The Pentatonic Scale: a scale for the human race

Bobby McFerrin, an expert vocalist and performer, explains at a conference with ever really talking, about how all of the human race has an affinity to the pentatonic scale. I've always wondered the same question: why do we all hear musical pitches and their relationship to other pitches in the same way? Well, now that I know it seems to be true... the question is still why?

Check out Bobby doing his thing:

SMART(-ER) Boards

I was on TED.com for maybe an hour watching people share their brilliant ideas and achievements and stumbled across Johnny Lee, a humble researcher. One day he realized what one can create with a simple Wii Remote and some cheap supplies. SMART boards (used in classrooms) are great technological products... but they also cost up to $3,000. Clearly, not every school has those kinds of funds... a teacher of mine actually won a grant in order to buy 1... but could only afford the 1! Johnny Lee has discovered how to make a SMART Board for around 1 Wii Remote ($40) and $10 worth of cheap supplies... $50 compared to $3,000! Imagine every school with the ability to educate their students with a SMART Board! Heeeeeerrree's Johnny:




Amazing.

Architectural Hologram Models

Well my entire post was just erased. So in a nutshell Zebra Technologies have created a holographic project that allows firms to view architectural models in 3D from any perspective (360 degress, birds-eye, ground level, etc.) on a piece of plastic. This saves time, resources, and possibly money depending on the size of the project. Check it out:

Holographic Architectural Imaging by Zebra from Core77 on Vimeo.

Gained: Efficiency, accuracy, effectiveness, time.

Lost: the use of wood and glue.

related articles:

architect magazine

architectural scholar

A Bathroom Set-Up Design that Fails.

In a post on Core77.com, I contributor shares with us the misconceptions of two trash cans in an office bathroom. Apparently, after adding a larger trash can so as not to empty the smaller one more frequently, management left the small one in the bathroom anyway to catch the dripping soap tray. A sign on the wall explains to throw paper towels and trash in the new, black can but the set-up of the other can confuses. The blue can is open, the black is closed. So people tend to throw trash in the easier open can (though its not meant for trash). ALSO, the small, old can is BLUE, which is a common color meaning "recyclables go here." So in an attempt to solve a problem, the "simple" issue of placement and design of the room causes many misconceptions and actually creates more trouble than it solves. This kind of relates to the last post about simplicity and clarity of design... "More is Less."

More is Less...

A New York Times article by Alice Rawsthorn revisits the idea that "less is more," but more importantly that "more is less." After a awful experience with a digitized bathroom faucet at a friend's house, Rawsthorn explains how the un-necessity of functions that are supposed to make a device more user friendly, are making them over-complicated.

As one of the founding principles of innovative design, "clarity" is a lost cause in some innovators' purpose. By adding more functions to an already simple product, the consumer is not only frustrated when they don't work coherently, but they defeating the purpose of a product that was supposed to make it easier on themselves as well as save them time. The danger of this digital age and the phenomena that adding more means simplicity in use is luckily off put by innovators who still get "clarity" even if the device can do a million different things.

Rawsthorn brings up the folks at Apple and how they developed the user interface for the iPhone from scratch, and how they did not build upon older products' U.I.s, which has, without fail, caused many other similar devices to cause plenty of problems. The iPhone, therefore, is an extreme multitasking tool that seems more intuitive than complicated... even though it is more "complex than a bulldozer."

So the battle continues... Flashy lights and unnecessary functions to make a simple device complicated... and simplicity and clarity to make a complex device intuitive and easy... hopefully that latter will triumph....

The Copyright Issue with E-books

Bruce Nussbaum brings up a point I have also debated with myself in his blog about Amazon dealing with e-book copyright laws on the Kindle. Now that books can be bought electronically and stored electronically just as music is now bought and stored electronically, will they follow the same rules as music?

There is always a big debate around the sharing of music digitally... back in the day when CDs could not be burned to share, consumers usually bought their own copy (a reason the music industry did really well until CD burners and Napster). But for as long as books have been around (a LONG time)... sharing books was traditionally accepted. As Bruce explains, it is the culture of readers to save books and pass them onto friends or their kids, etc. Copyright laws never seemed to be an issue.

Now that the Kindle is a digital book device just as iPods are digital music devices, all of a sudden sharing books digitally is an issue. Companies never cared to track physical books in the past, nor did they have the ability to. Now that books can be downloaded and shared "illegally," all of sudden it matters... and the consumers are pissed. Taking books away from one's Kindle thanks to copyright issues never had before digital devices. So should we sacrifice the culture of readership for the sake of ease of use and saving space?

2/2

kearning: space between characters

letting: space between lines

sans serif: no foots on letters

serif: foots on letters

What Needs Saving?

Seth Godin's post, "Who Will Save Us?," brings up the point; when innovations like e-readers, iPads, and all other digital media take over the world... what will save the print and paper product industries? In fact, what will save any industry? He explains that many industries will evaporate and jobs will be lost... that paper cannot be saved. Godin explains that we need to move on from trying to "save" something that will be inevitably lost in the near future.

Godin then goes on... "If you want to know who will save the joy of reading something funny, or the leverage of acting on fresh news or the importance of allowing yourself to be changed by something in a book, then don't worry. It doesn't need saving."

He explains that we can have these things multiplied by a factor of ten because we no longer will have to worry about saving the other (paper) industry... if we just let go.

Ok. But what about the industry? What do we do with all the people, buildings, and institutions? More unemployment is NOT what we need. Lets figure out a solution before we scrap everything.

No Camera. No Creativity. No to the iPad?

After the hype for the new Apple iPad created inevitable excitement, it seems that the iPad has not hit home with (at least a few) Generation Y consumers. Bruce Nussbaum states in a recent post that his Parson Design students did not take nicely to Apple's new device. Apparently, after hearing that there is no camera on the iPad, that it does not have phone capabilities, and that it is not set up to create and share pictures and movies with ease, the students discovered a possibly fatal flaw with the product. It was concluded that the iPad was essentially a larger iPhone screen that allowed for a lot of media CONSUMPTION but not a lot of media CREATION. As a fellow Gen Y-er, I understand the students' complaint... its not like I need a new device just to filter more media into my brain, I'd rather have a handier device that allows me to express myself to create my own media to share with the world. It's not serious enough for work and its not fun enough for play.

Did Apple miss the mark? Time to go to the nearest Apple store to find out!

Gear Ring. Cool! But Aesthetically Pleasing?

Ben Hopson, a Core77.com contributor, teamed up with entrepreneur Glen Liberman of Kinekt Design to put together a line of "kinetic" jewelry. Essentially, this jewelry has motion.

I took a look at the video and was immediately intrigued by the "Gear Ring," the first product off the line. Check it:

Although, I could spend my whole day twiddling with my brand new Gear Ring instead of fingers as well as flash its edginess to all my friends, how aesthetically pleasing is it? To me it sacrifices fashion for functionality... which a ring never really needs, since of course rings are for show. I guess some other fads in the past have blown up even though they were awfully ugly... including many from the 80s.

Gear Ring: $165... go crazy.

Other attempts at kinetic jewelry:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/londonparticulars

http://www.4physics.com/catalog/popup_image.php/pID/33

Other jewelry turned nerdy:

http://www.geekalerts.com/retro-calculator-watch/

Frank Lloyd Wright

The Early Years:

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) is so synonymous with American architecture that even the architecturally uneducated tend recognize his name easily. Wright was born in Richland Center, Wisconsin to William and Anna Wright. Frank's parents were strong catalysts in the eventual development of their son’s love for design and art thanks to their strong-willed nature and artistic interests. Unfortunately, in 1881, William and Anna split due to financial struggles.

After moving a few times between Wisconsin, Illinois, and Massachusetts, Frank Lloyd Wright returned to high school in Madison but left early and entered into the engineering department at the University of Wisconsin as a “special student.” He eventually left the school to take up a job with Joseph LymanSilsbee and then again, Wright quickly left his job there to take up another at the office of Adler & Sullivan. Wright, the chief draftsman and a favored employee by Louis Sullivan, eventually left the firm in 1893 due to a dispute dealing with Wright's acceptance of commissions without Sullivan's knowing. Wright then started his own independent practice that would undoubtedly shape American architecture from that defining point forward.

The Architecture:

Wright created and developed a new era of architectural form and space, and around the turn of the century the concept of Wright's Prairie House had evolved. Wright derived his inspirations from the landscapes around him, and his architectural techniques included houses and buildings that seemed as if they sprouted from the surrounding scenery; they were "organic" buildings. The Prairie House had low proportions, horizontal bands of windows, very gradual roofing, and an openness about them, which all seemed to fit the dimensions of the open Midwest landscapes within which they were built. Rooms in the house included very large living areas with furnishings acting more as natural dividers of space rather than walls that seem to isolate and confine.

After building several Prairie Houses in the Midwest and beyond (Illinois, Ohio, New York), Wright accomplished several notable designs including "Graycliff" (1929) in Buffalo, New York and "Fallingwater" (1937) in Bear Run, Pennsylvania. Each house embraced its surroundings; "Graycliff" utilized terraces and balconies atop a bluff overlooking Lake Erie, and "Fallingwater" was built from "organic" limestone over a gentle river and waterfall deep in the woods of Pennsylvania. Along with and following these feats, Wright worked on several for-hire projects across the U.S. and abroad.

The Future:

Frank Lloyd Wright had some architectural ideas that were never fully realized. One such idea that lives on in books and institutions was his concept of "Broadacre City," a futuristic suburbia that was completely decentralized. Using his Usonian Houses (an affordable middle class house design) as models, Wright envisioned a place where "rural" and "urban" were no longer separate entities, where each family owned one acre, where schools, factories, laboratories, and farms coexisted side-by-side, and where "smaller was beautiful." Wright believed that monopolies and big cities were corrupted with greed and thanks to the addition to automobiles, no public transportation would ever be necessary. He sawBroadacre City reaching into the horizon where physical structures melded into the scenery, furthering his idea of "organic architecture."

Wright's legacy in American architecture lives on in the houses, churches, and buildings he has designed over the past 130 years, but they also live on in The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. The foundation's headquarters is located in Wright's one-time residence and studio, Taliesin West, located in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation shares Wright's principles through the embodiment of his work as well as the importance of architecture in society.

References

"Broadacre City Project." 1/30/2010. .

Carter, Amanda. "Broadacre City Project." Carter, Amanda. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. 1/30/2010. .

Hofmann, Werner and Kultermann, Udo. _Modern Architecture in Color_. Usborne, Peter. New York: The Viking Press, 1970.

Spencer, Brian A. _The Prairie School Tradition_. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 1979.