(incli)NATION

Building A Yurt Kazakh Style

Found this while Stumbling around this morning...Can't wait to try one of my own.

TrailerWrap by Michael Hughes

Love this idea, though the economic model does not seem to work. Trailer parks exist to fill a gap in the market. Anyone who can afford to will buy a stick-built house. Not to mention the fact that trailers actually depreciate in value rather than appreciate. But this one does look good:

"To Hughes, trailer parks offer an architectural opportunity to address questions of affordable housing. And he believes that trailers simply make sense as high-density alternatives to suburban sprawl. But first, they need to be made into attractive living spaces. "This is refabricated housing," Hughes says. "What does it mean to have light pouring into your home, with nine-foot instead of seven-foot ceilings? We wanted to highlight what’s possible even on a small house."

Read the rest here

via

Jackson Pollack or The Mammalian Neocortical Column

When I saw this I was sure it was yet another generations attempt to re-envision the genius of J. Pollack. To my great delight, it is in fact a ridiculously complex computer model of the cerebral cortex of the human brain. Fabulous, right? Because the connection is uncanny; Pollack and his AbEx cronies were all about the dissolution of filters between the mind and the work of art. You know, painting the ego or even id. It was all about the inner workings of these guys and now, fifty years later we get a (nearly)working model of the actual organ they were metaphorically representing and they look nearly identical! Damn!

"A visual representation of a mammalian neocortical column, the basic building block of the cortex. the representation shows the complexity of this part of the brain, which has now been modeled using a supercomputer. the visualization is part of an ambitious project to create a biologically accurate, functional model of the brain using IBM's Blue Gene supercomputer.

"the visualization of the neurons' shapes is a challenging task given the fact that a column of 10,000 neurons rendered in high quality mesh accounts for essentially 1 billion triangles for which about 100GB of management data is required. simulation data with a resolution of electrical compartments for each neuron accounts for another 150GB. as the electrical impulse travels through the column, neurons light up and change color as they become electrically active."

[link: technologyreview.com & epfl.ch & epfl.ch (movie)|via visualcomplexity.com]

via

Classic Board Games at Games Gone By - lol!

Remember those rainy days when you spent hours with your siblings sitting around beat-up board games, rolling dice, dealing cards, sinking battleships, getting into fights? My brother and I played the 70s classics: Clue, Twister, and Battleship. Toss Across was always a favorite, and of course the checkers/Chinese checkers combo.

But most of the games on Games Gone By are new to me. If Only we'd had SHMO when we were kids...

Check out the rest here.

via

Earthdesk

Forget that boring desktop! Turn yours into a real-time map of mother earth complete with twilight shading.

I saw this over at CH and had to have it. It really is great.

Earthdesk

via

Bamboestoel by Tejo Remy and Rene VeenHuizen

Regular readers are already well aware of our preoccupation with the chair. This one comes from Dutch design duo Tejo Remy and Rene VeenHuizen. Tejo Remy spoke at the Inhabitat's 'Reclaiming Design' on the issues of reclaimed materials in design.

I love it when the design is more impactful than the 'green'-ness. Nice work!

via Inhabitat

Wind Dam by Chetwood Associates

Just when you think you've seen it all, out of Inhabitat comes word of this terrific idea for green power design; the wind dam. It feels like a Phillip K Dick prop, but it's for real. Check it out:

"The spinnaker shape is similar to the mainsail of a yacht, and is thought to be particularly effective in capturing the wind with it’s kite-like properties. Project architect Laurie Chetwood stated that the shape of the sail was influenced by functionality and a desire to produce something “sculptural”. “The sail looks like a bird dipping its beak into the water, which will be much less of a blot on this beautiful and unblemished landscape…It is also highly effective at capturing the wind because it replicates the work of a dam and doesn’t let the wind escape in the way it does using traditional propellers.”

via Inhabitat

Project7ten: NOW in Venice!

Gonna miss this one, but let me know what y'all think...

Los Angelenos looking to continue their environmental education can head to Venice to take a tour of the recently completed LEED® Platinum certified Project7ten house, before it goes on sale to the highest bidder. Real estate developer Tom Schey (in conjunction with the A+D Museum’s “Enlightened Development” exhibition) is opening the doors of his environmentally conscious home to the public to raise awareness about simple everyday choices and green products that can lead to a healthier living environment. Throughout the month of October, locals and tourists alike are invited to tour the cutting-edge structure and catch a glimpse of the future of sustainable building—which in this case includes solar paneling, recycled materials and certified lumber for building, as well as reusable rain water irrigation systems, lower gas emissions, and more. Proceeds from the tours and the sale of the home will be donated to Healthy Child Healthy World, an organization dedicated to educating the public about environmental toxins that effect children’s health.

Project7ten
710 Milwood Avenue
Venice, CA
ph: 310.454.0290

Roy Ardin at the Vancouver, 10/20 - 1/20/2008

While I'm not typically a fan of flower photographs, I have to make an exception for the artist Roy Ardin. You just have to check out his retrospective at the Vancouver. This month. It will be worth the trip!

"The Vancouver Art Gallery will present the first major Canadian retrospective of work by renowned Vancouver artist Roy Arden from October 20, 2007 to January 20, 2008. A major force in establishing Vancouver’s reputation as a centre for contemporary photographic art, Arden has exhibited his work internationally for more than 30 years. Roy Arden, comprising more than 120 photographs, five video works and a recent Internet project, explores the diverse strategies of the artist’s practice from the early 1980s to the present. Organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery, the exhibition is guest curated by Dieter Roelstraete of the Antwerp Museum of Contemporary Art (MuHKA)."

more here

Stitch Room @ Vitra Design Museum

"At the intersection of green design, space-making, and textiles, the Bouroullec brothers’ Stitch Room is one part design genius, one part child-like playtime. Known for designs that cross the boundary between furniture and architecture, the creations of this design duo tend to emphasize possibilities, and their exploration of space in The Stitch Room is no exception. Using eco-friendly textiles from the ultra-green Danish company Kvadrat, the brothers have created organized, versatile spaces that can be transformed to almost any imaginable use."

(more…)