Dive into the archives.
- G/I/S: Terrain, Speculation, Swarms
[Nix Ex Machina. Having humbly set himself apart as one of lifes great thinkers, Tarko rejects the menial tasks offered to him by the job agency and quickly reaches the conclusion that selling snow to the Eskimos is well within his capabilities. Not put off by a few holes in his business plan–a complete lack [...]
- Particulate Swarms
[Radar image of Sydney during the dust storm of September 2009 - its largest in 70 years.]
Editors Note: File under Glacier / Island / Storm, a studio run by BLDGBLOG at Columbia University GSAPP. Storm edition.
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“It is time / It is time for / It is time for stormy weather” – The Pixies
Storms deal in [...]
- Islands of Speculation/ Speculation on Islands: Spray Ice
[Large Ships spraying Water to manufacture Ice Islands]
Editors Note: File under Glacier / Island / Storm, a studio run by BLDGBLOG at Columbia University GSAPP. Glacier Edition.
Islands fabricated from ice are becoming more prevalent as offshore oil speculation in the Arctic gains more interest. Ice has been a strategic building material in the Arctic for [...]
- LandFab, or Manufacturing Terrain
[Zealandia topography. Considered by many a lost continent (micro-continent), Zealandia sank after separation from Antarctica some 130 million years ago. Separated or future originary?]
Editors Note: File under Glacier / Island / Storm, a studio run by BLDGBLOG at Columbia University GSAPP. Island Edition.
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Gilles Deleuze, in “Desert Islands,” distinguishes between two types of islands, continental (separated) [...]
- Student Works: Thermarium
Processing Water Overflow
The Thermarium envisions a new beach typology for the Toronto Waterfront. Responding to the lack of swimming at Toronto’s new urban beaches and consistent CSO (combined sewage overflow) closures at surrounding swim areas, we offer new possibilities for water immersion and activity that are enabled, rather than prohibited, by the polluted run-off instigated [...]
- Snow Drift
[First signs of the real stuff yesterday as truckloads of transfered snow still roll in to Cypress Mountain, Vancouver. Photo: Paul Chinn / Chronicle.]
[Ed note: Inspired by the mounting concern over a dry unprecipitated Winter Olympics, an earlier version of this sat in our post-box for several weeks, though finding the time to complete it [...]
- The Spectatorium, 1893
[Steele MacKaye's Spectatorium was intended to re-create the landing of Christopher Columbus, complete with mini-ocean, waves, and an island.]
With seating for 10,000, an eight foot deep concrete tank under the entire stage complete with wave machine and wind machines, railroad ties to aid in the shifting of three dimensional scenery behind a “light curtain,” the [...]
- robonauts
[Robonaut2 – or R2 for short – is the next generation dexterous robot, developed through a Space Act Agreement by NASA and General Motors. It is faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced than its predecessors and able to use its hands to do work beyond the scope of previously introduced humanoid robots. Image via [...]
- Crisis of Solutions / Opportunity of Crisis
[Crisis As Catalyst: The Annual Thesis Publication 2009, Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, & Design / University of Toronto.]
The Thesis publication this year, ANNUAL, has raised the stakes again. Below is a short piece I submitted to it, which asked for responses to the provocation of “crisis as catalyst.”
The Crisis of Solutions / The Opportunity [...]
