The sound of forms

The Iannis Xenakis exhibition at the Drawing Center featured over 60 drawings, photos, musical pieces and documents that span the avant-garde composer/architect's career from 1953 to 1984. I didn't know much about musical composition. But through the hand sketches and the almost-architectural diagrams of sound and rhythm, I saw the strong connection between music, mathematics, and architecture that Xenakis had explored throughout his life.

One piece that struck me the most (perhaps it was just the easiest piece for an amateur to understand) was Mycènes Alpha (1978), shown at a listening station with a flat screen TV. As the thin bar swept across the screen on a series of funny shapes and strange lines, I heard fluctuating noises. My first reaction was, "Is this even music?" But after a while, I realized what I heard came from what I saw - the graphics was actually a score. The pitch was represented on the Y- axis in relation to the X- axis on which you read the time from left to right.



This was the first piece of music generated by the UPIC (Unité Polyagogique Informatique du CEMAMu), developed by the Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatique Musicales (CEMAMu) in Paris. Xenakis used a electrostatic stylus to draw waveforms and volume envelopes on the drawing board, which were then rendered by the computer into sounds. The visual-sonic translation was so literal that it was almost relentless. Did Xenakis know exactly what it would sound like? Probably not. But he was able to let loose the end result and make the act of composition truly experimental. This "arts/sciences alloy" enabled you to hear the "formalized music", the sound of forms - singularity and multiplicity, branching and convergence, chaos and order.

It reminded me of the so-called "parametric design" in architecture now. It's a lie compared to what Xenakis did 30 years ago. It will be convincing only when architects are 1) clear about the relevant principles and rationales (aka parameters); and 2) let go and stop micro-controlling the end object (aka design).

Here comes the Tiger

First day of the Year of the Tiger! Happy Chinese New Year!

(Click to enlarge. Read carefully for the message.)

The (killing) power of boredom

When you say "bored to death," be careful. It may be possible.

Scientists Annie Britton and Martin J. Shipley of University College London analyzed the data collected in a survey between 1985 and 1988, of over 7,500 civil servants who were between the ages of 35 to 55, about their level of boredom. They found that 10% of the respondents reported having been bored within the previous month, with women reporting being bored more than twice as often as men. Younger workers and people with menial jobs were also high in the boredom scales.

Then they tracked down how many respondents were still alive in April 2009. Those who had said they had high levels of boredom were 37% more likely to be dead than those who did not report being bored. The bored ones were two and a half times more likely to die of a heart problem. The researchers said the study was preliminary - boredom itself was probably not that deadly. But people who regularly/chronically feel bored are more prone to being unhappy and feeling unmotivated and unfulfilled, and this could lead to the adoption of unhealthy habits such as smoking, drinking, or drugs.

Christopher Cannon, associate professor of medicine at Harvard and spokesman for the American College of Cardiology, commented that people who were bored would be less likely to have a healthy lifestyle. That made them more vulnerable to a cardiovascular event. If boredom was ultimately linked to depression, heart attacks wouldn't be of much surprise, since depression has long been recognized as a risk factor for heart disease. It's possible that when people were bored, dangerous hormones were released in the body that stressed the heart.

Well... I guess my job is exciting enough!

The plurality of perfections

In a 2004 article from the New Yorker (recently featured in the book What the Dog Saw), Malcolm Gladwell mentioned a story about Howard Moskowitz, an American market researcher, who received the task of figuring out the perfect amount of sweetener for Diet Pepsi. Pepsi knew that anything below 8% was not sweet enough and anything over 12% was too sweet. So Moskowitz logically set up experiments to give people batches of 8%, 8.25%, 8.5%, and on and on up to 12%. Instead of showing a concentration that people liked the most, the data were a mess - there wasn't a pattern at all. Then he realized people have different definitions of what's perfect. Rather than search for human universals, they should provide variations. "There was no such thing as the perfect Diet Pepsi. They should have been looking for the perfect Diet Pepsis."

The plural nature of perfection implies variations, and opposes hasty simplification. Sometimes I heard comments like "this will be perfect for China." What does that even mean? Extravaganza? Labor-intensive constructions? Or Feng-shui? (Stereotype is such a curious combination of generalization and specification.) Situation varies, so does "what fits in there." Rem's Maison à Bordeaux was perfect for a man who was confined to a wheelchair. But after he died in 2001, the moving platform became a constant reminder of his absence. His daughter couldn't live there any more.

The idea of plural perfections embraces difference, and facilitates co-existence. At the end it can lead to a colorful world of rich heterogeneity. This can be big as religion, politics, race, and gender, or small as how you want your coffee. There's not necessarily one best way to do things. Why can't we just listen and stop fighting? Why can't we try to understand different opinions instead of biasedly dismiss them right away? Why do we force everybody to like what we like and suppress all the other voices? Yes, you are right. But that doesn't mean others are all wrong.

BIG ideas

I went to Bjarke Ingels's lecture on Friday. The main argument was pretty much the same as his TED talk - I already wrote about that last October. But it was still nice to see him talk in person. Undeniably, he's a good salesman. I was deeply impressed by his energy and enthusiasm when I first saw him lecture at the GSD in 2006, although in the years that followed, I repeatedly found his projects a bit too naive and superficial. This time, I felt myself excited again - even starting to buy his hyper-optimism and hyper-straight-forwardness. It seemed like he actually knew what he was doing, judging from the following points he was trying to make at the lecture.

Say "Yes!"
Avant-garde seems to be always negative, pictured as this "angry young man" rebelling against the establishment. Most of the time avant-garde is defined as what it's up against rather than what it's for. As a result, the history of architecture appears to be a series of oedipal successions of generations that were always the opposite of their previous ones. Can we be positive about things and be radical at the same time? I think that's what Bjarke is trying to do. Be a "happy young man" and think "life is beautiful." Kazakhstan? Estonia? Azerbaijan? Hell yes! Let's do it!

Humor vs. architecture
BIG videos are always funny. A (Preiser-like) red peep running around the 8-house, for instance. And Kaspar's "My Playground" film featuring Team JiYo is utterly awe-inspiring.

To explain the use of humor in the presentation of architecture, Bjarke said, interesting design is like humor; "it's all about punch lines. They are surprising, but at the same time they make sense." Sometimes you say laughable things during meetings but after a while you realize they may not be that stupid. The key to nurturing interesting ideas is to have a relaxed atmosphere at brainstorming sessions so that everybody is encouraged to throw out "stupid" thoughts. Sadly, this kind of atmosphere is not a common practice these days...

Pragmatic utopia
Architects rarely have financial or political power to realize what they envision. So the work becomes a series of improvised reactions to incidents caused by the powerful. Bjarke described his strategy: identify the sphere of influence, and let the rest be context. At first it sounded like "the art of compromise." But in fact, judging from BIG's line of work, the sphere of influence turned out to be bigger than I thought. If you try hard enough, you may actually have considerable freedom within the framework.

Complexity
"There is a big difference between complexity and complication." In computer programming, complexity means to use the most efficient algorithm to process the maximum amount of data. You want a view in the other direction? I'll twist. You need infinite linearity for the stacks? I'll make you a circle. Simple and easy. All the other unnecessary noises will just blur the communication and eventually miss the point. Maybe the naive straight-forwardness is not a bad thing after all... At least it's easier to make projects into icons for the website. Alright, I'm sold.

iTablet, iSlate, and finally iPad

Rumors started long time ago that Apple was making a tablet. After many rounds of "discussions," geeks came to the following consensus:
- The tablet will look like a larger iPod Touch or iPhone, measuring approximately 10 inches;
- running a substantially expanded version of the iPhone OS, which will be named iOS;
- probably called iSlate;
- with a new, non-QWERTY interface;
- with Wi-Fi and 3G data connections, not exclusive to AT&T, but probably Verizon this time.
- possibly available in two versions, LCD and OLED, with or without webcam;
- and it will cost between $700 and $900.

Here's a collection of what people thought the iTablet, or iSlate would look like:






Finally this morning, the real thing surfaced. Steve Job announced the brand new (unisex) device called iPad.

- Yes, it does look like an enlarged iPhone.
- Measurements: 9.57"x7.47", 0.5" thick, 1.5 lbs. I think it looks pretty thin.
- 9.7-inch (1024x768 pixels) LED-backlet glossy display with IPS technology.
- In addition to the usual mail, calendar, maps, Safari, music, video, photos, etc., it runs all the iPhone apps, iWork, and the new iBook app.
- 10 hours of (surprising long) battery life.
- Sorry, no webcam, no DVD-Rom, no USB, no multitasking, and it still doesn't run Flash.
- But yes, you can have a keyboard dock, and it looks quite nice.
- (Too) many variations: with or without 3G; 16G, 32G, or 64G.
- Price starts at $499. (Not too bad.)
- Data plan still with AT&T, ouch!

Is this something you really need (in addition to an iPhone)? Probably not. But, it is a cool thing to have... Considering all the things missing, I find myself looking forward to the next generation already.

Pole Dance and balls

MoMA/PS1 announced yesterday that Solid Objectives - Idenburg Liu (SO-IL) won the 2010 Young Architects Program to build the installation in the PS1 courtyard this summer. It is interesting because everybody assumed BIG would get this since their name stands out by so much that it seemed almost automatic. Funny enough, rumors indicated BIG as the winner some days ago, referring to Bjarke Ingels's facebook status.

No offense to SO-IL, I think this win is inspiring because it shows us a "big" name doesn't mean as much as we thought. Less known architects still have a chance to shine. I haven't seen BIG's entry. But judging from the limited resources online, SO-IL's proposal seems to be quite ingenious.

1. It's a field, not an object that you just walk around and look at.
2. It's interactive. You participate, and the actual form of the moment reflects the relationship between the structure and its users.
3. The contrast between a rigid grid and the dynamic swaying structure is interesting.
4. Obviously low budget and yet it provides a strong sense of place.
5. The notion of shading is addressed by a mutable (almost unpredictable) device - rolling balls.
6. It's FUN!

Link to the video - fun to watch.

Congrats to Florian, Ilias, and Iannis! Can't wait to see it in June!

Essential Zumthor

Peter Zumthor's lecture at the Guggenheim Museum tonight was a pleasant experience. It was not only the design sensibility which remains untouched by fads and trends, but also the occasional jokes that reveals the most recent Pritzker laureate's way of looking at things.

Simplicity

Zumthor presented only two projects, both in Norway: the Zinc Mine Museum in Sauda and the Memorial to the Burning of Witches in Vardø. There are some similarity between the two projects: simple geometry, wood exoskeleton, and a substructures that defines the space. In the Zinc Mine Museum there are actually four buildings: Service Building, Mining Cafe (where you can get mining soup), Mining Museum, and Mining Platform. But he kept referring to them as "four of a kind." There's only one primary material, one type of structure, and one type of joinery - oneness with variations. In the early stages, the boxes were part of the wood skeleton and helped structurally. Then he realized the boxes should be separate, and as light as possible. That keeps them true to their material and the structural clarity of the buildings.

Zinc Mine Museum, Sauda, Norway

Memorial to the Burning of Witches, Vardø, Norway

Context
Zumthor compared the wood skeleton in Vardø to the long wood racks that the local fishermen built to dry fish. The tensioned fabric substructure is sailcloth, also linked to the local history of the fishing village. This reminds me of Therme Vals, where slabs of quartzite seem to naturally emerge from the landscape. Zumthor once said, “When I start, my first idea for a building is with the material.” I can see this impulse of materiality comes directly from the place.

The Magic of the Real
Like most other "old-school" architects, Zumthor believes in the power of physical models over the computer. The most impressive part of the lecture were the images of 1:1 detail models and mock-ups. His atelier would study wood structural joinery in full scale, finding the simplest one-screw solution. To try to test the atmosphere and the soft/mysterious lighting effects of the window boxes in the Memorial to the Burning of Witches, they built many iterations of 1:1 trial mock-ups in Haldenstein before the Norwegians started construction.

Letting loose
When talking about the placement of the windows, he told an interesting story. "I saw my project architect trying to design the windows and I said, that can be endless. Why don't you just let it happen by chance? Set six lines, and roll dice to determine the offset. He came back to me with the result and it looked great!" In fact, the project architect tried three rounds and picked the best one. Zumthor's comment was, "architects just won't let loose." I guess he himself is loose enough - he hasn't designed the door into the textile space yet. :)

Collaborations
The interior of the Zinc Mine Museum is very simple. In addition to a display of artifacts, there are three windows for three books, compiled by different collaborators on different subjects such as geology, history, and subterranean (mythology and world literature). Zumthor seemed to have had fun with those authors/editors, although he didn't remember their names. He enjoyed working with Louise Bourgeois on the Memorial to the Burning of Witches installation too. But when it comes to local engineers? Uh-uh. "I just realized structural forces are very different in Switzerland and Norway. I remember years ago when I crossed the border to Austria, I learned that the lightening there was completely different!"

Early version of the installation at the Memorial to the Burning of Witches by Louise Bourgeois

Energy
Initially Zumthor wanted to use old-fashioned light bulbs for the window boxes in the Memorial. He got frustrated when EU told him he has to use the new energy efficient ones. In the case of the Louise Bourgeois installation, the flame on the chair is always lit but the ring of fire around it will only light up when you get close. "To save energy they said. You can tell how much I like this kind of things... It just makes it (the installation) weak."

The citation from the 2009 Pritzker jury says, “In paring down architecture to its barest yet most sumptuous essentials, [Peter Zumthor] has reaffirmed architecture’s indispensable place in a fragile world.” I think the Pritzker has sent out a strong message: it's about time for architects to look back to the essentials of our profession. A return to the things themselves.

Where the tall things are

Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai) officially opened today. It's become the tallest building in the world with 162 floors and a spire height of 828 meters.

Talking about skyscrapers, people would naturally think about New York. But the height ranking diagram below (compiled from skyscraperpage.com) indicates something else.


Let's do some counting. Of the 28 tallest buildings that are built/under construction/approved, only two are built in the US: Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) and the Trump Tower, both in Chicago. 5 are built in East Asia, and there will be 11 more coming soon, mostly in China. 7 new towers will join the Middle East scene. Who designed these things? Mostly Americans this time. Actually mostly SOM, who built 4 (Burj Khalifa, Willis, Trump, and Jin Mao) of the 8 existing towers and has 3 more to come. KPF built one in Shanghai, and designed three new ones. Then comes Cesar Pelli, who brought the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the IFC in Hong Kong. Europeans (actually all British) seem to be catching up. They are responsible for 5 new towers, although none of them is located in Europe. Sadly, East Asian architects are not doing so great in the large scale projects. Middle Eastern firms seem to be able to get a share in their domestic market, but I was really speechless when I saw their design...

Drawing with light

The title sounds familiar? Well, we are not talking about phenomena here. This is literal about light painting, or "light graffiti" - a thread of street art that uses light as media, photographed with slow shutter speed.

Michael Bosanko, Cardiff, UK

Under the Pier

Invasion

Green Dragon

Light City 2

Lichtfaktor, Cologne, Germany

Starwars vs. Startrek

Energie in Motion

Blue Peter

Lange Nacht der Forschung

Beko All-Star

Lightmark (Cenci Goepel and Jens Warnecke), Hamburg, Germany

Eric Staller, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Synergy II

Lightubes

Eran Hakim, Istanbul, Turkey

Green Day

Bidonville

rafoto, ?

shubat, Brooklyn NY, USA

Creature of the Light

Light Creature of McCarren

The technique actually started a long time ago. During his first visit in Vallauris (1949), Gjon Mili captured Picasso drawing a centaur in thin air with a flashlight at Madoura Pottery. It was when Picasso's creative thrust kicked in after Mili showed him some of his photographs of light patterns formed by a skater’s leaps. Picasso reacted instantly with excitement, and started tracing through the air one intriguing shape after another. This "instant Picasso" is so intangible - vanishing right after born. Unlike clay, wood, metal, or paint, drawing with light requires decisive instinct and unimpeded expression of the artist’s inner vision.