WEEKLY EMAIL: NOVEMBER 24, 2010

FEATURED THIS WEEK : ALEXANDRA LANGE

Dan Wood

Since 2003, WORKac's research and teaching have focused on questions about ecology and urbanism. They first explored these issues in three dimensions with their winning entry for the MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program in 2008: PF1, or “Public Farm 1,” a reinvention of the summer pavilion as a working farm made of cardboard tubes. In October, the first phase of the studio's Edible Schoolyard New York City opened at P.S. 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

Criticism Kerfuffle 2010

I am torn about entering Criticism Kerfuffle 2010, entertained in Blueprint, BLDGBLOG, Words in Space and Urban Omnibus. There's fair, if not universal, agreement that more thoughful architectural criticism would indeed be a good thing. But it isn't just the writing that's the problem.

READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : MICHELLE HAUSER

A Fluid and Expressive Medium: Interview with Robert E. Jackson

Since 1839, a cavalcade of photographic processes have framed our perceptions of images. Each time a new method evolves — from the daguerrotype to the gelatin silver print — something quicker and more affordable comes along. With the emergence of digital photography, what was once essential to "fix" an image — light sensitive material, substrate and chemical reaction — is no longer necessary. Ironically, now more than ever, historic methods have come back into vogue.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER : PHIL PATTON

Keith Richards and His Amazing Portable Cassette Recorder

The recent announcement that Sony would cease manufacturing the Walkman in Japan raised eyebrows. Who knew they were still making them? It also reminded us that the history of mobile sound playing and recording has had a powerful influence on the way we experience and even make music. So says an astute commentator — Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
READ MORE

PLACES : JASON REBLANDO

New Deal Utopias

For many Americans these are hard times, and Thanksgiving a test of fortitude. No wonder, then, that we are focused so much on another difficult era — the Great Depression — and that we continue to recall the New Deal that aimed to bring back good times. In this spirit Chicago photographer Jason Reblando has been documenting some of the Greenbelt Towns built in the '30s as part of the federal effort — derided back then as "socialistic" — to ensure decent housing for struggling citizens. Whatever the label, Reblando has found vital towns, positive results of the "intersection of place and politics."
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

New City Reader: Sidewalk Sale

How the Vanderbilt railyard became Atlantic Yards became downtown Brooklyn became the Barclays Center, lost and gained an architect and a developer, won an NBA franchise, and disappeared from Brooklyn in the process.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : NANCY LEVINSON

News/Print

If print news is truly exiting the culture, it's making a real racket on the way out.

By now you've probably heard about the The Last Newspaper, the collective exhibition at the New Museum in New York City, "dedicated to deconstructing the power and possibilities of the press." And you might have seen editions of the museum's New City Reader, a "performance-based editorial residency," edited by Kazys Varnelis and Joseph Grima. And now the pinkcomma gallery in Boston is exhibiting Newsstand, co-curated by Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, Mark Pasnik and Mimi Zeiger.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR

Rethinking Conceptual Type Design

Where are the idealistic fonts, the artsy fonts, the non fonts, the political fonts, the funny fonts, the difficult fonts, the fonts that do not look like fonts, fonts that are frontiers of new belief?

That’s a very good question. The organizers of “Conceptual Type — Type Led by Ideas” posed it at a conference held in Copenhagen last week.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : WILLIAM DRENTTEL

Imagining Menorahs as Peacocks?

I dread the cycle of new product introductions pitched to Design Observer every holiday season — especially menorahs thrown our way as Hanukkah gifts. They always seem to include such wonderful pitch lines as, "a new generation of designers is re-imagining the menorah using everything from recycled bike chains to wrought iron for inspiration."
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : EDWARD MORRIS AND DMITRI SIEGEL

Destroy This Book

Most People just don't get climate change. Few grasp the need and more important, the opportunity to transform our society. So the people who do get it need to be louder, more insistent and more effective at getting the message across. With the Green Patriot Posters project we looked to the graphic design and artistic communities for ways to invigorate and mobilize people to remake our economy for a more sustainable future.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

Accidental Mysteries, 11.21.10

Welcome to Accidental Mysteries, a weekly cabinet of curiosities set aside for your perusal and enlightenment.
READ MORE

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AUDIO: DESIGN MATTERS ARCHIVE

Laurie Rosenwald

Laurie Rosenwald is a graphic designer, artist, illustrator, writer, television actress and author.
Listen >>
More Design Matters Archive >>

CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE

Food Not Bombs

Report on Food Not Bombs, an activist network, now about to turn 30, that distributes free vegan meals.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE

The Kindness of Strangers

Religious Signage

Adolf Wolfli

PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2009

Infrastructural Optimism

Learning from New Orleans, or why we really need a new New Deal.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES

Academic Programs >>
Competitions >>
Conferences & Events >>
Fellowships & Prizes >>
Organizations >>
Programs & Initiatives >>
Publications & Websites >>
Social Networks >>

RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED

Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White
Mosette Broderick

Designing Media
Bill Moggridge

Patterns and Structure: Selected Writings
Guy Nordenson


WEEKLY EMAIL: NOVEMBER 24, 2010
FEATURED THIS WEEK : ALEXANDRA LANGE Dan Wood Since 2003, WORKac's research and teaching have focused on questions about ecology and urbanism. They first explored these issues in three dimensions with their winning entry for the MoMA/PS1 Young Architects Program in 2008: PF1, or “Public Farm 1,” a reinvention of the summer pavilion as a working farm made of cardboard tubes. In October, the first phase of the studio's Edible Schoolyard New York City opened at P.S. 216 in Gravesend, Brooklyn. READ MORE
OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE Criticism Kerfuffle 2010 I am torn about entering Criticism Kerfuffle 2010, entertained in Blueprint, BLDGBLOG, Words in Space and Urban Omnibus. There's fair, if not universal, agreement that more thoughful architectural criticism would indeed be a good thing. But it isn't just the writing that's the problem. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : MICHELLE HAUSER A Fluid and Expressive Medium: Interview with Robert E. Jackson Since 1839, a cavalcade of photographic processes have framed our perceptions of images. Each time a new method evolves — from the daguerrotype to the gelatin silver print — something quicker and more affordable comes along. With the emergence of digital photography, what was once essential to "fix" an image — light sensitive material, substrate and chemical reaction — is no longer necessary. Ironically, now more than ever, historic methods have come back into vogue. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER : PHIL PATTON Keith Richards and His Amazing Portable Cassette Recorder The recent announcement that Sony would cease manufacturing the Walkman in Japan raised eyebrows. Who knew they were still making them? It also reminded us that the history of mobile sound playing and recording has had a powerful influence on the way we experience and even make music. So says an astute commentator — Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones. READ MORE PLACES : JASON REBLANDO New Deal Utopias For many Americans these are hard times, and Thanksgiving a test of fortitude. No wonder, then, that we are focused so much on another difficult era — the Great Depression — and that we continue to recall the New Deal that aimed to bring back good times. In this spirit Chicago photographer Jason Reblando has been documenting some of the Greenbelt Towns built in the '30s as part of the federal effort — derided back then as "socialistic" — to ensure decent housing for struggling citizens. Whatever the label, Reblando has found vital towns, positive results of the "intersection of place and politics." READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE New City Reader: Sidewalk Sale How the Vanderbilt railyard became Atlantic Yards became downtown Brooklyn became the Barclays Center, lost and gained an architect and a developer, won an NBA franchise, and disappeared from Brooklyn in the process. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : NANCY LEVINSON News/Print If print news is truly exiting the culture, it's making a real racket on the way out. By now you've probably heard about the The Last Newspaper, the collective exhibition at the New Museum in New York City, "dedicated to deconstructing the power and possibilities of the press." And you might have seen editions of the museum's New City Reader, a "performance-based editorial residency," edited by Kazys Varnelis and Joseph Grima. And now the pinkcomma gallery in Boston is exhibiting Newsstand, co-curated by Chris Grimley, Michael Kubo, Mark Pasnik and Mimi Zeiger. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : RICK POYNOR Rethinking Conceptual Type Design Where are the idealistic fonts, the artsy fonts, the non fonts, the political fonts, the funny fonts, the difficult fonts, the fonts that do not look like fonts, fonts that are frontiers of new belief? That’s a very good question. The organizers of “Conceptual Type — Type Led by Ideas” posed it at a conference held in Copenhagen last week. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : WILLIAM DRENTTEL Imagining Menorahs as Peacocks? I dread the cycle of new product introductions pitched to Design Observer every holiday season — especially menorahs thrown our way as Hanukkah gifts. They always seem to include such wonderful pitch lines as, "a new generation of designers is re-imagining the menorah using everything from recycled bike chains to wrought iron for inspiration." READ MORE OBSERVATORY : EDWARD MORRIS AND DMITRI SIEGEL Destroy This Book Most People just don't get climate change. Few grasp the need and more important, the opportunity to transform our society. So the people who do get it need to be louder, more insistent and more effective at getting the message across. With the Green Patriot Posters project we looked to the graphic design and artistic communities for ways to invigorate and mobilize people to remake our economy for a more sustainable future. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER Accidental Mysteries, 11.21.10 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 Laurie Rosenwald Laurie Rosenwald is a graphic designer, artist, illustrator, writer, television actress and author. Listen >> More Design Matters Archive >> CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE Food Not Bombs Report on Food Not Bombs, an activist network, now about to turn 30, that distributes free vegan meals. READ MORE OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE The Kindness of Strangers Religious Signage Adolf Wolfli PLACES ARCHIVE: WINTER 2009 Infrastructural Optimism Learning from New Orleans, or why we really need a new New Deal. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER: RESOURCES Academic Programs >> Competitions >> Conferences & Events >> Fellowships & Prizes >> Organizations >> Programs & Initiatives >> Publications & Websites >> Social Networks >> RECENT BOOKS RECEIVED Triumvirate: McKim, Mead & White Mosette Broderick Designing Media Bill Moggridge Patterns and Structure: Selected Writings Guy Nordenson
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