Viridian Note 00214: House of the FutureBruce Sterling [bruces@well.com]
Attention Conservation Notice: Yet another magazine appearance, plus other seasonal meanderings and noodlings. We just put a new web analysis program on the Viridian home site. Now go click on this, so we can watch the statistics. http://www.viridiandesign.org We need better graphic design, too. Who wants to volunteer? Link: http://www.dwellmag.com http://www.dwellmag.com/wh_contest.html?noflash
The latest issue of dwell (note lower-case d) magazine is out. It's the "2001: Come Home to the Future" issue. I'm in it, with a strident essay on "the house of the future." Unlike most riffs on "houses of the future," this is not some nostalgic retro flashback about the 20th century's wacky futuristic notions (Dymaxion House 1929, Pittsburgh House of Glass 1939, Disneyland Monsanto House 1957, Habitat 67 at Montreal Expo, etc. etc.). Instead, this is a straight-out brand-new wacky futuristic notion. No doubt this essay of mine will someday seem every bit as corny as those other offerings, but this is in fact a brief yet determined effort to describe an entirely novel kind of future house. It centers on environmental sensors and ubiquitous computation. If you're the kind of guy or gal who wears brushed- aluminum glasses in a semi-gentrified urban enclave with your feet on a secondhand Eames table, then you probably need "dwell" on your minimalist coffeetable. Actually, it's well worth buying this issue merely for the sake of the interesting picture of Max Yoshimoto on page 71. Mr Yoshimoto, the senior vice president at Lunar Design, helped create the award-winning blobject Oral-B toothbrush. I use his fabulous device every day. This thing is the Grand Vizier of toothbrushes. I have never known its like. I'm putting his portrait inside my medicine cabinet. http://www.lunardesign.com/pressroom/pressrel/010799.html "dwell" is also running a bold, refreshing architectural contest to demolish and rebuild the White House. Some of our EuroViridian friends might be interested in entering this "dwell" contest, as, unlike Americans, they may be able to look at this structure without screaming in anguish. http://www.dwellmag.com/wh_contest.html?noflash
And the Viridian Energy Meter soaks up some more free press from those friendly folks at DESIGNFAX. http://www.manufacturingcenter.com/dfx/archives/1100/1100lyr.asp DESIGNFAX editrix Kim Chapple (kchapple@aip.com^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*) further remarks: "I profiled Pew Center for Global Climate Change in the same spot. Later this month, I have a meeting in Detroit with ECOSTAR, a company made up of Ballard Fuel Cell, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler engineers. Have a great holiday season." Absolutely. |
