September 7, 2008 at 6:35 pm · Filed under Music, Technology
I’ve always loved finding new ways to visually explain information, whether through maps, diagrams, charts or other graphical models. Edward Tufte is an old favorite on this very rich field of study — if you haven’t already, be sure to check out his latest book, Beautiful Evidence.
In similar fashion, Sha Wang’s nifty spiral generator creates a visual portrait of your musical tastes. By using your scrobbled Last.fm music tracks, Wang’s simple script whips up a sweet spiral graph of your listening patterns over the past year (see my spiral below). Want to try it out? Make your own at www.diametunim.com/muse, or view other spirals at http://datamine.tumblr.com.
Another colorful graphing tool for Last.fm users is LastGraph, which renders your listening history in the form of a wave graph. It’s just as pretty and clearly marks artists using varying color fields:
September 5, 2008 at 12:36 am · Filed under Design
Hard to topple as titans of design, the Italians and Dutch now have good reason to worry: this year, the Brits have pulled out all stops for some fantastic sights and events. Here are a few not to be missed:
The London Design Festival will soon take over dozens of locations throughout the city from September 13-23. This year’s events cover such topics as sustainable design, the influence of emerging materials and technologies, marketing and business tips for design professionals and, of course, plenty of fresh talent from the local scene. Come and (re)kindle your creative spark as you mingle amongst the UK’s own heavyweights.
The East End’s independent Kemistry Gallery currently features a retrospective of graphic design including typography, illustration and mixed media. Hurry in before the exhibition is gone:
Image from Kemistry Gallery
Troika’s ‘Cloud’ installation for British Airways at Heathrow Airport looks like an ultra-modern cross between the game Reversi (or more popularly known as Othello) and a standard disco ball. Shaped more like an amoeba than a cloud, the curved surface of the sculpture is covered by thousands of round discs that alternate between black and silver mirrored sides. The result is an audiovisual delight to behold, both in its wavelike transformation as well as the subtle clicking sound of moving discs:
June 26, 2008 at 11:41 pm · Filed under Architecture
Remember Archigram, the futuristic, pop-infused collective from the 1960s? The group that dreamed up magical urban environments like the Walking City and the Plug-In City?
It seems like the spirit of Archigram has emerged once again in the 21st century, this time in Dubai. Italian architect David Fisher has designed a 1,378 foot-tall skyscraper with 80 movable floors, each capable of shifting a complete 360-degree revolution around a central column within three hours or less. Dubbed the Dynamic Tower, the new structure will house a luxury hotel, commercial space and private residences:
Despite its behemoth appearance, the Dynamic Tower touts impressive green design principles. Wind turbines located beneath each floor will allow the tower to generate enough power for itself as well as neighboring buildings. An entirely pre-fabricated construction process will further reduce costs, too.
Fisher shows no signs of slowing down; indeed, he’s hoping to take his skyscraper idea worldwide. The tower is scheduled for completion in 2010, but Fisher is already planning similar structures in Moscow and New York.
