National Design Awards

The Firm 2 X 4 out of NYC recently won the Cooper Hewit National Design Awards for examplary American design. The firm's work is far-reaching and wonderfully detailed at the same time. Their work has been included within works by Neil Denari and Rem Koolhaas, to name a couple.

As a result of winning the above award, the First Lady sponsors a little gala in the winners' honor. 2 X 4 shunned it, and here's the letter.

City-States

Important and interesting read on the wave of urban immigration and its affect on countries' economies. When one thinks about this, the question arises, "Is New York really American?" Or did it start as an American ideal 400 years ago, transforming itself through the years into its own animal, separate from the rest of the US?

The Body Electric

Speaking of Science Fiction, this electric concept car called Zoop is designed by French fashion design house Maison de Courrèges. It's form is interesting, its mission is interesting. Shows that hybrid design firms exist out there.

But I digress as we all know that the most advanced technologies usually get designed and tested for the military complex. At least the Swedes have made a go at innovative green technologies, satisfying their inner hippies.

Space Colonites Part II

Robert Bigelow's commercial space agency has just launced an inflatable space ship into orbit, beginning a process eventually culminating in a full fledged space hotel. His company has a whole lot of ideas for the future of air travel in this atmosphere as well as the other one. NASA, of course, is competing. Americans do, as it turns out, have to be first at everything, or else.

It's about Time

Providing basic shelter for US armed services is a tough task, considering we're spread ever so thinly across the globe. Halliburton has been feasting as of late on soldiers' basic necessities as they maintain the front lines. I'd be interested in seeing the conditions first hand. Can we equate Halliburton barracks to slums in Sao Paolo? Or bathing conditions? Or clean water? Some reading on squatter cities might begin to make connections.

As is, the US Army has finally let go of Hallibuton as their only contractor. They will be dismissed of their duties providing basic life support for US soldiers such as housing, food service, and sanitation services. At a time when Iraq reconstruction is slowing down, it seems kind of ironic that the Army would finally get a clue of the crooks from Texas.

To note: "Government audits turned up more than $1 billion in questionable costs. Whistle-blowers told how the company charged $45 per case of soda, double-billed on meals and allowed troops to bathe in contaminated water."

Shelter in a Cart

The folks over at designboom (now added to links section) put on a socially impressive design competition to address the needs of the transient and homeless population. It reaches into a realm we should think about more often, money aside. Very relevent.

Understatement of the Century Part I

Frank Ghery, on the design of the New Guggenheim Abu Dhabi UAE, "I want to play off the blue water and the color of the sand and sky and sun..."It's got to be something that will make sense here. If you import something and plop it down, it's not going to work." This should make it onto Mind of Mancia on Comedy Central for its sheer comedic brilliance.

Moreover, The project brought striking cultural juxtapositions: A museum named for a major Jewish-American family and designed by a Jewish-American architect would rise in the capital of an Arab country that refuses diplomatic ties with Israel. A foundation that has become a pillar of U.S.-European culture would establish its largest presence in a Muslim country with no world-class art museums.

This is at once Shakespearean Tragedy as well as a serious political and cultural act.

Updates

I've updated links into sections, etc., while adding a bunch of new stuff: enjoy.

bored?

Back from 4th of July Vacation and bored? These programs that simulate art by clicking and dragging your mouse are a nice respite from the type click-type click-type click action of the modeling / drawing routine. It definitely got me: Virtual Jackson Pollock

Amusement Park Urbanism

Part III: The Crusaders have marched into Scotland, lads!!!

Mind Reading Computers

I know part of psychoanalysis is the ability to "read" facial expressions and how they represent the subject's underlying feelings. Now scientists are developing computers that do just this. And how will the technology be used? For consumption of course.

"Our research could enable websites to tailor advertising or products to your mood..."

Global Cooling - Sci Fi Issue

Since the '60s, when scientists had first understood that global warming would creep up and bite us in the ass one day, research has been moving toward technologies that would help cool the planet. As such, the most prolific of the ideas either reflect or absorb sunlight. From biotechnologies to Synthetic Technologies, these new gadgets are quite interesting. Could you imagine a bunch of plastic saucers in space, floating still and reflecting sunlight? Great Article from the New York Times.

Kool

I am a fan of Mr. Koolhaas because his vision is not just aesthetic or selfish. His desire to change paradigms and systems (from building to political and social) puts him in a class by himself. Could this article say the same about Zaha or Gehry? I seriously think not. The key term here is at the beginning of said article. Invisible Cities, the latent and virtual possibilites inherent in any given problem of discovery. Through intense research, analysis, and speculation he and his people are able to realize hidden potential.

AMO and OMA seek hybrids of design, planning, architecture, politics, socialism, and economic development. Impressive.

Amusement Park Urbanism

Gulf Coast Part II:

Are New Urbanists planning a takeover of the American Gulf Coast? Aside from a slew of casinos and condos in Biloxi, it seems as though they are off to a strong start.......The Biloxi workshop looked like an attempt by New Urbanists to hijack the biggest urban planning and regeneration project in America’s recent history – the rebuilding of the Gulf coast. Indeed, they thought there was something almost sinister in the speed with which Duany mobilised his allies and secured the support of Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi, after Katrina.

More on the Middle Class

Our middle class is getting smaller. The indications are that the rate of high and low incomes is rising steadily, while the numbers in the middle are dwindling. Along with the decrease, housing stock in typically middle class communities is becoming delapidated, as upwardly mobile former middle classers move to new developments outside of cities in exurbs. What happens to the neighborhoods left behind? What happens to those that gentrify in non-sustainable ways?

"As upper-income Americans are drawn to the new houses, neighborhoods become more homogenous,..... The zoning is such that it prevents anything other than a certain income range from living there. It is our latest method of discrimination."

To follow or not to follow.

I'm really impressed with the anti-ipod advertising going on. Seems Microsoft will be allying with Toshiba, Victor, NTT DoCoMo and five other companies to release music playing services and players that will challenge the iPod. Microsoft will be developing the software while Toshiba and Victor develop the players, and DoCoMo will add mobile phone functionality to this system

I'm personally interested in this:

Amusment Park Urbanism

I've written about this before, but here's a recent and intensely poignant article in Slate reminding us of the evils of large-scale projects with little or no public input.

I'm going to pick up where Jonathan Lethem left off by including the fact that all large scale public housing complexes of the 60's have failed miserably, in part because of their scale. They swallowed hole smaller urban areas, and became monstrosities in reputation and proportion.

At what point are developers' objectives too big? I agree with Mr. Lethem on the fact that if Mr. Gehry had just assigned a Guggenheim for basketball(The New Brooklyn Nets Stadium, which is what was orginally planned,) Brooklyn would have gained a sort of cultural and economical jewel, just like Bilbao did. But greed took over and the project ballooned to points of no return.

Architects don't get paid much money, and the usual reply is "We do it for the love of the work." What do you think is going through Gehry's mind right now? I would go on a limb to say that he does not need the money. So why do this project?

Finally, I must harken to city design in Europe, where incremental, scaled development has been happening for centuries. The centers grow organically, buildings arise and converse with one another, fitting in to their place (modern and historical juxtapostions abound). Once in a while, a grand gesture arises, its impact lessened by research and study. Research and study of ground related activities, of information flows, of infrastructure, of building stock, of population intensities and time-based activities. I don't see that happening here at all. This has "God Complex" written all over it. Maybe if we knew the architects' process, we wouldn't think it were so arbitrary and ill fated.

When Frank Gehry offers the crown jewel of a 16 tower mega development, and calls it "Miss Brooklyn" after a wedding he saw in Brooklyn once, I wonder a) how many drugs he did in the 60's, b) should we consider that he really does design by crumpling up pieces of paper, and c) what kind of incentives is Bruce Ratner really offering?

Graffiti?

...Or art? Or social commentary?... I love it. A bit design, a bit gorilla-taggin, a bit political..
Bansky is the man.

Frontera

The border between Mexico and The U.S. has always been a one-sided political debate: Keep illegal Mexican citizens out of this country at all costs. It's even more poignant an issue now, as the Bush administration calls for more and more technology to be thrown at the problem. Most recently, he called for a "Virtual" wall that would use sensors and cameras to detect illegal crossing and other goings-on.
The question, then, is what can design do to help the situation? There has already been a competition to devise a new border crossing at Anapra via the wonderful Mexican online journal Arquine. Now the New York Times (it's about time) asked 5 architects to propose their own ideas of The Fence.

Nano-technology

And you thought the self cleaning oven was convenient. By 2011, we'll be cleaning our toilets with the flip of a switch using nano-tech. I'll be anxiously waiting for the day.

Which brings us to the whole concept of nano-technology. Will this be the end of the world as we know it? A proper understanding of the science behind the technology will give us better clues as to how to use it. What about building skins that change material properties seasonally?