Category: technology

technology

On Notetaking and Thrilling Wonder Stories II

Yesterday I attending a portion of Thrilling Wonder Stories II at the Architectural Association. The Cautionary Tales segment I sat in on included author Jeff VanderMeer, author Will Self and artist-author Paul Duffield. Will Self made a habit of walking from central London to Heathrow Airport and then walking from his destination airport to his… Continue reading On Notetaking and Thrilling Wonder Stories II

Favela Chic, Gothic High-Tech or The Suburban Ideal: Bruce Sterling & Sean Griffiths on the Future

After reading Kazys Varnelis’ syllabus for the fall semester at Columbia, I was compelled to go back and read Bruce Sterling’s lecture given at Transmediale 10 in Berlin earlier this year, as published by Wired, titled Atemporality for the Creative Artist. I also read an essay by Sean Griffiths, of FAT Architecture, on the future… Continue reading Favela Chic, Gothic High-Tech or The Suburban Ideal: Bruce Sterling & Sean Griffiths on the Future

The Realtime Manifesto

The architectural manifesto defined the modern era. Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto started the ball rolling, and Adolph Loos’ Ornament and Crime, Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture and De Stijl followed. All of these are recognized as being amongst the most important pieces of architectural writing of the last century. While it is tempting to think that… Continue reading The Realtime Manifesto

Nineteenth Century Landscape Urbanism at the Brent Reservoir

Within a short distance of where I live there is a large urban lake, The Brent Reservoir (or commonly known as the Welsh Harp, after the pub that used to stand next to it) that supports one of the most important bird habitats in southern England. Covering 110 acres, the reservoir is surrounded by mostly… Continue reading Nineteenth Century Landscape Urbanism at the Brent Reservoir

The House of the Future is in Your Pocket

In their short essay “But Today We Collect Ads” of 1956 Allison and Peter Smithson make the case that architecture has become irrelevant in the face of advertising: “Gropius wrote a book on grain silos, Le Corbusier one on aeroplanes, And Charlotte Periand brought a new object to the office every morning, But today we… Continue reading The House of the Future is in Your Pocket

A Seaside Weekend: The Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, in Photos

The first stop on our weekend getaway was the last stop on the National Express coach, Southsea. After a brief stop at Portsmouth (which is only about a 10 minute drive away, at most) where all of the other passengers except for my wife and me disembarked, the coach pulled up in front of a… Continue reading A Seaside Weekend: The Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, in Photos

Model Trains at the MOST in Syracuse

Model Trains at the MOST in Syracuse, originally uploaded by mark.hogan. We passed some time at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse NY. It wasn’t very impressive but they did have a great model train set.

The Woolly Mammoth: making a comeback

Two researchers at Penn State University have mapped the genome of the extinct Woolly Mammoth using DNA extracted from hair found frozen in permafrost. According to scientist Hendrik Poinar, this means it wouldn’t be hard to recreate the Mammoth and put it in a Pleistocene era-themed amusement park. Maybe there will be a baby Mammoth… Continue reading The Woolly Mammoth: making a comeback