The Mobile City – TV glasses – watching video in private Annotated
tags: anonymity, cities, privacy, public_space, technology
Mobile City asks all the right questions (in this case, about video glasses, a visual sort of iPod or Walkman device). Eg.: “…it’s another addition to the array of media to shield off private media consumption in public places. Just like the Walkman/iPod earbuds privatized personal music listening, these glasses may do something similar for watching video/TV. The same ol’ question arises again: what does this mean for publicness of places?”
What does it mean for the publicness of places? Or, alternately, what does it mean for polite anonymity, for protective anonymity? At what point does privacy become just a bit too …aggressive and impolite for civic intercourse?
A Daily Dose of Architecture: Half Dose #43: Tile for Yu-un Annotated
tags: courtyard, embodiment, frank_lloyd_wright, materiality, tadao_ando, tokyo
This I love. It reminds me of a really cool and timely update of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ideas about texture, and how the appropriate emphasis on surface texture will relate to your bodily experiences, will make you experience time differently (perhaps more slowly — note the knobby quality of the highly polished “bon-bons” vs the smooth glass of the entry, not to mention the strict geometry of the stairs (see esp’y the 3rd picture).
Sure footing on Jarvis slip by Christopher Hume (Toronto Star) Annotated
tags: christopher_hume, jarvis_slip, public_space, toronto, waterfront
This is the article that accompanies the video (also linked to today). It’s about the three finalists in the competition to redesign T.O. waterfront along the Jarvis Slip. Best quote: “Though the three finalists are all quite different, in their own way each takes conventional notions of public space and carefully turns it upside down. This is exactly what Toronto’s waterfront needs.”
Enhancing the Jarvis Slip by Christopher Hume (TheStar.com – Video Viewer)
tags: architecture, christopher_hume, jarvis_slip, public_space, toronto, video, waterfront
The Toronto Star put up a video of Christopher Hume explaining the 3 finalist contenders for re-making Jarvis Slip, a T.O. d/t lakefront public area.
This makes me think of how important speech (vs. the word as read) is when thinking about any issues, and of how important the speaker is (his/her manner/ abilities at conversation). Hume has done an excellent job on other videos posted to the Toronto Star, explaining the city’s architecture for downloadable walking tours.
Radiant City :: A Documentary About Urban Sprawl
tags: angst, anomie, sprawl, suburban_style, suburbs
This seems kind of apropos in view of Victoria’s development in the so-called Western Communities, called “Bear Mountain” (perhaps more appropriately, “bare mountain”).