tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3496802261753833772024-03-13T13:50:05.142+00:00UrbanTickfanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.comBlogger697125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-20983063169563247022018-04-18T11:55:00.003+01:002018-04-18T11:55:40.632+01:00Snail Ballet and Blinking StarsAnimals have featured on this blog mostly in connection to technology in some form and always in regards to movement. Studying these patterns are especially fascinating as they complement snapshot impressions one normally has if just observing the animal occasionally. It is however also a reminder that movement pattern are much less structured and determined than is generally believed. Movement is goal oriented, but in order to maximise performance it is extremely flexible and opportunistic behaviour.
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Movement is therefor very expressive, it tells the story of desire and emotion and is the basis of many art forms, foremost dance, eg. <a href="https://urbantick.blogspot.ch/2009/11/body-and-creation-of-space.html">this old post</a> on the movement of the body and creation of space.
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<a href="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b366e2e9b3442cd6953687c11d976405cb01fbb5/78_7_1046_628/master/1046.jpg?w=1225&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=6158603bf11d2f4950bac3a184c00434" title="Snail Ballet"><img src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/b366e2e9b3442cd6953687c11d976405cb01fbb5/78_7_1046_628/master/1046.jpg?w=1225&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=6158603bf11d2f4950bac3a184c00434" width="580" height="340" alt="snail ballet"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/17/snail-ballet-dancers-slow-pixel-elizabeth-saint-jalmes-cyril-leclerc">The Guardian</a> / Snails of the gros-gris (fat greys) species saved from the plate.</small></small>
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An upcoming art work has mixed these aspects together and come up with a brilliantly mistifying snail ballet. Elizabeth Saint-Jalmes and Cyril Leclerc have created a dance of the animals supported by live music. It is also a live event that is coming to London's Kings Place on Fri 20 & Sat 21 April - booking <a href="https://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on/sonica-2018/">here</a>.
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<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/163922441?portrait=0" width="580" height="326" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/163922441">PIxel lent / slow pixel</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user9725596">Cyril Leclerc</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-15400090890843312562018-04-11T14:00:00.000+01:002018-04-11T14:54:09.301+01:00Autonomes Urban Landscapes - Drone DeliveryHome delivery keeps the urban areas busy and promises the busy citizen a hassle free consumer live style. Delivery trucks a clogging the streets of most large western metropolis for later today, same day or next day deliveries.
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Not the road, but the sky is the limit so little surprise drone technology has attracted the interest of large delivery companies. There are a number of project in development. Currently the hurdle is not so much the technology but the legal requirements.
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Nevertheless test are being undertaken. One example for a smaller scale autonomous food delivery system is being tested in <a href="http://icelandreview.com/news/2017/08/24/drones-begin-flying-food-icelanders">Iceland</a>.
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w_foIhQT2X8?rel=0" width="580"></iframe>
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The Iceland project does sound like a scam, but it has been covered by <a href="http://insideunmannedsystems.com/drones-helping-food-deliveries-improve-efficiency-iceland/">Inside</a>, the <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/23/16185112/drone-delivery-iceland-flytrex-aha-food">Verge</a>, <a href="http://fortune.com/2017/08/23/beer-delivery-drones/">Fortune</a> and actually investigated by <a href="https://thenextweb.com/eu/2017/09/14/using-drone-deliveries-in-iceland-isnt-as-stupid-as-it-sounds/"> TNW</a>.
fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-7141768884989048442017-10-28T15:02:00.000+01:002017-10-28T15:02:29.649+01:00Book - Landscape Observer: London, on Pops and Democracy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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London has seen a boom in inner-city developments over the past five to ten years. Large areas have been transformed, become densified in many ways and existing development has been replaced to make way for huge investments. Along it came a number of landscape projects to design pleasing outdoor spaces.
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London is comparably green for its size with many streets tree-lined and many public parks. However, the everyday location in this bustling city is still dominated by hard surfaces. Greenery is rare and often not maintained. Especially with the government's ongoing austerity programmes, the local councils struggle to keep up maintenance.
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To distinguish themselves investors invest big in the design of the surroundings of their buildings. It underlines the quality to justify sky-high rents. The public is invited in to generate footfall for rented spaces. Where previously private property was fenced off, investors have discovered the potential of beautiful spaces. It seems a win-win situation, the public gets more greened spaces, the local councils get well maintained outdoor spaces and the investors can secure their investment.
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The numerous places that have sprung up across London are now documented in a new <a href="https://www.jovis.de/en/books/product/landscape_observer_london.html">JOVIS</a> publication Landscape Observer: London by Vladimir Guculak. The book acts as a guide, but also a repository of not just a handful, but some 89 projects. Ranging from large-scale projects like Kings Cross redevelopment in central London to the Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich and other smaller projects.
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B2_NOUqPE4o/WfSIPlxW0mI/AAAAAAAAJuk/BMaaMvxmS0A4H9RGO4vKsf6CmlgKb3WrACLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B2_NOUqPE4o/WfSIPlxW0mI/AAAAAAAAJuk/BMaaMvxmS0A4H9RGO4vKsf6CmlgKb3WrACLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon.jpg" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="391" /></a>
<br><small><small>Image own / Title page of the pubication Landscape Observer: London, by <a href="http://vladimirguculak.com/LANDSCAPE-OBSERVER-LONDON">Vladimir Guculak</a>, 2017.</small></small>
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Each project is in detail documented with photographs by the author, a landscape architect himself, with additional information about location, size, year, designer, nearest public transport and accessibility information. Each chapter is proceeded by a map that helps locate each open space in the context of the city.
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It is a beautifully designed publication complete with <a href="http://vladimirguculak.com">artwork by the author</a>. With the photographic documentation, the publication gives an overview of the project and a number of detail shots to highlight specific areas and in some cases construction details. Along the photos, the author does give a brief listing of plants included, materials used and other special features such a street furniture and lighting.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYdAhhGZY-c/WfSMpvBQy8I/AAAAAAAAJvE/IaFdFrzGq3I-ccB-09n-98P014DZrWNJQCLcBGAs/s1600/up2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QYdAhhGZY-c/WfSMpvBQy8I/AAAAAAAAJvE/IaFdFrzGq3I-ccB-09n-98P014DZrWNJQCLcBGAs/s1600/up2.jpg" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="387" /></a></div>
<small><small>Image taken from London Fieldwork / <i><a href="http://londonfieldworks.com/Project-110-Spontaneous-City-in-the-Tree-of-Heaven">Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven</a></i></small></small>
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It also features a personal favourite the Duncan Terrace Gardens (p.18). With a very inspiring artwork by London Fieldwork <i><a href="http://londonfieldworks.com/Project-110-Spontaneous-City-in-the-Tree-of-Heaven">Spontaneous City in the Tree of Heaven</a></i>. Or the nice-to-be-in-the-summer-with-kids Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in <a href="https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/hyde-park/things-to-see-and-do/memorials,-fountains-and-statues/diana-memorial-fountain">Hyde Park</a>.
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The weather is always extremely sunny throughout this publication and everything is documented in bloom with green lush leaves. It might seem a good idea to show summer, but landscaping has to work 12 months a year not only three or four. This is especially true for English weather and seasons. Colourful autumn leaves are as beautiful if not more so and stormy or rainy conditions can make for dramatically romantic scenes. So not why not make use of it?
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However, there are some more important problems with this publication. And it's not that something like the <a href="http://www.nigeldunnett.com/johnlewisraingarden/">John Lewis Rain Garden</a> (p.81) designed by the prominent designer (Nigel Dunnett) of the 2012 Olympic Parc in Stratford (now <a href="http://www.queenelizabetholympicpark.co.uk">Queen Elizabeth Olympic Parc)</a> features as a model "public space". The main problem is the nonchalant attitude towards public space.
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Public space is one of the most important principles to an accessible and shared city that is open to everyone. It is highly political and can be linked to the concept of the city-state in ancient Greece with the Agora, the foundation of democracy. See for example Sennett, Richard, 1998. The Spaces of Democracy, <a href="https://taubmancollege.umich.edu/pdfs/publications/map/wallenberg1998_richardsennett.pdf">1998 Raoul Wallenberg Lecture</a> or Henry Lefebvre, 1974 (1991 e). The Production of Space, Blackwell. p.237-241. We don't need to launch into a manifesto for the open city here, others have done so much more thoroughly. Nevertheless, the open and shared spaces are fundamental to living together in an open democratic city.
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The problem with public spaces is the creeping rise of POPS or pseudo-public spaces. These spaces look and feel like public spaces but are in fact private spaces. They are on privately owned land and therefore are governed by a very different set of rules. Rules that are made up by the private owner and rarely publicly shared. The fact that one can access a street, a square or a riverside does not for a long shot make it public space.
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/privately-owned-public-space-pops">The Guarding</a> has recently run a couple of stories on the rise of pseudo-public spaces in London and together with <a href="http://www.gigl.org.uk/privately-owned-public-spaces/">GiGL</a> put together a database of such spaces in the UK and especially London. The Guardian has put together a quick guide to POPs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/pseudo-public-space-explore-data-what-missing">here</a>, listing important points such as "...appear to be public but are actually owned and controlled by developers and corporations." or "...“Pops” – are not subject to ordinary local authority bylaws but rather governed by restrictions drawn up the landowner and usually enforced by private security companies", noting "...public access to pseudo-public spaces remains at the discretion of landowners" and "...alter them at will. They are not obliged to make these rules public."
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gT5uuuIkURo/WfSMpsR9ywI/AAAAAAAAJvA/MQmA1qUBPo41t6R-glrB-RpVovtmi6chQCLcBGAs/s1600/Guardian_pseudoPublicSpaces.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gT5uuuIkURo/WfSMpsR9ywI/AAAAAAAAJvA/MQmA1qUBPo41t6R-glrB-RpVovtmi6chQCLcBGAs/s1600/Guardian_pseudoPublicSpaces.jpg" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="246" /></a></div>
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<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2017/07/general-view-zip/giv-3902J0ToNqc7ucWf/">the Guardian</a> / Map shwing the pseudo-public spaces around central London. The data has been put together in colaboration between the Guardian and <a href="http://www.gigl.org.uk/privately-owned-public-spaces/">GiGL</a> and is available as <a href="https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/privately-owned-public-spaces">open data</a>.</small></small>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HC6dPzr145s/WfR_2v5RpkI/AAAAAAAAJuQ/XNcj6R3Kd2MYpRvggv9bb2JLquSfKV0vACLcBGAs/s1600/5670.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HC6dPzr145s/WfR_2v5RpkI/AAAAAAAAJuQ/XNcj6R3Kd2MYpRvggv9bb2JLquSfKV0vACLcBGAs/s400/5670.jpg" width="580" height="350" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="342" /></a>
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<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/25/corbyn-joins-calls-reclaim-uk-public-space-from-corporate-owners">the Guardian</a> / View of Canary Square, Kings Cross with square and fountain and the UAL in the background.</small></small>
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One of the most prominent areas of these new breeds of urban spaces is the area around Kings Cross with Granary Square, Wharf Road Gardens, Gasholder Park and more. It has become over the past two or so years a very popular meeting place with new restaurants, soon to be open shopping, housing and the UAL at the centre of it. It is a very cleverly disguised pseudo-public space with the university at the centre, a very large square with a sort of public program and fountain as well as access to the Regents Canal, Kings Cross and St. Pancras station.
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All of these are listed in the discussed publication as examples and many more such as St Pancras Square and Regents Place to list a few. Interestingly the author does make a reference to what he calls "political activists" presumably campaigning for public spaces. Examples listed on other news sites such as <a href="http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-first-map-of-londons-pseudo-public-space-epidemic">BigThink</a> list some of the implications:
<blockquote>In 2011, Occupy protesters were removed from Paternoster Square, outside the London Stock Exchange, on the grounds that they were trespassing on private land owned by the Mitsubishi Estate Company.</blockquote>
<blockquote>In Pancras Square, part of King's Cross Estate, lying down on the grass is okay, but not sleeping. One homeless man told the Guardian that as soon as he shuts his eyes, he is accosted by security guards.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Taking pictures is becoming increasingly problematic, with photographers being informed by security guards that they are on private land, and their activity is subject to prior permission – even in what looks like public space, such as Tower Place, adjacent to the Tower of London.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Public drinking is considered sufficient reason for removal from certain Pops. </blockquote>
A lot of data has been put together by GiGL and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/pseudo-public-space-explore-data-what-missing">the Guardian</a> on sites in London and has been published as open data <a href="https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/privately-owned-public-spaces">here</a>.
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This implicates the publication and the approach to some extent. It raises serious questions about the use of terminology or the understanding put forward of public and space. But it does not question the intention of the author. It was put together from a practitioners point of view, probably aimed at peers. Focusing on materials and practices, but then was opened to a wider audience, as hinted in the foreword.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OkUjRtg0Iac/WfSLjr7HTUI/AAAAAAAAJuw/5DhfGAAO0YMeFosgN60LNloUJaQHVogQgCLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OkUjRtg0Iac/WfSLjr7HTUI/AAAAAAAAJuw/5DhfGAAO0YMeFosgN60LNloUJaQHVogQgCLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon02.jpg" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="428" /></a></div>
<br><small><small>Image own / Spread of the pubication Landscape Observer: London, by <a href="http://vladimirguculak.com/LANDSCAPE-OBSERVER-LONDON">Vladimir Guculak</a>, 2017.</small></small>
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Not just, but especially as professionals in urban planning, landscape architecture, architecture, public officials and other roles involved in the planning and maintenance of public spaces, we have to be extremely careful and precise with the terminology to ensure and preserve these fundamentally important features of an open and accessible city, our open society and ultimately democracy are not undermined.
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Never the less it is one of the most comprehensive collections of recent landscape architecture projects in the centre of London and as such a valuable contribution, even if vague regarding terminology and location mapping. Extensive preview available on the publisher <a href="https://www.jovis.de/en/books/product/landscape_observer_london.html">JOVIS' website</a>
<br><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-22iAGzvE2qo/WfSLjjN2wcI/AAAAAAAAJu0/EHKjWvPzIcQZQv9A1iz5zFEjusFwQ2xbQCLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-22iAGzvE2qo/WfSLjjN2wcI/AAAAAAAAJu0/EHKjWvPzIcQZQv9A1iz5zFEjusFwQ2xbQCLcBGAs/s1600/landscapeObserverLondon01.jpg" data-original-width="580" data-original-height="700" /></a></div>
<br><small><small>Image own / Cover of the pubication Landscape Observer: London, by <a href="http://vladimirguculak.com/LANDSCAPE-OBSERVER-LONDON">Vladimir Guculak</a>, 2017.</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-87630020366724414562017-07-31T12:17:00.000+01:002017-10-25T17:22:34.450+01:00Practice, production and the quest for innovationThe means to produce are changing. The chimneys stopped smoking during the past century, and large industries increasingly are replaced by distributed production lines. Production is coming to a desk near you.
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These new ways of producing, such as 3d printing, while in some branches of technology already being employed in mass production, are being explored extensively by the creative industries. Not so much as a tool of mass production but rather as a rapid prototyping tool to explore options and simulate a proof of concept.
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<a href="https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/0748df9dd64256d275195697ef5bd07e/a1ccf036275ea9a9fcbd94b7_rw_1920.jpg" title="From Fixing Disability to Extending Ability"><img src="https://formlabs.com/media/upload/_thumbs/Third_Thumb_hero.jpg.1354x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg" width="580" height="220" alt="Third Thumb Dani Clode"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://formlabs.com/blog/from-fixing-disability-to-extending-ability-dani-clodes-the-third-thumb/">formLabs</a> by Dani Clode. / From Fixing Disability to Extending Ability.</small></small>
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A mesmerizing project was recently developed by design student <a href="http://www.daniclodedesign.com">Dani Clode</a> at Royal College of Art for her final year project. She had already worked in reference to the body in earlier projects and also experimented with other ideas <a href="http://www.daniclodedesign.com/synchronised">centring around prosthetics</a>.
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This third thumb project is exploring the relationship between body function, mechanics and perception. Clode states about her project: <i>It is part tool, part experience, and part self-expression</i>. She has in fact based the project not on the idea of fixing, but rather the interpretation of the word prosthetic as <i>extending</i>.
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The <i>Third Thumb</i> functions via sensors on the shoe of the wearer to control the movement of the 3d printed sixth finger, or third thumb.
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<a href="https://daniatrca.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/my-coffee-table-currently/" title="COFFEE TABLE Dani Clode"><img src="https://daniatrca.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/img_2355.jpg" width="580" height="380" alt="COFFEE TABLE Dani Clode"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://daniatrca.wordpress.com">DANI AT RCA</a> by Dani Clode. / MY COFFEE TABLE CURRENTLY, November 21, 2016.</small></small>
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<a href="https://daniatrca.wordpress.com/2016/11/21/my-coffee-table-currently/" title="WORK-IN-PROGRESS Dani Clode"><img src="https://daniatrca.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/img_2718.jpg?w=620" width="580" height="380" alt="WORK-IN-PROGRESS Dani Clode"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="https://daniatrca.wordpress.com">DANI AT RCA</a> by Dani Clode. / WORK-IN-PROGRESS, January 20, 2017.</small></small>
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It references a growing body of work that is exploring the human body such as for example <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2013/08/12/instrumented-bodies-by-joseph-malloch-and-ian-hattwick/">Instrumented Bodies by Joseph Malloch and Ian Hattwick</a> with <i><a href="http://idmil.org/projects/gestes">Les Gestes</a></i>
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Objects and extensions in this dialogue are not reduced to mere fashion accessories but placed in a discourse that ranges from cyborgs to self-image. Couldn't be more suitable for our times.
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<small><small>Video taken from <a href="https://vimeo.com/220291411">Vimeo</a> by Dani Clode. / Promotion clip for imaginary KickStarter campaing.</small></small>
<br><br><br><small><small>edited, 2017-10-25</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-41675826787837444802017-05-25T15:18:00.000+01:002017-10-25T17:28:35.171+01:00Printing useful stuff3D printing is growing up. The technology is morphing from an idea into a useful tool. Many universities and aspiring companies are developing amazing spinoffs that can produce meaningful stuff.
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The Design Computation Lab at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL has printed this cool chair using a robot arm to extrude the material.
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<a href="https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/0748df9dd64256d275195697ef5bd07e/a1ccf036275ea9a9fcbd94b7_rw_1920.jpg" title="Robotically 3d Printed Plastic Chair"><img src="https://pro2-bar-s3-cdn-cf6.myportfolio.com/0748df9dd64256d275195697ef5bd07e/a1ccf036275ea9a9fcbd94b7_rw_1920.jpg" width="580" height="780" alt="VOXELCHAIR V1.0"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.designcomputationlab.org/voxelchair-v10">Design Computation Lab UCL</a> / VOXELCHAIR V1.0 Robotically 3d Printed Plastic Chair.</small></small>
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<iframe width="560" height="320" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Pxi1mWmbc0?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Voxel chair v1.0 designed by: Manuel Jimenez Garcia and Gilles Retsin <br>
Fabrication Support: Nagami.Design and Vicente Soler <br>
Team: Manuel Jimenez Garcia, Miguel Angel Jimenez Garcia, Ignacio Viguera Ochoa, Gilles Retsin, Vicente Soler
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<br><br><br><small><small>edited, 2017-10-25</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-19932095342174514382017-04-05T14:01:00.000+01:002017-10-25T17:31:50.652+01:00Shifting Concrete - Architecture in Motion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There is motion in architecture. Not at first glance, but if one starts looking it appears in most aspects, being this the movement of people, goods or materials to building parts such as doors, windows or blinds. Even by design buildings can move. See for example designs by Frank Gerry, Himmelb(l)au or the late Zaha Hadid.<br><br>
However, noting makes architecture move more than light. It continually transforms and changes the shape and appearance of buildings.
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<small><small>Shifting Concrete — Video Mapping. Video by <a href="http://www.wecip.com/en/">WECOMEINPEACE</a> on Vimeo.</small></small>
<br><br><br><small><small>edited, 2017-10-25</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-55758843537228964502016-05-16T11:54:00.001+01:002016-05-16T12:04:42.887+01:00Cities are Many Things - Urban in Motion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Cities can be many things to its citizens. Urban as an acronym for constant change and transformation, a world to shape up dreams and visions. The artefact city as a construction and collage of layered times, hopes and desires is open to interpretation. Here on <b>UT</b> this has been a topic from the beginning and will continue to be.<br /><br />
How to read the city and how to visualise the many possible interpretation of data, charts and reports is part of the ongoing discussion shaping the <i>building culture</i> of the present. From <i>smart cities</i> to <i>participation</i>, <i>technology</i> has been branded pervasive, particularly in relation to cities and hopes have been pinned to the rise of <i>data visualisation</i>. There has not been a definite result, certainly a business case is pitched, but more importantly a very specific practice has emerged. A practice that is not only lauded by city officials and leading researchers, but has become part of the individual everyday. In the sense of a very early post: <i><a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/book-you-are-city.html">You are the city</a></i>
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An impression or interpretation thereof by the artist Saana Inari in a video installation made for Kiveaf about Belgrade back in 2013. Described as an <i>Audiovisual installation is a study about the city of Belgrade, describing different sides of it, architecture, communication, traffic, humans…</i>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="326" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/67547272?color=ffffff&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="580"></iframe>
<small><small>Stop Motion Beograd. Video by <a href="http://saana-inari.net/stop-motion-beograd-2013/">Saana Inari</a> on Vimeo.</small></small>
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Two to three channel vertical HD video, total duration 9 minutes. Stereo audio for the space, duration 10:30 min.
<br />Director / Camera / Animation / Sound: Saana Inari, made for: Kiveaf, funding: Oskar Öflunds Stiftelse</div>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-64008454823120137992014-06-16T22:57:00.001+01:002014-06-16T22:57:29.075+01:00Book - Building as OrnamentThe ornament is returning slowly to the architectural discourse. It has not really been absent though merely denied, but it is returning as a more prominent topic now.
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A key text is Adolf Loos' <i>Ornament and crime</i> (Ornament und Verbrechen) (1908) that was widely interpreted as at the easement of ornament in architecture. More recent interpretations (for example Gleiter, 2012) however is more differentiated. Already the title in which Loos uses <i>and</i> hints at this. Nevertheless ornament was denied a role in modernist architecture and is still a minefield for architects today.
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<a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-05-13-2014/" title="BE the buildings"><img src="http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-designboom-06.jpg" width="580" height="280" alt="BE the buildings"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-05-13-2014/">designboom</a> / A proposed project spelling out the letters 'BE' for buildings in Brussels by JDS in 2007.</small></small>
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The way for the reintroduction of ornament has been paved by technology interestingly enough. In the late 80ies and especially the 90ies CAD tools have presented the tools to begin to design with patterns including options to manipulate the pattern based on conditions. This has also the been linked to production and printed glass or pierce metals facades or even brickwork layer by robots (<a href="http://bearth-deplazes.ch/en/projekte/weingut-gantenbein-flaesch/">Bearth & Deplazes</a> with <a href="http://www.dfab.arch.ethz.ch/web/d/forschung/52.html">Gramazio & Kohler</a>, 2006).
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This has been accompanied by theoretical writings, exhibitions and journals. For examples the exhibition at the <a href="http://www.sam-basel.org/en/shop/re-sampling-ornament">SAM</a> <i><a href="http://www.nextroom.at/event.php?id=10861&lang_id=de">Re-Sampling Ornament</a></i> in 2008. The architecture journals <i>ARCH+</i> (1995/2002), <i>l'architecture d'aujourd'hui</i> (2001) or <i>AD primers, Ornament: the politics of architecture and subjectivity</i> (2013) for example have published on ornament during this early phase. Authors who have contributed to the now re-emerging discussion on ornament include Jörg H. Gleiter (<i>(orig. German, 2002. Die Rückkehr des Verdrängten)</i>), Michael Dürfeld (<i>The Ornament and the Architectural Form (orig. in German, 2008. Das Ornamentale und die architektonische Form)</i>) or Farshid Moussavi (<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/FUNCTION-OF-FORM-Farshid-Moussavi/dp/8496954730">The Function of Form</a></i>, 2008).
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The new possibilities in design and production using new technologies have allowed to re-imagine the relationship between design, production and product. Whereas at the time Loos wrote <i>Architecture and Crime</i> the industrialisation introduced the production of exact replicas into the thousands of one single product, the new technologies based around computers allow for a trance dent workflow and individually adapted and styled objects whilst still machine and mass produced. Hence the conditions have fundamentally changed.
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What can be observed is, though very slow moving, a shift from an understanding of ornament as decoration to an interpretation of ornament as process in the sense of structure and narrative.
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A special take on this is presented by Michiel van Raaij in his new publication <i>Building as Ornament</i>. Whilst van Raaij focuses on iconographic architecture he proposes building as ornament as a term to frame part of this discussion in a new way implying links to a theoretical discussion with references to a long tradition.
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<a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/07/17/week-26/" title="Fire station 4"><img src="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/2011-07-15-11-35-28-IMG_1018-1024x682.jpg" width="580" height="380" alt="Fire station 4"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/07/17/week-26/">52weeks</a> / The Fire Station 4 in Columbus by Venturi Scott Brown and Associates in 1968.</small></small>
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Van Raaij's idea is to try and focus on the story the architect tries to tell through an iconic building. He argues that "Iconography is the use of images from outside architecture in architecture" and that the focus of the book is on "iconography that explains the function, social status, organisation, load-bearing structure and/or context of the building". He makes the link to ornament using the narrative in the sense of explaining something.
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The book brings together over 100 examples to illustrate this notion. This ranges from the <i>Yokohama International Port Perminal</i> by FOA, 2004, to the <i>Bird's Nest Stadium</i> by Herzog de Meuron in 2008 or the <i>People's Building in Shanghai</i> by BIG, 2004.
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Whilst the book does not offer a theoretical framework for the introduced terminology or a broader discussion on the theoretical dimension of such a 'new' aspect of ornament in architecture, it presents a conversation. The publication is on one had a collection of projects that fit the description iconographic architecture and it is on the other hand a collection of interviews in which the author van Raaij discusses iconographic architecture with architects and architectural historians.
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<a href="http://52weeks.rickyberkey.org/2011/07/17/week-26/" title="Signal Box"><img src="http://www.architecture.com/Images/RIBATrust/Awards/RoyalGoldMedal/2007/Central-Signal-Box,-Basel-1_530x774.gif" width="580" height="780" alt="Signal Box"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.architecture.com/RIBA/Awards/Awardshomepage.aspx">architecture.com</a> / The Signal Box in Basel, Switzerland by Herzog de Meuron in 1994.</small></small>
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The interview partners are, in order of appearance: Auke van der Would, Charles Jencks, Denise Scott Brown, Adriaan Geuze, <a href="http://www.neutelings-riedijk.com/index.php?id=40,292,0,0,1,0">Michiel Riedijk</a>, Alejandro Zaero-Polo, <a href="http://www.unstudio.com/">Ben van Berkel</a>, <a href="http://www.stevenholl.com/">Steven Holl</a>, <a href="http://www.mvrdv.nl/">Winy Maas</a> and <a href="http://www.big.dk/">Bjarke Ingels</a>.
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All of the interview partners of course have a different angle on the topic and in some conversations the focus is more on icons, narratives, construction or material. Some do specifically discuss ornament as in the recently emerging debate, so for examples the interview with Denise Scott Brown where she discusses aspects of the design for Fire Station 4 in Columbus. She emphasises the very same topics of structure and narrative the ornament discussion is moving towards. Other interviews do however not even touch ornament.
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There is loads of material and a very interesting discussion around icons in architecture and iconographic architecture to be found in this book. This is clearly the focus of van Raaij's work and his personal interest. He has been running a blog on iconic buildings for a long time and he knows the projects in this field. The real contribution of this book is definitely to hear the architects, as described by van Raaij as the Generation OMA, to talk about icons and iconographic design processes in architecture. There are some very personal statements in these discussions that shed light on some of the famous icons this current generation of architects have developed. It demonstrates that there is more to the discussion of iconic architecture than it just being a land mark put up by an architect to make a bold statement.
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Through out the book the terms ornament and icon/iconographic architecture are used interchangeably. And it turns out that ornament only plays a small role setting the stage in this <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=848">nai010 publishers</a> book. Even though one could have expected quite some potential in this take on ornaments, not as a complete explanation, but as a special case of ornament on the level of the building. More contextual material would be needed to define a clear standpoint.
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However, the chosen title, it has to be said, is very cleverly chosen. It is catchy, provides a lot of historical context, touches the nerve (both of time and architects still hating ornaments, as they have been told to do in architecture school?) and it is simple enough to be self-explanatory whilst allowing room for imagination. Nevertheless for the reader who is looking for the specific topic on ornament it might mean to be disappointed, but not without discovering an interesting collection of personal discussions on iconic architecture.
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<a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-05-13-2014/" title="Building as ornament cover"><img src="http://www.designboom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-designboom-13.jpg" width="580" height="480" alt="Building as ornament cover"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.designboom.com/architecture/building-as-ornament-iconography-in-contemporary-architecture-michiel-van-raaij-05-13-2014/">designboom</a> / Book cover.
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Van Raaij, M., 2014. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/9462080445">Building as Ornament</a></i>. <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=848">nai010 publishers</a>, Rotterdam.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-46551443497873102652014-05-12T13:17:00.000+01:002014-05-12T13:17:28.843+01:00Book - Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A very special figure in the architectural history of the Netherlands has finally a architectural monograph dedicated to his work in a new international edition: <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/9056628038">Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progres</a></i>.
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It is not just the architect Maaskant himself, but especially also the context he was working in and his home city of Rotterdam that makes this a very interesting and insightful book. Rotterdam was the very logic or 'functional' city with its strong focus on the port and its logistics and with this was the ideal context for the rational and functionalist strategies of Hugh Maaskant.
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The story is beautifully put together and researched in detail by author <a href="http://www.crimsonweb.org">Michelle Provoost</a> who spent almost a decade researching and tracing Maaskant's work finally summarising it in her PhD thesis that was originally published in Dutch as <i>Hugh Maaskant. Architect van de vooruitgang (Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progress)</i>.
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The new international version of the book is also publisher by <a href="http://www.naibooksellers.nl/hugh-maaskant-architect-of-progress.html">nai010 publishers</a>, designed by Simon Davies with Stephanie de Man and also features an essay by photographer Iwan Baan.
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<a href="http://www.baunetz.de/meldungen/Meldungen-Buecher_im_BauNetz_3474309.html" title="Groothandelsgebouw today"><img src="http://images.cdn.baunetz.de/img/1/6/5/6/8/8/1/02_Maaskant_GHG_photo_Iwan_Baan_2013_2985_f.jpg-00fc9b9dbef2525b.jpeg" width="580" height="380" alt="Groothandelsgebouw today"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.baunetz.de/meldungen/Meldungen-Buecher_im_BauNetz_3474309.html">baunetz</a> / One of the court yards of the Groothandelsgebouw (1945-1953) today. Part of the photo essay by Iwan Baan.</small></small>
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Provoost makes it clear that Maarkant was a modern architect and clearly saw himself as a modernist architect. However she ale points out that Maaskant did not share the ideological background with the modernist movement. Provoost claims that in Masaskant's work social criticism is absent and "that he was not a 'critical' architect but a 'consensual one." (p. 13).
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Interestingly, it appears that Maaskant did exclusively focus on construction and realisation. He was not interested in theory and intellectual reflection on his own work. He was a businessman with a keen sense for strategy and opportunities without artistic leanings.
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<a href="http://flickeflu.com/set/72157621182109652" title="Akragon Rotterdam Maaskant"><img src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/205/440096738_69db0d53d1.jpg" width="580" height="580" alt="Akragon"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://flickeflu.com/set/72157621182109652">fotorob on flickrFlu</a> / Akragon (1955-1970) sports tower in Rotterdam by Hugh Maaskant.</small></small>
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Nevertheless his work is still inspiring today. The clarity of his functionalism approach, the rigour of his style and the dedication to detail and design in his works are part of what makes the fascination. And this fascination is bleed, not only for architecture students, architects or architecture historians. The interest group is much larger. Michelle Provoost's original Dutch publication was sold out within the first year. The interest in this period and Maaskant's work in particular is amazing, his work is still captivating today.
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<a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheveningse_pier" title="Scheveningse pier"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Pier_Scheveningen.jpg/1024px-Pier_Scheveningen.jpg" width="580" height="420" alt="Scheveningse pier"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheveningse_pier">Wikipedia, article 'Scheveningse pier'</a> / Scheveningse pier (1954-1961) in Scheveningse by Hugh Maaskant.</small></small>
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As Provoost points out in the preface, her work on Maaskant and the wider subject of urban planning in and around the city of Amsterdam has helped to shape a new approach to and appreciation of the past and lead to a number of MAAskant's buildings being refurbished or reused, saving them from being replaced by a new wave of renewal. This kind of continuity might not be what Maaskant's approach to architecture was in his time, but it is what we have learned from his work and what Provoost beautifully demonstrates in this book. It is not about critique but this lesson is about understanding the work in a wider context, commenting it to draw inspiration for the present.
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<a href="http://www.naibooksellers.nl/hugh-maaskant-architect-of-progress.html?___store=english&___from_store=default" title="Hugh Maaskant. Architect of Progress"><img src="http://www.naibooksellers.nl/media/catalog/product/9/7/9789056628031_hugh_maaskant_architect_of_progress_3d.jpg" width="580" height="680" alt="Hugh Maaskant"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.naibooksellers.nl/hugh-maaskant-architect-of-progress.html?___store=english&___from_store=default">naibooksellers</a> / Book cover.
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Provoost, M., 2013. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/9056628038">Hugh Maaskant - Architect of Progress</a></i> <a href="http://www.naibooksellers.nl/hugh-maaskant-architect-of-progress.html">nai010 publishers</a>, Rotterdam.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-31849301599008545862014-04-29T13:07:00.000+01:002014-04-29T13:07:01.575+01:00Book - Inside Cern Science Lives<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What does science look like? This might evoke black and white images of the cities and sixties showing male scientists in white lab coats bent over a table where some assistant has layed out various tools and models. Materials are steel, chrome, glass and colourful plastic. Shown in the background is probably a black board with some formulas and equations written on.
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But what does science really look like, today? In a new <a href="http://www.lars-mueller-publishers.com/en/menschen-am-cern">Lars Müller Publishers</a> publication Andri Pol shows the reader some inside glimpse of one of the biggest scientific research labs in the world. In <a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3037782757">Inside CERN: European Organization for Nuclear Research</a> he has been documenting work and live in and around <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/about">CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research</a>.
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<a href="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/11700181" title="Inside Cern 'layered equations' p.233"><img src="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/sixcms/media.php/1323/cern_andri_pol_4.jpg" width="580" height="380" alt="Inside Cern 'layered equations' p.233"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/11700181">uncubemagazine</a> / 'layered equations' p.233.</small></small>
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Andri Pol is a Swiss freelance photographer with a specific focus on the everyday. This is also how he portraits the places, labs, offices, scientists and atmospheres at CERN, with great curiosity and respect.
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There are no pretty pictures to be found in this documentation and there are no glorious moments. Its all about the effort, the struggle and the dedication. Flipping though the pages only unveils a great range of colours and oddly chosen angles or frames. The book does not work that way. The photographs are actually rather complex compositions with a lot of depth each with not just one but often a number of aspects.
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Whilst there is a lot of equipment and machines visible there is an emphasis on the people who are involved at CERN in some way. Being this the scientists, indeed sometimes in white overcoats and blue shoe protectors, technical staff or students. People from all over the world come together at CERN working in teams. This is often shown, science is discussion and exchange.
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The documentation portraits also the atmosphere at CERN. Beside the highly technical installations there is very little shiny and new infrastructure. In fact most of the facilities seem to be rather pragmatic and often improvised. It is clear the focus is somewhere else. This place is not about design and style, but about customablilty, flexibility and improvisation. That does not mean that self expression is absence. On the contrary the numerous portraits of individualised desks, doors, books and computers themselves tell a story.
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<a href="http://www.klatmagazine.com/photography/andri-pol-inside-cern-library-005/11046" title="Inside Cern 'calibrate' p.243"><img src="http://www.klatmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Klat_Inside_Cern_Andri_Poli_07.jpg" width="580" height="380" alt="Inside Cern 'calibrate' p.243"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.klatmagazine.com/photography/andri-pol-inside-cern-library-005/11046">klatmagazine</a> / 'calibrate' p.243.</small></small>
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Only on the last few pages the photographs stet to show some of the machinery of the actual <a href="http://home.web.cern.ch/topics/large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider</a> (LHC), photographs that look similar to what is usually circulated in the meadia. By that point the reader is already so deep immersed in the atmosphere at CERN that is seems to be most natural thing to walk past this monster of infrastructure that doesn't even fit on a photograph. In many ways all the other photographs tell a much more telling tale of the LHC than the tons of steel, cable and concrete.
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<a href="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/11700181" title="Inside Cern 'thinking' p.249"><img src="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/sixcms/media.php/1323/cern_andri_pol_9.jpg" width="580" height="380" alt="Inside Cern 'thinking' p.249"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.uncubemagazine.com/blog/11700181">uncubemagazine</a> / 'thinking' p.249.</small></small>
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This being a Lars Müller Publisher publication it does not come as a surprise that this is a very beautifully made book. A lot of care has gone into the design of the book and the selection of the photographs. Even though it is mainly a picture book a real narrative is being told here something that captivates the reader. This book certainly tells a very different story about science today. It is of course documenting science in a unique biotope of research and collaboration creating a special place between Switzerland and France. But what it shows is the fascination and dedication of the individuals working in this field and manages to transport this.
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If this is not quite yet enough. Google has collaborated with cern and it features on Street View. Try this <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/views/view/streetview/cern/cern-large-hadron-collider-tunnel/_lQHQDdFZYYAAAQJODm6bA?gl=us&heading=92&pitch=74&fovy=32">link</a> to go on a virtual walk around CERN and the LHC.
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<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81j6P78yHnL.jpg" title="Inside Cern book cover"><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81j6P78yHnL.jpg" width="580" height="780" alt="Inside Cern book cover"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from amazon.com / Book cover. More details also available on the book website at <a href="http://insidecern.com/about/">insidecern.com</a>.
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Pol, A., 2011. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3037782757">Inside CERN: European Organization for Nuclear Research</a></i>. <a href="http://www.lars-mueller-publishers.com/en/menschen-am-cern">Lars Muller Publishers</a>, Zürich.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-38567378784682839922014-03-16T00:23:00.000+00:002017-11-14T16:09:11.555+00:003D Printing - the Form 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>
Over the past few years printing three dimensional objects has become widely popular with new tools now becoming available at low costs ready to use. Whilst 3D printing has been around since the 1980s only now have consumer gadgets found their way onto the market.
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Most of the models currently available are using the extrusion technology where the material is liquefied and then added layer by layer where it hardens keeping its new shape. Such printers like the RepRap series, the cube or the MakerBot are very popular. The main drawback with this is the limitations in accuracy and roughness of the surface finishing.
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An alternative is the <a href="http://formlabs.com/products/our-printer">Form 1</a> which uses Stereolithography (SL) technology. This process is based on photopolymer that is cured using a laser resulting in very high accuracy and smooth surface finish. It requires, however, a cleaning process to finish off the model after the printing.
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/13167031113/" title="DSC06838 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7266/13167031113_9cb60dc85e_z.jpg" width="580" height="320" alt="DSC06838"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / The Form 1 printer is after plugging in and filling up ready to use. It comes neatly designed and is operated with just this one button.</small></small>
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The Form 1 is produced by <a href="http://formlabs.com">FormLabs</a> which came out of a Kickstarter project. They managed to secure plenty of funding for the proposed product and have stated shipping about a year ago in early 2013. We have no finally managed to get hold of one of these cool machines and be able to play around with it testing various builds and models.
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In short, it works great and is very easy to handle. Basically out of the box, poor some photopolymer in the tray and your good to go. The software to send the 3d object to the printer can be freely downloaded at <a href="https://formlabs.com/tools/preform/">FormLabs</a>. It loads .STL files places them in a virtual cube representing the build volume (125 x 125 x 165mm ) of the printer.
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A good place to start for 3D models is either on <a href="http://www.shapeways.com/">shapeways</a> or for free on <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com">thingiverse</a>. Both are community based platforms to share 3D objects. Users can comment and upload images of their own builds for each of the objects. The discussion often gives hints and instructions if it is a more complicated project.
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Once loaded in the software the object can be rotated resized and moved if other objects need to fit in beside. The software also helps with the support structures. These are important during the building process both for the stability of overhangs, but also to secure the object in place during the process.
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/13166818865/" title="DSC06799 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2295/13166818865_f161944068_z.jpg" width="580" height="320" alt="DSC06799"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / Printed parts hanging down from the build platform of the Form 1.</small></small>
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The Form 1 creates the object upside down. They each hang on the built platform and grow out of the tray with the liquid photopolymer. The laser is located in the bottom of the device beneath the tray with has a transparent bottom. The fancy transparent orange hood of the Form 1 blocks in the laser beam in case it goes off target. It is save to operate the device on your work desk.
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Once all the digital objects are in place and each has their supporting structures the model is sent to the printer. After the data is transferred, the printer can be disconnected. Very handy, you can prepare the model on your laptop, once ready plug in the printer and upload the model. It will start working straight away on the first layer and once the upload has completed the computer can be disconnected, and the printer runs the object independently. Time to prepare the next batch.
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Simple small things will require an hour or two, bigger and more complex objects can take several hours. Time ask depends on settings such as kind and density of support structure and resolution and layer thickness. The Form 1 offers three resolutions 0.1mm, 0.05mm and 0.025mm. While some extruder based Machines will also print at 0.1mm or 100 microns the SL technology will produce a still smoother overall finish. The difference between the three options really is marginal if considered for rapid prototyping.
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/13167185574/" title="DSC06837 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7255/13167185574_4c18ed7aac_z.jpg" width="640" height="360" alt="DSC06837"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / Cleanign tray with the required tools and cleaning containers.</small></small>
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Once the printing is complete, the objects have to be taken off the build platform and washed in 90% alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) to get the uncured resin off. To get the object off the platform, a scraper tool is necessary. This task is still quite fiddly. It often sticks very well, and with other objects on there too there is little room to manoeuvre. Getting the alcohol here in the UK to soak the parts can be tricky. If your lucky the chemist down the road will sell 70% isopropyl alcohol. It too works, takes a little longer soaking times. Online it can be expensive, and Amazon does mainly 99.9%. Boots in the UK will do something similar 90% ethanol mix, surgical spirit. Seems to be working too, but again a bit stronger than recommended.
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Once soaked and washed the parts can be taken out and its time to free them from the support structure. They can easily be broken off or cut with a sharp little tool. FormLab includes all the necessary gadgets including tweezers, scraping tool, pincers and a large pack of rubber gloves to handle the parts during this after the print process, very convenient.
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/13166820745/" title="DSC06805 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/13166820745_29169e9968_z.jpg" width="580" height="320" alt="DSC06805"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / Smooth surfaces and a perfect fit are the characteristics of finished parts using the stereo lithography of the Form 1.</small></small>
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Parts coming out of this process are smooth and detailed. We have been working with clear resin producing some nice semi-transparent objects. FormLabs also offer grey and white resin that can be used depending on the design or further use of the model.
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The accuracy of the finished models is pretty good. Lego pieces, for example, do fit with the original parts, so that figures can be extended or attached to objects. We printed this saddle for Lego figure to ride a HexBug for example. The material is quite sturdy once completely dry. We have printed some bracelets from it. What is much more difficult are movable parts. Individual chain links work well, but large pieces often get stuck at one end. Not sure how this can be improved in the model or has maybe to do with the printer setup.
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The handling of the digital model in .STL format, setting up the print and printing is all straightforward and extremely simple. The cleaning process, however, can be a bit of a struggle and requires some getting used to. It can also get messy especially if you have a build that failed because it might have not correctly attached to the build platform and fallen off. The handling of both the cleaning liquid and the resin have to be done carefully and both, in their liquid form, need to be disposed of as chemicals, your coal chemist might take them. All this makes the process quite a bit more challenging than the extruder alternative. It requires more planning and greater care. Based on this some comparisons between the two processes of SL and extrusion have often rated extrusion more consumer friendly and easier (e.g. <a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/reviews/3d-printer-prizefight-makerbot-replicator-2-vs-formlabs-form-1-14731437">popular mechanics</a>).
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However what you get from SL and the Form 1, in particular, are beautifully detailed and smooth objects with a very high standard finish.
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<a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/13178507713/" title="DSC06861 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2373/13178507713_5f3afabe6d_z.jpg" width="580" height="320" alt="DSC06861"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / Polyhedron sphere printed on the Form 1. Model can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.georgehart.com/rp/rp.html">georgehart.com</a></small></small>
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Beyond the process of printing itself of much interest is the wider process of production including design. This is really where this new technology and the available tools become interesting. The ways the possibilities might change existing chains of production to the point where some goods are manufactured in the end users home. A lot of research is currently being undertaken, e.g. at MIT in collaboration with <a href="http://www.3ders.org/articles/20130917-mit-researchers-creates-the-world-largest-print-with-form-1-3d-printer.html">Hyperform</a>. Of interest will also be strategies to integrate options for prototyping in existing workflows and an increased combination of digital and physical prototyping. So there is a lot of material to explore now that the printing works.
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<small><small>edited, 2017-11-14. Minor edits and updated links</small></small>
fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-35636065455014910222014-01-17T21:49:00.000+00:002014-01-20T12:00:55.559+00:00Book - Deventer a Story About Project Making<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>
Is architecture real? At times the discussion seems to imply that there is a certain degree of disconnectedness between real live and the abstract concepts architecture is thought of. Does it still have anything to do with real live? The large scale landmark projects of star architects work more for the marketing of location than a real sense of place is often claimed. Glossy magazines and picture books often can't help to shake off such impressions. But a story can.
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The story about architecture comes with a lot of context and discussion worked into the narrative. It creates a sense of the current debate whilst not neglecting the plot, the everyday struggle to achieve a sustainable project especially in its social context.
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The book is unusual in two points. It comes as a novel and there are only a hand full of illustrations. It sets out to follow two projects an the leading architect in the city of Deventer in the Netherlands telling the story of muddy fields and yellow large scale machinery in rainy weather, long arguments over the phone, the mine fields of different interests and visions for change. Its about everyday live, architecture as real as it gets. It still conveys a hint of glamor and the ghost of cleverness is present every now and then, so not all is lost.
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<a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/906450749X">Deventer</a> was published in 2013 by <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=750">Nai010 publishers</a> and is the fourth novel by writer and editor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Stadler">Matthew Stadler</a>. Stadler has written a lot about planning every since he lived in the Netherland to research for one of his early novels The Dissolution of Nicholas Dee. Later he wrote for the magazine Wiederhall and later New York Times and New York Times Magazine.
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deventer-stad-2014Q1.jpg" title="Dementer Topografische kaart"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Deventer-stad-2014Q1.jpg" width="580" height="440" alt="Deventer"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Deventer-stad-2014Q1.jpg">Wikipedia.org</a> / Nederlands: Topografische kaart van Deventer (woonplaats).</small></small>
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There is nothing spectacular about the projects portrait in Deventer, in a design or art sense. They are as normal as could get. What is of interest and concern is the possibilities, the ideas and the process that need to be forged by all concerned parties in order to create something fitting for the community, the location and the owners. Stadler reports on what is happening and continues to weave in contextual information after every other sentence. He lets the protagonists talk about details and everyday worries as much as ideas and theories, thus creating a dense atmosphere where struggle and effort create a sense of suspension capturing the reader.
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The book portraits a model of community development and reports on the mechanisms of collaboration, but it is not a guidebook for professionals. It is rather an inspirational tale that has the power to motivate initiatives for their independent struggles to create and strive to change in order to improve their community.
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<small><small>Stadler, M., 2013. <a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/906450749X">Deventer</a>, Rotterdam: <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=750">Nai 010</a>.</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-25224388988164361392013-10-18T11:10:00.000+01:002014-01-17T21:46:41.916+00:00Book - Urban Fabrics Inside Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Two new publications set out to investigate the urban structure from a different angle than the ever same physical structure perspective. Whilst it might not as such mark a general shift in the way cities or urban areas are investigated these two publication both take a very strong position stressing the social aspects, the experiential and the lived city. It is about people, individuals as much as society and culture.
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Both books are part of much larger ongoing research project supported by large national bodies, but operating internationally.
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The first of the two books is <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592318">Suburban Constellations. Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century.</a></i> edited by Roger Keil published by <a href="http://www.jovis.de/index.php?idcatside=4042&lang=2">Jovis</a>. It is in fact some kind of half time summary of the ongoing project (2010-2017) <i><a href="http://www.yorku.ca/city/?page_id=222">Global Suburbanisms: governance, land, and infrastructure in the 21st century</a></i>. Here the group not only reports on findings, but it is also a tool to define the status quo and look ahead at what is to be achieved further down the line. The project is mainly supported by <a href="http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca">Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada</a> but investigates case studies from around the world. One of the very striking themes in this project is to bring case studies of all those areas of urban sprawl from around the globe together and compare/contrast them.
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The second book is <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592253">Handmade urbanism: from community initiatives to participatory models : Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul, Mexico City, Cape Town</a></i> edited by Marco L. Rosa and Ute E and published by <a href="http://www.jovis.de/index.php?idcatside=4065&lang=2">Jovis</a>. Weiland and is a publication that draws on the Urban Age project at home at LSE and famously sponsored by Deutsche Bank. Here the Project is already into its sixth year and a number of books where published in its context. Most prominently the <i>Endless City (2008)</i> and <i>Living in the Endless City (2011)</i> both by Burdett and Sudjic. This new publication specifically focuses on the Urban Age Award which is organised by the Alfred Herrhausen Society as part of the Urban Age Conferences. With a focus on what is happening on the ground it is based on interviews with different stakeholders in each of the projects world cities. Those five cities are Mumbai, Sao Paulo, Mexico City and Cape Town. The editor of this new publication Ute Weiland has for the past five years coordinated said awards and worked closely with the local contributors in all five cities.
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What is special on those two publications is the angel they portrait the urban world and the focus they chose for the respective research projects. The main topic is the rapid urbanisation, the fact that 80% of the world's population will be living in urbanised areas by 2050 that urban means collective and that cities are in constant flux.
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The publisher house Jovis has already a bit of a history with similar publications. There is for example Matthew Gandy's <i><a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/book-urban-constellations.html">Urban Constellations (2011)</a></i> as one of the recent publications in this area. In fact Keil does specifically refer to Gandy in his introduction and the two books even share partly the same title.
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<i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592318">Suburban Constellations. Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century.</a></i> being a work in progress brings together a body of writings much more experimental and investigative in comparison. Whilst this might be interpreted as a lack of focus or clear scope at times, it does surprise the reader with raw concepts and very direct lines thought making for a joyful read. Further more it does not require to be read from cover to cover, rather it can be picket up to read just one of the essays and read others maybe later.
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It is structured along four topics: Foundations, Themes, Essay and Images and Regions. The first topic presents some 'foundational thinking on suburbanisation'. The second topic 'elaborated on those themes with emphasis on redevelopment, risk, boundaries, water, sewage, and transportation. These topics intertwined with the research project's main points of Land, Governance and Infrastructure. Whilst this organisational structure whilst they might make sense from a project point of view it not as easily accessible for the generally interested reader.
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<a href="http://www.bad-news-beat.org/2013neil-on-the-oil-sands-fort-mcmurray-alberta-canada" title="Close up at a distance book cover"><img src="http://www.bad-news-beat.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Fort-McMurray_Alberta_oilsands.jpg" width="580" height="340" alt="book cover"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the <a href="http://www.bad-news-beat.org/2013neil-on-the-oil-sands-fort-mcmurray-alberta-canada">bad-news-beat.org</a> / The waste lands of Fort Mcmurray AB.</small></small>
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The are pieces like "Forth McMurray, the Suburb sat the End of the Highway" by Clair Major describing the context of one of Canada's two purely business driven settlements just north of Edmonton fuelled by the large oil sands. Or on the other hand an Essay by Alan Mabin "Suburbanisms in Africa" where he discusses not just the suburbs as places but mainly suburban as a term and its meaning in a culturally very different context. He for example points out how difficult it is to translate the term suburb or indeed suburbanises to other languages. For example in places such the urbanised areas of South Africa where beside the local/traditional languages plus English, French and Portuguese all compete for the meaning full expression such terminologies become very fluid in deed creating a complex concept of their own undermining all efforts to frame the topics with key terms.
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The project plans a very comprehensive dissemination strategy including conferences and article, but also summer schools. So there will be much more to come from this project and research collective. Preview PDF for this publication is available <a href="http://www.jovis.de/media/pdf/Surban_Constellations.pdf">HERE</a>.
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<a href="http://www.perfact.org/2013/06/featured-book-handmade-urbanism-from.html" title="Handmade Urbanism book spread with sketch illustrations"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Gftj6EpWe7E/UbLgPR0nM9I/AAAAAAAACEs/cj4vMj4R9bc/s1600/Handmade_Urbanism1_Page_39.jpg" width="580" height="340" alt="book spread"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the <a href="http://www.perfact.org/2013/06/featured-book-handmade-urbanism-from.html">perfact.org</a> / Book spread Handmade Urbanism showing sketch illustrations.</small></small>
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<i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592253">Handmade urbanism: from community initiatives to participatory models : Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul, Mexico City, Cape Town</a></i> has its focus on what is happening on the ground in each of the five metropolis regions and is being supported by the worldwide operating initiative Urban Age Award sponsored by Deutsche Bank.
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The premise of the initiative is that empowering the local population and supporting them to organise their own projects will lead to more sustainable and lasting projects and increases the communities resilience. These aspects are investigated through the interviews and discussions each locations is portrayed by. This is frased by Wolfgang Nowak, the initiator of the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award in his interview as: "I am not one of these people, like a Florence Nightingale, who stands and gives out soup to the poor (she has in fact done a whole lot more, for people and science). What we want is to enable the poor no longer to accept soup queues and produce their own soup." (annotation added)
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The book structure is organised along the cities. This main body is introduced by a series of essays creating a context for the project. These are by Wolfgang Nowak, Ute E. Wieland and Richard Sennett. These essays are not extensive in length, but try to be very concise.
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The main part of the book presents a range of information about each location. There are basic statistics and data key figures information, and a short introduction to each of the three shortlisted projects. This is then followed by a series of interviews with local stakeholders. Experts from the jury, the local government as well as the project initiators.
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The book also comes with a cd so you can in addition watch the documentary about the award and hear a bit more about community-driven initiatives. Runtime only 5:30. Also the publisher offers a online preview in PDF for this publication, available <a href="http://www.jovis.de/media/pdf/Handmade_Urbanism.pdf">HERE</a>.
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Both books provide a good overview and outline of these kind of projects. Both projects have a large scope but the struggle between global level of organisation and local level of operation is very apparent. It leaves the reader wondering what exactly do we take from all this? Urban Constellations is the one that makes for a good read with experimental thoughts and Handmade Urbanism is the more descriptive discussion type of publication.
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Graphically the two books have very different approaches. Handmade Urbanism translates the topic literally and all illustrations are hand drawn sketches and symbols. Urban Constellations makes extensive use of photographs documenting places mainly views onto or into suburbs. It however a rather weak part of the book, the illustrations do not live up to the surprises the essays manage to challenge the readers with.
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<a href="http://www.perfact.org/2013/06/featured-book-handmade-urbanism-from.html" title="Handmade Urbanism book cover"><img src="http://www.pps.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/426617_142753415884829_2073404540_n.jpg" width="580" height="340" alt="book cover"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the <a href="http://www.perfact.org/2013/06/featured-book-handmade-urbanism-from.html">Perfact</a> / Handmade Urbanism book cover.
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Keil, R. ed., 2013. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592318">Suburban Constellations. Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century.</a></i>, Berlin: <a href="http://www.jovis.de/index.php?idcatside=4042&lang=2">Jovis Verlag</a>.
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Rosa, M.L. & Weiland, U.E. eds., 2013. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3868592253">Handmade urbanism: from community initiatives to participatory models : Mumbai, São Paulo, Istanbul, Mexico City, Cape Town</a></i>, Berlin: <a href="http://www.jovis.de/index.php?idcatside=4065&lang=2">Jovis Verlag</a>.
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<br /></div>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-6418963624630533552013-09-25T18:53:00.001+01:002013-09-26T22:04:31.361+01:00The End of the Virtual? - Touch ID on the New iPhone 5s for the Real Online SelfSince the announcement of the new Apple iPhone 5s and the built in fingerprint scanning technology branded ‘Touch ID’ the discussion around security, data protection and privacy has been relaunched. It is an ongoing topic in the industry, both on the hardware side amongst producers of devices and the software side with developers of applications and services, but specifically for end users and consumers.
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Until now, it was the password, or PIN, that protects and restricts access to the virtual world of data. This has led many of us to come up with creative procedures to create and remember a complicated sequence of letters, numbers and symbols in order to keep personal information secure. It has always been the debate as to how complicated these passwords need to be and how user-friendly this practice is, and often 'better' and ‘easier’ solutions for users were wished for.
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Now Apple has implemented such a solution with their latest top of the range device. The iPhone 5s features a fingerprint scanner in the 'Home' button to uniquely identify a user (up to five different prints can be set up) and grant access. The ‘fingerprint identity sensor’ also allows users to shop on the iTunes Store, Apps Store and iBooks Store where the Touch ID approves purchases.
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The new feature is branded by Apple as ‘convenient, highly secure and ahead of the future’. However, the technology and its implementation in mobile devices is nothing new. Motorola’s Atrix smartphone was introduced back in 2011, but also laptop manufacturers have trialled and implemented fingerprint scanner technology in the past decade [REF]. <a href="http://www.t3.com/news/htc-one-max-looking-to-take-on-iphone-5s-with-fingerprint-scanner">Other manufacturers</a>, namely HTC, are gearing up to release gadgets with similar technology and features.
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Although the technology is not new, it is the fact that it is being introduced on such a large scale that makes it a ‘hot topic’. According to <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/how-many-mobile-users-does-facebook-have/">TechCrunch</a>, Apple has currently (2013) an estimated user base of 147 million iPhone users, plus about 48 million iPad users. Of the new iPhones (iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c), <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2013/09/23First-Weekend-iPhone-Sales-Top-Nine-Million-Sets-New-Record.html">Apple sold</a> 9 millions in just three days after their launch on the 20iest of September 2013. This is a new record, as previous implementations settled on a much smaller scale. This means that the iPhone 5s is already used by a large number of people. It could therefore be classified as ‘mainstream’ and ‘cultural commodity’. The introduction of this technology can therefore be expected to be used by a much larger customer base as any other similar implementation of biometrics so far.
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In this context, the introduction of a unique and personal identifier, the fingerprint, is a smart move. Smart, because everybody knows and understands the idea of the fingerprint. It is in use as signature and plays an important role in crime investigation and law enforcement for over a century. Through its use in detective stories and crime thrillers it has also found its way into everyday culture. It is this very idea of the fingerprint as a unique identifier - ‘’your iPhone reads your fingerprint and knows who you are’’ - that Apple has turned into a selling point to the <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/features/">products advantage</a>.
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<a href="http://www.fingerprintingscottsdale.com/resources/Finger%20Print%20ID%20USDOJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://www.fingerprintingscottsdale.com/resources/Finger%20Print%20ID%20USDOJ.jpg" /></a>
<br /><small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.fingerprintingscottsdale.com/az-fingerprint/fingerprinting-in-scottsdale">fingerprintingscottsdale</a> / Fingerprint identification plate.</small></small>
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It can be speculated that with the introduction of Touch ID, similarly to the introduction of the touch screen, Apple changes, once again, the way we access electronic devices and use the Internet. Whether this is intentional and whether the use of the fingerprint has played an main role in the development of the newest iPhone generation can only be speculated. A range of problematic aspects in connection to the use of this technology in electronic devices shall be discussed in the following. The points raised function only as an introduction since the topic is vast and might have implications that are yet to be discovered. We debate if the technology used in the iPhone 5s might even be the ‘End of the Virtual?’.
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..Security concerns
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Official concerns regarding the introduction of the Touch ID were raised amongst others by US Senator Al Franken (Chairman Senate Judiciary Subcommittee) in an open letter to Apple's CEO Tim Cook (<a href="http://www.franken.senate.gov/files/documents/130919AppleTouchID.pdf">PDF</a>, <a href="http://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=2562">WEB</a>). The letter states "…while Apple’s new fingerprint reader, Touch ID, may improve certain aspects of mobile security, it also raises substantial privacy questions for Apple and for everyone who may use your products". Al Franken supports his concerns by saying that "Passwords are secret and dynamic; fingerprints are public and permanent". This means, once someone has access to someone else's fingerprint, this access cannot be reversed and the security token can not be changed. ‘’...if hackers get hold of your thumbprint, they could use it to identify and impersonate you for the rest of your life’’.
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<a href="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA5LzEwLzUzL0ZpbmdlcnByaW50LjVkNTliLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/4df8df83/2be/Fingerprint2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://rack.0.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzA5LzEwLzUzL0ZpbmdlcnByaW50LjVkNTliLmpwZwpwCXRodW1iCTEyMDB4OTYwMD4/4df8df83/2be/Fingerprint2.jpg" /></a>
<br /><small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://mashable.com/2013/09/10/apple-2/">maskable</a> / The Touch ID explained during the introduction of the new iPone 5s at conference key note.</small></small>
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In this context, Al Franken also questions the filing and transferring of the fingerprint data. He demands to know if the fingerprint data stored on the phone is also being transmitted electronically to either Apple or others, and if this data is being saved on computers used to back up the device (referring to the earlier iOS version that stored unencrypted location information recorded by the device in backup files on computers). He wonders further how iTunes, iBooks and AppStore and potential future services interact with Touch ID.
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These practical concerns are connected to the only recently refreshed high level discussion on data privacy with information on mass surveillance programs leaked by Edward Snowden, an American computer specialist and former CIA and NSA employee, to the Guardian in May 2013 [REF <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data>] regarding the secret PRISM program. Similar discussions have been on the table in recent years specifically related to social media and the challenged public/private practices in an online context (<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2011.616519#.UkGh_xZie2w">Neuhaus und Webmoor, 2012</a>, earlier blog post on <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.ch/2010/09/privacy-aspects-of-ecology-of-ownership.html">urbanTick, 2011</a>).
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It seems that Senator Franken’s concerns are not ungrounded. ‘Apple's fingerprint scan technology has been hacked' was announced by the <a href="http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2013/ccc-breaks-apple-touchid">Computer Chaos Club, CCC</a>, only two days after the iPhone 5s had gone on sale. The claim was backed up with a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8b8d8kSNQ">video</a> demonstrating that ‘fingerbiometrics is unsuitable as access control method’. This 'hack', however, focused on the physical reproduction of a fingerprint and did not bypass the new Touch ID technology. Despite this, the attack by CCC proves how easily the new security system can be tricked and everyone with a camera, scanner, printer and a good stock of graphite powder, glycerene, and wood-glue/super-glue/theatrical-glue can repeat the <a href="http://dasalte.ccc.de/biometrie/fingerabdruck_kopieren?language=en">procedure</a>.
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<iframe width="580" height="435" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HM8b8d8kSNQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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The ‘iPhone touch defeat’ also proves that users’ fingerprints are not secret, meaning that anything touched by users will have fingerprints on it, including the new phone. Senator Franken has referred to this with the ‘fingerprint being public’. And here is the real flaw of the technology. If someone gets hold of the device, he or she has basically access to ‘the lock and the key’, as the phone will be covered with fingerprints that can be reproduced to unlock the security system. Even though the chances of guessing the correct fingerprint is 1:50'000 compared to 1:10'000 with a normal 4 digit numeric key (except 1234, source <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5949?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US">Apple</a>), now that the 'key' is on the phone in the form of 'touches' this number is meaningless, or at least reduced to 1:10.
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Another question raised by the introduction of Touch ID is the digital reproduction of the fingerprint. <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5949?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US">Apple has explained</a> that the information is not stored as a digital image. Instead it is being translated by the device into a sequence of numbers (a mathematical representation of the fingerprint derived by an specific algorithm). This implies that the print can only, if at all, re-engineered with physical access to the device. This is being discussed extensively on tech blogs, for example on The Unoffical Apple Weblog (source <a href="http://www.tuaw.com/2013/09/22/iphone-5s-fingerprint-sensor-gets-completely-misunderstood/">TUAW</a>). In reference to these statements, it seems only a question of time until the A7 chip inside the phone is cracked.
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However, the main argument <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/features/">highlighted by Apple</a> is not security, but convenience. ‘’You check your iPhone dozens and dozens of times a day. Entering a passcode each time just slows you down’’. It seems as if it is annoying for customers to input four digits, or on Android models a swipe pattern. In this context, the fingerprint scanner is put forward as the user-friendly solution. With just one touch the phone is activated, unlocked and ready to use. However, when considering the security concerns discussed above, it is questionable if winning a few seconds to start up the phone is important and desirable.
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..Security versus convenience
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<a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57603298-37/iphone-fingerprint-scanner-sparks-privacy-worries/">CNet</a> askes on its website: “Should we trade our biometric data and privacy for the sake of convenience?”. The answer to this question seems straightforward: Biometrics, or biometric authentication, can be useful, but it should not be used in mobile devices as the technology is not yet error-prone and these devices can easily be lost or stolen. This seems the common agreement amongst security experts (for example in <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/netzpolitik/datenschuetzer-warnt-vor-fingerscanner-im-iphone-a-922288.html">Der Spiegel</a>). In addition, as <a href="https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-9808.html#biometrics">Schneier, then President of Counterpane Systems</a>, argued in 1998, ‘’biometrics are unique identifiers, but not secrets’’. This means, they are easy to steal and reproduce. ‘’Once someone steals your biometric, it remains stolen for life; there is no getting back to a secure situation’’. So the big question a lot of people should be asking themselves is not how quick they can access their data, but what they are giving away when using Touch ID.
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In this context, it seems important to repeat that Touch ID does not actually store an image of the fingerprint, and the data is not available to any other application other than Apple apps nor stored at Apple’s servers or backed up via iCloud. For now, at least. There is no guarantee that this will be the same in the future, especially as the prospect of a vast biometric database is the dream of any national security agency, marketing company and hacker community. This means third parties will pay a lot of attention to these developments and probably exert some force to get access to some of this data. It would therefore be important to know ‘how does Apple see the actual fingerprint data and how are they going to handle it, now and in the future?’.
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Whilst there are regulations as to when third parties can be forced to hand over data in connection to crime investigation, it is a complicated matter with Touch ID as the technology enables new ways of ‘tracking’ people. For example, a user logging in with Touch ID does not only confirm his or her location, but also his or her identity. This means the iPhone 5s could act as a means of evidence - ‘I was here’. So far, Apple has stated that they do not share any information with others - although the technology can be used to verify purchases. The question is therefore, as Senator Franken asks: ‘’Does Apple believe that users have a reasonable expectation of privacy in fingerprint data they provide to touch ID?’’.
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There might also be some legal implications for the user of the Touch ID technology. It has been pointed out, for example by <a href="http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/09/the-unexpected-result-of-fingerprint-authentication-that-you-cant-take-the-fifth/">Marcia Hofmann of Wired</a>, that the shift from PIN as an ‘known’ key to a fingerprint as a ‘what we are’ key might strip users of the right to the <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fifth_amendment">in the US called 5th</a>. This Amendment protects the individual from giving evidence against him/her self. At the moment, this only applies to things one knows, knowledge, thoughts, so on and not to things one has, keys, written notes (if you write down the password on a piece of paper) or is, biometrics. Hence, on trial a person can not be forced to provide the password to a device or to decrypt information since the password is something he/she knows. A key, however, would be something the person has and this object, according to current law, can be requested. The fingerprint belongs to the person, it is part of the human body, a thing, and hence it belongs do the category of information that can not be withhold. This means access to devices or data via fingerprint scan can be enforced. This fact, in connection to Touch ID, might mean that consumers need to give up on one of their basic (human) rights, the right to withdraw information.
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..Personal data and biometrics becomes mainstream
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A further concern connected to Touch ID is that biometrics are becoming mainstream. Currently, the use of biometrical authentication in the public sphere is limited. Its main use is in passport and immigration control, where retina and fingerprint recognition, actual or as part of a passport, is used to identify ‘travellers’ and reduce queues at border control. Here, the data is usually linked up with secondary information or other means of verification. For example, users of a retina scan machine need also to provide their passport for optical scanning. This means, the replication of a retina scan alone does not provide access to ‘free travel’.
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However, the implications of ‘normalising’ biometrics and using biometrics in everyday applications are not only connected to the risk of individuals being permanently tracked and surveilled, but also to the risk of biometrics becoming unsafe. As <a href="https://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-9808.html#biometrics">Schneier argued</a>, ‘’Just as you should never use the same password on two different systems, the same encryption key should not be used for two different applications’’. This means, it is not a good idea to use your thumbprint to access your mobile phone, open your front door and unlock your file cabinet at work, as data theft would automatically lead to a catastrophe.
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It could therefore be said that biometrics are not safer than other security means. With <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5949?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US">Apple suggesting</a> to customers that ‘’Your fingerprint is one of the best passcodes in the world’’ seems therefore misleading. The question really is how much consumers are willing to trade their personal information and data for the ultimate and smooth technology experience.
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In addition, in today's context the distribution of personal information is no longer directly manageable by the individual, as user information is being left behind with every move online and regular real world services. Shopping online, borrowing books at the local library, and visiting the GP, all activities leave a ‘digital footprint’. It has become complicated to the point where it is impossible for the user to understand and control what information is left behind when using a mobile device, especially when using online and server connected apps and services. These apps are often pre-installed on the device and updated automatically. Also, the companies behind those apps are often unknown and it is unclear what kind of information they collect, store and and how this information is used or shared with third parties.
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In this context, the introduction of a truly unique identifier, the fingerprint, will not only add to the information left by users, but also add to the possibility of users being personally identified across the entire range of services. This in turn changes not only the discussion around online security but also online identity. Until now, users could ‘create’ their online identity by using a pseudonym and an avatar (an icon-sized graphic image). This 'chosen' identity could then be adjusted or changed, any time. In the beginning of the Internet, individuals would often create and use a whole range of online identities. This has changed. Nowadays users prefer online interactions supported by ‘authentic identity’ as reported by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/apr/19/online-identity-authenticity-anonymity">the Guardian</a>. This means they want to know with whom they communicate.
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This practice has been taken to a new level by Google with the Google ID, an unique ID tied to an individual/account which was introduced in connection to <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.ch/2011/07/google-social-networking-built-for.html">Google+ in 2011</a>. Facebook uses a similar user identification. Both sites, Google and Facebook, make it difficult for users to create and use multiple accounts, and it can be assumed that through this the number of IDs per individual has been dramatically reduced. This of course makes it also a lot simpler for Google and Facebook, and their respective partners, to target marketing and individual advertisement. Despite this, users often create and use different accounts for their private and professional networking. With the new Touch ID, this will no longer be possible. They will have only one account.
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How individuals are uniquely identifiable online through the use and manipulation of devices is being researched widely. Besides the PIN and the here discussed biometric identification, alternative methods to provide security, in particular in connection with mobile devices, is being developed under the umbrella term of “Implicit Authentication” (via <a href="http://qz.com/125382/researchers-are-working-on-systems-for-securing-smartphones-that-make-apples-fingerprint-scanner-irrelevant/">Quarz</a>). In this case, the security is based on an ongoing security check as opposed to the one-off security check at the start of a session, for example by unlocking the phone. The idea, for example focused on by researchers <a href="https://www.usenix.org/legacy/event/hotsec09/tech/full_papers/jakobsson.pdf">at the Palo Alto Research Centre</a>, is that the individual user displays very specific, habitual characteristics in behaviour and usage or even movement pattern that can be used to continuously monitor the usage. This will allow to determine sudden change in which case the device will immediately shut down and deny access. Such parameters being researched include <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-18178-8_9">location and movement patterns</a>, the way we walk, speed and <a href="http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2208544">style of data input on the device</a>, activity pattern and timing, or the subtle way <a href="http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/86/08/98/PDF/article-ICAMB13-corrected-2.pdf">the user's hand shakes</a>.
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These methods seem, as the research shows, to deliver reliable results. At the same time, however, this extends on the privacy discussion, as data is collected on users' bio-sensorial functions. The technology also puts pressure on individual to profile themselves. The security of such a dataset is a very different issue again, including and extending into the field of personal health and medical information. Nevertheless it represents a big move towards the identification of 'unique' individuals and verifying much more than the Touch ID in itself does.
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..The end of the virtual?
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The introduction of Touch ID or alternative biometric/behavioural authentication methods will prevent users from creating different online identities, as the fingerprint is ‘THE ID’. This means it is really you, who bought that song on iTunes, uploaded that image on Flickr and accidentally deleted that file on Prezi. And it is the very same person who called the client on Skype and tweeted about Beyonce’s concert on Twitter. It is also the same individual who banks with HSBC, shops with Sainsbury's and hangs out at the Barbican. The point is that ‘being online’ becomes very much like ‘being offline’. Events, happenings and activities become uniquely and reliable tied to users, the individual becomes authentic and unique. Is this the end of virtual?
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When looking at the introduction of Touch ID it seems so. It really is the case of as <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/features/">Apple put it</a> ‘’your iPhone reads your fingerprint and knows who you are’’. Subsequently any activity becomes real and unique, and also identifiable as such by online friends and fellow users as well as service providers and traders. However, as suggested by Apple, this does not only make your life easier, but also that of marketing and consumer related businesses. At the same time, it too makes the individual responsible for his or her online activities not dissimilar to the responsibility one enjoys in person as an individual in the real world. It will no longer be possible for users to hide behind one or multiple pseudonyms or avatars. This will certainly transform practice, as both, providers and users, will have to accommodate this ‘new authentic self’ and a completely new reality of online practice.
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In many ways, this discussion is related to the ‘Internet of Things’ concept which has enjoyed raising attention over the past five years. Whilst the Internet of Things is about ‘real’ objects being connected to the web, to each other and to 'users', Touch ID is about ‘real’ humans. An interesting aspect raised by the <a href="http://www.talesofthings.com">Tales of Things project</a> at CASA UCL was the fact that the ‘real’ object was required to access information. This means, access to content is based on 'real world interaction'. With Touch ID, it is very similar. It requires me, the user, to unlock information (at least once, until may fingerprint has been ‘hacked’) and interact, both online and offline. This ultimately connects the online world to reality.
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This means, with and through Touch ID the online experience becomes real in the sense that it confirms that the person logging in at this moment, at this location really is the specific individual and not someone else or a bot. At a first glance, this seems great. From a security and privacy point of view, however, this raises a whole bunch of new questions and concerns that need to be addressed to enjoy this 'brave new online world' with yet new possibilities for both users and services. For example, national agencies and businesses might be extremely interested in this kind of data as it is the ultimate proof of someone's activities at a given time and location. Hence, this information on habitual activities individually verified seems much more desirable for ‘outsiders’ than the actual fingerprint. Touch ID reveals what, when and where a user has been, all confirmed by his or her own fingerprint whilst unlocking or just using the device - meaning the virtual has become its realest so far with consequences and possibilities we can only begin to speculate on.
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<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/DC5IPVLuiQN78meXoqCkG-32FBCVZWyje-61vz8TNb*Ay8ywYC-gwBiaimumYBAK*gu1b4viSSSJeMg2-HJXoBufK1UzRGyK/RobbieCooperAvatars10.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://api.ning.com/files/DC5IPVLuiQN78meXoqCkG-32FBCVZWyje-61vz8TNb*Ay8ywYC-gwBiaimumYBAK*gu1b4viSSSJeMg2-HJXoBufK1UzRGyK/RobbieCooperAvatars10.jpg" /></a>
<br /><small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/avatars-and-their-creators-17">mymodernmet</a> / Real life person and their avatars by Robbie Cooper.</small></small>
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..Summary
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Since the launch of the new iPhone 5s by Apple, the discussion revolving around online security and privacy has been re-activated. Experts agree that with the introduction of Touch ID the use of biometrical data as a security measure in mobile devices needs to be regulated, especially in terms of storage, handling and exchange of the biometric data processed. However, when looking closer at the implications of the finger-scan-technology developed and introduced by Apple, it becomes clear that the technology not only influences the usage of our personal data, the law and rights users have, but also the way we are present online. Especially since the fingerprint, or any other to be implemented biometric or personal pattern based verification, is ‘THE ID’. With biometrical authentication, there is no way of hiding behind a pseudonym or an avatar. It is really you, the user, who activates and uses the device (at least once, before the device is ‘hacked’). This means, the new iPhone 5s links the virtual world with reality and brings them as close as they have not been before, almost merging them in practice and consequence. The online self becomes authentic. As speculated in the article, this could be the end of the virtual and the beginning of a new web and online experience where we meet real people, make real conversations, buy real goods, but also carry real responsibility.
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<a href="http://api.ning.com/files/NJLNkLeFeMvSdongfjCx1j6kJyOKxx9x8wbOtsq4u1KOgNO-wFtPt3U7fjrpoCBoFnzmyntr1oS0cbk0y0BkQ-ZZU-Wq9hz3/RobbieCooperAvatars2.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://api.ning.com/files/NJLNkLeFeMvSdongfjCx1j6kJyOKxx9x8wbOtsq4u1KOgNO-wFtPt3U7fjrpoCBoFnzmyntr1oS0cbk0y0BkQ-ZZU-Wq9hz3/RobbieCooperAvatars2.jpg" /></a>
<br /><small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/avatars-and-their-creators-17">mymodernmet</a> / Real life person and their avatars by Robbie Cooper.
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Article written by Sandra Abegglen and Fabian Neuhaus
Simultaneously published on <a href="http://www.everydayclick.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-end-of-virtual-touch-id-on-new.html">Everyday Click</a> and <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-end-of-virtual-touch-id-on-new.html">urbanTick</a>.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-9956974110801095352013-08-18T11:45:00.000+01:002013-08-18T11:46:18.946+01:00Book - Close up at a Distance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What do we see, when we see the world? In today's world transcended by digital technology and flooded with representations, models and mashups the question of 'what are we looking at?' becomes more important. The many layers of data and visualisations in many cases start clouding the subject or in some cases appears completely detached from it and develop a dynamic of their own.
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The kind of critiques are nothing new and have been heard through out the past decade. How perception is manipulated with information has been discussed for example in the book <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0226534219">How to lie with Maps</a></i> by H.J. de Blij , 1992. Here de Blij presents examples of representations and how they are used to favour certain aspects. Or also indeed <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0898624932">The Power of Maps</a></i> by Denis Wood, 1992, <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/1568984308">You are Here</a></i> by Katharine Harmon, 2003 or the <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0979137721">Atlas of Radical Cartography</a></i> edited by Alexis Bhagat and Lize Mogel, 2008, to name a few of the recent cartography/mapping books of the recent years.
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In a new Zone Books publication <i>Close up at a Distance: Mapping, Technology, and Politics</i> Laura Kurgan presents her research work and offers a theoretical discussion on the usage and employment of representations. Whilst most of the presented works have been seen around the web in the past few years, the book offers a bunch of new perspectives by bringing the series of works together and wrapping them in a theoretical discussion. Laura Kurgan is Associate Professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning at Columbia University, where she is Director of the Spatial Information Design Lab and Director of Visual Studies.
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Whilst <i>Lying with Maps</i> focused heavily on the map and its technical aspect such as projection, Kurgan goes deeper and explores the fundamental relationship between the visual and a visualisation as much as the technicality of production. The projects presented n the book take the read far beyond the mere representation of physical geography. The author emphasises the power within the techniques of spatial representation and unmasks the promise of truth associated with such representations of abstract knowledge.
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<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_102.html" title="Million Dollar Block"><img src="http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/54427main_MM_image_feature_102_jw4.jpg" width="580" height="400" alt="Million Dollar Block"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_102.html">NASA</a> / This photo of "Earthrise" over the lunar horizon was taken by the Apollo 8 crew in December 1968, showing Earth for the first time as it appears from deep space.
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The introduction to the book summarises this approach in a very nice way. Kurgan presents the series of 'Blue Marble' photographs released by NASA over the past 55 years and discussed the evolution from the initial 'Earth Rise' photograph actually taken by the astronaut on the Apollo 8 mission orbiting the moon to the 2012 version 'Blue Marble: The Next Generation 2012' assembled "from data collected by the Visible/Infrared Image Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NNP satellite in six orbits over eight hours".
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<a href="http://www.spatialinformationdesignlab.org/projects.php?id=16" title="Million Dollar Block"><img src="http://www.spatialinformationdesignlab.org/MEDIA/00015.jpg" width="580" height="480" alt="Million Dollar Block"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.spatialinformationdesignlab.org/projects.php?id=16">spatialinformationdesignlab.org</a> / Million Dollar Block by Laura Kurgan and Spacial Information Design Lab. Map shows Government spending on incarcerate of individuals per block. Bright red represents more than 1 million $ of spending a year.
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The example puts upfront the discussion and the shift from a photograph take from outer space, but still 'as seen by the human eye' through the lens of a camera to the '360-degree composite, made of data collected and assembled over time, wrapped around a wireframe sphere to produce views dynamically selectable and constantly updatable.
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The second part featuring projects developed over the past 20 or so years take the reader from basic and playful but very intellectual GPS experiments to ware zones in Bosnia, Iraq and Kuwait and to inner city migration facts. Its a tour de force with a lot of depth. Definitely a book for anyone interested in the representation of spatial data.
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<a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/close-distance" title="CLose up at a distance book cover"><img src="http://mitpress.mit.edu/covers/9781935408284.jpg" width="580" height="740" alt="book cover"></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/close-distance">MIT Press</a> / Book cover.
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Kurgan, L., 2013. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/1935408283">Close up at a Distance: Mapping, Technology, and Politics</a></i>, New York: <a href="http://www.zonebooks.org/titles/KURG_CLO.html">Zone Books</a>.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-65888538822274295482013-06-29T00:23:00.000+01:002013-06-29T00:23:47.151+01:00Book - Contagious Architecture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Computers have changed the architectural process fundamentally. In most areas the practice has embraced the possibilities of the software tool and has alongside the technology transformed not just the way architecture is produced but foremost the way architecture is thought.
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Whilst CAD offers flexibility and speed, 3D software visualises models and simulation tools are employed to help with strategic design decisions, its the algorithm used in parametric design where the computer code actually becomes part of the process of designing.
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A new <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/contagious-architecture">The MIT Press</a> publication by Luciana Parisi. Parisi is senior lecturer at the centre for cultural studies at Goldsmith, University of London. She publishes a comprehensive and thought provoking discussion of the practice and the thinking of parametric design in the field of architecture. However in this text Parisi does not just simply present the software logic and practice. Instead, as she states right at the beginning:
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"Algorithms do not simply govern the procedural logic of computers: more generally, they have become the objects of a new programming culture. The imperative of information processing has turned culture into a lab of generative forms that are driven by open-ended rules."
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A definition of Algorithms is provided in the notes of the book referring to David Berlinski, " an algorithm is a finite procedure, written in a fixed symbolic vocabulary, governed by precise instructions, moving in discrete steps, 1, 2, 3, whose execution requires no insight, cleverness, intuition, intelligence, or perspicuity, and that sooner or later comes to an end." (Berlinsky, D. (2000). The Advent of the Algorithm: The Ideas that Rule the World. New York: Harcourt.)
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Whilst the book is heavy on theory a few examples are provided. All examples are carefully chosen and do not at all make up a showcase. They illustrate specific points of discussion in the text and at the same time serve are points of reference to push the thinking forward.
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<a href="http://www.archdaily.com/51278/taipei-performing-arts-center-kokkugia/" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="380" width="580" src="http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/1267315705-tp9.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/51278/taipei-performing-arts-center-kokkugia/">archdaily.com</a> / <a href="http://www.kokkugia.com">Kokkugia</a>, Taipei Performing Arts Centre, 2008. Roland Snooks + Robert Stuart-Smith. The <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/12728/oma-wins-competition-for-the-taipei-performing-arts-centre/">competition</a> was won by OMA.</small></small>
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<a href="http://corpora.hu/en/" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="380" width="580" src="http://corpora.hu/en/wp-content/gallery/corporainsighte/arimg.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://corpora.hu/en/">corpora.hu</a> / DoubleNegatives Architecture (dNA) Yamaguchi Centre for the Arts and Media, 2007. Sota Ichikawa.</small></small>
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<a href="http://www.new-territories.com/blog/architecturedeshumeurs/" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="380" width="580" src="http://www.new-territories.com/blog/architecturedeshumeurs/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/diagramFrame.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.new-territories.com/blog/architecturedeshumeurs/">new-territories.com</a> / R(&)Sie(n), Une Architecture des humeurs, 2010-2011.</small></small>
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What is most interesting about the concepts of algorithmic architecture discussed in this book is the fact that from the very beginning time and space are folded into one and remain present aspects of the process at any time. Whilst the use of digital tools in architecture has transformed the practice in many ways, the continuous presence of time and space as one in architectural theory is probably the most fundamental. This transforms the way architecture is thought of from a physical object to a transformative process.
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This is a very specialist book and runs deep on the theory of parametric architecture and algorithm based design. It is however not just for architects and experts who work with algorithms themselves, but is definitely interesting experts from a range of fields including theoretical works. The way Parisi pushed the thinking ahead creates successfully a niche in timespace for parametric design to develop an identity.
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<a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/contagious-architecture" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="840" width="580" src="http://mitpress.mit.edu/covers/9780262018630.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from the MIT Press / Book cover.
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Parisi, L., 2013. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0262018632">Contagious architecture: computation, aesthetics, and space</a></i>, Cambridge MA: <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/contagious-architecture">The MIT Press</a>.
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<br />fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-68647616563568264622013-04-05T08:46:00.000+01:002013-04-05T08:46:07.637+01:00Rotterdam Timelapse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In preparation of a trip to Rotterdam some impressions from the self styled creative city of the Netherlands. A curious place completely rebuilt after being bombed during World War 2 and since developing a dense layering of ever changing approaches to planning and layout.
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It is also the town with the tallest and possibly most high rise buildings in the Netherlands. Numerous residential high-rise buildings are lined up in the very centre, all above 100 meters. Something quite unusual for Europe. On <a href="http://www.dakvanrotterdam.nl">Dak van Rotterdam</a> (the roof of Rotterdam) you can hope between the 360 views of the city from a whole range of the tall structures. one of the interesting tall structures currently under construction is the <a href="http://oma.eu/projects/1997/de-rotterdam">De Rotterdam</a> designed by OMA.
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And of course the main feature of Rotterdam is the international port handling a large percentage of all traffic in and out of Europe. This leads to a lot of traffic on the river Maas.
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<i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/9462080046">Cycle Space: Architecture and Urban Design in the Age of the Bicycle</a></i> by Steven Fleming is a <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=812">nai010 publishers</a> book. It aims to takle the questions surounding the rebewed popularity of cycling in the urban areas of the western world from a architects point of view.
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The book is cleverly organised in chapters mixing examples and theory. The author understands to weave experience and references to creat a dense fabric around the topic of cycling in our cities today.
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In eight chapters the reader is taken on a tour around the world starting in Amsterdam, probably considered the ultimate cycling city, under the aspect of cycling is practical, to New York where cycling is reported as political, back to Copenhagen wher it is all about design, down to Sydney, where Cycling is prestigious, to Singapore for free cycling, to Portland where cycling is cool, to Chicago for green cycling to finally end in Paris the city of teatrical cycling.
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This broad approach aims to creat an universal picture of cycling, locally working out the specifics to feed them into a discusiof cycling on a global level. Whilst it is a big strech the depth of the local examples is actually a large plus of this publication.
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Cycling is a very direct and individual experince of the city and local knowledge is key to finding the suitable route. The author is from down under and knows his place inside out, but makes an efford to get to know all the places featuring in the book. Linking up with locals and drawing on their unique knowledge is key to a successfull portrait in the book. In this sense the reports are presented as well informed, packed with insider tips.
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This on the other hand also renders the accounts very personal making them challenging to generalise in an objective sense urban planning discussions are usually held. However the topic might require the exploring of new territory regarding the synthesising of strategies for the development and implementation of ridable cities.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/8587602254/" title="cycleSpace03 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8506/8587602254_34dc263282_z.jpg" width="580" height="420" alt="cycleSpace03"></a>
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<small><small>Image taken from the book / Sample spread of the book Cycle Space.</small></small>
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Overall it is a well structured book with clear insight both regarding first hand experience reports and theoretical background. The reader is being presented with interesting portraits. Although it is difficult to get into different environments if your not really living it, being a local is not easy, but with great support and advice workable. It provides an insightful discussion of the cycling topics both as actual challenges faced by planning and political authorities, theoretical with references to planing ideas such as modernism, but also current project recently being built for cycling.
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Te author makes a clear case that planning for cycling clearly has to go beyond the integration of bike infrastructure in new and renewing projects in urban areas. However it has to be noted that it is not enough to just reduce it to brown fields. Very few cities in Europe for example have the concrete storm flood water ways the author preferably refers to as ideal sites for cycling.
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Cycling is a networked based activity and as the author of the book remarks on different occasions mainly based on en-route, in-context decision making. Whilst cycling, similar to pedestrians, one craves for the freedom of choice and options. Variety, possibilities and flexibility is what makes cycling exciting and this is too perfectly portrayed by the author already in the introduction. In this context the call of the book for separated and specific, exclusive cycling infrastructure seems not quite fitting.
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The bolder, and possibly cheaper call, would bee for shared infrastructure. After all at the crossroad we all meet and have to negotiate anyway. Why not work towards a slower city with room, acceptance and respects for all road users equally? Probably because it is a learning curve, in most of the portrait cities a steep and tough one, but arguably the sustainable long term goal. It could be argued that isolating one selves as cyclists to exclusively cycling infrastructure is not only something cities like NY, London or HK simply can't possibly achieve in a reasonable and useful timeframe, is way too costly as it means parallel, hence double costing, but will not necessarily evolve towards better understanding of users of the same road space.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/8586500883/" title="cycleSpace02 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8373/8586500883_9a278c5bb7_z.jpg" width="580" height="420" alt="cycleSpace02"></a>
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<small><small>Image taken from the book / Sample spread of the book Cycle Space.</small></small>
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Progress as such can not just be pushed towards the urban planners as their responsibility. It is a mindset that has to be embedded in society as a concept to be backed by acceptance and become everyday practice. Politics and general believes have to grow accustomed to the idea of cycling. In London for example one of the big problems beside a lack of space is the fact that every body else on the street,including pedestrians do not expect or consider cyclists. They are still alien to the idea of other road users might be cycling. This is not something urban planners can change, it needs a collective effort to establish cyclists in all areas as equal road users.
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To sum up the discussion, this is a book not short on personal statements, creating occasional controversies, which makes it a very interesting read. The topic is definitely timely and most of the major cities are currently evaluating their cycle infrastructure. By giving such a broad overview covering different locations the book has something for everyone. It can not be taken as a manual but a valuable contribution to the still itself organising discussion on the state of cycling and the possible reactions to it of the urban environment.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/8587602174/" title="cycleSpace01 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8094/8587602174_77e7cbed2f_c.jpg" width="561" height="800" alt="cycleSpace01"></a>
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<small><small>Image taken from the book / Book front cover.</small></small>
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Fleming, S., 2012. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/9462080046">Cycle Space - Architectural and Urban Design in the Age of the Bicycle</a></i>, <a href="http://www.010.nl/catalogue/book.php?id=812">NAI010 Publishers</a>.
</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-12080820376076436802013-02-25T00:42:00.000+00:002013-02-25T00:42:15.055+00:00Urban Playground<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The city can be boring, repetitive and grinding at times. Its the same old routine every day, a miserable day. But hey there is no need, it can be so different. Just think, it could be this exciting world of your own. A park, an ocean a dolls house. And then the city turns into a an adventure play ground, a huge entertainment park.
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This is just how Fernando Livschitz for <a href="https://vimeo.com/bsfilms">BlackSheepFilms</a> imagined his city. A series of shorts show cities as playgrounds <a href="https://vimeo.com/36874836">Buenos Aires - Inception Park</a>, <a href="https://vimeo.com/48759459">CONO Egypt Amusement Park TVC اعلان كونو الملاهي - كونو متفائلين</a> and <a href="https://vimeo.com/45789225">NEW YORK PARK</a>.
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And remember, the next time you leave the house, think of what the city could be to you.
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fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-76772059000897303482013-02-11T16:32:00.002+00:002013-02-11T16:46:58.635+00:00Manufacturing on Your Desktop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The technology around desktop production of printed 3D objects is evolving rapidly. In the past year a number of systems have surfaced in the cheap segment of printing machines.
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Where it only was the RepRap self built options, melting thermoplastics to layer the objects the year before, resin based systems below $2000 are becoming available.
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<a href="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/6684591/form1_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="426" width="640" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/6684591/form1_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer?ref=live">kickstarter</a> / The new Form 1 about to ship from April, although them lot ar sold out if you order now it will most likely be the May batch.</small></small>
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One of the market leaders in this very young segment is the Brooklyn based company <a href="http://www.makerbot.com/">MakerBot</a>. Currently offering three versions of their <a href="https://store.makerbot.com/">Replicator</a> printer. It work on a really good accuracy level for an attractive price. It brings the object manufacturing to your desk and can make a difference to your workflow if you are a designer.
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Architecture has a big interest in the 3D manufacturing. As experts point out there is a gaping hole between the progress in software capacity and possibilities and the physical manufacturing capacities. This recent progress might start to close this gap for soem of the practices.
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Especially in academia architecture has had an long standing interest in the 3d printing process. Many school have by now established a 3d manufacturing unit undertaking very interesting research towards the integration of processes in the workflow, but more importantly integrating 3d printing as part of the design process. For quick starters Makerbot offers also a platform to share 3d print object files. The <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/">Thingiverse</a> is a great source not just for files to get you started but for discussion and advice, with each object has its own discussion channel and gallery of recreated objects. Usefull if you want to print your very own <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:23095">iPhone case</a>, a <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:43781">filter lense case</a> or working <a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:27233">natilus gears</a>.
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Regarding precision a new 3d printer is about to come on the market developed and produced by <a href="http://formlabs.com/">formlabs</a>. It is the result of one of the early large <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer?ref=live">kickstarter projects</a>. The team spent the past year developing and refining the design and the engineering oft he product and is now ready to ship them out by April this year.
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This will be interesting to follow up and seeing the changes in practice these now available technologies bring to the everyday of designers, architects and engineers. It is great to see finally the shift back from virtual and digital modeling into the physical and real world. And here we have the potential for applications beyond the model oder visualisation objects, but for the production of working parts as actual pieces of our environment or in other words <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/printing-city.html">Printing the City</a> as discussed in an earlier post. fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-14910426132776775282012-09-05T09:08:00.000+01:002012-09-05T09:08:01.536+01:00Virtual Landscape and a Peak for the London 2012 Olympic Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I will be speaking at the <a href="http://www.soc2012.soc.org.uk/">Society of Cartographers 48th Annual Conference</a> today. The talk will focus on the New City Landscape maps under the title <a href="http://www.soc2012.soc.org.uk/programme">New City Landscape Maps: Urban Areas According to Tweet Density</a>.
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The maps are visualising location based tweet activity in urban areas and part of the talk will focus on urban morphology and real world feature to influence the virtual activity. The range of maps produced show that unique conditions exist for different cities from around the world and this is reflected in the Twitter landscape maps.
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Three types have been identified showing similar characteristics. A type with one central core are, a type with several different islands of high activity and a type showing an area or shape of high activity.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7935572434/" title="NCL20_centreEx by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8447/7935572434_5c3174a93c_z.jpg" width="580" height="208" alt="NCL20_centreEx"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7935572176/" title="NCL20_featureEx by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/7935572176_329d1c57a9_z.jpg" width="580" height="208" alt="NCL20_featureEx"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7935572050/" title="NCL20_islandEx by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8182/7935572050_8fa1fdcbcb_z.jpg" width="580" height="209" alt="NCL20_islandEx"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick for NCL / Top row central type, middle row feature type and bottom row island type.</small></small>
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Also we have been monitoring Twitter activity in London during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Whilst this is still ongoing a first preview of the data is showing a surprising shift of activity, a new addition to the landscape of the NCL-London map respectively.
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There has an actual peak appeared over the area of the Olympic park with masses of location based tweets. It is something we have always talked about in presentations of the maps in the past couple of month and here it is, it finally did show up as a major 'landmark' in the virtual map of London.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7935572292/" title="NCL_London2012_sketchZoom by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8310/7935572292_25d62cdfab_z.jpg" width="580" height="401" alt="NCL_London2012_sketchZoom"></a>
<small><small>Image by urbanTick for NCL / Locationbased Twitter activity in London during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Olympic park on the right does show up as a remarkable peak during the early period of the Olympic Games. A final version will be produced in the after the end of the Paralympic Games.</small></small>
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The Olympics are in town and about to kick off tonight in a packed Olympic Stadium out in Stratford. The last week was all about gearing up to for London to this big event. There were a few new changes, including the Olympic lanes for official traffic, but also simple things like chaining the timing of traffic lights for example.
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<a href="http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Giant+Olympic+Rings+Launched+River+Thames+gGMJD0unVgnx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="380" width="580" src="http://www1.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Giant+Olympic+Rings+Launched+River+Thames+gGMJD0unVgnx.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/EJCYExWQypb/Giant+Olympic+Rings+Launched+River+Thames/gGMJD0unVgn">zimbio</a> / The Olympic Rings 2012 being shipped up the Thames past the O2.</small></small>
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<a href="http://db2.stb.s-msn.com/i/FC/B2BC2161C92CF7ABD154B85B3C3D60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="350" width="580" src="http://db2.stb.s-msn.com/i/FC/B2BC2161C92CF7ABD154B85B3C3D60.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/bmw-reveals-official-cars-for-london-2012-olympics">msn.car</a> / The official Olympics 2012 London car.</small></small>
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However so far things are running smoothly if only the weather plays along. But then a bit of the very British weather won't harm the good spirit, it's the Olympics!
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The venues are reported to be all set. The velodrome was one of the first venues to be finished already last year. Now the Olympic Stadium is open, the Aquatics centre plus the little venues. Also the observation tower in the Olympic Park is open to visitors, at extra cot unfortunately.
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<a href="http://www.london2012.com/mm/Photo/photos/General/01/28/76/62/1287662_M01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="580" src="http://www.london2012.com/mm/Photo/photos/General/01/28/76/62/1287662_M01.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.london2012.com/photos/galleryid=1287632/index.html#olympic-park-aerial-1287662">London2012</a> / The Olympic Park as of July 2012. Compare to earlier stages for example in <a href="http://www.urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/olympics">previous posts on urbanTick</a>.</small></small>
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London has prepared through out the city a massive events program to go alongside the Olympic Games. There are cultural events like the Tate is running at the newly opened <a href="http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tanks-tate-modern/eventseries/tanks-art-action">Tanks</a> or of course the official <a href="http://festival.london2012.com/">Olympic Festival</a> with a massive program of arts and culture events through out the Olympics.
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The sponsors have all their own way of being present at the games. Coke has set up a pavilion that is at the same time a musical instrument. The facade is built from sensor equipped cushions and visitors can play tunes by interacting with the facade of the pavilion.
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EDF, also one of the big sponsors is running a special light show on their very own London Eye. Every evening the light on this big London attraction will have a light show on display that is governed by the mood of the nation.
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<a href="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/london-eye-light-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="480" width="580" src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/london-eye-light-2.jpg" /></a><br />
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/london-eye-olympic-lightshow/23402/pictures#3">gizmag</a> / The London Eye with the <i><a href="http://www.edfenergy.com/brand/energy-of-the-nation/">Energy of the Nation</a></i> light show in progress, earlier this week.</small></small>
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The installation is using Twitter data to feel the pulse of the nation through out the day and summarise it in the evening for a show of flashing lights and colours. The data from Twitter is analysed regarding the positive or negative content of the message. The overall count of this rating is then via an algorithm transformed into the pattern of light and colour displayed on the wheel.
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For the <i><a href="http://www.edfenergy.com/brand/energy-of-the-nation/how-it-works.shtml">Energy of the Nation</a></i> project, EDF is work with Mike Thelwall, from the University of Wolverhampton and <a href="http://sosolimited.com/blog/2012/07/from-tweets-to-lightshow/">SOSO design company</a> on this project, to light up the London Eye with a daily custom light show.
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Talking about Twitter data visualisation another one, pretty unrelated to the Olympics has been put together recently by <a href="http://twitter.com/nikibobb">Nikhil Bobb</a>. Its a lens flare sort of visual effect to let the tweets blink up on a map. Looks very nice and the map is interactive and you don't have to wait until the evening to enjoy it. You can check it out round the clock fro London from <a href="http://n96.org/#lat=51,5*lon=-0,12*dist=3,3">HERE</a>. Other cities are in the list on the left if you want to travel the world on a lens flare trip. Via <a href="http://livinggeography.blogspot.ch/2010/05/twitter-visualisations.html">Living Geography</a>.
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<a href="http://n96.org/#lat=51,5*lon=-0,12*dist=3,3" title="twitterLenseFlare by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8025/7655661066_d49c856734_z.jpg" width="580" height="472" alt="twitterLenseFlare"></a><br />
<small><small>Image by urbanTick / <a href="http://n96.org/#lat=51,5*lon=-0,12*dist=3,3">Tweet flare</a> visualisation of real time tweets by <a href="http://twitter.com/nikibobb">Nikhil Bobb</a>.</small></small>
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Let the Games Begin!fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-77952617916242262352012-07-18T17:25:00.001+01:002012-07-19T08:55:47.392+01:00Book - Rethinking a Lot<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Since the early half of the last century the car is a defining aspect of the urban environment. Pre-car urban pattern are obviously different and many scholars and practitioners have since covered the topic of how things have changed.
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It is in most parts of Europe no longer as dominant as it was in the 70s as the directing constraint, but is obviously still very much present. Present not only in the way it moved and demands space to move, but cars also occupy space to stop and stand.
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Parking lots are required to supply this need for cars to be parked and they area permanent infrastructure taking up space whether in use or unused. little can be combined with these lots and indeed most of the time they sit there empty, just like that, as a tarmaced free space with a few white lines.
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Outside Europe in higly car dependant areas, such as the Unites States, Canada, England and increasingly Asia most lots for cars are surface parking. Meaning each building requires a plain surface in immediate proximity the size according to the number of peak time occupants.
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What the residence of for example <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Milton+Keynes,+UK&hl=en&ll=52.038587,-0.756206&spn=0.002749,0.003675&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.899383,60.205078&oq=milton+&t=h&hnear=Milton+Keynes,+United+Kingdom&z=18">Milton Keynes, UK</a>, know very well from their everyday experience, the perceived density of the urban environment is exceptionally low. This because there is never a feeling of closedness, of held space, because of the constant distance between ones position and the parking lots and between buildings. A list of the largest parking lots was put together by Forbes <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/10/parking-automobiles-retail-biz-logistics-cx_ew_0410parking_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=undefined">HERE</a>.
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<iframe width="580" height="350" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Milton+Keynes,+UK&aq=0&oq=milton+&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=56.899383,60.205078&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Milton+Keynes,+United+Kingdom&ll=52.038465,-0.757011&spn=0.001155,0.003111&z=18&iwloc=A&output=embed"></iframe><br />
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In a new publication this topic of lots and parking is examined in detail from an american perspective in an <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12874">MIT Press publication</a> by Eran Ben-Joseph in <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0262017334">Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking</a></i>. The author is MIT Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning and as he explains in the introduction tot he book has ben teaching one of the most famous courses at MIT architecture. The course runs already for over 75 years under the title <i>Site Planning</i>. It has been taught by a hand full of, as Ben-Josephs calls them, luminaries of urban design and city planning, foremost Kevin Lynch, who took over the course in 1956.
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<a href="http://img.emspy.com/files/naver013/201101021218_23_033446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="440" width="580" src="http://img.emspy.com/files/naver013/201101021218_23_033446.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from emspy.com / Car Park and Terminus Strasbourg designed by Zaha Hadid in 1998, completed in 2001.</small></small>
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This for the context of the book. Whilst of course the course covers a whole range of other subjects, the design and arangements of parking lots is only a part of the course. Nevertheless a subject that, as Ben-Joseph stresses, in the US not had a lot of attention.
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Indeed it is tricky, thinking on your feet, to come up with a handfull of good lot designs. Probably Hadid's parking design for <i><a href="http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/hoenheim-nord-terminus-and-car-park/">Car Park and Terminus Strasbourg</a></i> would be one of them.
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<a href="http://election.democraticunderground.com/1002783175" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="440" width="580" src="http://grist.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/parking-lot.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://election.democraticunderground.com/1002783175">democraticunderground</a> / To make matters worse, a lot of parking lots are not only pooly designed and landscaped, but also maintained.</small></small>
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The publication is structured in three parts. Whilst the first part covers the topic from todays perspective focusing on problems, questions and requirements, introduced with a quote by J.B Jackson, taken from his <i>Landscape in Sight: Looking at America</i>, but also covering natural aspects. The second part covers the history and the development of parking lots. In the third part practice, design and examples are presented.
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Whilst the book design is not extremely exciting, with mix of photograph quality, different styles of sketches and diagrams. its content is fascinating. The creative and playful approach to wording, especially titles and descriptions, for example <i>A Lot in Common</i>, <i>Musing a Lot</i>, <i>Lots of Lifestyles</i> or <i>From Street to Lot</i>, make it a pleasant read. But foremost the depth of research into the topic and the presentation of it in a lot of context and history make it a truly useful addition to your library.
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<a href="http://web.mit.edu/ebj/www/news.html" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="340" width="580" src="http://web.mit.edu/ebj/www/images/ReThinking.jpg" /></a>
<small><small>Image taken from MIT / Book front and back cover.
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Ben-joseph, E., 2012. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/0262017334">Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking</a></i>, Cambridge, MA: <a href="http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12874">MIT Press</a>.</small></small>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-92216798463869438632012-06-13T12:00:00.001+01:002012-06-14T10:59:49.377+01:00The Fastest Connection in the City<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week at the <a href="http://www.fhnw.ch/habg/iarch/">Institut Architektur at FHNW</a> we started new fieldwork for a GPS tracking project in Basel, Switzerland. Earlier the UrbanDiary project already tracked individuals everyday movements in the same urban context. See <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.ch/2011/01/basel-on-tracks-routine-in-distance.html">HERE</a> and <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.ch/2010/08/urbandiary-comparison-study.html">HERE</a> for posts. With the new project the perspective is still on movement in the urban context, but the motivation is very different. Whilst the travel in the earlier project was guided by a handful of personally important hotspot locations business connections guide the routing in the <i>KurierT</i> project. The trackers are carried by the professional bicycle messengers of the <a href="http://www.kurierzentrale.ch/">KurierZentrale Basel</a>. What we are looking at are business connections and how they link across the city.
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<a href="http://www.kurierzentrale.ch/home/angebot/flotte/content/0/largeImage/image.png" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="388" width="580" src="http://www.kurierzentrale.ch/home/angebot/flotte/content/0/largeImage/image.png" /></a>
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<small><small>Image taken from KurierZentrale / Bicycle messenger in action.</small></small>
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The bicycle couriers are probably the jguys with the best local knowledge there are to be found for any city. From their daily experience of navigating the streets and blocks specific non physical aspects are expected to influence the decision making process. This includes traffic, terrain, season or weather maybe. As part of this project we are planning to look into these influencing aspects.
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On the other hand another interest is on how the service the couriers provide describes the city. In many ways the activity of delivering mail between different locations creates a network of connections. This describes the city in terms of links. Beyond the locations of the sender and receiver, the interesting part is in how this connection physically manifests in an optimised routing provided by the courier. As part of the project the aim is to develop these relationships into a descriptive atlas of the city linking the aspects of a social network to the physical conditions of the link.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7368201796/" title="KurierT_vorstudieRoutes by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7085/7368201796_7a6bda1b75_z.jpg" width="580" height="322" alt="KurierT_vorstudieRoutes"></a>
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<small><small>Image by urbanTick for KurierT / Routing around Basel showing the tracks of one courier over two days. Software used <a href="http://www.macgis.com/index.php">Cartogaphica</a>.</small></small>
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The couriers offer a range of services. Whilst most of the jobs are small parcels and letters between different businesses in the city, there are jobs in the wider region of Basel or heavier loads for which the couriers change from bicycle to a car. Beside the business services the couriers have a meal service over lunch and in the evening around dinner time. From a selections of restaurants in the city meals can be <a href="http://www.velogourmet.ch/">ordered and get them delivered</a>.
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This combination of business and private services makes the data collected ver rich in that we not only have a picture of the business contacts but also see a shift in activities and cover residential areas. This extended business model covers more areas in the city and the expected black spots in the urban fragment not covered by the couriers' movements are dramatically reduced. The resulting overview covers a very particular perspective on the city and generalisation is limited, but within the particular setting the results are expected to provide valuable insight in urban connections, urban networks and routing. In terms of planning this has practical application for example in the provision of cycle routes for the general public.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7182969463/" title="KT_vorstudieSpeed by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7093/7182969463_7d6f96f053_z.jpg" width="580" height="331" alt="KT_vorstudieSpeed"></a>
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<small><small>Image by urbanTick for KurierT / Routing around Basel showing the tracks of one courier over two days. The tracks are coloured according to speed. Red is slow and white is fast, above 30. The background shows a point density indicating locations and high traffic areas. Software used <a href="http://www.macgis.com/index.php">Cartogaphica</a>.</small></small>
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The temporal aspect of traveling the city is particularly part of the bicycle messenger daily business. Besides safely getting from A to B the speed of delivery is crucial and directly influences not only the customer satisfaction but the daily salary of the rider. From a research perspective these constraints are interesting as to how accessible the different areas of the city actually are. The data will be analysed towards the time cost of travel from a whole range of origins. Based on speed and and travel time the results can be summarised in a time zone map of the city, indicating accessibility.
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Ultimately the results are expected to feed into a description of urban space. This description will be focused towards physical quality and identity of place. In comparison to existing political defined neighbourhoods the results form this study are expected to lead to an alternative description of urban areas based on connection and time.
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The project is developed in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.fhnw.ch/habg/ivgi/homepage">Institut Vermessung und Geoinformation</a>. For the analysis one of the tools developed at the institute called <i><a href="http://www.see--you.ch/">See You</a></i> will be used. The online GIS system analyses GPS tracks based on point density and stationary time. The GPS tracks are interpreted as heat map and hotspots are marked by the system based on the analysis of stationary time. These can be filtered based on duration. In the example below for example the no 1 (bottom of the picture) identifies the location of the KurierZentrale offices as the most important location of the map. The riders start from here and return back to after the shift.
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/40984848@N04/7183040937/" title="KurierT_vorstudieSeeYou01 by urbanTick, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8001/7183040937_f9fee5b51f_z.jpg" width="580" height="328" alt="KurierT_vorstudieSeeYou01"></a>
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<small><small>Image by urbanTick for KurierT / Routing around Basel showing the tracks of one courier over two days. The online GIS service <a href="http://www.see--you.ch/">SeeYou</a> developed by the <a href="http://www.fhnw.ch/habg/ivgi/homepage">Institut Vermessung und Geoinformation</a> at FHNW is used for the visualisation. Tracks shown as a heat map. As background the OSM service is used. The numbers highlight important locations as interpreted by the system automatically.</small></small>
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The project runs over the next couple of month and results will be posted along the way. A report is expected towards the end of the year. Continuous updates will be posted here, so stay tuned. A detailed project desription can be found online at the <a href="http://www.fhnw.ch/habg/iarch/">Institut Architektur</a>.
</div>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-349680226175383377.post-33398314317250893422012-05-29T12:51:00.001+01:002012-07-19T08:49:50.021+01:00Book - Informotion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Infographics are everywhere and a lot of development both in therms of technology and style has gone into the representation of information in the last few years. It is however an old topic and through out the past century aspects of graphics, design and technology in regards to the presentation of data and information were developed.
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The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology">Gestalt Theory</a> (Detailed article in the <a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/">German Wikipedia</a>) was developed in the early 20s of the last century or <a href="http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/">Tufte</a> (earlier on <a href="http://urbantick.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/book-tufte-visualisation-theory.html">urbanTick</a>) wrote his much influential books in the 80s and 90s to name two.
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<a href="http://the189.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Wim%E2%80%A2ble%E2%80%A2don-By-Bryan-Ku-image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="303" width="580" src="http://the189.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Wim%E2%80%A2ble%E2%80%A2don-By-Bryan-Ku-image.jpg" /></a></div>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://the189.com/film/wim%E2%80%A2ble%E2%80%A2don-by-bryan-ku/">the189.com</a> / Informotion project by Bryan Ku docuemnting the final game in the 122nd edition of the Wimbeldon Championship Men's Final between tennis giants Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. See the animated version <a href="http://vimeo.com/23852299">HERE</a>.</small></small>
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The reason for some more recent development in information design and especially and especially handling is connected to technological and practical changes, but also the increased availability of raw data and details to be turned into information graphics.
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Often however the subject to the data is temporal or process based with need for background or lead in, change of place or frequent change of perspective. For these cases animated inforgraphics can be a great way to communicate knowledge. Besides who doesn't like to look at motion pictures? It really fits in with the whole TV consuming sort of urban lifestyle.
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/27150005?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=fdb813" width="580" height="326" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
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Its pretty save to say, that for the first time the book <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3899554159">Informotion: Animated Infographics</a></i> by <a href="http://shop.gestalten.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/4676">Gestalten</a> bring together a selection of the best motion picture graphics communicating knowledge. All of the examples are very recent projects and most can be found on either vimeo or youtube of course. However the interesting bit on the book is the context the examples are being put in. The editors Tim Finke and Sebastian Manger put great emphasis on contextual details in a wider sense. Where publications like the recent Taschen Infographics are a mere selection of great examples the <i>Informotion</i> book includes the theoretical and practical aspects too.
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This of course makes the book heavier to read, it's also but not only to look at, but you get a lot more out of it for your practice. Besides inspiration the book provides a refresh and update on the graphic, visual and design theories as well as the technical details of animation production such as software, storyboards or size, resolution or format.
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<a href="http://binalogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/informotion-4up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="396" width="580" src="http://binalogue.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/informotion-4up.jpg" /></a></div>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://binalogue.com/2012/04/informotion/">binalogue.com</a> / Images showing the page spread design. The example shown here is an animated infographic by <a href="http://binalogue.com/">binalogue</a> showing the CANAL Isabel II water cycle. See video below for the original animation.</small></small>
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17891444?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="580" height="326" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
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There is also one of the aNCL (animated New City Landscape) informmotion graphics included as anexample in the book (p.188-189). It is the animation produced in collaboration between urbanTick and Anders Johansson on the Twitter landscape in the area arond the city of Zuerich in Switzerland. The original post on the animation can be found here, the animation is below.
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22447109?portrait=0&color=ffffff" width="580" height="326" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>
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Of course there is something awkward about a printed book about animated examples. However the content lives up to the expectations and whilst the animations can not be shown in the book the story can still be told. Even more so that the examples are discussed in detail and help to illustrate the theoretical elements of the book. In this sense there is literally more to the book than just the pictures and lines of text there is actual information in there plus Gestalten have a website where readers can get additional info and links to the animations. The list of examples can be found <a href="http://www.gestalten.com/digital-downloads/informotion">HERE</a>.
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<a href="http://www.gestalten.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/dgv_2011_news_col2/informotion_side.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="780" width="580" src="http://www.gestalten.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/dgv_2011_news_col2/informotion_side.jpg" /></a></div>
<small><small>Image taken from <a href="http://www.gestalten.com/news/book-release-informotion">Gestalten</a> / Book cover.
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Finke, T. & Manger, S. eds., 2012. <i><a href="http://astore.amazon.co.uk/urbantick-21/detail/3899554159">Informotion: Animated Infographics</a></i>, Berlin: Gestalten.
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<br /></div>fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03480201638254952601noreply@blogger.com0