atabrahams impromptu collaboration

(left to right) Steve Lodder, John Etheridge and Philip Sheppard come together and improvise a piece of music - collaboration at its best. The video below is a bit shakey - i had to improvise ;-) but watch how the three are continually watching each other - how much communication amongst collaborators is non verbal? One of the themes of the atabrahams event at Arup where this impromptu piece was recorded.
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atabrahams.com/

Cast: Duncan Wilson

Today’s Future Designer

Last month we were asked to pull together a short thought piece for an internal Global Buildings event at Arup on the "Future of Design". The pre-recorded piece was being used alongside feedback from clients on their view of the value of design. Both pieces provided the introduction for break out groups to think about 4 plausible scenarios for Arup in the years ahead. The summary blurb is:

"The role of the designer in the business world is changing. With increased activity at a strategic level and the innate skills that support community and collaboration, the designer has the skill set to play a pivotal role in today’s business. In addition, they have the desire to work with new tools and are experienced in making the complex simple. In a world where technological innovation has increased the complexity of both the products and services we consume, achieving elegance has become the hallmark of good design."

Cast: Duncan Wilson

Lidar demo at ETech09

During a talk by Aaron Koblin on Radiohead's House of Cards video (amongst other things) the Velodyne laser scanner was booted up and showed a live feed of all in the room...

Cast: Duncan Wilson

Plausible Futures

A short film produced to set the mood for an intensive workshop on plausible futures. It examines the possible directions in which the world is currently heading. Touching on global challenges such as resource depletion, rapid urbanization and climate change the film uses rich visuals to engage audiences with big questions about our human future.

Cast: marcus morrell

The Future of Connected and Sustainable Cities

A short film looking at the challenges and opportunities facing cities. It looks at how information and communications technology can help reduce the carbon footprint of urban areas in an effort to tackle climate change. Other issues addressed include energy security, transportation, urban sprawl, consumption and waste.

Cast: marcus morrell

[from cityofsound] BEYOND MEDIA: VISIONS 2009

"With VISIONS, this festival proposes a new reflection on the themes of project figuration and representation, and on the limits of our ability to observe and report that which is not in front of our eyes, in order to move towards a research of more effective visions that are extended in space and time. Visions that allow us to think about and better define the context and framework for the future." Fairly amazing line-up in this festival of visualisations, renders, representations, future visions etc.

[from cityofsound] Bald Man Is Watching

Graffiti, paintings, wheat paste posters, stickers etc. In Seattle.

[from cityofsound] The Waterpod [Freshkills Park Blog]

"The Waterpod is a a certified public vessel, a vegetable and chicken farm, a hodge-podge of sustainable systems (solar panels, rainwater collection, bicyle-produced electricity) and a recycled, floating home for six artists. They’ve lived there since Saturday and call it “a floating sculptural living structure designed as a new habitat for the global warming epoch.” For the next five months, the 30×100 ft barge will travel dock to dock through the five boroughs and host public tours"

[from cityofsound] Women stretched to snapping point [SMH]

"THE Howard government's family policies left a legacy of stressed, overworked parents and set gender equity back a decade, a new study shows. Despite their high academic achievements over the decade, women are now less likely than in 1997 to work full-time while their children are young. And when they do, they take on more of the housework and child care."

[from cityofsound] U2-360 Center Stage [Archinect]

"The newest creation by Innovative Designs, in collaboration with Hoberman Associates and Buro Happold, is a 50 Ton expanding video screen that operates continuously throughout the duration of the concert. Videos remain proportional in scale to the size of the screen at any stage of its deployment."

[from cityofsound] £30bn shortfall threatens rail and road plans [The Guardian]

"The full scale of the funding crisis facing Britain's transport system was exposed today as the country's most expensive rail contract was nationalised, while details emerged of a potential £30bn spending gap." Sheesh.

[from cityofsound] Fog on the Tyne [Building Design]

"Neglected for decades, it is undeniable (but irrelevant) that the detail is cheap. But its buckling, distorted strips of concrete are dismally thrilling. It’s absurd that something so remarkable should be destroyed when mediocre 1960s buildings are being renovated, but part of it has already been demolished. It is certain the car park will go, and equally certain that — as with its southern cousin, the Tricorn — nothing of note will take its place. To compare it with other attempts to transform Gateshead reveals the jarring inconsistencies of the area. The 1986 Metro Centre, still the biggest mall in the EU, is far more dated than Trinity Square. Theme-park flights of fancy such as “the Village” — a Disney Tyneside — are a far cry from the slick, supermodernist Westfields." Concur with all this. You missed the Pitcher & Piano-led renewal-lite along other side of waterfront, Owen. Not good. I got funny looks there once for walking in in sandals. Also, the centre at night is something.

[from cityofsound] New wave hits Bedford Square [Building Design]

"This year’s Architectural Association Summer Pavilion opens today at Bedford Square"

[from cityofsound] Urban China, Crisis, and the Bootlegging of a Magazine [Archinect]

"We like the magazine so much that we wanted to make a bootleg of it similar to the way a fan bootlegs concert music of his favorite band to share w/ others. We wanted English readers to get a sense of what they're about. They work in such a fluid and poetic way that they also wanted, given the time constraint, the Bootleg to be the by-product of working in a really improvised manner - basically that it would be the remainder of quick exchanges of material back and forth between UC and C-Lab, and that the unresolved and awkward moments would be just as valuable as the intended editorial content. You get a sense of this exchange, and the quickness of working in this manner in the design of the publication. "

[from cityofsound] Detection of Bicycles at Demand-Actuated Traffic Signals

"Inductive loop sensors, commonly used for detection of traffic at demand-actuated traffic signals, can be configured and adjusted to detect bicycles with metal rims. This article describes how to provide reliable detection of bicycles via inductive loop sensors without generating unacceptable false-positive detection of large vehicles in adjacent lanes."