Buckminster Fuller: Starting with the Universe
on view at the Withney June 26, 2008-September 21, 2008

“R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was one of the great American visionaries of the 20th century. Best-known as the inventor of the geodesic dome, Fuller devoted much of his life to resolving the gap between the sciences and the humanities, which he believed was preventing society from taking a comprehensive view of the world. His theories and innovations traversed the worlds of architecture, visual art, literature, mathematics, molecular biology, and environmental science and have had a deep impact on all of those fields.”

“The micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight compact dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working / dining, cooking and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use.

Informed by aviation and automotive design and manufactured at the micro compact home production centre in Austria, the m-ch can be delivered throughout Europe with project individual graphics and interior finishes.

The product was first launched in Munich in November 2005 with the development of a case study village sponsored by O2 Germany, which is currently occupied by students of TU Munich.”

Check the micro-compact home website.

Informal Architecture. From the archives of the Tate. Information via We Make Money Not Art (Sweet selection of vidéos by Régine)… And the full listing.

Sabine Seymour, CEO of moondial edited the Fashionable Technology book:

The interplay of electronic textiles and wearable technology, wearables for short, and fashion, design and science is a highly promising and topical subject. Offered here is a compact survey of the theory involved and an explanation of the role technology plays in a fabric or article of clothing. The practical application is explained in detail and numerous illustrations serve as clarification. Over 50 well-known designers, research institutes, companies and artists, among them Philips, Burton, MIT Media Lab, XS Labs, New York University, Hussein Chalayan, Cute Circuit or International Fashion Machines are introduced by means of their latest, often still unpublished, project, and a survey of their work to date. Given for the first time is a list of all the relevant information on research institutes, materials, publications etc. A must for all those wishing to know everything about fashionable technology.

The work of Cati Vaucelle is featured in this book! She mentions Touch.Sensitive, the project I collaborated on with her :)

This is why technology simply cannot and will not recreate what it is like to be in a meeting with people somewhere else. People, who have bodies, cannot inhabit virtual space. Hubert Dreyfus, a philosophy professor, puts it more poetically: “Tele-hugs won’t do it.”

Read the article by John Thackara: The fake-space race: design and the future of travel.

My next piece of furniture? Info via Swissmiss.

This Inflatable Lounger (GBP 20; about $40) built-in two speakers that you can connect your i-Pod, MP3 player, or CD player. It also has another desirable feature to make you time at sea more enjoyable. The Inflatable Lounger features it is easy to inflate and deflate, and does not need batteries or power cables. Of course, most important of all, it has a acceptable price.

The design findings of this weekend…

Exhibited at the Dansk Design Center… Muuto: Pil Bredahl’s OTO100:

Kaare Klint’s Safari chair (1933) was inspired by an English camp chair. It was one of the first Danish chairs that could be taken apart and delivered unassembled. Materials: Ash-natural or smoked. Manufacturer: Rud Rasmussen, Denmark.

An email from my dear friend in Switzerland:

i am in switzerland moving out from my apartment: a sweet dump i had rented since i am a student, filled with paintings from my grand father, mom’s carpets, and leather coated books. i never had to let go of so many evocative objects at once. a bit overwhelming really, but i guess i will feel lighter once i am done. good i have my “final home” coat, a gift from my japanese friend noboyuki….

Just a quick note to let you know that Michel Maffesoli has agreed to contribute to our book. Maffesoli is the author of the well-known and much quoted Times of the Tribes.