A TAKE ON FUTURE HABITAT

Jacque Fresco belives that one day civilization will be forced to relocate taking residence in the sea, if land becomes uninhabitable. This move may be due to overpopulation that exceeds the capacity of the land. In the future, we will be building the cities throughout the sea - so far his prognostics goes.

Fresco has spent decades - almost all of his 86 years - making detailed drawings and building prototypes of his futuristic cities. His architecture is typically modular. The structures are designed to be efortlessly and quickly taken apart and moved to other locations - by robots. There modules are to be made of “memory metal”. In certain thermal conditions these smart metal structures are compressed down to compact transportable blocks and then upon delivery and rendering of the original conditions they reconstitute themselves from their intrinsic memory to their original size and shape…

In other words, we are to accomplish wonders far surpassing Egyptian pyramids, Roman aqueducts, and Catholic cathedrals all combined. According to this vision, we are to conduct the expedition that would put all former Exoduses of nations in the shade forever…

http://www.thevenusproject.com/Fresco2.wmv

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EVENTS: DESIGN & THE ELASTIC MIND

MOMA - NEW YORK
February 24–May 12, 2008

“One of design’s most fundamental tasks is to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with change. Designers have coped with these displacements by contributing thoughtful concepts that can provide guidance and ease as science and technology evolve […] Design and the Elastic Mind is a survey of the latest developments in the field. It focuses on designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores, changes that will demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior, and convert them into objects and systems that people understand and use. The exhibition will highlight examples of successful translation of disruptive innovation, examples based on ongoing research, as well as reflections on the future responsibilities of design. Of particular interest will be the exploration of the relationship between design and science […] The exhibition will include objects, projects, and concepts offered by teams of designers, scientists, and engineers from all over the world, ranging from the nanoscale to the cosmological scale. The objects range from nanodevices to vehicles, from appliances to interfaces, and from pragmatic solutions for everyday use to provocative ideas meant to influence our future choices.”

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BATTLE OF DESIGNS

I hold my breath in a futile attempt not to faint too soon while watching the PC-world busy mobilizing aesthetic forces to fight World War IIIIIIIIIIIII (?) against its binary opposite – this time on the field of appearances, which is so far has been decisively under the Mac-world’s design jurisdiction. Now the Vaio Zoom concept is making some advances in the field on the wheels of recent holographic technologies. See, design matters! It is already a sport and we should all vote its inclusion in the Olympic games package.

In the meantime: 8-bit (micro)music radio station

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RUGEN: INSPIRED THROUGH NATURE and DESIGN

Standing on a beach… off-seasoned.

Off-season here means one gets an impression of the place with an extra pinch of natural seasoning.

A lifeguard station by Ulrich Muther (1934-2007), a German architect and native of Rugen. Build in the 60’s, these UFO-like structures reflect the identity of the times and add another dimension to the historic reading and appreciation of the place.

Here I am in Binz, a small resort town on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen. My time of the year is off-season. Silent winter sky quiets many little noises that are indicative of life – except for those of teeth-chattering outside – but the place is no way dead. On the contrary. Perhaps it is the only time when it gives itself to perceptions most fully and in the greatest measure impresses one’s senses and stimulates imagination. Looking through the large window of Cerês Am Meer and sliding hundred miles per second with my eyes along the horizon line that either separates or pieces together the two parallel top and bottom infinities, I entertain a supposition that The Phenomenology of Spirit could have been written here. Certainly other works with titles to that effect. They should have been. If not, I’ll do it right now! The view is magnificent…

Empowering through design… Cerês Am Meer, a relatively small private hotel that represents a new trend in hospitality – with a particular emphasis on design as one of the basic characteristics of what it is to be human and an essential determinant of the quality of life.

What makes Rügen one of the most popular destinations for travelers is its irresistible natural appeal. In 19th century it was well captured in the famous Caspar David Friedrich’s Chalk Cliffs painting.

Typical residential architecture of Binz, a resort town on the island.

From its natural beauty derives historic significance of the place. The first resort on the island was founded at Putbus in 1816. Later on more resorts were established and Rügen became the most famous holiday destination of Germany. Its popularity among Germans took a somewhat grotesque form in the mid 20th century that bore witness to opening (although partial) of Propa, a massive holiday recreation complex built between 1936 and 1939 as a Kraft durch Freude (Strength through Joy) project, a centerpiece of Nazi social and tourism politics. In budgetary terms, Prora was the second largest civil construction site of the Reich, after the autobahn, and, in terms of the ideological impact, it proved to be one of the most effective architectural advertisements for the regime, a “word of stone”. The plans of the “dwelling machine” (a term coined by Le Corbusier) at Prora Bay went on display at the World Fair in Paris 1937 and were awarded a Grand Prix as an outstanding example of modern “form follows function” architecture.

One of the seashore sculptures that once served as artistic articulation of the Strength through Joy project – now with its wings eloquently chipped off and in this abridged edition made to speak for some other cause. An examplification of sustainability in art: recycle!

According to this plan, the center of the complex is a square of about 400 by 600 meters, containing a tower with a restaurant, the festival hall, the reception offices and large cafes. Towards the sea there is a quayside with two piers for cruisers. Adjoined to the left and right side of the central square, there are six-storey residence wings with each extending over more than two kilometers and containing more than 10,000 “living and sleeping cell units” – mostly identical 2.20 by 4.75 m two-beds rooms.

Prora resort was to function as a modern entertainment center, offering theaters and cinemas, bowling alleys, indoor swimming pools with artificial waves and so on. In addition numerous auxiliary facilities were needed – a train station, underground parking lots, residential areas for 2,000 employees, hospital, power station, and a slaughterhouse…

The “dwelling machine” is still there. It’s just no one dwells there these days – for obvious administrative reasons, – and hardly anyone would. Yet, the power plant of joy is worth checking out. I am making sure the batteries in my camera are fully charged…

What remains of the Prora complex… Structurally, the monster is for the most part intact. They would pull it down, if only they knew how… to demolish the building erected by 15,000 masons. They would put the building to use, if only they had ideas that are approximate in their scale and scope to the megalomaniac visions of National Socialism.

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