A computer backup results in all 15 minutes of the San Diego 4th of July fireworks being let off in one hit. Image Source
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I watched Chronicle on the plane recently (trailer). It was pretty great, the closest thing yet to a live action Domu or Akira, and certainly the most interesting superhero film in a long time. In short, it is a found footage film concerning three teenagers that gain super powers from a mysterious object in the woods and how they deal with these powers. While not terribly unique as a premise, the execution is exuberant and inventive; where most superhero films will have the protagonist solve petty crimes or rescue pets as a kind of training montage prior to the introduction of the villain, the kids in Chronicle have a more MTV/Jackass approach, geeking out on the kewl stuff they can do, pranking people in the supermarket and parking lot. Until the third act, when shit gets real and the film builds to a confrontation where much as in Domu/Akira, surrounding architecture is a surface for hurling people against.
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- Formations is the Australian contribution the Venice Architecture Bienale this year. Curated by Anthony Burke, Gerard Reinmuth and Toko Design, the program will present six works by architects with unique or contemporary modes of practice. This is the last architecture exhibition that will be held in the current Philip Cox designed pavilion before the new building by DCM is constructed in its place. Burke and Reinmuth discuss how they are taking this swan song as an opportunity to treat the pavilion as a peice of ‘supporting infrastructure’ from which the exhibition will be hung. More on the proposed exhibition here.
- This sounds like a bad idea. Broad Sustainable Building is planning to build the world’s tallest tower in 90 days. They do have some experience in rapidly putting together towers from precast components as this video attests, but still:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwvmru5JmXk]
- The Frank Gehry Make it Right house in New Orleans has been completed. I like Gehry in this mode, weirding out on the vernacular, much as he did way back when in Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Although, the comments in the Archinect article from local architects point out potential problems the house may have in the regions many hailstorms and heavy rain.
- Domino Pizza delivery infrastructure network from on the east coast of the USA:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlIelAWikWQ]
- Life Without Buildings reviews the new Batman graphic novel Death by Design (written by book designer Chip Kidd and illustrated by Dave Taylor) and details the many architecture references contained within the book.
“Even with its the overwrought plot, Death by Design is an entertaining paean to Batman and to architecture that wears its heart firmly on its cape. It really is exciting to see architecture presented as the driving force of a comic book plot instead of just background scenery. The Architecture of Gotham has always been integral to the Batman myth (As I’ve previously noted), and Kidd and Taylor articulate that connection in an exciting and innovative way. Buildings are represented heroically and heroes are revealed to be mere men, struggling against the very city they created.”
- Alex Trevi at Pruned, brings us Giovanni Bologna’s Appennino, a garden colossus, crouched over a lake and in whose belly resides a series of grottoes and fountains.
The Advantage of Size. Architecture Australia discusses office size with six Australian offices.
- Seaside walkway in Havoysund, the extreme north of Norway, by Reiulf Ramstad Arkitektur:
- I love this page from The Blonde Woman, by Aidan Koch up at Study Group Comics.
