Today:
woke up early
got to school and worked on some cover letters
knowles came up and asked if anyone had a subaru in the risd lot. yes. it is being towed.
getting car off tow truck - $88
ticket from risd cops - $10
(learned car is not registered spend 2 hours at dmv)
re-register car - 61.50
realized windshield wiper is bent. new wipers (2 pair, just in case) $42
bought a tea for $1.85, but had to pay with credit card and they have $4 minimum. had to buy soup. total - $5
total cost of day = $206.50
total amount of productivity = 0
level of anger = priceless
the economy is fine, really.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Simple Site Analysis
Given this parcel is part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, part of the Big Dig project that invigorated the former site of the Route 93 overpass, and that the project/intervention takes on the idea of a public gathering spot, I wanted to start by showing the area that encompasses the greenway.
In this analysis, I am showing a simple breakdown of elements and the proximity to the site.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Abstract (2 lines extruded)
to bridge a gap* in two senses/ways -
[
1.) the cause of distance created by "the very proximity of self and machine creates an insurmountable distance between self and world" (Taylor, 198)
2.) the possibility of reducing distance of physical space
*the gap: is what exists when individuals retreat into a digital/virtual/online existence to the degree that their relationships with people and space is rendered inconsequential
*the gap: is a consequence of economy, politics & culture where a distance of physicality AND information sets people further apart than is actually quantifiable
]
by an architectural object/intervention, harnessing digital technology, acting as a node on a network, maybe its own network, making the private public; drawing people to it physically, to experience it together, at a public site, a physical node, challenging the barriers of public/private/social/economic/in/out.
Considerations:
- multiple locations
- temporal
- exhibition
[
1.) the cause of distance created by "the very proximity of self and machine creates an insurmountable distance between self and world" (Taylor, 198)
2.) the possibility of reducing distance of physical space
*the gap: is what exists when individuals retreat into a digital/virtual/online existence to the degree that their relationships with people and space is rendered inconsequential
*the gap: is a consequence of economy, politics & culture where a distance of physicality AND information sets people further apart than is actually quantifiable
]
by an architectural object/intervention, harnessing digital technology, acting as a node on a network, maybe its own network, making the private public; drawing people to it physically, to experience it together, at a public site, a physical node, challenging the barriers of public/private/social/economic/in/out.
Considerations:
- multiple locations
- temporal
- exhibition
One more from the City of Bits
- the conditions of barriers broken down and all things becoming one physically based on the accessability of all things from one network
Consider these things being replaced physically
Cyberspace is the new frontier. A place where there are addresses but no maps.
Consider these things being replaced physically
- libraries
- museums
- theaters
- schools
- malls
- banks
- work-places
- homes
Cyberspace is the new frontier. A place where there are addresses but no maps.
Diagram/Sketch 3
Here I was thinking about the spatial relationships created by making a 2D representation of wireless access. Each node is a wireless hub providing access to a small community. Each hub and each community is connected through the network of hubs, still connected physically.
Diagrams/Sketches 2
An increase in wealth equals an increase in connectivity. An idea would be to provide some type of connectivity to even those without resources (see red lines).Something other than this idea*, which I just don't fully believe is the right approach. This just creates more waste on products who's relevant lifespan is about 3 years.
[*Coincidentally, this web site was built by the Rubenstein Technology Group. As far as I know, I don't know them.]
Diagrams/Sketches
On the left is a diagram of our position in the physical world, with broken boundaries allowing to things we need and activities we participate in such as commerce, eduction, etc.
On the right is a representation of our position as it pertains to having digital access to the things we need and activities we participate in. We can now order, online, groceries and other goods. We can do our banking via our computer and we can socialize in this new environment. Also shown are the nodes, physical in nature, that connect the information architecture of our world.
Week in Review P4
Yet another interesting book: (in progress)
CITY OF BITS: SPACE, PLACE & THE INFOBAHN
-Willam Mitchell
"(The Neuromancer* fantasy of cyberspace that totally masks physical space - and so produces completely disembodied electronic existence - represents a theoretical limit, not a practical condition.)"
[* A book by William Gibson (1984) - where he coined the term cyberspace as "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions."]
I will read this book, later.
Anyway, the reason Mitchell points to this example is that he is describing how "for millenia architects have been concerned with teh skin-bounded body and its immediate sensory environment...Now they must contemplate electronically augmented, reconfigurable, virtual bodies that can sense and act at a distance but that also remain partially anchored in their immediate surroundings."
The idea that physical design in our real-world must take into account the idea that we will exist on two planes: the physical and the digital. Therefore, the physical spaces must be designed to accomodate these two parallels.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
"...every node is potentially both a publication and consumption point, such centralized concentrations of activity will be supplanted by millions of dispersed fragments."
This is a interesting and realistic idea as it relates clearly to the digital but how it could also relate to the physical (although it could somewhat represent itself to the terrible idea of urban sprawl). Given the way internet access has changed our relationship to space and how we obtain goods and services, nodal living could easily be a reality as all that we need and desire could be ordered and delivered.
I also think of how information has become nodal in that our main sources are slowly deteriorating to the vast choices offered by the information superhighway. However, as a former journalist, I worry about the increase variety reducing the credibility. Can something be done to give access that relies on many user interaction rather than one producer and many consumers (such as the blog phenomenon). {Can it make Fox news go away??}
CITY OF BITS: SPACE, PLACE & THE INFOBAHN
-Willam Mitchell
"(The Neuromancer* fantasy of cyberspace that totally masks physical space - and so produces completely disembodied electronic existence - represents a theoretical limit, not a practical condition.)"
[* A book by William Gibson (1984) - where he coined the term cyberspace as "a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions."]
I will read this book, later.
Anyway, the reason Mitchell points to this example is that he is describing how "for millenia architects have been concerned with teh skin-bounded body and its immediate sensory environment...Now they must contemplate electronically augmented, reconfigurable, virtual bodies that can sense and act at a distance but that also remain partially anchored in their immediate surroundings."
The idea that physical design in our real-world must take into account the idea that we will exist on two planes: the physical and the digital. Therefore, the physical spaces must be designed to accomodate these two parallels.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
"...every node is potentially both a publication and consumption point, such centralized concentrations of activity will be supplanted by millions of dispersed fragments."
This is a interesting and realistic idea as it relates clearly to the digital but how it could also relate to the physical (although it could somewhat represent itself to the terrible idea of urban sprawl). Given the way internet access has changed our relationship to space and how we obtain goods and services, nodal living could easily be a reality as all that we need and desire could be ordered and delivered.
I also think of how information has become nodal in that our main sources are slowly deteriorating to the vast choices offered by the information superhighway. However, as a former journalist, I worry about the increase variety reducing the credibility. Can something be done to give access that relies on many user interaction rather than one producer and many consumers (such as the blog phenomenon). {Can it make Fox news go away??}
Monday, January 26, 2009
Library Fines Part Deux!!
You need to be on your GAME when you are involved in transactions with our library. I know I was responsible for the late books and I paid my dues (literally) but here is why I come with warning:
I went back, after settling up, to take out another book and they suddenly tell me I am about to billed for another book! It happens to be a book for a project I did in November and IF it did take it out, I definitely returned it. They told me to check at home and come back and if I still could not find it, they put out an APB.
I asked them for the call number and found the dang book on the shelves in it's rightful place.
Keep an eye out maties!!
I went back, after settling up, to take out another book and they suddenly tell me I am about to billed for another book! It happens to be a book for a project I did in November and IF it did take it out, I definitely returned it. They told me to check at home and come back and if I still could not find it, they put out an APB.
I asked them for the call number and found the dang book on the shelves in it's rightful place.
Keep an eye out maties!!
Week in Review Part 3
I feel I am getting geekier by the second.
I embarked on another essay:
STRIPPING ARCHITECTURE - Mark C. Taylor
"...signs point beyond themselves by communicating information necessary for orientation in an ever more complex world."
There isn't a strong connection to the digital in this piece, given that he is talking about automobile technology and space, but I found that it related if you consider the navigation of the digital, the virtual and the cyber spaces.
The more complex these spaces get, the more important it will be to communicate information. That will be the new architecture in that space: information architecture (this idea has surfaced in my research before but I have yet to truly discuss it).
"The very proximity of self and machine creates an insurmountable distance between self and world."
This quotation jumped out b/c it was dead on in terms of my criticism of the uses of digital technology. Proximity. The more intense your relationship is with digitech, the less intense your relationship becomes with the physical. The physical in terms of spatial relationships and personal relationships.
I later began to think about this in a different way as well. To what end do the latter ideas affect global relationships in this current global world? I think there is an even greater distancing, despite the availability of global information, between what is going on in different countries and the caste systems within these economies. I ask this simply because I see a correlation between wealth and connectivity. Can the poverty stricken relate their experiences to the world? Can those who face injustice reveal their hardships? Where is the truth? Can it be revealed using this medium or will it simply be drowned beneath layers of hyper advertisements and virtual fantasy worlds?
Can an architectural project embody a solution?
I embarked on another essay:
STRIPPING ARCHITECTURE - Mark C. Taylor
"...signs point beyond themselves by communicating information necessary for orientation in an ever more complex world."
There isn't a strong connection to the digital in this piece, given that he is talking about automobile technology and space, but I found that it related if you consider the navigation of the digital, the virtual and the cyber spaces.
The more complex these spaces get, the more important it will be to communicate information. That will be the new architecture in that space: information architecture (this idea has surfaced in my research before but I have yet to truly discuss it).
"The very proximity of self and machine creates an insurmountable distance between self and world."
This quotation jumped out b/c it was dead on in terms of my criticism of the uses of digital technology. Proximity. The more intense your relationship is with digitech, the less intense your relationship becomes with the physical. The physical in terms of spatial relationships and personal relationships.
I later began to think about this in a different way as well. To what end do the latter ideas affect global relationships in this current global world? I think there is an even greater distancing, despite the availability of global information, between what is going on in different countries and the caste systems within these economies. I ask this simply because I see a correlation between wealth and connectivity. Can the poverty stricken relate their experiences to the world? Can those who face injustice reveal their hardships? Where is the truth? Can it be revealed using this medium or will it simply be drowned beneath layers of hyper advertisements and virtual fantasy worlds?
Can an architectural project embody a solution?
Week in Review Part 2
Another reading for a week or so ago...from the post-2nd Life era
THE MEDIEVAL RETURN OF CYBERSPACE -Margaret Wertheim
"...cyberspace is outside the physical complex of matter-space-time (the basics of reality/totality of the real)..."
I found interesting how she approached the historical definition of reality and contrasted it with the idea of cyberspace. She tied in a great deal of what "the soul" means and how cyberspace may be the place where it (the soul) could re-find itself.
Cyberspace provides a home for the psyche, the "I".
"The body may be sitting in the chair, fingers tapping at the keyboard, but unleashed into the quasi-infinite ocean of the internet, the location of the self can no longer be fixed purely in physical space. Just where the self is in cyberspace is a question yet to be answered, but clearly it cannot be pinned down to a mathematical location in Euclidean, or even relativistic spaces..."
This quote partly illustrates my thinking when I created my probe. Although I was more critiquing our personal behavior, there is a question of the "where" upon one's entry into the realm of the digital.
"...digital immortality in cyberspace..."
She introduces the idea of immortality as well which I found interesting as it came up twice in my research...so far.
THE MEDIEVAL RETURN OF CYBERSPACE -Margaret Wertheim
"...cyberspace is outside the physical complex of matter-space-time (the basics of reality/totality of the real)..."
I found interesting how she approached the historical definition of reality and contrasted it with the idea of cyberspace. She tied in a great deal of what "the soul" means and how cyberspace may be the place where it (the soul) could re-find itself.
Cyberspace provides a home for the psyche, the "I".
"The body may be sitting in the chair, fingers tapping at the keyboard, but unleashed into the quasi-infinite ocean of the internet, the location of the self can no longer be fixed purely in physical space. Just where the self is in cyberspace is a question yet to be answered, but clearly it cannot be pinned down to a mathematical location in Euclidean, or even relativistic spaces..."
This quote partly illustrates my thinking when I created my probe. Although I was more critiquing our personal behavior, there is a question of the "where" upon one's entry into the realm of the digital.
"...digital immortality in cyberspace..."
She introduces the idea of immortality as well which I found interesting as it came up twice in my research...so far.
Week in Review Part 1
Mostly from a week ago....
I found and read an article on Chris Marker from the publication Art Press titled "Chris Marker: Truth, First Person Singular."
I pulled a few quotes from this short piece:
"...interlacing images of the real with visual interventions such as cartoons, photo montages, postcards, newspaper cuttings, catalogs, posters, comic strip sketches, fragments of newsreels, old illustrations..."
I was just struck by the vast amount of media this guy uses to express himself. I found it is a possible example to follow in terms of setting our work free from our usual forms of expression: pencil, paper, computer....
"...electronic media are the only noble medium for handling feeling, memory and imagination."
I can't remember is this was a direct quote but it matters not. I don't agree with it. In fact, truth is not in the medium itself, rather, the way it is used.
"..awareness of mortality..." - - digital technology = immortality
I have considered this idea before, where immortality cannot be had in the physical sense, like a super hero or a vampire, but can only be had in memory. Thus, if one was to live on, in an immortal sense, it would have to be through memory. Thus, one would have to do something memorable and then be granted immortality. Magnificent acts. Think Einstein, Washington, Lincoln, King, Hitler, Kahn, Bonaparte, Bin Laden, etc... Each attached to memory by some virtue, be it positive or negative.
Memories do not last thus they could be jogged by a record, such as a book. Therefore, one who did not invoke such a powerful memory could live on so long as their acts were recorded and people continued to read about them in books. Books, however, have a life of their own and, it could be argued, stories do as well.
In the age of the digital it is thought that records could last longer than the paper ones of old. I don't want to get to far into this, but I had stumbled upon a podcast by Jaron Lanier (on of the original creators of virtual reality) who talked about the inherent temporality of digital files due to the continuing upgrading of software. Therefore, as software releases become obsolete, their files will soon follow. This idea presents an interesting dilemma in the longevity of "life" that the digital can sustain.
I found and read an article on Chris Marker from the publication Art Press titled "Chris Marker: Truth, First Person Singular."
I pulled a few quotes from this short piece:
"...interlacing images of the real with visual interventions such as cartoons, photo montages, postcards, newspaper cuttings, catalogs, posters, comic strip sketches, fragments of newsreels, old illustrations..."
I was just struck by the vast amount of media this guy uses to express himself. I found it is a possible example to follow in terms of setting our work free from our usual forms of expression: pencil, paper, computer....
"...electronic media are the only noble medium for handling feeling, memory and imagination."
I can't remember is this was a direct quote but it matters not. I don't agree with it. In fact, truth is not in the medium itself, rather, the way it is used.
"..awareness of mortality..." - - digital technology = immortality
I have considered this idea before, where immortality cannot be had in the physical sense, like a super hero or a vampire, but can only be had in memory. Thus, if one was to live on, in an immortal sense, it would have to be through memory. Thus, one would have to do something memorable and then be granted immortality. Magnificent acts. Think Einstein, Washington, Lincoln, King, Hitler, Kahn, Bonaparte, Bin Laden, etc... Each attached to memory by some virtue, be it positive or negative.
Memories do not last thus they could be jogged by a record, such as a book. Therefore, one who did not invoke such a powerful memory could live on so long as their acts were recorded and people continued to read about them in books. Books, however, have a life of their own and, it could be argued, stories do as well.
In the age of the digital it is thought that records could last longer than the paper ones of old. I don't want to get to far into this, but I had stumbled upon a podcast by Jaron Lanier (on of the original creators of virtual reality) who talked about the inherent temporality of digital files due to the continuing upgrading of software. Therefore, as software releases become obsolete, their files will soon follow. This idea presents an interesting dilemma in the longevity of "life" that the digital can sustain.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Second Life
What a world...!
After a discussion concerning Second Life (leading to Chris Marker - see previous post) I have embarked on my own 2nd Life.
First you build an avatar - a 3-dimensional representation of yourself. You can pretty much be anything and if you know how, you can insert your own creation.
Then you enter the world. It is a 3D fantasy land chock full of advertisements. The ads range from things such as rules, things to buy and places to go. Rules cover etiquette and transactions. Purchases range from personal items (for your avatar), to upgrades (code written by experienced engineers or 2nd Lifers), to land.
Currency: for about $2.50 USD you get over $500 2nd Life currency (I forget what it is called at the moment).
So you can either participate in the 2nd Life economy or simply, as I am doing, tarvel to the created places. There are parties to attend and you can make your avatar dance. Transport to different location is done by teleportation. You may also walk or fly (like superman).
I also found a medieval place where you can participate in adventures like the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. (Funny note: I showed up and started to get ready to enter - you have to be dressed properly and you have to add a plug-in to your avatar - and I was soliciting help from another person who proceeded to inform me that my avatar was dancing. I didn't know it. I had been dancing since the party I attended. I think my avatar blushed.)
Architecturally, anything goes. I've never used the software program Maya, but I think that anything you can create in Maya, you can create for 2nd Life. So far much that I've seen mirror 1st Life (our real world). Even though you can fly there are steps. Windows. Roads, though I have yet to see a vehicle. Column. Molding. Etc.... I have also seen a few things that are otherworldly. One's imagination (and the software) is the only limit.
I will upload some images soon.
I will continue to explore. If I go missing for while, please come rescue me from my 2nd life!!
After a discussion concerning Second Life (leading to Chris Marker - see previous post) I have embarked on my own 2nd Life.
First you build an avatar - a 3-dimensional representation of yourself. You can pretty much be anything and if you know how, you can insert your own creation.
Then you enter the world. It is a 3D fantasy land chock full of advertisements. The ads range from things such as rules, things to buy and places to go. Rules cover etiquette and transactions. Purchases range from personal items (for your avatar), to upgrades (code written by experienced engineers or 2nd Lifers), to land.
Currency: for about $2.50 USD you get over $500 2nd Life currency (I forget what it is called at the moment).
So you can either participate in the 2nd Life economy or simply, as I am doing, tarvel to the created places. There are parties to attend and you can make your avatar dance. Transport to different location is done by teleportation. You may also walk or fly (like superman).
I also found a medieval place where you can participate in adventures like the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. (Funny note: I showed up and started to get ready to enter - you have to be dressed properly and you have to add a plug-in to your avatar - and I was soliciting help from another person who proceeded to inform me that my avatar was dancing. I didn't know it. I had been dancing since the party I attended. I think my avatar blushed.)
Architecturally, anything goes. I've never used the software program Maya, but I think that anything you can create in Maya, you can create for 2nd Life. So far much that I've seen mirror 1st Life (our real world). Even though you can fly there are steps. Windows. Roads, though I have yet to see a vehicle. Column. Molding. Etc.... I have also seen a few things that are otherworldly. One's imagination (and the software) is the only limit.
I will upload some images soon.
I will continue to explore. If I go missing for while, please come rescue me from my 2nd life!!
Chris Marker
Chris Marker:
(FYI)This investigation came from a suggestion from Maria after our conversation on Thursday. Marker began his work during the pre-digital era (born in 1921) and has since adopted the use of digital technology for his use. As we talked about the role playing virtual world Second Life (for exploration - more to come on that later), Maria recalled a friend at the Harvard film archive who wanted to speak with Marker. Marker, know for not making public appearances (allowing to be photographed or interviewed), granted the request but only that it take place in Second Life. Marker is likely in his 80's.
An investigation of his work, it is thought, might help me think about the perspective of digital technology from a point of view of someone born before it's birth who then later uses it.
To get a sense of him (if interested), see the links below:
general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Marker
compilation site: http://www.chrismarker.org/
videos: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=chris+marker&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
I sought out what the RISD library had of Chris Marker's videos.
1.) La Jetee (1962)
2.) Sans Soleil (1983)
1.) This short is about a prisoner of war being used in time travel experiements. He is sent to both the past and the present in order to find aid for the survivors of a nuclear war, now living below ground with limited resources. Very Hitchcock-esque.
[synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Jet%C3%A9e]
I like the theme of time-travel, a hot topic forever, as an inspiration of hope, a betterment of life. Advances in architecture, medicine, technology, knowledge, follow this idea - improving life. Any new technology inspires hope and digital technology fulfills that in many ways: entertainment, medicine, knowledge, etc... Digital technology was not there in 1962 but Marker was dealing with a theme (albeit an act of desperation in the film) that becomes more prevelant within the evolution of digi-tech.
2.) This film is a dense dialogue read by a female narrator from letters that are supposedly from the cameraman.
[synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans_Soleil]
100 minutes of dialogue and images (both still and moving) cataloguing thoughts, musings, memories, ideas that pertain to the locations captured by the camera. It is a cross between a travel book and the National Geographic channel. No real plot but a lot of interesting information. What I took from it is the idea that there is so very little we know about each other, in a global sense. Nuances. Might digital technology be a way to serve the thirst for knowledge?
I could get lost in this film.
(FYI)This investigation came from a suggestion from Maria after our conversation on Thursday. Marker began his work during the pre-digital era (born in 1921) and has since adopted the use of digital technology for his use. As we talked about the role playing virtual world Second Life (for exploration - more to come on that later), Maria recalled a friend at the Harvard film archive who wanted to speak with Marker. Marker, know for not making public appearances (allowing to be photographed or interviewed), granted the request but only that it take place in Second Life. Marker is likely in his 80's.
An investigation of his work, it is thought, might help me think about the perspective of digital technology from a point of view of someone born before it's birth who then later uses it.
To get a sense of him (if interested), see the links below:
general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Marker
compilation site: http://www.chrismarker.org/
videos: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=chris+marker&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&resnum=4&ct=title#
I sought out what the RISD library had of Chris Marker's videos.
1.) La Jetee (1962)
2.) Sans Soleil (1983)
1.) This short is about a prisoner of war being used in time travel experiements. He is sent to both the past and the present in order to find aid for the survivors of a nuclear war, now living below ground with limited resources. Very Hitchcock-esque.
[synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Jet%C3%A9e]
I like the theme of time-travel, a hot topic forever, as an inspiration of hope, a betterment of life. Advances in architecture, medicine, technology, knowledge, follow this idea - improving life. Any new technology inspires hope and digital technology fulfills that in many ways: entertainment, medicine, knowledge, etc... Digital technology was not there in 1962 but Marker was dealing with a theme (albeit an act of desperation in the film) that becomes more prevelant within the evolution of digi-tech.
2.) This film is a dense dialogue read by a female narrator from letters that are supposedly from the cameraman.
[synopsis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sans_Soleil]
100 minutes of dialogue and images (both still and moving) cataloguing thoughts, musings, memories, ideas that pertain to the locations captured by the camera. It is a cross between a travel book and the National Geographic channel. No real plot but a lot of interesting information. What I took from it is the idea that there is so very little we know about each other, in a global sense. Nuances. Might digital technology be a way to serve the thirst for knowledge?
I could get lost in this film.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Library fines
Oooops! Found out RISD thinks that I've lost about 4 books to the tune of, roughly, $300. I guess they are pretty late.
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