Month: December 2006

Scifi Architecture

stuff like this makes me want to be an architect. but then again i would not have wanted to sleep on the floor in school, hunched over my cardboard model

Tom Foster, then, proposes a “swarm of hyper crystallisation submersible robots” that will spend an entire winter underwater in the Gulf of Helsinki, “artificially enhancing the ice sheet from underneath.” This – referred to as “ice periphery management” – is done in the service of an “ice suburb” that “will exist [out on the ice] for 5 months of each year.” The ice sheet can be strengthened with “coolant filled reinforcement bars,” and the ice suburb will generate its own energy “from high winter winds and sea/ice movements.”
So you’ve got an entire sci-fi trilogy, economically compressed into a few renderings and photo captions.

2007-03-21:

So what does all this have to do with cinema and architecture – or even with science fiction and the city? Well, by talking not to architects but instead to the people who actually design the sets, backdrops, cityscapes, environments, buildings, rooms, etc., in which cinematic action takes place – from X-Men 3 to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – you should be able to get at least some sense for what architecture can mean, on a narrative level, to those outside the architectural field.

man, the only time ever that i regret not being in LA

2007-05-14:

There’s a not-so-hidden influence on contemporary architects that’s widely acknowledged but rarely discussed: the speculative architectures in fantasy and science fiction movies.

crossing boundaries

Google Mondrian

sweet. i look forward to using this 🙂

Code reviews can be initiated and completed from within the Mondrian interface. A developer requests a review from another user or a group of users to kick off the process. Each invited reviewer can add comments directly underneath a line of code or reference the entire file. You can request and diff the file against previous versions as well. It’s a pretty slick interface, lightly highlighting each line of code as you hover, and popping open a comment box in response to a double-click. Comments can be saved as a draft and shared at a later time.

Space Suits

The Mission of Orbital Outfitters is to provide affordable, industrial quality spacesuits and related services to commercial and government space travelers and explorers.

2007-02-16:

Astronauts’ spacesuits may one day be covered in motion-sensitive protein called prestin, which is found in the outer hair cells of the human ear. In the cell membranes of these cells, prestin converts electrical voltage into motion, elongating and contracting the cell. This movement amplifies sound in the ear. However, prestin can also work in reverse, producing electrical charges in response to mechanical stresses, such as tiny vibrations.”

2007-07-15:

retro cool. now we only need a spacecraft that does not suck.
2010-05-18:

Hubert Vykukal demonstrates mobility of the Hardsuit AX 3 Space Suit design.

with disco shoes.
2019-10-16:

Even though it’s primarily designed for launch and reentry, the Orion suit can keep astronauts alive if Orion were to lose cabin pressure during the journey out to the Moon, while adjusting orbits in Gateway, or on the way back home. Astronauts could survive inside the suit for up to 6 days as they make their way back to Earth. The suits are also equipped with a suite of survival gear in the event they have to exit Orion after splashdown before recovery personnel arrive. Each suit will carry its own life preserver that contains a personal locator beacon, a rescue knife, and a signaling kit with a mirror, strobe light, flashlight, whistle, and light sticks.

People Doing Stuff

That is why I wrote the ‘People Doing Stuff’ random image finder. Sometimes I just like to see where the net will take me. I click it, see a little thumb nail and think, “What the heck is that?” Open it in a new tab and have a window into a unknown world.

So how to use this thing. Sip your favorite beverage. Click on the new name and verb button for a few hours and enjoy.

playful UI to discover the ginormous quantities of images. once the image labeling project is making a dent these folks will really be cooking with gas