Archiculture

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.

photo via: azulfi

Time and time again, we’ve heard our subjects and interviewees say that LEGOs were what started them on their journey into architecture. With this recent article by Fast Company, LEGOs can now claim that they are the most popular toy ever made. Maybe there is hope for a bright future of young architects after all.

Our buddies over at SOFTlab are gearing up to install and open their latest piece at the bridgegallery in the LES on August 26th. They cleverly used a Kickstarter pledge drive to raise the final $5,000 necessary for completion. We’ll be sure to be there opening night and hope you are to. By the way you can still get your name on one of the panels with a $5 donation!

Check this video for some of SOFTlab’s other work.

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.

via: Laughing Squid

via: Umbro (green lines are completed passes, blue triangles are shots, red dots are goals)

In a tribute to the World Cup semifinals starting today, here is a brilliant infographic representation of the game by Michael Deal with data from Opta. Click here to see a full graphic of all the group stage games. Round of 16 and quarterfinals are coming soon.

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.

KAWS Museum Exhibit Opening from Paper Fortress on Vimeo.

Source: KanyeUnivercity

Another ridiculously beautiful information graphic from the folks over at Good’s Transparency series. Click on the image for the interactive version.

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.”

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