- from psfk.com
so(hot)right(now)
life or something like it
Biomimicry + architecture: ICD/ITKE Research Pavilion at the University of Stuttgart
The project explores the architectural transfer of biological principles of the sea urchin’s plate skeleton morphology by means of novel computer-based design and simulation methods, along with computer-controlled manufacturing methods for its building implementation. A particular innovation consists in the possibility of effectively extending the recognized bionic principles and related performance to a range of different geometries through computational processes, which is demonstrated by the fact that the complex morphology of the pavilion could be built exclusively with extremely thin sheets of plywood (6.5 mm).
- from dezeen.com
To see in London: Amnesty International Photojournalism Awards
Amnesty International Media Awards Winners 2011 is up until November 8 at Amnesty International UK’s Human Rights Action Centre and Simon Roberts -
We English remains open through 19 November 2011 at Flowers galleries.
- from we-make-money-not-art.com
New Scientist: On the capitalist network that runs the world
The work, to be published in PloS One, revealed a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships (see image). Each of the 1318 had ties to two or more other companies, and on average they were connected to 20. What’s more, although they represented 20 per cent of global operating revenues, the 1318 appeared to collectively own through their shares the majority of the world’s large blue chip and manufacturing firms – the “real” economy – representing a further 60 per cent of global revenues.
When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a “super-entity” of 147 even more tightly knit companies – all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity – that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. “In effect, less than 1 per cent of the companies were able to control 40 per cent of the entire network,” says Glattfelder. Most were financial institutions. The top 20 included Barclays Bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The Goldman Sachs Group.
- from newscientist.com
Sound familiar? Hapsburg Spain and the development of capitalism
Credit emerged as a widespread tool of Spanish business in the 17th century. The city of Antwerp, in the Spanish Netherlands, lay at the heart of European commerce and its bankers financed most of Charles V’s and Philip II’s wars on credit. The use of “notes of exchange” became common as Antwerp’s banks became increasingly powerful and led to extensive speculation that helped to exaggerate price shifts. Although these trends laid the foundation for the development of capitalism in Spain and Europe as a whole, the total lack of regulation and pervasive corruption meant that small landowners often lost everything with a single stroke of misfortune. Estates in Spain, and especially in Castile, grew progressively larger and the economy became increasingly uncompetitive, particularly during the reigns of Philip III and IV when repeated speculative crises shook Spain.
via en.wikipedia.org
Contently: Platform For Publishers And Freelance Writers
Contently‘s founders, Joe Coleman, Shane Snow and David Goldberg, launched the site in open beta in April 2011. The New York City-based start-up is a platform for journalists and bloggers to manage their freelance careers and publishers to source professional writers. The “anti-content-farm” is optimized for brands and forward-thinking agencies who want to commission magazine-quality writing.
via psfk.com
Finland: Sitra’s Strategic Design Unit
The interesting thing about the strategic design unit (SDU) is that it takes this approach to matters of public policy. In particular, it watches the massive social and economic changes that governments, including our own, are struggling to cope with. When the welfare system is straining because there’s less tax revenue to go round and an ageing population demanding greater care, how do you make it deliver? The answer lies partly in the minutiae of, say, how you deliver food to the elderly, but also at the macro scale. The SDU has found itself rethinking the social contract. Do you allow people to work less and contribute to society in other ways, such as part-time volunteering? It sounds something like David Cameron’s big society, but in the UK there was no detail about how that would work, just the unrealistic expectation that we would all do more.
- from guardian.co.uk
Each new fact or experience is assimilated into a living web of understanding that already exists in that person’s mind.
“As scientists study the processes of learning they are realizing that learning reflects their best understanding of the brain’s natural way of making sense of the world. Constructivism holds that learning is essentially active. A person learning something new brings to that experience all of their previous knowledge and present mental patterns. Each new fact or experience is assimilated into a living web of understanding that already exists in that person’s mind. As a result, learning is neither passive nor simply objective”
John Abbott & Terence Ryan
Westergasfabriek, creative industries and event space, Amsterdam.
Studios, workshops, cinema space, bars and more. On Westerpark.
http://www.westergasfabriek.nl/
Growing inequality = shrinking opportunity.
As put by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, “growing inequality is the flip side of something else: shrinking opportunity. Whenever we diminish equality of opportunity, it means that we are not using some of our most valuable assets—our people—in the most productive way possible.
via slate.com
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