Star Garden
BLDGBLOG 10/04/2012 20:22
[Image: Building the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor; ©ITER Organization].An artificially excavated limestone pit in the south of France will soon host star-making technology, New Scientist reports. "If all goes well," the magazine explains, in a few year's time the pit will "rage with humanity's first self-sustaining fusion reaction, an artificial sun ten times hotter than the one that gives our planet life."
[Image: Building the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor; ©ITER Organization].Reaching that point, however, requires an ambitious reformatting of the entire site, seemingly the very limit of landscape architecture: a kind of concrete garden that produces stars.
As the project now stands, construction involves inserting a supergrid of rebar into the quarried pit, securing the limestone walls with concrete foundation work, then pouring seismically-stabilized plinths that will support the so-called International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (or ITER) upon completion.
[Image: Checking plinths at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, as if Peter Eisenman's Holocaust Memorial in Berlin could be repurposed for building stars. Photo ©ITER Organization].Superficiallyi.e. they're both in France and they both involve limestoneI'm reminded of the Crazannes Quarries project by Bernard Lassus, for which cuts, sections, "artificial rock formations," shaped cliffs, and other designed geologies were introduced into and through the side of a French road. In effect, Lassus milled a new, powder-white landscape from the limestone.
But the ITER project seems to take the ambitions of Crazannes and turn them up to a nearly overwhelming degree: using a (to be clear, all but unrelated) landscape design process to produce moments of stellar combustion on the earth. It's like an undeclared monument to Giordano Brunoor, for that matter, to Aleister Crowley. A quarry in which we'll build stars.
In any case, nestled there in its semi-subterranean, mine-like site and buzzing inside with radiation-resistant robot elevators, each "about the size of a large bus," the ITER will recreate, again and again, "the process that powers the sun and most other stars. At extremely high temperatures, hydrogen nuclei will fuse to form helium, spitting out more energy than the process consumes, something that has never yet been achieved by a human-made device."
[Image: A blanket of rebar is installed inside the pit at the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor; ©ITER Organization].The photos seen herereproduced in accordance with ITER's image-use policyshows the site work in action: quarrying, gridding, pouring, smoothing, and stabilizing, in preparation for the birth of new heavens.
[Images: Building the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor; ©ITER Organization].More images are available at the ITER website.
Mann Seminar Primer
The Long Now Foundation 10/04/2012 19:27
“Living in the Homogenocene: The First 500 Years”
Monday April 23, 02012 at the Cowell Theater, San Francisco
For several years and two books now, Charles Mann has been interested in how humans take part in shaping the earths ecology. Most recently, he has focused on how the fragmentation and differentiation that occurred after the breakup of Pangea has been rapidly undone by globalization.
In the first of his recent historical works, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, he synthesized a broad range of emerging scholarship that indicates that the Americas, prior to Christopher Columbuss voyage across the Atlantic, were more populated than previously thought. Furthermore, the ecological character of the Americas, he contends, was probably shaped more significantly by human hands than conventionally acknowledged. He published his extensive research as an article in The Atlantic Monthly prior to fleshing out the full book. There remains debate as to how well this alternate view of American history will hold up, but it offers hints that the Anthropocene may have deeper roots than the industrial revolution.
Further exploring the depths of the human epoch, Mann followed up 1491 with 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, which focuses on The Columbian Exchange, or the ecological blending of the Old and New Worlds. In a video about the release of the book, he explains that the trade and migrations that began after 1492 were the beginnings of globalization and that theyve been working to bring back the ecological homogeneity of Pangea, the global supercontinent of 250 million years ago.
Mann also regularly contributes to National Geographic Magazine. In 02008 he even collaborated with recent Seminar speaker Jim Richardson on an article covering soil use and misuse around the world. More recently, he covered an amazing archaeological find in Turkey that requires some significant re-thinking on the genesis of civilization.
Hell deploy his estimable data and storytelling on Monday, April 23rd at the Cowell Theater. You can reserve tickets, get directions and sign up for the podcast on the Seminar page.
Subscribe to the Seminars About Long-term Thinking podcast for more thought-provoking programs.
Mann Seminar Primer
The Long Now Foundation 10/04/2012 19:27
“Living in the Homogenocene: The First 500 Years”
Monday April 23, 02012 at the Cowell Theater, San Francisco
For several years and two books now, Charles Mann has been interested in how humans take part in shaping the earths ecology. Most recently, he has focused on how the fragmentation and differentiation that occurred after the breakup of Pangea has been rapidly undone by globalization.
In the first of his recent historical works, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, he synthesized a broad range of emerging scholarship that indicates that the Americas, prior to Christopher Columbuss voyage across the Atlantic, were more populated than previously thought. Furthermore, the ecological character of the Americas, he contends, was probably shaped more significantly by human hands than conventionally acknowledged. He published his extensive research as an article in The Atlantic Monthly prior to fleshing out the full book. There remains debate as to how well this alternate view of American history will hold up, but it offers hints that the Anthropocene may have deeper roots than the industrial revolution.
Further exploring the depths of the human epoch, Mann followed up 1491 with 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, which focuses on The Columbian Exchange, or the ecological blending of the Old and New Worlds. In a video about the release of the book, he explains that the trade and migrations that began after 1492 were the beginnings of globalization and that theyve been working to bring back the ecological homogeneity of Pangea, the global supercontinent of 250 million years ago.
Mann also regularly contributes to National Geographic Magazine. In 02008 he even collaborated with recent Seminar speaker Jim Richardson on an article covering soil use and misuse around the world. More recently, he covered an amazing archaeological find in Turkey that requires some significant re-thinking on the genesis of civilization.
Hell deploy his estimable data and storytelling on Monday, April 23rd at the Cowell Theater. You can reserve tickets, get directions and sign up for the podcast on the Seminar page.
Subscribe to the Seminars About Long-term Thinking podcast for more thought-provoking programs.
The Footprints of Ancient Civilization, Seen from Space
The Long Now Foundation 09/04/2012 19:45
It seems that our ancestors left behind a bit more than the pyramids and temples we still enjoy today.
Using satellite photos and digital mapping technology, a group of archaeologists has discovered traces of ancient life on a much smaller scale. A recent article in Nature reported on the finding, quoting one of the studys researchers:
Traditional archaeology goes straight to the biggest features the palaces or cities but we tend to ignore the settlements at the other end of the social spectrum, says Jason Ur, an archaeologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is co-author of the study. The people who migrated to cities came from somewhere; we have to put these people back on the map.
Rather than palaces, these rural communities have left their mark in the form of anthrosols. Think of these as a type of footprints: anthrosol is soil that has been altered by the presence of human life. Communities built mud-brick houses, left behind organic waste, and fertilized agricultural fields all of which brought about a permanent change in the makeup and texture of the soil.
To see these footprints, you may need an archaeologists eye or alternatively, a spy satellite. Developing new imaging technology and methods for digital analysis, this group of archaeologists has been able to use satellite photos not only to map patterns of small-scale settlement, but also to measure the size of these ancient communities. This virtual form of archaeology promises to revolutionize the field, and has already drawn into question a few stalwart theories about the dynamics of urbanization.
Its a new way of chronicling the history of civilization, reminding us that our legacy is not just told through books and architecture; its written in the earth.
The Footprints of Ancient Civilization, Seen from Space
The Long Now Foundation 09/04/2012 19:45
It seems that our ancestors left behind a bit more than the pyramids and temples we still enjoy today.
Using satellite photos and digital mapping technology, a group of archaeologists has discovered traces of ancient life on a much smaller scale. A recent article in Nature reported on the finding, quoting one of the studys researchers:
Traditional archaeology goes straight to the biggest features the palaces or cities but we tend to ignore the settlements at the other end of the social spectrum, says Jason Ur, an archaeologist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who is co-author of the study. The people who migrated to cities came from somewhere; we have to put these people back on the map.
Rather than palaces, these rural communities have left their mark in the form of anthrosols. Think of these as a type of footprints: anthrosol is soil that has been altered by the presence of human life. Communities built mud-brick houses, left behind organic waste, and fertilized agricultural fields all of which brought about a permanent change in the makeup and texture of the soil.
To see these footprints, you may need an archaeologists eye or alternatively, a spy satellite. Developing new imaging technology and methods for digital analysis, this group of archaeologists has been able to use satellite photos not only to map patterns of small-scale settlement, but also to measure the size of these ancient communities. This virtual form of archaeology promises to revolutionize the field, and has already drawn into question a few stalwart theories about the dynamics of urbanization.
Its a new way of chronicling the history of civilization, reminding us that our legacy is not just told through books and architecture; its written in the earth.
Spaces on Spec
BLDGBLOG 09/04/2012 17:14
A few opportunities for those of you looking for new outlets:1) Kerb, the journal of landscape architecture from RMIT University in Melbourne, is publishing its 20th issue, on "speculative narrative" and other "fictional dispositions" in the field of landscape design. Submissions are due May 4.
[Image: Kerb 20].Read more on their website.
2) Spend three weeks in a renovated cotton mill in the woods of upstate New York, drawing, projecting, building, and discussing architecture. Arts Letters & Numbers, run by the Cooper Union's David Gersten, "is conceived of as: an architecture, a theater, a film, a drawing, a conversation, an action, a reenactment and a school, all inside each other." The workshop will begin "by drawing in the landscape with the elements; fire, air, water, and earth. These explorations will be a starting point for an evolving conversation between inside and outside, between fire and film, water, theater, air, drawing, earth and architecture. The entire site will be used to explore these interactions and develop amplifying exchanges and unpredictable questions."
[Image: The cotton mill].There will be daily seminars, visiting lecturers, near-continuous workshops, and don't forget "great food."
The photos below document a related workshop, also run by David Gersten, held in Aarhus, Denmark; while the space in upstate New York presents a different set of possibilities for work and display, a similarly immersive approach will be followed.
[Image: Photos from Aarhus Arc, led by David Gersten].Applications are due May 1, and the workshop itself runs July 728. More information is available on the workshop website.
3) The newest issue of The State dives into the spatial imagination of "speculative geographies."
We welcome submissions around the theme of "Speculative Geographies," and encourage experimentation with form, transmedia, and (web)site-specific installations; critical texts, interrogative narratives, slow journalism, sensuous net-artwork, moving or still images, psychogeographic mappings, place hacking, manifestos and conversations, among others. Because of the nature of The State, please do not feel restricted by the above; please feel free to alternatively submit a wall of text.Submissions are due April 30.
[Image: Urban Animal].4) The Animal Architecture Awards are back with a look at the "urban animal."
Urban areas are quickly becoming the densest concentrations of human life on the planet and with that comes the well documented positive and negative impacts to local biodiversity and ecologies. But humans are not the only urban animalssquirrels, pigeons, mice, rats, crows, raccoons, beetles etc.all species identified as synanthropesthat "live near, and benefit from, an association with humans and the somewhat artificial habitats that humans create around them." These are highly-urbanized non-human animals and our potential design partners.Accordingly, "Animal Architecture wants your ideas about how synanthropic design can reshape, expand and redefine the context of urban thought and space."
Register by May 13and check out a few submissions to last year's Animal Architecture Awards here on BLDGBLOG.
5) Finally, for those of you Down Under, Open Agenda is seeking "text and graphic based proposals that seek to develop research through architectural design" specifically from "graduates from a professional Australian or New Zealand degree [program] in architecture in the last ten years." Register by May 27th.
[Image: Open Agenda].Good luck!
VVVVVVORK
VVORK 09/04/2012 08:09
“Untitled”, 2012 by Kirsten Pieroth. Eggcup, egg.
VVVVVVORK
VVORK 07/04/2012 08:00
6 years of Vvork. Thank you for your continuous support.
VVVVVVORK
VVORK 07/04/2012 07:08
“The Eating Gear Grinding Machine” from the series “The Sound of Images” by Niko Princen.
Wilson Seminar Primer
The Long Now Foundation 06/04/2012 18:59
“The Social Conquest of Earth”
Presented by The Long Now Foundation and the Exploratorium
Friday April 20, 02012 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater, San Francisco
Edward O. Wilson started small. As a young man interested in biology, the lowly ant was his passion. Ubiquitous, diverse, and socially complex, however, ants provided Wilson with data and inspiration that would eventually grow into sweeping theories of evolution, behavior and culture. Those theories have been both fiercely defended as foundational scientific dogma and vehemently rejected as dangerous heresy – against each other in some cases.
One of the larger questions Wilsons work with ants would eventually address was how to reconcile altruism with selection of the fittest. Why do we observe animals sacrificing their own procreational success for others? Darwin himself proposed an answer – that there is an adaptive advantage in assisting those, such as siblings, who are closely related to ourselves. But it wasnt until the 20th century that Kin Selection, due partially to Wilsons work, become the textbook answer.
Wilsons belief that aspects of social behavior could be explained with evolutionary logic led to his 1975 book called Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. That the deep past of an organisms evolution could shape behaviors in the present wasnt a brand new idea, but seeking to explore it in depth, Wilson included the highly social homo sapiens in the books last chapter. Humanitys cooperation and empathy was understood by many at the time as a cultural invention that worked in spite of the selfish nature implied by the survival of the fittest. Dutch primatologist Frans de Waal would later call this Veneer Theory. But as Kin Selection and sociobiology were beginning to illustrate, altruism could be observed in the animal world and could be traced to a much deeper origin: biological evolution. While this might seem like a good thing – that humans wont automatically revert to savagery in the absence of modern culture – it set off alarm bells to those who heard it to mean that human behavior is determined by biology.
Wilson would later describe the broader goal of Sociobiologys last chapter in a book called Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. Rather than ever implying that human behavior is entirely programmed by DNA, Wilson sought to establish a framework for beginning to unite the findings of the humanities and the social sciences with those of evolutionary biology and the natural sciences. In Consilience he explained that human culture isnt determined by DNA, but that in some ways it is constrained by it. With that in mind, he advocated for interdisciplinary research that would begin to identify what influence DNA has on behavior, and what other influences must be taken into account.
Spanning the better part of half a century, Wilsons career has been a long and a fruitful one. But Wilson isnt interested in taking any of it for granted. He has, in fact, very recently mounted one of the most significant attacks on Kin Selection since he helped put it on the map in the first place. By focusing on eusocial species such as ants, bees and humans, Wilson is proposing that Group Selection, a less popular and long ignored theory, better describes the cooperation we see in ourselves and the animal kingdom.
His most recent book, The Social Conquest of Earth, explains why he’s changed his mind and what this new paradigm means for our understanding of human nature. He’ll discuss these findings on Friday April 20th at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater. This event is sold out, but you can sign up for the podcast on the Seminar page, where we’ll also post video of the talk afterwards.
Subscribe to the Seminars About Long-term Thinking podcast for more thought-provoking programs.
Showing page
9 of 840
<< Previous 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 Next >>