.We are all fans of The Simpsons (some more than others!) while some can definitely appreciate the art and influence The Simpsons have... They are a niche completely unique unto its own, with an art style so distinctive- it is instantly recognizable anywhere- and imitations can be spotted easily. Plus, the decades that the Simpsons have been around for, have made us anthropomorphically attached to specific characters... I find this is what gives The Simpson parodies a life of its own.
Over the past few years Vitra has aquired a wide-ranging Home Collection. The quantity and variety of objects by many different designers led to the idea of building a showroom to present the items to the public. There would also be additional space to be used as an exhibition venue for selected parts of the collection or even as an extension of the Vitra Museum itself. A shop, a cafe linked to the outside and conference rooms complete the program.
The “VitraHaus“ is a direct, architectural rendition of the ur-type of house, as found in the immediate vicinity of Vitra and, indeed, all over the world. The products that will be on display are designed primarily for the private home and, as such, should not be presented in the neutral atmosphere of the conventional hall or museum but rather in an environment suited to their character and use.
By stacking, extruding and pressing – mechanical procedures used in industrial production – simply shaped houses become complex configurations in space, where outside and inside merge. The interior is designed as a spatial sequence with surprising transitions and views of the landscape. The landscape in all its variety – the idyllic Tüllinger Hills, the broad expanse of the railroad tracks, and the urbanized plane of the Rhine – was the incentive to design a building that concentrates on the vertical. In contrast to the other buildings on the Vitra Campus, an essential component of the design involved drawing the outdoors inside.
The anticipated increase in visitors – not only individuals but also many schools and other groups – gave added importance to benches, niches, covered waiting zones and entries. These areas for sitting, standing, waiting, and looking are stamped or cut out of the shape of the houses through simple mechanical manipulations. Given the large number of design objects on view inside, all of these areas are conceived as an integral part of the architecture and not as self-contained objects.
Herzog & de Meuron, 2006
Bruce Barone captures the 70's in all its pop-culture euphemistic, manufactured nostalgic glory. Some are surprisingly familiar and reminiscent; of recognition of what was quintessentially the 70's era.
Skinput is a new futuristic interface currently being developed by Chris Harrison at Carnegie Mellon for Microsoft. A combination of the ability to detect ultra low-frequency sound, and a microchip-sized projector have culminated in this interesting technological marvel.
Skinput is based on an armband straddling the wearer's biceps and detecting the small vibrations generated when the user taps the skin of their arm. Due to different bone densities, tissue mass and muscle size, unique acoustic signatures can be identified for particular parts of the arm or hand (including fingers), allowing people to literally control their gear by touching themselves. The added pico projector is there just for convenience, and we can totally see ourselves using this by simply memorizing the five input points (current maximum, 95.5 percent accuracy), particularly since the band works even if you're running. Make your way past the photos to see Tetris played in a whole new way!
via: engadget
Skinput: Appropriating the Body as an Input Surface. To appear in Proceedings of the 28th Annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
It’s been 12 years since Yuen Woo-ping, celebrated international master of movie martial arts, directed his own movie instead of choreographing action for someone else and now he’s finally back where he belongs helming the wuxia pian TRUE LEGEND, starring Vincent Zhao (THE BLADE), in his first film role in eight years.
Something a little different that can be spotted in Yuen’s latest film from set photos are menacingly black-armored costumes seemingly straight out of Tsui Hark’s SEVEN SWORDS. In past interviews, Yuen has cited SEVEN SWORDS and the more recent war epic THE WARLORDS as a change in direction for the martial arts genre. Action and art direction, it seems, is moving away from the picturesque opulence of a Zhang Yimou wuxia epic and towards a more somber and violent presentation of martial arts and martial arts heroes. Regarding TRUE LEGEND, Yuen has stated that the film will feature very little comedy and will instead be a tragic, but inspiring drama. We’ll have to wait and see if that mood translates in the action itself.
The track is startlingly dark alongside the group's forerunning singles, built on a solemn, low-toned synthesiser hook and Albarn's eerily ethereal chanting. Womack wails with intensity, "If its love is electric, it'll be flowing on the streets/Night after night, just to get through the week," as the salvo of synthesisers reaches a crescendo. Mos Def—who joins the group complete with his own animated character, game vendor Sun Moon Stars—is kept quiet until the finale, contributing his lo-fi verse, which is similarly centered on harnessing electricity, through a tin of beans he found washed up on Gorillaz's plastic beach. At a meager four bars, it's a sweet, if unfortunately short, cameo from Mos, who has promised that his work on album track "Sweepstakes" ranks among his best.
The sinister groove of "Stylo" catches Albarn and his band of disparate collaborators in a far less buoyant mood than we left them after Demon Days, which should prefigure an interesting sound for their upcoming long player. Until then, there's plenty to savour from this terrific foretaste: a melancholic thumper, perhaps 2010's strongest single so far.
I came across these renders for a Mac Book Mini by Isamu Sanada (he is a devoted Apple freak). There aren't any suggestions or ideas on what exactly this book should hold. Except for the fact that it has a very convenient sliding track pad, the design gives away nothing.
via: YD
