WEEKLY EMAIL: DECEMBER 16, 2010

FEATURED THIS WEEK : RICK POYNOR

Agency or Studio? The Dutch Design Dilemma

There was a time when Dutch graphic design led the world. It looked unequivocally Dutch because it came from a national modernist tradition of typography and montage to which it continually referred. Today, the country's graphic design is much less obviously Dutch. Instead, international conventions of advertising, marketing, branding, fashion and popular culture shape its graphic routines and styles of address. Designers offer the same rationales heard everywhere that a market-driven view of graphic design calls the shots.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

On Boring

I often get told that my architecture ideas are boring. But almost every publication I read publishes boring stories. They have just decided which boring they like.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : JESSICA HELFAND

Be Careful What You Wish For

What happens when you combine People's Sexiest Man Alive with GQ's Hottest Babe? They get married!

Then they split up.
READ MORE

PLACES : JON CALAME

The Roma of Rome: Heirs to the Ghetto System

"In Italy today, politicians have become the lead architects of a low-cost human-warehousing system designed to contain the minority Roma, or Gypsy, community," writes historic preservationist Jon Calame. Here we present a report, with a detailed slideshow, in which Calame tracks a network of marginalized housing camps — what he calls the latest chapter in a long, dark history of state-sponsored ghettos.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

British Incursion

A bit of news: I am pleased to announce that I will be joining The Architectural Review as Associate American Editor. It's an honor to appear on the masthead of that distinguished publication, one with such a long tradition of excellence (Pevsner, Banham, etc) that it carries forward to this day.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : JESSICA HELFAND

Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman!

In it's first competition in nearly 160 years, the Canada Post announced last month that it is enlisting the public's help in designing a new stamp to raise awareness for mental health issues.
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER : CONSTANTIN BOYM

Out of Sight: Qatari Workers' Housing

Typical of Arabian Gulf states, Qatar is a complex multinational society, where many different cultures seem to co-exist without much interference. “Live and let live” is a defining characteristic. Yet the ways of “living” could not be more different.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE

Throw Pillows As Character

Most contemporary novels feint at design particularity with brand names, but Major Pettigrew's Last Stand offers a series of lived-in living rooms, golf clubs, seaside promenades and estates.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA

What Should Design Researchers Research? Report from 2020

I was invited by the Design Research Society to speak at their symposium in Birmingham, UK. Their theme: 2050 and All That.

So first I did a quick scamper through Peak Everything: peak climate, peak biodiversity, peak oil, peak food, peak water, peak credit and so on; I touched on Adbusters' notions of a Doomsday Machine Economy and True Cost Economics; and I repeated my proposition that we are all emerging economies now.
READ MORE

PLACES : DAVID HEYMANN

Site, Ascendant

"The role of site in various forms of Western cultural production has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years," writes architect and Places contributing editor David Heymann. "Roughly speaking, where once site was seen as setting, now it is seen as source." In the third and last (for a while) of his series on landscape and buildings, Heymann delves into this dramatic evolution, exemplified in landmarks of Land Art by Turrell, Smithson, et al., and in projects by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, Peter Zumthor, OMA, Zaha Hadid, et al., all of which underscore what Heymann calls the ascendance of site as "a primary form-driving factor in current architectural design."
READ MORE

CHANGE OBSERVER : ADAM HARRISON LEVY

Sustainable Christmas Trees

Those who are needled by the wastefulness of Christmas trees can take comfort: the traditional tree is undergoing a redefinition. This change is in terms of production and marketing but also in the way trees are being bought and used. The shift is gaining momentum: a convergence of environmental consciousness, economics and emotion, now given an extra boost by a recession-inspired do-it-yourself sensibility.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : CARL SCHOONOVER

Portraits of the Mind

Take a brain out of its skull, cut a thin slice, examine it under a microscope and you will see nothing but grey, barely differentiated matter. You might be astonished then, as late nineteenth anatomists were, to discover that when treated in the right manner the blank slate contains a universe teaming with small parts, thousands upon thousands of lines wrapping around each other in terrifyingly convoluted patterns.
READ MORE

OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER

Beauty on the Border

Daniel Mihalyo and Annie Han, of Seattle's Lead Pencil Studio, recently put up a piece along the Canadian border that is stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful.
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER

Accidental Mysteries, 12.12.10

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

Marian Bantjes, Alexander Gelman & Michael Surtees

Marian Bantjes, typographer, Alexander Gelman, designer extraordinaire & Michael Surtees of DesignNotes.
Listen >>
More Design Matters Archive >>

CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE

Roudha Center

Report on Roudha Center, a proposal for a one-stop hub for Qatari women to learn the nuts and bolts of launching a business
READ MORE

OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE

Art Rogers v. Jeff Koons

Civilian Typography

Notebooks

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

Drawings from the Gulag
Danzig Baldaev

Shakespeare's Freedom
Stephen Greenblatt

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
Laurence Sterne


WEEKLY EMAIL: DECEMBER 16, 2010
FEATURED THIS WEEK : RICK POYNOR Agency or Studio? The Dutch Design Dilemma There was a time when Dutch graphic design led the world. It looked unequivocally Dutch because it came from a national modernist tradition of typography and montage to which it continually referred. Today, the country's graphic design is much less obviously Dutch. Instead, international conventions of advertising, marketing, branding, fashion and popular culture shape its graphic routines and styles of address. Designers offer the same rationales heard everywhere that a market-driven view of graphic design calls the shots. READ MORE
OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE On Boring I often get told that my architecture ideas are boring. But almost every publication I read publishes boring stories. They have just decided which boring they like. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JESSICA HELFAND Be Careful What You Wish For What happens when you combine People's Sexiest Man Alive with GQ's Hottest Babe? They get married! Then they split up. READ MORE PLACES : JON CALAME The Roma of Rome: Heirs to the Ghetto System "In Italy today, politicians have become the lead architects of a low-cost human-warehousing system designed to contain the minority Roma, or Gypsy, community," writes historic preservationist Jon Calame. Here we present a report, with a detailed slideshow, in which Calame tracks a network of marginalized housing camps — what he calls the latest chapter in a long, dark history of state-sponsored ghettos. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER British Incursion A bit of news: I am pleased to announce that I will be joining The Architectural Review as Associate American Editor. It's an honor to appear on the masthead of that distinguished publication, one with such a long tradition of excellence (Pevsner, Banham, etc) that it carries forward to this day. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JESSICA HELFAND Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman! In it's first competition in nearly 160 years, the Canada Post announced last month that it is enlisting the public's help in designing a new stamp to raise awareness for mental health issues. READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER : CONSTANTIN BOYM Out of Sight: Qatari Workers' Housing Typical of Arabian Gulf states, Qatar is a complex multinational society, where many different cultures seem to co-exist without much interference. “Live and let live” is a defining characteristic. Yet the ways of “living” could not be more different. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : ALEXANDRA LANGE Throw Pillows As Character Most contemporary novels feint at design particularity with brand names, but Major Pettigrew's Last Stand offers a series of lived-in living rooms, golf clubs, seaside promenades and estates. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : JOHN THACKARA What Should Design Researchers Research? Report from 2020 I was invited by the Design Research Society to speak at their symposium in Birmingham, UK. Their theme: 2050 and All That. So first I did a quick scamper through Peak Everything: peak climate, peak biodiversity, peak oil, peak food, peak water, peak credit and so on; I touched on Adbusters' notions of a Doomsday Machine Economy and True Cost Economics; and I repeated my proposition that we are all emerging economies now. READ MORE PLACES : DAVID HEYMANN Site, Ascendant "The role of site in various forms of Western cultural production has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years," writes architect and Places contributing editor David Heymann. "Roughly speaking, where once site was seen as setting, now it is seen as source." In the third and last (for a while) of his series on landscape and buildings, Heymann delves into this dramatic evolution, exemplified in landmarks of Land Art by Turrell, Smithson, et al., and in projects by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, Peter Zumthor, OMA, Zaha Hadid, et al., all of which underscore what Heymann calls the ascendance of site as "a primary form-driving factor in current architectural design." READ MORE CHANGE OBSERVER : ADAM HARRISON LEVY Sustainable Christmas Trees Those who are needled by the wastefulness of Christmas trees can take comfort: the traditional tree is undergoing a redefinition. This change is in terms of production and marketing but also in the way trees are being bought and used. The shift is gaining momentum: a convergence of environmental consciousness, economics and emotion, now given an extra boost by a recession-inspired do-it-yourself sensibility. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : CARL SCHOONOVER Portraits of the Mind Take a brain out of its skull, cut a thin slice, examine it under a microscope and you will see nothing but grey, barely differentiated matter. You might be astonished then, as late nineteenth anatomists were, to discover that when treated in the right manner the blank slate contains a universe teaming with small parts, thousands upon thousands of lines wrapping around each other in terrifyingly convoluted patterns. READ MORE OBSERVERS ROOM : MARK LAMSTER Beauty on the Border Daniel Mihalyo and Annie Han, of Seattle's Lead Pencil Studio, recently put up a piece along the Canadian border that is stop-you-in-your-tracks beautiful. READ MORE OBSERVATORY : JOHN FOSTER Accidental Mysteries, 12.12.10 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 Marian Bantjes, Alexander Gelman & Michael Surtees Marian Bantjes, typographer, Alexander Gelman, designer extraordinaire & Michael Surtees of DesignNotes. Listen >> More Design Matters Archive >> CHANGE OBSERVER: PROJECT ARCHIVE Roudha Center Report on Roudha Center, a proposal for a one-stop hub for Qatari women to learn the nuts and bolts of launching a business READ MORE OBSERVATORY ARCHIVE Art Rogers v. Jeff Koons Civilian Typography Notebooks 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 Drawings from the Gulag Danzig Baldaev Shakespeare's Freedom Stephen Greenblatt The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne
Privacy Policy \| Contact Us You are subscribed as \| Unsubscribe Copyright © 2009 Observer Omnimedia LLC. All rights reserved. Design Observer, P.O. Box 159, Falls Village, CT 06031, USA