surplus to the rescue

while devastating in scope, a great opportunity - even necessity - exists to put concept to action. below is a terrific diagram from SEED, a group of researchers from clemson university, illustrating the surplus of shipping containers found throughout the caribbean.



their research is very graphic, informative, visual, and clean. great examples of innovative thinking. great opportunities available.

essay imagery

i've been fascinated by these word clouds for years. it struck me to make some of my own. these two word clouds were made from two essays i wrote for my graduate admissions...

we're #12

came across this article on mothernaturenetwork. it's a great article that highlights some of the city's best green locations, markets, and activities.
among the highlights are;

"reclaiming wisconsin’s largest brownfield for energy-efficient buildings and greenspace produced 2,100 new jobs, and a similar effort is planned to renew the 30th street Industrial corridor as a "greenlight district" for jobs."




they also remark on some the city's 'greenest architecture.'

"perhaps the most notable is hotel metro, located in a historic art deco building on the corner of milwaukee and mason streets downtown. The first hotel in wisconsin to apply for LEED certification, hotel metro features bamboo planking and cork public area flooring, recycled carpeting in guest rooms and architectural features made from reconstituted forest products and recycled glass."

"nature lovers can observe the local flora and fauna at the city’s many parks, take a hike at the schlitz audubon nature center or explore the gardens, natural habitats and trails at the wehr nature center."

... i was surprised to notice the city's urban ecology center, and will allen's growing power failed to make mention... the article also overlooks a lot of the cities more local attractions, like the riverwest farmer's market, sweetwater organics and others that are more neighborhood related [local] attractions. these are, in my opinion, the city's greatest contributions to green living.

no more remotes

the nytimes article reports on last week's consumer electronics show in vegas, where one of the most significant changes to human-device interfaces since the mouse appeared next to computers in the early 1980s...

moving away from remote controls, mice and joysticks to something that arrives without batteries, wires or a user manual.

it's called a hand.

flat packing

what took so long?

"shipping containers revolutionized commerce and the transportation of goods, and almost singlehandedly made globalism possible through a dramatic reduction in shipping costs, time and losses. but they are not problem-free; unless trade is balanced they tend to pile up at one end of the line. they are expensive to move when empty, particularly on trucks, where it costs the same to move an empty one as a full one."



cargoshell, a dutch manufacture, has engineered a new shipping container that folds down to one forth the size of conventional containers. it is made of composite materials, making it lighter than its precursor.

the use of composite materials also offers other added features including;

- the composite walls act as an insulator, eliminating condensation.
- it is low maintenance; the composites don't corrode.
- gps can be built into the container because the composite, unlike steel, does not block the signal.
- steel containers need a lot of paint, with a lot of toxic rust inhibitors that are pollutants; the composites need no paint.
- to top it all off, they even have float bags built in so that if they go over the side of the ship (not an uncommon event) they will float, and can be traced back by the built-in gps system quickly.

check out the full story via gizmag

steven holl wins Glasgow school of art comission

Same old Steven.


article in BD

shigeru ban

here's a quick little video i stumbled upon. brought to us by L|studio [lexus]
it interviews architect shigeru ban and hits on everything from furniture design to student projects, current works and remarks on his innovative paper tube structures.
there's information containing his conceptual thinking, his process, and his motivations.

the video merely touches on some of the architect's concepts and ideation... it's an advertisement, but still really interesting