Archiculture

via: Discovery News - Janus Patrols Saturn’s Rings

via: Discovery News - A Traffic Cop For Satellites

Stumbling around today on the internets and found some beautiful imagery of our solar system. Thought I would share them on this Tuesday morning to help inspire everyone after the long holiday weekend.

via: Discovery News

This is a brilliant concept by the folks up at MIT’s SENSEable Cities Lab which have just won the American round of the 2010 James Dyson Award for inventing the Copenhagen Wheel. The article goes on to illustrate just how far the US has to go in the use of bicycles as a viable means of transportation:

“The team of MIT students, lead by Christine Outram, opted to name their creation after the very bike-friendly city of Copenhagen. That says a lot about the depressing state of affairs of bicycling in America, where less than a half percent of people get to work each day by bike, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.”

Ode to the day when riding even in a city like NYC is not a war. Maybe products like this will help get all those “others” to start pushing themselves over the bridges and into the gauntlets of Manhattan. I’ll be waiting for the support.

via: beta news (image from here)

When this baby dropped we were extremely excited about the amazing potential for a new way to work with our team members. But like their sites and countless other attempts by Google, the Wave has fallen flat on its face. I applaud Google’s ability to continue to push and evolve our means of communication and access to information. If only architecture and our built environment had a sliver of their vision then maybe we wouldn’t have such a monotonous day to day spatial experience.

Recently came upon Joachim’s work on Popsci which we posted last week under “This Is Already Possible, Sci-Fi Architecture.” Very intriguing thought process between the marriage of Biology and Architecture rather than the standard greening of what is already bad mentality currently the rage in the profession. Seems like he could offer a very interesting perspective compared to those of William McDonough and Michael Reynolds for our sustainability sub-plot in the film… maybe an interview is in line.

via: Discovery News

TanDEM-X is scheduled to meet up in orbit with its larger “twin” satellite TerraSAR-X and fly in a tight helix around it. As the two image the same section of Earth from slightly different angles, they will produce the first high-resolution 3-D pictures of the planet’s surface. The first such images are expected in January.

New maps generated this way will allow military jets to fly extremely low to the ground. Images will also be useful to disaster response, allowing workers to quickly determine which part of a region has been hit hardest by an earthquake or flood.

Of course this was developed first for military use. What happened to our investment in innovation that it only occurs for destruction?

Wheat Field, Pullman, Washington courtesy pullman-wa.com

via: Popsci

The grain crops that we humans depend on daily to hold body and soul together are annual crops — they have to be planted every year. They germinate, bear their delicious product, and then die off; the following year, a brand new crop is put in to take their place…

Perennial grain crops, if they existed, could require less fuel, less fertilizer, less herbicide and pesticide, and help prevent erosion by remaining deeply rooted in the soil throughout the winter (and indeed for years). Perennials return nutrients to the soil, where annuals require artificial fertilizers to supplement depleted soil, and return nothing. According to a paper in the current issue of Science, perennial grains, currently being researched at a number of universities, including Washington State University (WSU), could become the norm within two decades…

According to John Reganold and Jerry Glover of WSU, lead authors of the paper, the perennialization of grain crops would count among the greatest innovations in the history of agriculture, feeding the planet’s hungry humans in a much more efficient, future-proof way.

Whenever I hear of genetic modification of agriculture it freaks me out. I guess I read too many Michael Crichton books as a kid but it just seems like a very, very dangerous endeavor. Especially at this point as we watch how our technological skills have lead us to an unstoppable oil spill just because we could.

“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking which we created them.” - Albert Einstein

Mitchell Joachim’s Eco-City Nick Kaloterakis

This is a great article on Popsci about Michell Joachim’s work

Architect Mitchell Joachim points out, frequently and without prompting, that his futuristic proposals are always based on existing technologies. No wonder he feels the need to say it. Consider some of his ideas: jetpacks tethered together in swarms, houses grown from living trees, low-altitude blimps prowling New York City with chairs hanging below them for pedestrians to hop on and off (24/7 ski lifts on Broadway!), and WALL-E-like machines that erect buildings and bridges from recycled waste…

The structures would be pressed or melted into shape or wrapped with metal bands, which is what recycling plants do now. All that would change is the shape—like switching the mold on a Play-Doh press, but on an industrial scale. “We could do it yesterday,” Joachim insists.

“The idea of sharp metal boxes is just done,” Joachim says. “We design cars with the principle that no one would ever die in a car accident again.”

Joachim’s willingness to forgo lucrative commercial projects in favor of running a nonprofit dedicated to the reimagining of a future he won’t even be around for is, say his colleagues, exactly what makes him so vital. Traditionally, “cities are built incrementally by real-estate interests,” says Richard Sommer, the dean of architecture at the University of Toronto. “What’s important about Mitchell’s work is that he [takes] a visionary approach.”

more…

via: MoMA Multimedia

While doing research for a Waterfront Park design summer camp (spots still available) that I’m leading in late July with Junior High students at the Center for Architecture, I came across all these great videos for the Rising Currents exhibition. I’ve seen this exhibition in person and went on a private boat tour a month back which had each design team present their concepts at their sites around the harbor. Some very inspiring ideas to engage the inevitable sea level rise and use it as a benefit for human and natural health. Definitely well worth the time to check out these videos in your leisure at home, work, or across the globe. Be sure to watch all five team videos.

A follower of the film suggested today that we try to interview Mr. Prince-Ramus. I saw him speak years ago when he was working for Rem Koolhaas’s New York office at OMA and leading the Seattle Public Library project. I was blown away by the clarity of his presentation on the design process for the building and was an instant fan. Having since experienced the built work first hand, I feel like he could be a great interviewee for the film. Let’s see if he is down.

Thanks for the suggestion Nick.