June 2013
2 posts
May 2013
3 posts
April 2013
5 posts
March 2013
1 post
January 2013
10 posts
December 2012
3 posts
November 2012
1 post
October 2012
11 posts
“I think sound is very important as we move forward with new communication technologies. We learned this when we developed our telepresence systems—any delay in sound makes the experience unbelievable. If you can’t interrupt in real time, or sing together, it’s not a real enough experience. So I’d love to see designers and architects keep sound quality, video quality in mind as they integrate communications tech in new cities, and think of the urban environments they design as a work of art—in other words, a wonderful human experience.”
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Cisco Says Cities Will Be ‘Smarter’ Than Us - Reena Jana of frog shares a recent conversation she had with one of the top minds at the multi-national tech company Cisco Systems: Wim Elfrink, the first Chief Globalisation Officer to be appointed at software giant Cisco.
“We must remember that great cities have souls. Think of what they are known for: Paris, for art. New Orleans, for music. San Francisco, for high tech. What is so promising about social networking is that in the future, we’ll be able to connect more people with each other around these aspects of cities while we are in them—or away from them. Finally, we should consider that the future of competition is between cities, whereas it used to be between nations. Many people today identify themselves as what city they are from, versus what country. If cities do not work to become smarter, in all aspects of the word, they will lose the competition for visitors, industries, and revenues.”
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Cisco Says Cities Will Be ‘Smarter’ Than Us - Reena Jana of frog shares a recent conversation she had with one of the top minds at the multi-national tech company Cisco Systems: Wim Elfrink, the first Chief Globalisation Officer to be appointed at software giant Cisco.
September 2012
14 posts
“New buildings are simple: imagination and engineering. New places are not.”
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Meades speaks some truth - but we think all good new buildings/architecture should aspire to be the facilitator of good new places. Commentators always forget to include the word “good” - a building is place as long as it is inhabited; it just depends whether is a good place or a bad one.
Jonathan Meades: Architects are the last people who should shape our cities
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grammaticus replies to Jonathan Meades article in the Guardian:
Architects make buildings which are conceived in terms of flow and movement, for all that they are static entities. Buildings have a hydraulic quality to them, so many sluices and locks and dams regulating the flood that will purify the city. All architects are, in the end, spatial hygienists, impatient of the squats and shanty towns and cardboard cities of the mind.” http://anatomyofnorbiton.org/anatomy_pages/architectural.php#resupportingwall
” —We found it more interesting reading the comments to the article than the article itself. Meades writes strongly to sensationalize or make a point, but it doesn’t mean it’s all that balanced or accurate an account. It seems Mr. Meade views urban design, landscape architecture, public realm and place-making as being the role of architects - this is only sometimes the case (even then, he doesn’t take into account the complicated relationship between an architect and his client, the developer: rightly or wrongly, the one with the money usually has more of a say).
Jonathan Meades: Architects are the last people who should shape our cities.
“So instead of competing on technology, people began to compete on design. And now everyone seems to be trying to out-design each other. But designed objects and experiences have become the norm – some would even say boring. Design is no longer the killer differentiator.”
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John Meada: If Design’s No Longer the Killer Differentiator, What Is? | Wired Opinion
“Art speaks to us as humans, not as “human capital.” Art shows us that human beings still matter in a world where money talks the loudest, where computers know everything about us, and where robots fabricate our next meal and also our ride there. Artists ask the questions that others are afraid to ask and that money cannot answer. Occasionally, as in Apple’s case, or Pixar’s, or Harley Davidson’s, we witness an artist asking questions that have a profound effect on the marketplace – on the way we live and play and drive.”
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John Meada: If Design’s No Longer the Killer Differentiator, What Is? | Wired Opinion
