ok go’s latest video clip ‘this too shall pass’ (which premiered last monday night on youtube) presented a perverse fascination of the complexity in systems.

the clip was based around a rube goldberg machine Read the rest of this entry »

The days of architects struggling in public transport or windy streets with fragile models teetering on the brink of destruction may soon be over! Zebra Imaging 3D prints recently developed a method to show virtual 3D models using holographic technology. Zebra’s holographic images enables architects and designers to show their 3D model without physically building or rapid prototyping it. According to its makers, this method is much more rapid, much more accurate and less expensive than a real model. The panel is a flat piece of plastic which is easy to transport, and is quite frankly awesome. Read the rest of this entry »

everyone loves looking at other peoples photographs, so why not take some time out to browse through futura2000’s flikr stream.  futura’s pioneering work in the 70’s revolutionized street art and propelled him into the pubic eye.  his knack for capturing fantastic snapshots of his daily encounters is documented in his new image per day blog.  check it out and be inspired.

a fantastic and insightful article featured in the national geographic on the work of andrew parker, a scientist whose research is based on biomimetics and evolutionary design with the intention of extracting good design from nature. parker is part of growing collective of biomimetic enthusiasts who’s investigations range from using fingerlike primary feathers of raptors are inspiring engineers to develop wings that change shape aloft to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency to architects in zimbabwe are studying how termites regulate temperature, humidity, and airflow in their mounds in order to build more comfortable buildings.

read the full article here.

ok, so the mashup approach to mix albums has been around since the early 00’s – we’ve heard our fair share of quality and shocking over the last few years (some of the more notable ‘quality’ include the kitsuné maison mashed by electrosound and the now (in)famous grey album by danger mouse).

currently playing in the sydney office is the stereogum + team9 mysplice album which is more of an engineering feat rather than a mashup.  team9 is the moniker of australian-based producer neil mason who has been producing the mysplice albums since 2007, has recently released v4 which seeks to blend beats such as vampire weekend + rupert holmes, YACHT + lykke li, phoenix + the cure and is definitely one of the best mashup’s we’ve heard to date.

you can freely download each track as an mp3 or the entire album as a zip package here.

featured in the excellent pop tech conference, neri oxman discusses her phd research in design and computation.   oxman’s interests lie within material technology, influenced primarily from natural systems with the material dictating form and program of the proposed design as opposed to forcing materials onto a predefined object.  Read the rest of this entry »

we have been asked to present at this weeks smart geometry workshop in sydney alongside sarah benton and damien butler representing the digital stream at the university of sydney.  under the title ‘composite environments’ we will be discussing our research work both in academia and practice on behalf of urban future worldwide.  the event aims to showcase work from academics and practitioners who have an interest in rule based design processes.  the rest of the event will be a series of workshops using bentley’s generative components.

the event is free BYO laptop is required and will be held on the 10th and 11th of february 2010 at level, 1 studio 1 square house, unsw built enviroment of sydney, the university of new south wales, sydney nsw, 2052

for more information and registration follow this link

following in the footsteps of lichtenstein, warhol, eliasson and numerous other artists, BMW have announced that jeff koons will be delivering the 2010 BMW art-car.

hervé poulain conceived of the BMW art-car in 1975 Read the rest of this entry »

here’s a few screenshots from the latest development of the grasshopper3d particle engine.

the engine is to be structured as: Read the rest of this entry »

carlo aiello’s genetic housing project looks at the development of rules of interaction between differential mathematical systems to create genetic architecture. Different regimes of organisation are studied and translated into architectural landguage. traditional weaving methods are used to interlock different programme. lindenmayer rules are applied to develop systems of self-organisation. the interaction of both systems generates an urban housing concept, a cohesive organism that adapts itself to programmatic, climatic, contextural, economic and social conditions. Read the rest of this entry »