Tag: Design

Case study #2 from the Media Archaeology Lab: The Altair 8800b from 1976

May 14, 2014

This still-functioning Altair 8800b from 1976 is housed in the MediaArchaeology Lab (MAL) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. BY LORI EMERSONAssistant professor of English, as well as the founder and director of the Media Archaeology Lab, at the University of Colorado at Boulder — #MALcasestudies is a weekly blog series featuring treasures that … More Case study #2 from the Media Archaeology Lab: The Altair 8800b from 1976

New weekly series: Case studies from the Media Archaeology Lab

May 7, 2014

The Media Archaeology Lab, hosted at the University of Colorado at Boulder and founded by Lori Emerson, is a space for cross-disciplinary experimental research using still-functioning but obsolete tools from the past. Visit it here. BY LORI EMERSONAssistant professor of English, as well as the founder and director of the Media Archaeology Lab, at the … More New weekly series: Case studies from the Media Archaeology Lab

Olympic architecture and a lost opportunity in Sochi

March 6, 2014

Fireworks over the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia, during the 2014 Winter Olympics. BY KATHLEEN JAMES-CHAKRABORTYProfessor of art history at University College Dublin After last week’s closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics, many of the athletic performances will be remembered for a long time; not so the architecture. The Winter Olympics seldom produce … More Olympic architecture and a lost opportunity in Sochi

Cover design process: Prismatic Ecology

January 29, 2014

Our hot-off-the-press book Prismatic Ecology: Ecotheory beyond Green uses color as a guide to theoretical reflection on innovations that arrive when ecotheory moves beyond the pastoralism of green. This book has a gorgeous cover and a pretty cool story behind that cover. We’ve asked the cover designer, Jeff Clark, to let us in on his … More Cover design process: Prismatic Ecology

On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

August 14, 2013

Courtyard of the Place of Hidden Waters, Tacoma, Washington. This is thefirst tribal building to be certified LEED Platinum. BY JOY MONICE MALNARAssociate professor of architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and co-author, with Frank Vodvarka, of New Architecture on Indigenous Lands The result of six years of travel, interviews, email correspondences, and … More On cultivating culturally responsive architecture while designing for modern needs

How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

July 18, 2013

Victor Gruen’s Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, was the first fully indoor shopping mall in the world. Photo credit: Bobak Ha’Eri via Creative Commons. BY DAVID SMILEYGraduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University In 1958, the Architectural League of New York held a photographic exhibit of new street furniture. Today, such an … More How the suburban U.S. shopping mall reimagined the city and undergirded architectural modernization

Why do we have such faith in creativity?

April 16, 2013

William W. Caudill, “The Busted Box,” New Schools for New Education, 1959, page 21. Despite its abstract nature, the term “creativity” is something of a hot commodity in contemporary educational rhetoric—a reminder of the discourse that flooded the U.S. after World War II. BY AMY F. OGATAAssociate professor at the Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, … More Why do we have such faith in creativity?