What could city planners and leaders learn from a bunch of hippies.
September 21, 2009
September 15, 2009
Recycling Architecture
Financial and safety concerns aside this is an applaudable example of local architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello putting the 3 R's into practice. They propose to repurpose the Bay Bridge's old infrastructure into sustainable low-cost urban housing. The Bay Line to be added to the eclectic list of SF neighborhoods.
Why I like their proposal
Overpopulation and the food crisis are two of the biggest challenges ahead. In both of those challenges LAND will play a preeminent role. The recycling of architecture provides with possibility—think of the tons cement awaiting demolition in the US today—and at the same time puts a break on the continuous invasion of the land and endangerment of animal and plant life. While we cannot undone the damage caused by decades of industrialization we can aim to maintain the balance of our ecosystems. We are recycling just about everything else these days and if we can figure out how to safely recycle infrastructure and reuse land we could be taking great steps to solve some of the challenges laying ahead of us.
A little bit Sci-Fi. A lot of cool. Personally I would still rather live on the firm land...
Read the BAY LINE project proposal here.
Why I like their proposal
Overpopulation and the food crisis are two of the biggest challenges ahead. In both of those challenges LAND will play a preeminent role. The recycling of architecture provides with possibility—think of the tons cement awaiting demolition in the US today—and at the same time puts a break on the continuous invasion of the land and endangerment of animal and plant life. While we cannot undone the damage caused by decades of industrialization we can aim to maintain the balance of our ecosystems. We are recycling just about everything else these days and if we can figure out how to safely recycle infrastructure and reuse land we could be taking great steps to solve some of the challenges laying ahead of us.
A little bit Sci-Fi. A lot of cool. Personally I would still rather live on the firm land...
Read the BAY LINE project proposal here.
September 10, 2009
Still Analog
Yesterday Steve Jobs unveiled the new iPods. The most expected announcement was was revolving the video cameras: the new Nano has it, the Touch doesn't. Get over it. To my delight another announcement was made regarding the NANO: the model now incorporates FM Radio. This will be the first radio ever on an iPod.
One mystery remains. Why would Apple put an FM tuner into an iPod, something it has refused for almost 10 years? The answer comes with iTunes-Tagging. In addition to live pausing of the radio stream (and rewinding up to 15 minutes through the buffer) you can tag tracks by hitting the center button. If a radio station supports it, the song info is saved and later you can see a list in iTunes alongside, you guessed it, the option to buy the song. Of course, the fact that the new Zune HD has an HD radio inside may also have influenced Apple’s decision. - WIRED
Economic and competitive reasons aside here is another example of consumers clinging on to tradition, and marketers combining digital with analog.
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