CHANGE OBSERVER : WILLIAM DRENTTEL, JULIE LASKY

Winterhouse Symposium on Design Education and Social Change: Final Report

Convened to form the basis for a collaborative network, thirteen educators from a variety of design and business programs discussed the challenges and objectives of social-change initiatives within their schools and universities. This is the final report from the symposium held in Falls Village, Connecticut, October 17–19, 2010.
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OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR

What Does H. P. Lovecraft Look Like?

We live in a gilded age of adaptations: films, TV series, theatrical productions (often with added songs) and most recently, graphic novels. People are much more likely now to have experienced an interpretation of the original than they are to have read the actual book. Literary classics don’t come much trickier to re-envision for a new generation than H. P. Lovecraft’s short novel At the Mountains of Madness.
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PLACES : FRANK SCHIRRMEISTER

Plain City

Earlier this week we published writer Millay Hyatt's account of walking the entire 100-mile length of the Berlin Wall Trail. Plain City, by photographer Frank Schirrmeister, presents a complementary view of the city — a native Berliner's struggle "to keep pace emotionally as the city reinvents itself with dizzying speed." Here we are pleased to be featuring the first in a series of portfolios curated by our photography editor, Aaron Rothman.
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OBSERVATORY : MARK LAMSTER

Boom Goes Pop

A few months ago I used this space to profess my distaste for fat design monographs, the sort with images that run page after page and have minimal explanatory text. There was a time (the 1990s) when these books seemed interesting, but I now find them, more often than not, to be lazy, self-indulgent and ecologically wasteful.
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OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA

Of Popes, Pixels and Micropayments

Before Twittter, a serious connoisseur might study the Mona Lisa for 20 years before reaching a conclusion. Today, the average museum visitor looks at a work of art for 42 seconds. Now 42 seconds is a long time compared to the 11 seconds that most shares are owned by high frequency trading machines. But for the Popes of culture and media, who met last week for the third Avignon Forum, this shallow cultural scanning is a reprehensible downside of “culture for everyone.”
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OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

Glass Houses

It seems only fitting to inaugurate a space called the Observers Room with an image of a glass house — the Glass House. Under my byline, you'll find writing on architecture, design, art, new york, books, sport, and whatever else seems relevant to the day. I'll also be using this space to work through ideas on the project that commands the majority of my time: a biography of the late architect Philip Johnson. Your thoughts are welcome.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY

Minotaurs in Suburban England

A chic café next to the Royal Festival Hall on the banks of the river Thames, London. It’s mid-afternoon and Vaughan Oliver is talking about blood, sex and death. He pulls photographs from his bag like doves from a magician’s hat. It's the 4AD dream team again: photographer Simon Larbalestier and designer Vaughan Oliver.
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OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

Super 8

Here we build our glass houses for rich people, with a view, along the lines of 100 Eleventh Avenue or On Prospect Park. In Copenhagen the idea seemed to be glass houses for families, a radiant city built by many hands, most with the same aesthetic.
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CHANGE OBSERVER : JOHN THACKARA

A Tale of Two Trains

Oslo Airport's mean-looking bullet train reaches the city center in 19 minutes. At 210 kph (130 mph), it is not the world's fastest — some of China'a new trains will soon reach nearly twice that speed — but Norway's is surely the most macho to look at.
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PLACES : MILLAY HYATT

On the Trail of the Berlin Wall

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 — 21 years ago this week — the reunified capital of Germany has been the setting for urban design competitions, real estate speculation, anxious memorialization, dynamic art events, and fervent political and cultural debate about the role of the past in the future of the city. But what about the actual strip, the parts of Berlin where the wall once stood? Writer Millay Hyatt treks the 100 miles of the Berlin Wall Trail, observing the sometimes easy, sometimes unsettling merger of east and west, past and present.
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OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

Accidental Mysteries, 11.07.10

Welcome to Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of curiosities set aside for your perusal and enlightenment.
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WEEKLY EMAIL: NOVEMBER 12, 2010
FEATURED THIS WEEK : THE EDITORS Announcing A New Channel: Observers Room We are delighted to introduce our newest channel: Observers Room. The fifth channel of content at Design Observer, Observers Room will be home to bloggers and critics, commentators and pundits, artists and writers eager to share their opinions on a host of subjects — each clocking in somewhere between the brevity of the 140-character tweet and the expansiveness of the 1000-word essay. It is with pride, then, that we announce new blogs by Mark Lamster, Alexandra Lange, Rick Poynor, John Thackara, and OBlog, a blog by the editors of Design Observer. READ MORE
CHANGE OBSERVER : WILLIAM DRENTTEL, JULIE LASKY Winterhouse Symposium on Design Education and Social Change: Final Report Convened to form the basis for a collaborative network, thirteen educators from a variety of design and business programs discussed the challenges and objectives of social-change initiatives within their schools and universities. This is the final report from the symposium held in Falls Village, Connecticut, October 17–19, 2010. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR What Does H. P. Lovecraft Look Like? We live in a gilded age of adaptations: films, TV series, theatrical productions (often with added songs) and most recently, graphic novels. People are much more likely now to have experienced an interpretation of the original than they are to have read the actual book. Literary classics don’t come much trickier to re-envision for a new generation than H. P. Lovecraft’s short novel At the Mountains of Madness. READ MORE PLACES : FRANK SCHIRRMEISTER Plain City Earlier this week we published writer Millay Hyatt's account of walking the entire 100-mile length of the Berlin Wall Trail. Plain City, by photographer Frank Schirrmeister, presents a complementary view of the city — a native Berliner's struggle "to keep pace emotionally as the city reinvents itself with dizzying speed." Here we are pleased to be featuring the first in a series of portfolios curated by our photography editor, Aaron Rothman. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : MARK LAMSTER Boom Goes Pop A few months ago I used this space to profess my distaste for fat design monographs, the sort with images that run page after page and have minimal explanatory text. There was a time (the 1990s) when these books seemed interesting, but I now find them, more often than not, to be lazy, self-indulgent and ecologically wasteful. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA Of Popes, Pixels and Micropayments Before Twittter, a serious connoisseur might study the Mona Lisa for 20 years before reaching a conclusion. Today, the average museum visitor looks at a work of art for 42 seconds. Now 42 seconds is a long time compared to the 11 seconds that most shares are owned by high frequency trading machines. But for the Popes of culture and media, who met last week for the third Avignon Forum, this shallow cultural scanning is a reprehensible downside of “culture for everyone.” READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER Glass Houses It seems only fitting to inaugurate a space called the Observers Room with an image of a glass house — the Glass House. Under my byline, you'll find writing on architecture, design, art, new york, books, sport, and whatever else seems relevant to the day. I'll also be using this space to work through ideas on the project that commands the majority of my time: a biography of the late architect Philip Johnson. Your thoughts are welcome. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY Minotaurs in Suburban England A chic café next to the Royal Festival Hall on the banks of the river Thames, London. It’s mid-afternoon and Vaughan Oliver is talking about blood, sex and death. He pulls photographs from his bag like doves from a magician’s hat. It's the 4AD dream team again: photographer Simon Larbalestier and designer Vaughan Oliver. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE Super 8 Here we build our glass houses for rich people, with a view, along the lines of 100 Eleventh Avenue or On Prospect Park. In Copenhagen the idea seemed to be glass houses for families, a radiant city built by many hands, most with the same aesthetic. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER : JOHN THACKARA A Tale of Two Trains Oslo Airport's mean-looking bullet train reaches the city center in 19 minutes. At 210 kph (130 mph), it is not the world's fastest — some of China'a new trains will soon reach nearly twice that speed — but Norway's is surely the most macho to look at. READ MORE PLACES : MILLAY HYATT On the Trail of the Berlin Wall Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 — 21 years ago this week — the reunified capital of Germany has been the setting for urban design competitions, real estate speculation, anxious memorialization, dynamic art events, and fervent political and cultural debate about the role of the past in the future of the city. But what about the actual strip, the parts of Berlin where the wall once stood? Writer Millay Hyatt treks the 100 miles of the Berlin Wall Trail, observing the sometimes easy, sometimes unsettling merger of east and west, past and present. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER Accidental Mysteries, 11.07.10 Welcome to Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of curiosities set aside for your perusal and enlightenment. READ MORE		BECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK \| FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE Spoken Word Broadcast All spoken word show featuring poems, prose and a short story. Listen >> More Design Matters Archive >> CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE Conflict Kitchen Report on Conflict Kitchen, a project by artists affiliated with Carnegie Mellon to foster cross-cultural understanding through food. READ MORE OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE So Intelligent Logorama Ad Reinhardt PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2006 Seattle Central Library: Civic Architecture in the Age of Media In the Seattle Public Library, Rem Koolhaas and OMA work to transform architecture into media interface. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES Academic Programs >> Competitions >> Conferences & Events >> Fellowships & Prizes >> Organizations >> Programs & Initiatives >> Publications & Websites >> Social Networks >> RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED Unruly Alphabet Aaron McKinney The New Mathematics of Architecture Jane Burry & Mark Burry Portraits of the Mind Carl Schoonover
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WEEKLY EMAIL: NOVEMBER 12, 2010

FEATURED THIS WEEK : THE EDITORS

CHANGE OBSERVER : WILLIAM DRENTTEL, JULIE LASKY

OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR

PLACES : FRANK SCHIRRMEISTER

OBSERVATORY : MARK LAMSTER

OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA

OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

OBSERVATORY : ADRIAN SHAUGHNESSY

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

CHANGE OBSERVER : JOHN THACKARA

PLACES : MILLAY HYATT

OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE

CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE

OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE

PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2006

CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES

RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED