Plans

For a long time it has seemed poor to feature interesting architecture in the media whilst assuming that the public would be 'confused' by floorplans.

So it was a pleasant surprise to find that Wallpaper has been publishing interactive drawings for some time, allowing you to alternate between an orthogonal drawing and photographs of the building concerned. It makes for an easier understanding of the project, whether you're an architect or not. Well done everyone.

GUI

A breathtaking yet gimmick-free re-imagining of the computer user interface by R Clayton Miller, all lovingly explained in this video. It's long, but worth watching in full for a glimpse of what we can hope is our mouseless future. Fingers at the ready - all of them.

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Sketch

Sketching has always seemed to me as much about slowing down my thinking as representing an idea. The question posed by a new computer interface posted here is whether it helps us think slowly and creatively in the same way as a pencil and paper. The demonstration of 'ILoveSketch' is obviously designed to show off its NURBS capabilities, featuring an excessively curvy building. Impressive, as long as it can do square things just as well.

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Tools

Some fetishistic shots of the specially made tools for the Shuttle mission to repair the Hubble telescope.

"The EVA mini-workstation mounts to the front chest of an astronaut’s spacesuit and holds equipment needed during spacewalks." So, a toolbelt, then. The square hole on the left holds a carton of 'Um Bongo'.

Storage

The origins of Jonathan Ive's great product design for Apple lie in the work of Joe Colombo, Brionvega, and especially Dieter Rams. All were at their creative peak as the sixties turned into the seventies, and there can be little doubt where the iPhone calculator began. Alongside the Braun calculator, one of Rams' most famous innovations was the 606 shelving system he designed for Vitsoe, and now celebrating its 50th anniversary.

In a testament to its timelessness, anyone who bought the product in 1959 can still buy compatible components to extend their storage array in 2009. See how it works on Vitsoe's revamped website (by Airside).

Augmentation

Experiments in augmented reality have interested me for a while, and I remember a 'pop-up' picture book demonstrated a year or so ago. This demo from GE popped up today, and I had to share it with you. The possibility of sending a client a 2D plan which comes to life like this would be amazing - if only for short-term novelty value.

Storytelling

I liked these relics of bygone technology spotted at MMU yesterday. The tape reel reminds me of the kind my dad had for some reason (can't remember what), and the object it is sitting on is an overhead projector.

That last device of course is still in use, though usually injection-moulded and with a webcam attached, rather than hammerited steel with glass optics. Architect Ted Cullinan is a master of the medium, enchanting audiences with freehand pen sketches to illustrate anecdotes from 50 years of practice. I last saw him at a sustainability seminar at Bluecoat in Liverpool last year.

As a technique it seems to have a closer relation to speech than powerpoint which often seems like a publication of some kind, and therefore more fixed. As a result, it leads to a sense of storytelling rather than a show - which is sometimes just what an audience needs. I will to give it another try at the first opportunity.

95 years on

Years ago I had a book containing milestones from the history of photography. Included in it was Henri Lartigue's 1913 image of a racing car, speeding past the camera. The shutter action moved vertically from top to bottom, and as it did so transferred the light
onto the plate. With the pace of the car, the time which the shutter slit took to scan the lens became significant, such that circular
wheels were captured as ovals. So, I believe, the inspiration for Roadrunner's leg action was born.

Now idly snapping from the train to Sheffield, I find that by turning my iPhone to landscape format I can reproduce the same effect. We've clearly come a long way in 95 years.

Reykjavik

Is there anyone who doesn't think about just cutting all ties and heading off for a while? Paul Carr - a 'technomad' in the newly-minted term - has written an interesting article (series?) which describes his step into the unknown, prompted by the sky-high cost of living in contemporary cities. Find the first article here.

(Pictured is the wonderful Reykjavik Town Hall, by the largely-unsung Studio Granda)