Karen Johnson

“I went to Architectural Forum and they said well, you’re now our school and hospital expert. That was the first time I got suspicious of experts. I knew nothing, not even how to read plans. …Anybody who would want to be an expert, I have some advice for you: Apply at a magazine.”
-Jane Jacobs to architecture critic Paul Goldberger

The first thing every city wonk should know about Jane Jacobs is that the patron saint of urban planning got her start as a journalist. She launched her career during print media’s heyday as a newspaper reporter and freelancer, working her way to editor at Architectural Forum and eventually authoring The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961.

In the half-century since Death and Life’s publication, monitors and touchscreens have come to dominate (some might say nearly replace) the media space once held by newspapers and books, bringing with them a new generation of writers who are sounding off on the built environment using an increasingly digital publishing arsenal.
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Barbara Swift

The early morning October sunlight cuts through the mist over the Laguna, and the cream-colored silhouette of Santa Maria Della Salute breaks the skyline above Dorsoduro. Cats’ paws dance across the calm water and brush against the bare skin of Charles Ray’s Boy with Frog at the island’s eastern promontory. The sculpture marks the point inhabited by the renovated Punta della Dogana, Venice’s 17th century customs house.

The François Pinault Foundation’s Punta della Dogana Contemporary Art Centre, Venice, Italy, sits at the entry to the Grand Canal. Tadao Ando architect. Photo: Thomas Mayer

Boy with Frog has become the icon of Francois Pinault’s new museum, housed in the low, triangular brick building. Located at the intersection of the Giudecca and Grand Canals, the customs house is crowned with a gold globe and weather vane and guards access to the heart of Venice.
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Our site is still under construction, but the winter issue of ARCADE is out! Support ARCADE at our subscriber level or higher ($30) and receive a year subscription. That’s — four good-lookin’, two-color, non-gloss, independently-published magazines about design, art, cities and culture in the Northwest. Subscribe today.

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John du Pre Gauntt

I grew up reading Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Harold is four years old and uses a magic purple crayon to enhance his world simply by drawing what he desires and watching it spring to life. He draws a moon to light his way if he goes out walking at night. When he’s hungry he draws pies to eat. When he’s tired he draws a bed then curls up to sleep.

Wikitude app by Mobilizyhttp://www.wikitude.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/iphone_wikitude4_vancover.jpg

Today, an increasing majority of us come close to having a magic crayon in our pockets via our smartphones and tablet computers. By attaching cameras, GPS and tilt sensors onto our mobile devices, we can paint physical objects with digital media and information, tagging and leaving digital breadcrumbs for those who follow. Over the next decade, two-billion-plus people will join the Internet mainly through mobile devices, smart phones and tablets. As a result, no longer will the most valuable interactive activity revolve around connecting individuals to stored content. Instead, leading players in this new interactive model are turning to the “real-time” web, merging content, geographic and personal data resources accessible via mobile devices.
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Social Art and the New Economy of Creativity

Chase Jarvis

Social art is a term I use to describe a type of fine art that I’ve been doing for the past three or four years. I’ve been asked by various curators to define it, but I can’t. Ultimately, I suppose social art is hard to define intelligibly but not unlike what Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography—we know it when we see it.

At its core, social art is the intersection of art, social tools and technology. It’s interdisciplinary, interactive, collaborative in part and usually ongoing. Most importantly, it leverages assets and resources beyond the creative or logistical abilities of any single artist.

Below are a few of my recent projects—examples of social art. I will let them do the talking.
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The Work and Process of Studio Mumbai

Interview by BUILD llc

This past August we spoke with the wise and insightful Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai.

Palmyra House, Nandgaon, Maharashtra, India, 2007. Photo: Hélène Binet

His practice in India, now in its 16th year, integrates architects and skilled craftsmen to produce work that is culturally significant and responsive to the environment. Replacing traditional drawings with consideration, communication and physical models, Jain’s extraordinary work investigates a new process of architecture.

You received your master’s degree in architecture from Washington University in St. Louis, then went on to work in Los Angeles and London before returning to India in 1995 to found your practice, Studio Mumbai. Can you tell us a bit about what it’s like practicing architecture in such different cultures?

In Los Angeles I worked in Richard Meier’s model shop, and my position was similar to an apprentice or a carpenter. This was a very different experience from practicing in London and later in India, where I was an independent contractor; for this reason it’s easier for me to compare the differences and similarities between the UK and India. For instance, in the UK, the amount of structure and formality within the architecture profession is very different from here in India. In India, most of the architecture and built landscape has occurred without architects. Working in Los Angeles was also rigorous and disciplined, whereas in India it’s more chaotic. “Yes” and “no” are sometimes the same thing in India. In fact, the way you shake your head in India is similar for “yes” and “no.”
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