Which one?

A little survey question that tends to cause strong feelings in favor of one or the other, with the exception of one friend who decidedly argued that the two structures could not be compared.

WHICH ONE IS THE STRONGER ICON, THE EIFFEL TOWER OR THE STATUE OF LIBERTY?

Please respond.

New Parklet Design

Call this a sneak peak.  We recently received a planning permit for our parklet design South of Market. Now it is time to get serious about grant funding, detailing, materials, and fabrication.  We hear back about our grant proposals the end of September.  A very unfamiliar process form me but it is encouraging to see the variety of active non-profits in SF and Berkeley.

Re: unfinished spaces

The movie was as good as the trailer! In the post-performance there were a lot of questions relative to the reality of Cuba, the revolution and the political-cultural boundaries encountered by the film makers. But i think the movie was interesting in that it brought to light the issue of time in architecture, highlighted by a set of buildings that have lived as though a thousand years - experiencing the extreme conditions of a literally secluded island - yet whose architects are still alive. It was a great experience, tears and all. I do wonder though whether it was a movie about the space or one about its architects...oh the narcissism...

unfinished spaces

although not the most dynamic title, the trailer kind of gives me goose bumps - starting with the soundtrack: unfinished spaces. i look forward to seeing it on

sunday. yay.

here's archinect's news on it.

and a few shots from the book revolution of forms

Check this guy out...Choi Xooang. Some nice mythology.

Attached are a few random pieces I enjoyed from the 2011 Mills College MFA show.

This is the first mock up for a new table I've been working on with my partner.  The table is made of nine pieces that lock and slot together.  The production pieces will be out of either solid maple or walnut with a highly detailed Baroquesque wood inlay creeping down from the stem to the base. There will be matching stools/chairs as well. The goal might be a bit arrogant but we were working on creating a better proportioned and more intricate Eero Saarinen table that can be easily assembled.  I'll post some better pictures and renderings in the future.

Vessels part 1

i thought i'd make a short comment on the term 'vessels' as it keeps appearing here and there in the corners of the day. following edmund de waal's http:\\ site, he describes his real search into 'how objects embody memory - or more particularly, whether objects can hold memories.' the vessel being the object that performs the act of carrying. some nostagic anecdotes are suggested with these pieces.





The work of another ceramicist, hella jongerius, speaks to topics similar to de waal's, on the nature of the object as it relates to structure, the individual and its collective. the short clip is pretty good, and gives a sense of the craft of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPYmQDUpvoM







Of course this kindof talk always leads me to cremains, and the vessels that define them.



The Oregon State Hospital is looking to unite 3500 cremains of those who died while living at the hospital with their relatives. David Maisal has published a book of the collection called the library of dust.



Which, if by any chance, you are in the google market for an urn, the current selection of vessels is highly disappointing - not to say pretty damn awful. i would much rather a tin can with a label.

The wallenburg studio at the university of michigan, under the auspices of an amish riddle, are creating vessels that contain, through form, the set of parameters that created them. 10,000 forms to be exact.

Codex Foundation Book Show

These are a few highlight images from the Codex Foundation artist book show held in Berkeley CA.  

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa,'The Nose'

Sergei Tretiakov, 'Gas Mask'

Dado

Yamamoto Masao

Joris Hoefngel

Joris Hoefnagel, illuminator; Georg Bocskay, scribe 
Flemish and Hungarian, illumination 1591-1596, script 1561-1562 
Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment

Joris Hoefnagel, illuminator; Georg Bocskay, scribe 
Flemish and Hungarian, illumination 1591-1596, script 1561-1562 
Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink on parchment

Neglected Books

A website on great lost and forgotten books.
http://neglectedbooks.com/

This is my new artist book by Mathilde Bourgon.  I bought this book at Librairie Nicais in Paris which is by far the most interesting and entertaining bookstore I have ever encountered.  The scope of their collection is spectacular and luckily they will be visiting the Bay Area for the California Antiquarian Book Fair. 

Post From A Rickshaw

"India on my mind again. Because I travel a lot, people sometimes ask what my favorite country is. I always say 'India' because it's the truest answer, although favorite isn't exactly the right word. But if the question is, what country do I want most to revisit before I die, the answer is unequivocal: India."

Jon Carroll, "Phantom India Stays in the Mind," San Francisco Chronicler