Wallpaper’s travel picks
July travel news: editor’s picks – take a break with this slideshow of 20 hotels and restaurants from around the world selected by Wallpaper for both design and quality of food or drink. 55 slides in all.
Compare city characteristics using maps
Prepare to Waste Your Day With This Fascinating City Comparison Tool – comparative mapping tool, Urban Observatory, was created by Richard Saul Wurman, geospatial firm Esri, and film company Radical Media. Shown here are two maps showing land dedicated to commercial use in …
Brightworks, a school for project-based learning
Stamen, Maps, and Brightworks – post on the Stamen Design blog about their visit to a school around the corner from them in San Francisco, Brightworks, “an exploratory school whose method is rooted in project-based learning.” What a great coming together of cutting edge map designers at Stamen and young students …
New Gensler workplace survey
Gensler Releases 2013 U.S. Workplace Survey, Finds Only 1 in 4 U.S. Workers Currently Work in Optimal Workplace Environments – this newest study of workplace design and worker productivity by international architecture, design, and consulting firm Gensler points to a need for balance between spaces for collaborative and individual work. …
Art of the bookmark
The Art of the Bookmark – UK graphic artist Simon C Page offers some great bookmarks in a variety of patterns and colors. Saw it on COLOURlovers. Mirage Bookmark – Swiss makers of fine bookmarks; their site has a exhibition of bookmarks from around the world. Also …
2013 R&D 100 Award Winners
R&D Magazine 2013 R&D 100 Winners – list of the 100 “most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year.” (see the accompanying press release) Winners are in alphabetical order by primary developer company or research institution. The R&D 100 Awards recognize excellence across a …
Shed of the Year
Shed of the Year: boat-roofed creation sails to victory – annual competition in the UK got almost 2000 entrants this year. See some of the others at Shed of the Year 2013 entrants. Why sheds? From Shed of the year contest trumpets UK’s love of garden hideaways: Novelist …
Big data, technology, and the management of urban space
How Will Smart Cities Transform the Future? – post about Cisco Systems Smart+Connected Communities initiative. It combines data, technology, city services, and infrastructure into a network they say offers unprecedented opportunities (a “potential value of $14.4 trillion over the next decade“) for economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This is …
U.S. flood trends and Smart Irrigation Month
Our Flooded Future, According To FEMA – “By 2100, the area of the U.S. at risk for inundation will increase 45%. These maps–from the guys who are going to have to deal with it–show where.” 5 Strategies to Maximize Smart Irrigation Month – the five strategies in this …
Active Design Guidelines
Center for Active Design: Resources – links to design guidelines aimed at architects, urban designers, planners, policy makers, communities, developers, and educators wishing to promote health “through the design of buildings, streets, and neighborhoods.” The original publication Active Design Guidelines has been followed with four supplements: Promoting Safety …
Book-illustration-lovers delight
BibliOdyssey – one of my favorite places to take a break; here’s the tag line: Books~~Illustrations~~Science~~History~~Visual Materia Obscura~~Eclectic Bookart. Each post features images based on a theme, or from a specific book or manuscript. The images are wonderful and plentiful and unexpected. Most sources are from early printed books or manuscripts …
Mirrored ductwork extends daylight
Mirror Duct System – post on Transmaterial about a duct system that’s lined with reflective aluminum mirrors which can “extend light as much as sixty feet inside a structure.” Developed by Tokyo-based Material House, Mirror Duct System is a completely passive technology that contributes to CO2 reduction by …
3 for bicycle riders
The Atlantic Cities often covers how cities and urban areas around the world accommodate bicycle traffic. Here are three recent posts: 10 Brilliant Pieces of Bike Infrastructure – examples, many with clips, from ten cities in Europe, China, and the U.S. A Real-Time Bike-Share Map for the Entire World – …
“What we find when we’re not looking”
Unintentional Knowledge: What we find when we’re not looking – this is an eloquent plea for balance between digital and traditional library-based research. While fully supporting the capabilities offered by online search technology the author also highlights the value of what a person can find by browsing library stacks, the …
Rudolf Steiner and organic architecture
Architecture: Steiner – editorial on WAN (World Architecture News) about wholeness in architecture, particularly in the work of the Austrian “scientist, philosopher, and writer Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)” who designed and built the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland that is familiar to students of architecture around the world. A link in the …
Space management in higher ed
Space & Power in the Ivory Tower – subtitle of article by Sandra Blanchette is Effective Space Management and Decision Making – What’s the Problem and What’s the Process? (11-p PDF). See a short interview with her in The SCUP Scan, about her research into space management issues and decision making …
Weekend treat – The Great Nature of Chiura Obata
The Great Nature of Chiura Obata – load time might be a bit long, but if you have the time and inclination to recharge your perceptual and spiritual batteries take a look at Obata’s 1927 paintings of the High Sierra in Yosemite. As the enter page suggests, turn your volume …
Building energy performance regulations
If you’re interested in energy requirements or ratings for buildings around the world, here are a few sites that can give you specifics. Each link is to one section within a larger website; those parent websites are all worth a bit of further exploration as well. Existing Policies, from BuildingRating.org – select …