20130129

Tea-puppet!

















Kenya Hara for Naoto Fukasawa's tea bag:
"This concept comes from the motion of dipping a tea bag in hot water, which reminds him of a marionette dancing. The handle on this human-shaped tea bag looks like a marionette handle too. When the bag is dipped in hot water, the leaves swell to fill the bag, creating a deep-hued roll. Repeating the dipping action, the user is engaged in a wondrous world of puppet play. Thus, design intrigued with the unconscious emerges through the medium of an action."

b-z @ Atmos Symposium


























ATMOS/5: Ecology & Design
In a radio interview recorded in 1971, Edwin Newman asked Marshall McLuhan about the relation between his work and the notion of ecology. McLuhan's reply was in form of a question: 'Do you know the origin of the word ecology?' As the interviewer quickly provided his definition, the Canadian media theorist pointed out that the etymology of the word was still uncertain. McLuhan maintained that its origin also stemmed from Greek mythology in which Echo was a tantalising nymph whose voice would repeat anything she had heard. What he implied was that ecology was not simply identifying an area of studies preoccupied with living organisms and their organisation, but also, and perhaps more importantly, a type of connection between things. Similar to sound which is generated in a specific place and propagates to affect and be affected by the surrounding, living organisms also follow complex patterns based on interactions, feedback loops and echoes. (Bottazzi, Roberto. 2012. "Ecological Urbanism." The Town Planning Review 83 (1): 124-126.)
How do we teach and practice ecology in design disciplines today? How can we or how do we make ecology relevant in our design practice and scholarship? How and when do issues of ecology challenge our existing modes of scholarship and practice, in design disciplines? What are the emerging opportunities and dilemmas in design practice and pedagogy when dealing with ecology? As long as design, through perception and production, engages the environment, the issue of ecology is extremely critical to all design disciplines today, in pedagogy and in practice. An attempt to construct a singular belief or establish a coherent design method in relation to ecology would only be futile. Such an attempt may even undermine the organic, dynamic and evolving nature that is imperative in understanding ecological phenomena. However, since everything is related in ecology, a large amount of our design practice and education has lost its rigour and focus when faced with contextualizing the ‘Ecology’ in ‘Design’: ’the challenge of putting understanding into the context of design teaching and practice. What are the ways that design can play an active and critical role in ecological context? Many papers have been written and many provocative theories have been (re)constructed around the issues of ecology, stimulating and challenging designers and educators. How are we then putting them into practice, in pedagogy and production? Which threads of Ecology are relevant to Design thinking and practice? How can we construct such relevancy through design? The symposium invites critical thoughts and works from scholars, educators, practitioners and students that reflect the nature of Ecology and Design – their relationship. The forum will chart diverse paths at work to inform and inspire new directions in practice and education of Ecology and Design. 

The University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Architecture in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada hosts an annual symposium – ATMOSPHERE (ATMOS). Each year the ATMOSPHERE symposia explore issues that are intangible and overlooked in design, planning and architecture, those difficult to pin down, document, or record with conventional instruments and methodologies. 

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20130126

20 years 1369!



 

  





What a great today to party at the beloved 1369 cafes! With live music and all teas, cafes, and sweets for free! From the 1369 website: 
In January of 1993, the 1369 Coffee House opened at 1369 Cambridge Street, in Cambridge’s Inman Square. The site was the former home of the 1369 Jazz Club, a well known local bar and music venue. In June 1994 we opened a second store in nearby Central Square...Many friendships, including several marriages, have developed at 1369. Several books and many theses have been written at our tables. We take pride in being a good neighbor and local gathering place. We are dedicated to maintaining this feeling.
In the Inman sq store I completed some chapters of my dissertation, and in the Central sq store...what can I say first? The last 5-6 years I waited family and friends to arrive, shared goodbyes with others, chatted intellectually and casually, drew sketches, read books, created new ideas and questions, had a lot of fun, some crying, did nothing, and had the most relaxing tea moments...

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20130120

after


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snowy day







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20130119

Translation Symposium



  
Organized by Marc J. Neveu (1st and 2nd photo). In the 3rd photo one can see participants of Technical Translations: moderator Rob Trumbor, and presenters Troy Peters, David Pearson, and James White (JT). In the 4th photo graduate chair John Ellis is commenting the presentations.






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WIT 2013 Spring Lectures and Events


Glad to be part during the first event.

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20130111

b-z @ Translation Symposium


Monday, January 14th @Watson Hall, WIT
12:30               Introduction

Marc J Neveu


1:00 – 2:15      Re:presentations (moderated by Chala Hadimi)

Robert Cowherd: Lost and Found: the Specific Autonomy of Drawing. 
Nicholas Fusco:  Translating Graffiti to Architecture.
Bruce MacNelly:  The Continuous Landscape: Painting and the Architecture of Michael Graves 1967-1979.


2:30 – 3:45     Technical Translations (moderated by Rob Trumbour)
Troy Peters:  Technical Translations.
James White:  Information Architecture, Translating Digital Experience into Built Form.
David Pearson:  Digital Tools: Problems of Interoperability and Translation.

 
4:00 – 5:15      Parallel Practices (moderated by John Ellis)
Sinead Gallivan:  A Dream Lost [or Discovered] in Translation.
Zenovia Toloudi:  Metaphrasis or Metamorphosis?  Translations between Architecture and Gastronomy.
Isaac Stearns:  Architecture as a Translation of Music.

 

5:15 – 5:30      Conclusion
More about Lost in Translation Symposium here.

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