One Day Poem....

One Day Poem by Jiyeon Song.

"Using a complex array of perforations, the pavilion’s surface allows light to pass through creating shifting patterns, which–during specific times of the year–transform into the legible text of a poem. The specific arrangements of the perforations reveal different shadow-poems according to the solar calendar"

Via baekdal. Thanks for the tip Jenn.

Play On...

I am who I am today because I played with Legos as a kid. I am sure of it. If you feel the same then you would appreciate the new Lego Store in Manhattan where you can buy legos in bulk or handpick your own kit from the worlds tallest "Pick A Brick" wall...awesome.

Writing on the Wall...

Paula Scher is a graphic designer who paints maps sometimes. Now she has adapted her paintings to the interior of Queens Metropolitan Campus in Forest Hills to create a stunning example of environmental design. I like it a lot.

Via pentagram.com

Dia: Beacon...

Dia: Beacon occupies a former printing factory 60 miles outside of New York City, a short walk from the Hudson Line train station in Beacon, NY. Upon paying admission, you are presented with a small map, which you will need to navigate the building’s 240,000 square-foot floor plan.

Dia: Beacon’s collection focuses on works by mportant artist of the 60’s and 70’s including: Joseph Beuys, John Chamberlain, Walter De Maria, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, Louise Bourgeois, Sol LeWitt, Bruce Nauman, Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, Lawrence Weiner, and others. Their work is well served here. The early twentieth century industrial architecture of the building provides plenty of space between exhibits and includes 34,000 square feet of glass skylights. As is often the case with art exhibitions, there is little context provided for visitors who are not already familiar with contemporary art history. However, in viewing this collection, visitors are presented with a comprehensive selection of works of this particular era.

The signage and graphics are minimal. There is no audio or video implemented, except where it is part of the artwork. There are no “new media” or “interactive” displays either. And yet, the exhibition is absolutely captivating. Sol LeWitt’s brilliantly simple drawing installations stretch floor to ceiling in several large rooms. Richard Serra’s sculptures impose on space with great physical mass while Dan Flavin’s light sculptures do so with almost none. These works and others are simply displayed, with room to breath, and illuminated by the sun. Great art shouldn’t be decorated, and need not be explained -- simply experienced.

Rising Currents...

What will be the effects of climate change on New York City’s decaying infrastructure? Imagine yourself in Manhattan...standing in water. Sea levels are expected to rise 2 feet by 2080 and New York, once the greatest city on earth, could eventually become our Atlantis. MoMA and PS1 teamed up to address this issue in Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront.

In an architects-in-residence program program at PS1, five interdisciplinary design teams were asked to re-envision the coastlines of New York. Their solutions, including well executed written analysis, videos, models, renderings and drawings, is currently on exhibit at the MoMA. The amount of information conveyed by these materials may be too much for some visitors. A more immersive element may have improved interaction for this group. However, those interested in the project could easily spend an afternoon here.

Imagine wind farms and elevated “solar” roads power our neighborhoods. Your apartment building hangs from an armature over a floating wetland habitat. Rooftops collect rainwater and gradually disperse it to greenspaces where our streets used to be. You travel to work on an aquatic transportation system powered by bio fuel made from algae, farmed in reclaimed oil tankers. You go to lunch in wetland “blue parks” overlooking forests rising from vast trenches -- our first line of defense against flooding. Just off the coast, ocean ecosystems are thriving on retired subway cars and recycled glass reef structures. A planned, underwater oyster habitat off the coast of Brooklyn, named “Oyster-techture”, is used to clean our coastal water. Imagine yourself in Manhattan -- a shining example to the world, of what a city can be.