The new Magnetic Fields record has me down1, so I’m on to the considerably more interesting new album Heartland from Owen Pallett, as I review some morning reading:
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The Copenhagen Wheel
Heavyset favorite Helge Tenno posits that we ought to re-examine the notion that more screens bearing more information represents progress, and instead look to methods that allow us to integrate our assembled data into physical objects. As I posted yesterday, there’s a bit of a theme going on here, notably from Ed Cotton and Faris Yakob (whose own conviction to this end is considerably longer-held). Helge posts some interesting examples – the Copenhagen Wheel demo2 was new to me – and integrates some good thinking from Tim Brown of IDEO, as well.
What’s missing in all of this discussion, to my mind, is some manner of unifying system. Manufacturers are clearly working, albeit perhaps more slowly than some of would desire, to integrate digital capabilities into their physical products. As I’ve written before, in absence of an open platform for customizing/personalizing the ways in which these devices operate, we’re stuck with proprietary systems for the integration of environmental/personal data with the objects we own and use.
Tangentially-related, and also making the rounds is a series of experiments by Fabian Hemmert, aimed at making digital information on a mobile device more accessible through a series of physical manifestions and changes. Exciting, if not-quite-applicable stuff.
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Rot-Weiss, Josef Schulz
Photographer Josef Schulz is back with an impressive new exhibition at The Galerie Heinz-Martin Weigand, featuring photos of American roadway signposts, digitally stripped of their identities. From the Cool Hunting writeup:
Isolated from the economic devastation of this “Great Recession,” this show could easily be viewed as a mere—though beautiful—study in formal language. Nevertheless, connected as we are to the painful realities of recent car dealership closures, shuttered shopping centers and consolidated commercial activity, “Sign out” reads as a commentary on the American dream, unfulfilled.
Perhaps. To me, the signage recalls the re-use of vacated spaces for purposes never imagined/associated with the original form, like the Charter School in a repurposed K-Mart.
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Via the brilliant Michael Ruhlman comes this Guardian piece on the divide between users of garlic presses and those whose inclinations lean more towards the use of sharpened steel. The article, for what it’s worth, is written by Felicity Cloake, who previously authored a similar review of mobile apps for wine afficionados. It’s a fantastic piece, well-worth the time of both foodies and fans of the written word. Personally, I’m inclined towards the more proletarian view espoused by Cooks Illustrated.
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GM Technical Center designer Eero Saarinen
Finally, in the jealous-as-hell category, Mason Currey blogs over at Metropolis on his remarkable fortune at having the opportunity to page through Where Today Meets Tomorrow, a book chronicling the General Motors Technical Center, compiled by GM Design Director Susan Skarsgard. It’s a fabulous write-up of a remarkable space. You can, if so-inclined, explore the single volume yourself at the Yale School of Architecture Gallery from February through May.
- quick-capsule review: Crap. Wordy, clever crap. I’ll give it more time. Later [↩]
- As an aside, fans of Copenhagen Wheel project will want to check out this article from the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, suggesting a commercial future for electric bicycles. [↩]
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