Visited the famous cemetery in Nørrebro (Copenhagen, Denmark) where Kierkegaard and Andersen are buried… and saw that:

Movable objects in a cemetery :-)

While conducting research on Green technology for ReD… I came across sweet pix and sites of interest to the neo-nomad:

EDF partners with Toyota. Picture taken from autobloggreen.

And MIT, always ahead… “recommends steps to slash gasoline use by 2035“:

“John B. Heywood, the Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has led research examining different approaches to cutting transportation fuel use and emissions. He and his colleagues recently released a comprehensive report that integrates findings from five years’ work.

MIT assessments of various propulsion technologies yielded these estimates of their potential fuel consumption in 2035. The analyses assumed that these new cars—to be sold in the United States—have the same performance and interior size as today’s average mid-size car. The 2035 vehicles have more efficient engines and transmissions, 20 percent lower weight, and reduced drag and tire resistances.”

And of course GM’s OnStar technology:

“With more than two million subscribers, OnStar is the leading provider of telematics services in the United States. Telematics is the transmission of data communications between systems and devices. OnStar’s in-vehicle safety, security, and information services use Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite and cellular technology to link the vehicle and driver to the OnStar Center. At the OnStar Center, advisors offer real-time, personalized help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

The legend of Figure 3 reads:

“Within seconds of a moderate to severe crash, the OnStar module will send a message to the OnStar Call Center (OCC) through a cellular connection, informing the advisor that a crash has occurred. A voice connection between the advisor and the vehicle occupants is established. The advisor then can conference in 911 dispatch or a public safety answering point (PSAP), which determines if emergency services are necessary. If there is no response from the occupants, the advisor can provide the emergency dispatcher with the crash information from the SDM that reveals the severity of the crash. The dispatcher can identify what emergency services may be appropriate. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, OnStar advisors are able to tell emergency workers the location of the vehicle.”

In French, the word for furniture, “mobilier”, originates from the Latin word “mobilis”, that which is moveable. In essence, a piece of furniture — a “meuble” — is displaceable. Modernists have attached pieces of furniture to the building envelope not only by literally integrating furniture to surfaces but also because they created pieces of furniture that matched their design philosophy and that fitted within spaces. On one hand, an integrated design piece, on the other hand a sort of mobile unit that is abstract enough to blend in with its surrounding; the now classic pieces of furniture — that of highest excellence — were once part of a total design. They were blending spatially and disappearing visually, and communicating the architect’s vision of offering democratic design solutions — design for the masses. Out of its ideal context, a space designed by the same architect, what does a piece of furniture created by an acclaimed master still retain?

Charles and Ray Eames (My favorite :) Lounge Chair and Ottoman, 1956. Picture from the Vitra website. The description says: “Charles Eames’ declared aim for this chair was to combine the utmost comfort with high-end materials and high-quality finishing. The result: a modern interpretation of the traditional club armchair boasting a convincingly well thought-out construction, right down to its tiniest details. Just as he intended, the chair conveys the impression of a soft, well-used baseball glove, inviting the user to sink back into it.”

Extension of the architect’s vision, the piece of furniture he creates vehicle his thinking. Meant to fit within unique interiors of modernist architecture, the mass-produced — and re-produced — mobile unit becomes a communication agent, a mean for designer to reach as many people as possible — and not always the elite. Even if building re-production has been a hot topic for a while (Prefabrication), a piece of furniture is a much more manageable element to copy with or without license, and cheaper to acquire. More tangible and visible than a coffee table book, it is a three dimensional communication and promotion tool for the architect — as architects pervade more interiors — and if sometimes an object of aspiration for the en-user, an integral part of a collection.

An extension of someone else vision, the piece of furniture carries much symbolism and intent. Having such a piece of furniture in a space that you gave birth to means acknowledging the authority of a considered master. Architects, and interior architects relate to this in different manners. For many architects, space is the showpiece. Architects usually hold on to their creation to the very last and small details and want to control all phases of the design process — Shop Architects uses BIM, the Building Information Modeling software (Any change in price or design is updated all throughout) — including the specification or design (Treating furniture like buildings) of furniture. A particular architectural program however is that of the museum for that the space of a museum needs to tune out so to emphasize the art whose period. Architecture in that case becomes at its best a jewel case that brings art and architecture to a whole. For interior designers on the other hand, the atmosphere of an interior is what matters most. They focus on the assemblage of unique pieces they curates in space. While architects sample theories and concepts, interior architects put together more tangible material, chairs, lamps, fabric… etc. Objects, with all what they may embody are in focus.

To be continued…

Back from fieldwork in Mumbai where I researched the usage of certain computing devices. A side note from the study was the realization that an entire Indian population lived on recycling electric goods. Here is a picture:

The West surely could learn from this practice. Indeed e-waste has been a big problem, and unfortunately a bigger problem for developing countries: European E-waste Labeled ‘Second-hand’ is Unloaded in Ghana.

An example of awareness project, the WEEE man:

“The WEEE Man is made from the amount of waste electrical and electronic products that an average UK citizen – YOU – will throw away in YOUR lifetime, if YOU carry on disposing of products at the current rate. Currently most of these products go straight into landfill. From January 2006 manufactures & retailers will be responsible for recycling this waste under new EU legislation called the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Directive.”

An initiative of interest. We have already mentioned the project “Sharer” by Vinay Venkatraman and James Tichenor: