Congratulations to French architect Jean Nouvel, who has just been announced as the winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize for 2008.

This proves a bit of a boon for our friends over at Dezeen, who only last month gave Jean the honour of being their Featured Architect. Proof, were it needed, of their good taste.

Also, it’s probably quite nice for Mr Nouvel, whose eye-catching design for the Philharmonic Hall in Paris, below, is currently a work in progress. He was chosen for Pritzker Laureate because of his ‘creative experimentation and buildings that speak to their surroundings’ the jury said.

Thomas J. Pritzker, chairman of The Hyatt Foundation said (quoting from the jury citation); “Of the many phrases that might be used to describe the career of architect Jean Nouvel, foremost are those that emphasize his courageous pursuit of new ideas and his challenge of accepted norms in order to stretch the boundaries of the field.”

Like previous winner Zaha Hadid, Nouvel has many incredible designs which have sadly never been built but while looking at their combined back catalogues I have come to the conclusion that an architect’s success cannot be quantified by the number of buildings their name can be put to. Surely the idea, the design, is the crucial element - their “pursuit of new ideas” and stretching, or perhaps even breaking, the boundaries; making us think and re-evaluate the buildings around us. Once a design is agreed and building work commences it becomes a collaborative effort and the artist’s control is weakened. It reminds me of arguments regarding Auteur theory in cinema - essentially that an Auteur’s (usually a director) films reflect their personal creative vision but the collective nature of film making questions that - is it solely the director, would a change in cast, D.o.P. or producer have no effect?

In other news, if you’re looking to wow your geek or geekette perhaps this is the perfect ring for a proposal:

The Swarovski Crystal USB Engagement ring! Sadly these are just a concept at the moment but as you can already buy four Philips and Swarovski USB creations it’s probably only a matter of time before something like this is available. Whether any of us can afford them is another matter…

Zaha Hadid, the first female recipient of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, was chosen by Karl Lagerfeld to create the Mobile Art CHANEL Contemporary Art Container, pictured below. Hadid, described by The Times last year as “the world’s most flamboyant architect” due to her “breathtakingly sensuous designs”, seems like an obvious choice for a man quoted as saying “I don’t like standard beauty – there is no beauty without strangeness.”

Hadid was awarded the Pritzker, considered to be the Nobel Prize of architecture, in 2004 and is arguably one of the most talented architects of her generation. According to the Museum Marketing Blog (where I found the pictures above and below), the Pavilion was inspired by Chanel’s signature quilted bag, but the official Chanel Mobile Art site says the exhibition inside the pavilion which will include work “inspired by the elements that give the emblematic quilted bag from CHANEL its identity”.

I can’t find a definitive answer as to if the Pavilion is also based on the icon bags - if you know please comment!

There is a great little vital tour of the exhibition space on the Chanel Mobile Art site where the concept is described:

“It is important to note that Mobile Art is less an itinerant exhibition than an artistic experience in a nomadic building. This is how both the architecture and the exhibition were conceived.”
…
“When you see pictures of the scale model, you notice that the architecture is completely organic. The walls are not straight.

Once inside the structure of Mobile Art, you find something undefined and fluid. It feels temporary, giving the impression of a virtual reality.
It plays on the idea of being in another dimension, in a cinematic universe.”

The tour starts in Hong Kong next month and comes to the UK in June 2009.

A long wait but hopefully one that’s worth it!

With mobile phones so ubiquitous these days it’s hard to find places where they’re not usable - they’re generally restricted to being down coal mines, up the tops of mountains and when in an aeroplane. But that last one might be about to change:

The use of mobiles on planes flying in European airspace has been given approval by UK regulator Ofcom. It has issued plans that will allow airlines to offer mobile services on UK-registered aircraft. The decision means that mobiles could be used once a plane has reached an altitude of 3,000m or more.

Turning off mobiles is always something I forget to do on plane (though thankfully with no ill effects, touch wood) but it might be a while yet before we’re able to use them properly, as airlines still need to jump through other regulatory hoops before mobiles on planes will be allowed. So if you’re itching to use your phone, whether it be for texts, calls or Internet, when you next fly, you’re going to have to wait a little bit longer. Alternatively, you might think it’s good to take a break from a mobile lifestyle for a few hours once every so often. What do you reckon? Is allowing mobile use on planes a good thing or something we’re better off without?

Last week I noticed BT have partnered with FON to create (wait for it..) BT FON (see what they did there?)

FON is “the largest Wi-Fi community in the world. FON is a Community of people making WiFi universal and free.” Essentially, ‘Foneros’ share their home Internet connections in exchange for free access to the Community’s FON Spots wherever they go.

Since Wi-Fi was introduced there have always been people, not necessarily intentionally, sharing their own or piggy-backing on other’s connections. For the very net-savvy and early adopters out there FON, which launched in late 2005, didn’t offer a first - you had years of fun inventing War-chalking, War-driving and all sorts of other methods which didn’t actually involve as much fighting as the names might suggest. But what FON did bring in to the equation was safety - a router designed specifically to allow secure shared WiFi access.

“From the beginning FON users believed in the concept of sharing and in the peoples’ ability to participate in building something important that would benefit everyone. With BT FON, those beliefs have proved to be well-founded.”

BT Group managing director, Gavin Patterson added:

“We are giving our millions of Total Broadband customers a choice and an opportunity. If they are prepared to securely share a little of their broadband, they can share the broadband at hundreds of thousands of FON and BT Openzone hotspots today, without paying a penny.”

“We have built a public Wi-Fi network and 12 Wireless Cities already, but today we are saying to customers, let’s build a Wi-Fi community together, which covers everywhere and serves everyone.”

You can find out more here.

I’ve just watched a video from TED.org of the presentation given by Harvard Center for Astrophysics Researcher Roy Gould and Curtis Wong, manager of Microsoft’s Next Media Research, unveiling Microsoft’s new WorldWide Telescope a few weeks ago.

According to Gould produces a “holistic approach” by weaving together the best images and information from satellites and telescopes all over the world and will have “as profound an impact on they way we view the universe as Galileo did 4 centuries ago.” Big claims but apparently it made Robert Scoble, MD of Fast Company.TV and, according to Wikipedia an “American blogger, technical evangelist, and author” cry, as he openly admits on his blog: “This is the thing that made me tear up when I saw it because it’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen Microsoft do in years.” and on the company website when they did a feature: “It had a huge emotional impact on me, as I realized the way my son will see the Universe will forever change, thanks to the work of two guys in Microsoft Research (Curtis Wong and Jonathan Fay).”

Curtis Wong discribes the project as a labour of love for his team and they hope it will inspire “kids to explore and learn about the universe”.

Gould ends his part of the talk by saying “When I ask people ‘How does the night sky make you feel?’ they often say ‘oh, tiny - I feel tiny and insignificant!” Well, our gaze fills the universe and thanks to the creators of the WorldWide Telescope we c an now start to have a dialogue with the universe. I think the WorldWide Telescope will convince you that we maybe tiny but we are truly, wonderfully significant.”

There are some amazing images on display in this talk and the technology is fascinating, I recommend watching the video. You can also get more information on the official Microsoft mini-site.

WorldWide Telescope will be available as a free download later this Spring and I for one can’t wait to play around with it!

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away yesterday, aged 90. As well as being one of the leading science fiction writers of the twentieth century, was a passionate believer in using technology to advance mankind. He famously proposed using geostationary satellites - satellites that remained in a fixed point above a spot on the Earth - to relay radio signals - which today is one of the most important components in global communications.

The quote at the top, one of his most famous (the third of his three laws) certainly rings true if you compare the world as it was when Sir Arthur was born. A visitor from 1917 would be astounded to see the amazing leaps mankind has made, from television to space travel to the Internet, we enjoy today. Just think where we’ll be in 90 years hence, at the same rate of advancement; what holds for us then will be as comparatively magical as the present day is to 1917. It’s just a matter of getting there, and as Sir Arthur’s second law states, there’s only one way of getting there:

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.”

To make up for the relative quiet last week (hope you didn’t miss us too much!) here’s another post to keep you going. Happy weekend!

Inhabitat and a free newspaper I found on the bus the other night were keen to discuss the merits of this new green energy Revolving door by Fluxxlab.

Image from Techchee

Inhabitat praise it as being “an ingenious sustainable energy harvesting idea that makes you wonder why no one else has thought of it before.” Sorry to burst the bubbles guys, but somebody did think of it: in 2005 on Halfbakery. But that’s not to discount the Fluxxlab team, not being the only ones to have the idea is negligible in the context that they are the only ones to have acted on it, apparently successfully. It is also, I think anyone would agree, a laudable goal.

However I find myself questioning the practical applications of this as a large scale solution. Particularily in London as I can’t think of the last time I encountered a revolving door that wasn’t automatic or partially powered for the benefit of the less able or less energetic of us.
Then there is also the problem of the additional friction necessary to generate any energy - unless I’ve misunderstood the design - meaning, potentially, a percentage of the population can’t get through the door at all.

But I think the solution to my concerns might also have been found on Halfbakery - as thekohser suggests “if you really want to power up a few lightbulbs with people exerting the energy, at least go to cooperative participants — try a fitness club (think treadmills and weight machines).” Now there’s an interesting way to keep gym membership costs down!

I came across these amazing photos today:

After a little digging I found these are from a book called Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa by Hans Silvester. These are members of the Surma and Mursi tribes who live in the Omo Valley on the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. Fifteen tribes, including the Hamer and Kurma tribes, live in this area but I’m unsure if they all partake in this ornamentation. The decorations seem to serve no ritualistic purpose and are purely for enjoyment.

It’s wonderful to see such spontaneous, natural (in all senses - apparently the designs are painted freeform, with no sign of pre-planning) and elegent designs. It’s kind of unifying to know that these tribes people have the same concerns about accessories as I do! Although I don’t think I could wear theirs - my hayfever redden eyes would probably spoil the look somewhat.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not the only person whose eye Mr Silvester’s images caught as the book has also been mentioned by the Mail and the Telegraph last week, worth a look as they have more of the pictures too.