing is quite fast, reaction times are usually measured in milliseconds (a thousandth (1/1000) of a second). Click HERE to st.art
Via Sharp Brains
Serko
December 22, 2010
Images of the Siberian Lake Baikal by photographer Matthieu Paley. Paley’s work was featured in Serko, a book and film telling the true story of Cossack officer Dmitri Peshkov and staggering 9000 kilometer ride across Russia in the winter 1889-1890 on his horse, Serko.
DIY 3D printing
December 22, 2010
A Grass Roots Engineer that shares the developments and continual improvements of his 3D printing machines, as well as his perspectives on the rapidly growing commercial and DIY 3D printing communities. HERE.
Science 2010
December 21, 2010Science’s list of the nine other groundbreaking achievements from 2010 follows.
Synthetic Biology: In a defining moment for biology and biotechnology, researchers built a synthetic genome and used it to transform the identity of a bacterium. The genome replaced the bacterium’s DNA so that it produced a new set of proteins—an achievement that prompted a Congressional hearing on synthetic biology. In the future, researchers envision synthetic genomes that are custom-built to generate biofuels, pharmaceuticals or other useful chemicals.
Neandertal Genome: Researchers sequenced the Neandertal genome from the bones of three female Neandertals who lived in Croatia sometime between 38,000 and 44,000 years ago. New methods of sequencing degraded fragments of DNA allowed scientists to make the first direct comparisons between the modern human genome and that of our Neandertal ancestors.
HIV Prophylaxis: Two HIV prevention trials of different, novel strategies reported unequivocal success: A vaginal gel that contains the anti-HIV drug tenofovir reduced HIV infections in women by 39 percent and an oral pre-exposure prophylaxis led to 43.8 fewer HIV infections in a group of men and transgender women who have sex with men.
Exome Sequencing/Rare Disease Genes: By sequencing just the exons of a genome, or the tiny portion that actually codes for proteins, researchers who study rare inherited diseases caused by a single, flawed gene were able to identify specific mutations underlying at least a dozen diseases.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations: Simulating the gyrations that proteins make as they fold has been a combinatorial nightmare. Now, researchers have harnessed the power of one of the world’s most powerful computers to track the motions of atoms in a small, folding protein for a length of time 100 times longer than any previous efforts.
Quantum Simulator: To describe what they see in the lab, physicists cook up theories based on equations. Those equations can be fiendishly hard to solve. This year, though, researchers found a short-cut by making quantum simulators—artificial crystals in which spots of laser light play the role of ions and atoms trapped in the light stand in for electrons. The devices provide quick answers to theoretical problems in condensed matter physics and they might eventually help solve mysteries such as superconductivity.
Next-Generation Genomics: Faster and cheaper sequencing technologies are enabling very large-scale studies of both ancient and modern DNA. The 1,000 Genomes Project, for example, has already identified much of the genome variation that makes us uniquely human—and other projects in the works are set to reveal much more of the genome’s function.
RNA Reprogramming: Reprogramming cells—turning back their developmental clocks to make them behave like unspecialized “stem cells” in an embryo—has become a standard lab technique for studying diseases and development. This year, researchers found a way to do it using synthetic RNA. Compared with previous methods, the new technique is twice as fast, 100 times as efficient and potentially safer for therapeutic use.
The Return of the Rat: Mice rule the world of laboratory animals, but for many purposes researchers would rather use rats. Rats are easier to work with and anatomically more similar to human beings; their big drawback is that methods used to make “knockout mice”—animals tailored for research by having specific genes precisely disabled—don’t work for rats. A flurry of research this year, however, promises to bring “knockout rats” to labs in a big way.
A list of these 10 “Insights of the Decade” follows.
Read the rest of this entry ?
....................................
