Chicago and the 1893 World’s Fair

I am here in Chicago for the How Design Live conference this week and am very excited to be near the very spot of one of the most notable World’s Fair venues. The event was titled the World’s Columbian Expo,…
Creatively Distracted
Creatively Distracted
Articles spotted about, and personal experiences with architecture.
I am here in Chicago for the How Design Live conference this week and am very excited to be near the very spot of one of the most notable World’s Fair venues. The event was titled the World’s Columbian Expo,…
A brilliant architectural ouroboros, No Limits in New York City by Alexandre Arrechea, 2013:
Snow acrylic, ink, magazine photo on panel 8″ x 8″ 2010 Shipbreaking, Yosemite Valley acrylic, ink, magazine photo on panel 18″ x 11″ x 2″ 2012 Palouse Falls with Containers 2 oil on canvas 70″ x 48″ 2012 Denali National…
Archinect recently posted a great article on Second Life from an architect's perspective. Like many other architectural commentaries about SL, it laments the lack of inspiration and vision characteristic of many structures found around SL, but continues past that into an interesting exploration into possibilities and then into some details about LOL Architects and a classes being taught at the Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm and another in Rotterdam. Definitely worth the read if you're looking for some "off the beaten path" sorts of things.
Back to the suburban look of SL - while it is true that not all structures found on the grid are devoid of creativity and thoughtfulness toward purpose, location, and environment - many are just replicas of RL neighborhoods. I don't believe this is the fault of the SL platform at all, but an affliction suffered by a segment of the resident population who have been brainwashed by RL fascist cookie cutter companies like Toll Brothers into their ideal of the perfect home. Ideals aside, I have tried to walk through my fair share of hairpin staircases and run into walls and ceilings due to lack of consideration for the viewpoint of the trailing camera. [...]
There are quite a number of RL and virtual architects creating work in SL. There was a link today on the SLED listserv from Pathfinder Linden to a YouTube video of what could be considered collaborative virtual architecture. There are more videos posted by Keystone1111 on YouTube that are equally as interesting. They are wonderful examples of process and technique for building in SL - something that one normally doesn't get to see while logged into SL unless you happen to stumble upon someone. Thanks to Keystone1111 for posting these and sharing this work.