(Untitled)- June 22, 2008 On the importance of bungalows. What started off as a vaguely modernist-inspired house-building programme (see The Daily Mail book of Bungalow Plans) gradually evolved into a populist building movement that was less about architecture and more about personal freedom and dreams of a place of one's own. The bungalow is a point where popular taste diverges sharply from architectural taste. 'In Ireland, one of the bestsellers of the 70s was a self-build manual called Bungalow Bliss. Following its.http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/on-importance-of-bungalows.htm (Untitled)- June 16, 2008 Hidden megastructures. The other day, someone was complaining about the prevalence of cell phones at rock concerts the other day, and how live performances are often experienced through the hundreds of tiny screens people hold in front of their face as they attempt to capture blurry pictures of the band on stage. It's a fair point, although most agree to disagree as to whether the general experience is ruined or it's just another technological fetish we will swiftly subsume. A natural...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/hidden-megastructures.htm (Untitled)- June 16, 2008 Glancey on the DC-3, soon to be banished from the skies by EU legislation (apparently, although don't necessarily trust anything that says EU legislation is to blame). We saw Classic Flight's DC-3 over South London last week. They also run the fabulous de Havilland Dragon Rapide, one of the most elegant planes ever made. The DC-3 first flew in 1935, giving the design a respectable 73-year life span, easily eclipsing the tortoise-like Routemaster (1954-2005, although some are still kicking...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/glancey-on-dc-3-soon-to-be-banished.htm (Untitled)- June 14, 2008 English Buildings, the weblog of the book by Philip Wilkinson The Holy Bible, a weblog one good bumblebee, a weblog Johann Hari does a supposedly fun thing he'll never do again Chris Burden's skyscraper a map set of military bases examples of autotune abuse, via me-fi and this Sasha F-J piece wikio collates the 'top-ranking' UK weblogs. Surprising that technology and politics dominate the 'UK blogosphere' Coudal's biannual(ish) Field Tested Books goes live for 2008. We contributed a...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/english-buildings-weblog-of-book-by.htm (Untitled)- June 11, 2008 Recommended: Sounding Rooms, on the implausible notion of unfolding familiar space, with new rooms gradually unravelling around you. The comments mention Danielewski's House of Leaves, unsurprisingly, plus Geoff's earlier post about the undiscovered bedrooms of Manhattan, but there are other precedents, like the Winchester Mystery House (for which no floorplan seems to exist, at least not online), or even the weblog, a potentially infinite unfolding space, always linking onwards, opening new..http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/recommended-sounding-rooms-on.htm (Untitled)- June 10, 2008 A visual history of the TV detector van, via autoblog. Oobject is similar in spirit to Deputy Dog, collating visual lists that present just the right combination of retro stylings and visual eccentricity - Formula 1 user interfaces (or 'steering wheels'), Soviet technology rip-offs, 'unboring' ferris wheels, survival kits, classic Nakamichi cassette decks, etc., etc. These represent a triumph of digital curatorship, but also a new taxonomy of ephemera, one that dovetails contemporary obsessions.http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/visual-history-of-tv-detector-van-via.htm (Untitled)- June 5, 2008 Collections and compilations. People Who Buy Glass Houses, a Slate piece on the ongoing fascination with the icons of modernism as some kind of monetary, rather than cultural, investment. At the turn of the century, Peter Palumbo sold the Farnsworth House for a sizeable profit, largely on the strength of the house's iconic status. This set a precedent that other structures from the era have ultimately failed to follow. See Architecture for Sale if you're feeling brave. I love my life the...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/collections-and-compilations.htm (Untitled)- June 2, 2008 RIP Bo Diddley Items I didn't win, an eBay set 44, a tumble log feeding the 5000 aggregates feeds from various sources Channel 4 at 25 the new proletariat, an architecture weblog the great sale of Margate. 'asset management consultations' never end well shep.ca, a weblog some books set in underground locations forthcoming BMWs promise the apotheosis of in-car electronics, at least for now all about a Prefabricated Building System developed by artist George Maciunas in the 50s and...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/rip-bo-diddley-items-i-didnt-win-ebay.htm (Untitled)- June 1, 2008 Extracted from some random spam, book530.com, one of the countless 'art factories' in Dafen, a southern Chinese town that produces vast numbers of oil paintings, copied slavishly - and expertly - from Old Masters, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Abstract Impressionists, etc. etc. The work is true mass production: "We divide up the colors among us," said 18-year-old Zeng Xiangying, "By dividing up the work, contrasting colors stay clearest." How do they work eBay is awash in Chinese...http://www.thingsmagazine.net/2008/06/extracted-from-some-random-spam-book530.htm |