Habitat Machines by David Trautrimas

These are great! An exhibit open Sept 25 through Oct 19 in Toronto, ‘Habitat Machines’, by David Trautrimas. The images of futuristic apartment blocks and office buildings are created using everyday objects – coffee pots, razors, etc. Some are reminsicent of the 60’s/70’s Archigram work of Peter Cook.

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Architecture: Styrofoam Homes Are Typhoon-Resistant, Refillable with People or Coffee

(via Gizmodo). Gotta love these foam houses! According to the article each is only 175 pounds and is easily carried. The original article includes shots of the interiors which look surprising roomy! All the usual caveats regarding non-rectilinear room shapes apply, however.

Architecture: Styrofoam Homes Are Typhoon-Resistant, Refillable with People or Coffee

Here Comes the Neighborhood – A Housing Project, MoMA-Style

NYT reports on new show at MoMA, “Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling,” which documents the state-of-the-art and history of prefab dwellings. Photo above is of Kaufman and Ruf’s System3 house being assembled for the show.

Here Comes the Neighborhood – A Housing Project, MoMA-Style – NYTimes.com

BBtv: Joel Johnson interviews Syd Mead, part 1

Boing Boing’s video blog BBtv has a nice segment where they interview designer and futurist Syd Mead. Enjoy!

BBtv: Joel Johnson interviews Syd Mead, part 1. – Boing Boing

Handwritten Typographers

This is just plain cool. Themaninblue.com looks to see if there is a connection between typographers – those that produce typefaces professionally – and their handwriting.

Handwritten Typographers

Polite, Pertinent, and… Pretty

Very interesting presentation fromMatt Jones, Dopplr, and Tom Coates, Yahoo, about how to best design application interfaces that allow people to make sense of the giant data soup which we are creating and continually dunked in.  (thanks People over Process)

Wired: What We Can Learn from Buckminster Fuller

Wired also weigh’s in on the Buckminster Fuller show at the Whitney with a nice gallery of images.

What We Can Learn from Buckminster Fuller

Architecture: Pop-Up Hotel Rooms

Saw this on Gizmodo:

A French company called Abilmo has developed collapsible hotel-style dwellings that users can construct in just about any location.

Architecture: Pop-Up Hotel Rooms

Eames Commemorative Stamps

Boing Boing notes the release of the US Post Office’s stamps commemorating Charles and Ray Eames. The sheet of 16 stamps was designed by Derry Noyes of Washington DC. The stamps can be ordered online from the Postal Service.

Dymaxion Man

The latest New Yorker includes a profile of Buckminster Fuller by Elizabeth Kolbert. She walks through the usual history of Fuller and his many inventions, included his invented vocabulary. To me the most interesting thing about Bucky was his frequently recounted story of contemplating suicide and deciding instead to devote his life to serving humanity as a whole. As recounted by Kolbert:

With no job and a new baby to support, Fuller became depressed. One day, he was walking by Lake Michigan, thinking about, in his words, “Buckminster Fuller—life or death,” when he found himself suspended several feet above the ground, surrounded by sparkling light. Time seemed to stand still, and a voice spoke to him. “You do not have the right to eliminate yourself,” it said. “You do not belong to you. You belong to Universe.” (In Fuller’s idiosyncratic English, “universe”—capitalized—is never preceded by the definite article.) It was at this point, according to Fuller, that he decided to embark on his “lifelong experiment.” The experiment’s aim was nothing less than determining “what, if anything,” an individual could do “on behalf of all humanity.” For this study, Fuller would serve both as the researcher and as the object of inquiry.

Good article and a nice introduction to Bucky for those unfamiliar with the breadth of his work.

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They also have a great slideshow online with the article here