Disruptive, fascinating, out-of-the-box, playful and, above all, a true attentive keynote from Warren Ellis at ThingsCon 2015 in Berlin. While using the house and its – assumed – internet of things connectivity as an example he illustrates that we need to think a lot harder to come up with real adequate solutions if we really want to add meaning to the place we call our home.
smog free tower
After his first smog-project in Being, artist/designer Daan Roosegaarde – based in Rotterdam – now focuses on his own city. Supported by a crowd-funding action he plans and designed a 7 meter Smog-Free Tower in Rotterdam, to be completed in September 2015. After being presented in Rotterdam the tower will travel to other countries. Participants/partners that donate at least € 50,- receive an object containing the dust taken from the air; for € 250,- you can wear it as a ring: techno poetry………….. Let’s hope the tower will remain and/or others will follow……
cells
Until August 2nd. this year nobody should miss the beautiful exhibition in Munich’s Haus der Kunst of Louise Bourgeois’ ‘Cells, Structures of Existence‘ , a series of intimate spaces created in a decade between 1998 and 2008, just 2 years before her death in 2010. The `Cells’ represent the remembrance of her life and – in particular – childhood. They show a remarkable ability to transfer memories and events
into spheres recognizable for many; with simple materials – in particular doors rescued from e.g. her studio – the small spaces become a reference to often lost experiences.
Engage Rotterdam
Constructive meeting and – above all – breakout sessions – yesterday on the 14th floor at Central Post Rotterdam as part of Engage Rotterdam; organized by Hogeschool Rotterdam and Livework on Smart City-issues. Once again a call for ‘rethinking the future’ (Ingrid Mulder, TUD & HR) and various attempts to create real participatory projects, some of which will be added to the CityLab-010.
IoT-MeetUp on WW-IoT-day
On April 9, 2015 , the 4th Internet of Things & Built Environment MeetUp was held in Rotterdam, after 3 years now back at V2. In combination with a parallel program at HR and WdKA in their own venues; we had an interesting series of presentations and debates on the actual issues concerning iot and smart city. See the recordings at https://vimeo.com/channels/908003/ and listen back.
Internet of Things & Built Environment, April 9.
Coming up; the 4th. Internet of Things, Built Environment & Smart City MeetUp in Rotterdam on the evening of April 9, WW-IoT-day. Location is V2, with a fine line-up of speakers that promises an actual state of affairs as well as an interesting discussion. For now: Nimish Biloria (TU-Delft/Arch.) Floris Schiferli (Superuse Studios), Bem van Lier (Centric), Cristina Ampatzidou, Jan Belon (Buitengewone Zaken), Elizabeth Sikiaridi (hybridspacelab). We plan debate with local politicians on the ‘Smart City’.
HR as well as WdKA will organize parallel programs within their own venues that same day.
admission is free but strictly limited to 75 visitors. More info and registration soon on the MeetUp-site.
the Dilapidated Dwelling
Recently published on the Architecture_MPS website : an article by Patrick Keiller on housing in which he refers in particular to the situation in the UK, but nevertheless touches upon a contemporary issue: “Perhaps we are all ‘others’ when we are at home?”. Maybe the most interesting statement is that “the history of house-building suggests that the market will never be able to modernise dwelling on its own.(..) If there is to be any possibility for a more promising approach to dwelling, it is very unlikely to come from the conventional house-building industry.”. This is a challenge not for architects only, but rightly so, for the whole building industry involved.
two spaces?
While cleaning up my overloaded bookshelves I retrieved some magazines and checked them for articles worth keeping. One of these was an issue of Archis, the architectural magazine that has devoted many articles to the – at that time already – increasing developments in virtuality. In 1997 the symposium Transarchitectures 02 took place in Paris, accompanied by an exhibition curated by Paul Virilio. An interview (originally in Archicree, 279) with him was published in Archis, issue 1998/11 in which Virilio stated: “The problem is that the architect is back to working with two types of space. He has to build real space and allow immediate – meaning active – space, and virtual – meaning latent or potentially present – space to co-exist.”
Now, almost 20 years further, we may come to the conclusion that ’the problem’ still exists; only a few very architects succeed in really ‘ mixing’ both types of space. Worth reading in this is also the book by Ole Bouman: ‘ Real time in quick space’ ; also as series of essays, still actual. (NAI-Publishers, 1996)
human & things
December 4th.,2014, Eyeloco Antwerp; a very interesting and informative evening organized by MeetUp Group IoT-Gent. Presentations by e.g. Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino (Designswarm) , Louise Heinrich (Superhuman) , all with the emphasis on human issues within the iot and tech.How can a world in which everyday products are interconnected be actually meaningful for people? Product presentations by a.o. Incredible Machine, afdeling Buitengewone Zaken. All presentations were streamed, the link will be here soon.
Fountainhead
Now that Ayn Rand’s ’the Fountainhead’ is put on stage by ‘Toneelgroep Amsterdam‘ I started re-reading some of its chapters/dialoges, after having first read it long ago. Once again I find it stunning, in the sense that much of what Rand wrote in 1947 is still valid and maybe more valid then in her days. One example:
“A building is alive, like a man. Its integrity follows its own truth, its only single theme, and to serve its only purpose. A man doesn’t borrow pieces of his body. A building doesn’t borrow hunks of its soul. Its maker gives it the soul and every wall, window and stairway to express it.” (p.16)
Of course; one can see/listen again to Roark’s famous fountainhead – roarks defense. he provides when he is in court, after being – correctly – accused of demolishing one of his (though build by another) buildings. Still; also after heaving seen/listened to Ramsey Nasr recently about his role: an architect has a client, a framework within which he builds. The Fountainhead is about holding on to one’s ideas and principles: but, referring to Nasr’s remarks, architecture is not ‘free art’ but does have its limits.
Nevertheless: after almost 70 years it remains fascinating, contemporary reading; without having seen it on stage yet, it is remarkable that it is practically sold out. I do hope not all visitors will be architects.