One of my students this fall—Jonathan Rennie, at the USC School of Architecture—has had his final project featured on Near Future Laboratory; the post is written by Julian Bleecker, who served as a guest critic for Jonathan’s review.

[Image: From a project by Jonathan Rennie, produced at the USC School of Architecture].

Bleecker writes that the work is “one of those architecture projects that plays at the far end of the spectrum of architecture’s inherent speculative nature.” Specifically, Bleecker summarizes, the project works as “a sneak preview for a future of cinema, proposing a continuous cinema that is freed from both the spatial confines of the movie house and the literary expectations of narrative—told by and to non-human machines.”

[Image: From a project by Jonathan Rennie, produced at the USC School of Architecture].

You can read Bleecker’s post for more information—but I should explain that the course itself, called “Cinema City,” asked students to consider the architectural future of screen-based media. In other words, if today’s consumers are just as likely to watch films on their iPhones or home computers—not to mention TVs—as they are at the local shopping mall, then what architectural effects might these emerging audience practices and distribution technologies soon have?

More specifically, in an age of tablet computers and all-you-can-watch DVDs, we asked how architects could influence or even explicitly re-design the social future of the movie-going experience. If cinemas, for instance, like libraries, face an uncertain social and economic future, what lies beyond the multiplex and the iPad, on the other side of IMAX and at-home on-demand? What spaces or scenarios can architects imagine that might transform—and re-inspire public interest in—going out to watch movies in public? Further, how might these spaces influence and interact with the design of the city itself—and possibly even how films are produced?

It’s worth pointing out, as well, that Jonathan’s project was a particularly abstract response to the design brief—indeed, it was the only project in the class that did not, in the end, propose a specific new type of building, space, or public spectacle. Instead, it relied on a series of fictional scenarios through which Jonathan could explore a future world in which, as Bleecker writes, architects begin “embedding machine-readable (or maybe only-for-machine) texts in physical structures.”

The project thus sought to illustrate a situation where the future of cinema is not for humans at all, but is instead for ever-more intelligent machine systems that have developed an admittedly quite whimsical way to communicate with one another. These included container-stacking structures in the Los Angeles harbor and the orbiting satellite systems that surveil them from above.

[Image: From a project by Jonathan Rennie, produced at the USC School of Architecture].

The very idea of cinema being nothing but a series of moving images projected onto a flat surface would thus be replaced, Jonathan’s project suggests, by machine-readable QR codes that embed digital information in the landscape.

Cars strategically parked atop open-air garages; cargo containers precisely stacked at coastal sea terminals; patterns harvested into agricultural fields by automated harvesting equipment; even thermal gradients caused by the urban heat island effect could all become a future “cinema” of QR codes through which machines talk to other species of machines.

[Image: From a project by Jonathan Rennie, produced at the USC School of Architecture].

As Bleecker writes:

Over time, as they see the same films over and over again and become bored, [the machines] begin to look for QR codes elsewhere, perhaps interpreting barcode-like structures in the landscape at different wavelengths—for instance an infrared foliage rendering may appear to contain QR codes. They seek out new films in this way, perhaps even instructing terrestrial machines, such as the cranes at loading docks or tractors in large farm fields, to construct new QR codes containing new [films] and stories.

Trends veranderen voortdurend, materialen worden schaarser en de behoefte aan herkenbaarheid wordt steeds groter. Het antwoord op deze vragen is een hoogwaardig materiaal dat onmiddellijk vertrouwd aanvoelt, duurzaam is en vooral authenticiteit uitstraalt. Replex zorgt voor meer continuïteit in ons bestaan. Replex-tafels bestaan uit oude, vaak dierbare meubels, vrijgekomen bij verhuizen of overlijden, die tot een nieuwe persoonlijke grondstof worden verlijmd. Belangrijk is het behoud van de karakteristieke vormen, kleuren, ambachtelijke tradities, geuren en zelfs herinneringen.

Tegelijkertijd is Replex weer blanco en geschikt voor compleet nieuwe toepassingen. Of het nu in zijn pure vorm, of gevuld met bijzonder materialen is, Replex kan volledig naar wens worden verwerkt tot nieuwe meubels, panelen of producten.

Het product werd op 5-11-09 bekroond met de Balthazar ‘09

The stage design was made for the play ‘Fische in Griechenland’, a production of the Swiss collective Sans Cible. ‘Fische in Griechenland’ tells the childhood-story of 4 women. The play switches between their present adulthood and their past youth. The cupboards represented their rooms in their childhood – a hidden place to live their dreams. A space to place all their wishes and take them with them in the present. The childhood never gets lost, its just hidden in the cupboards

°° line’scape °°

TRESTLES DESIGN FOR ARCHITECTURE FOR HUMANITY

Human psychology! People don’t follow the shortest path! In a study conducted by Shanjiang Zhu and David Levinson, conclusions were that people don’t follow the shortest path, even if they would want to. The thing is: people think they are taking the shortest route, but in reality they aren’t taking the shortest one. In our design, we took this fact as a starting point: Trestles area is crossed by human choice patterns, it is crossed by paths of which people think it’s the shortest route. Ecologically, Trestles area suffers from this aspect of human psychology. We believe that any design made, should be clear in its architectural communication: THIS IS THE WAY YOU WANT TO GO.

The Line! Shortest distance between two points. Therefor we designed a straight line, the shortest distance between two points, as a way to direct people, not in a totalitairian way, but by creating incentives for people to take this specific way. The line goes directly form the parking, to the beach, as the shortest way possible for surfers, tourists, and provides the best possible viewpoints on the coastal wetlands for nature lovers.

A massive part, touched gently by a lightweight bridge

The first part of the line is massive, partially dug out and dug in, running along the side of the cliff, with magnificent views on Trestles nature and sea. In the middle of the massive part, an educational platform is installed, with facilities of electricity, restrooms, and documenation about Trestles. This is a fine part to enjoy the wildlife and nature of Trestles, as a series of viewpoints unfold along the line.

The massive part continues subtlely in a lightconstructed bridge, reminiscent of the wooden architecture of piers or trestles. Yet, the structural concept of the bridge is, to say at least, contemporary and daring. By holding a paper at one side, and letting it cope with internal forces, the paper opens itself at the other side, finding a structural equilibrium. In the same way, the bridge is a generative succession of wooden planks, perserving its structural integrity. At the same time linking to historical trestles construction and being refreshingly contemporary in it’s form, this bridge is designed to have, literally, as little footprint as possible. The bridge is supported by only one (!) point in the ground, the other point gently touching the massive part, thus saving Testles plants from being demolished.

This bridge answers the design challenges of being ecological and innovative at the same time, by spanning the distance with nuance. Safe Trestles The bridge crosses over the railroad, providing the safest possible entrance to Trestles beach. Just as the train passes across trestles spanning creeks, this footbridge, or foottrestle, brings surfers, tourists, nature lovers safely to the beach. The whole line is ADA compliant, providing accessibility for everyone., without having the additional costs and ecological weight of elevators or similar transportation means.

Thus: a minimalistic, site-specific, ecologic, and realistic design The design has almost no footprint on the coastal wetlands, while providing the shortest way possible in the safest way possible, accessible by everyone. At the same time, the design has respect for coastal traditions by referring to trestles, but embraces the contemporary and generative form of an unfolded paper.

Here’s another designer dirigible: Manned Cloud is a flying hotel proposed by French designer Jean-Marie Massaud.

The whale-shaped airship, developed with French national aerospace research body ONERA, will be able to accommodate 40 guests and have a range of 5,000 km.

Manned Cloud will have a cruising speed of 130 km/h and a top speed of 170 km/h. Two two-deck cabin will contain amenities including a restaurant, a library, a fitness suite and a spa. There will also be a sun deck on top of the double helium-filled envelopes.

Design of the Secret Box”’ by Brussels Cooperation for Cnocspot at the Fotofestival 2010 Knokke

Kitano Takeshi

www.liseelsayed.com

Hans Eelens from Brussels Cooperation is living now in Chili, Conception and designed
this first bottled table.