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.
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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Wednesday 25 January, 7:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Town Hall, Seattle (enter on Seneca Street)
Like a synthetic siren, The Great Pacific Garbage Patch drew Charles Moore to science; now his research raises deep questions about plastic. Moore, author of Plastic Oceans, first encountered the 2-million-square-mile floating landfill by chance in 1997, as skipper of a catamaran. He returned repeatedly to cull scientific samples, finding that the plastic in his nets outweighed zooplankton by a factor of 6-to-1—prompting not only a global reassessment of plastics’ invasiveness, but also a personal quest to achieve his own scientific credibility—and to save our oceans. Presented as part of Seattle Science Lectures, with the Sierra Club, Pacific Science Center, and University Book Store. Series sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.
Advance tickets are $5 at Brown Paper Tickets or 800/838-3006 and at the door beginning at 6:30 pm. Double feature! Ticket also gains admission to the Jessica Rhode event at 6 pm.
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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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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Urbanized is playing through the 19th at The Northwest Film Forum (see site for showtimes).
SPECIAL OFFER: Tell the box office you heard about this showing of Urbanized through ARCADE and receive the member admission price ($6). Purchasing tickets online? Buy your ticket at the members admission price and use the code “ARCADE” when asked to show your membership card.
Jeny Staiman is a serious knitter. In the knitting world she enjoys rock-star status similar to Elvis Costello. A dedicated, if niche, following.
Staiman, who daylights as a usability research engineer, is credited with inventing sophisticated stitches and patterns, which she meticulously illustrates using computer software and then shares using graphics and demonstration videos on her blog,
Curious Knitter.
Last Spring, Staiman was asked to teach her new “Double Heelix” sock pattern at the 2011 Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon. Over 6,000 attended this annual gathering specifically created for the worldwide knitting tribe. The Double Heelix elegantly solved an age-old knitting problem: how to knit a spiral heel of a sock with no ends to weave-in. In the knitting community, this groundbreaking design is nothing short of genius.
With the advent of virtual communities on blogs like Curious Knitter and sites like ravelry.com (think Facebook for knitters), people need not ask permission to lead. Staiman and others share their creative designs with their virtual communities as soon as they have them, and in this way participate actively in these spaces. With that said, the Sock Summit’s popularity illustrates the increasing interplay between virtual communities and place-based activities; at the conference, attendees who regularly access information remotely from Curious Knitter had the valuable chance to meet personally with Staiman. Many Sock Summit attendees took one look at her nametag and exclaimed, “You’re that Jeny!” Staiman’s virtual identity and reputation as the Curious Knitter precedes her.
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Hello, and welcome to ARCADE’s new website! Here you’ll find:
Articles from our print publication released throughout the quarter, with resources such as additional photos, video and links to learn more; an online calendar of Northwest design events (coming soon!); weekly design event recommendations, ARCADE news; information on how you can support ARCADE by subscribing, donating, sponsoring, advertising and partnering and more.
This is only the first iteration of our site; it is still “under construction,” as they say. Over the next few weeks it will be evolving. Check back soon and often! Also, to receive notice of new ARCADE article releases, event announcements and more like us on facebook and sign up for our newsletter.
And if you want to receive a copy of our print magazine support ARCADE at our subscriber level of $30 or higher today.
UW College of Built Environments
2012 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture
Principal, Suyama Peterson Deguchi
Monday, January 9, 2012 – 6:30 pm
Kane Hall 120, UW Seattle Campus
Join CBE for a lecture, reception, and book signing with George Suyama, principal of Seattle-based architecture firm Suyama Peterson Deguchi. Long known for his Northwest Contemporary design, Suyama has devoted his 40-year career to exploring how nature defines architecture. He is inspired by modest architecture that articulates an elemental sense of shelter. In this lecture George will speak about his inspirations and place making, telling the story of a continuous search for truth.
