j.mai

urbanination: Leon Krier`s growth of a city.

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:25:59 -0700

urbanination:

Leon Krier`s growth of a city.

A punny conversation

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 17:28:43 -0700

JP: Do you have my copy of the unbearable lightness of being? KB: Yes JP: Ah so that’s where...

When I watched the documentary film Antonio Gaudi by Hiroshi...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:50:00 -0700

When I watched the documentary film Antonio Gaudi by Hiroshi Teshigahara I actually cried. Teshigahara does a beautiful job of capturing something that a photograph alone does not do justice to. After watching this film I can honestly say that if all civilization were to crumble and some aliens uncover our remains and the only thing they find are the works of Antonio Gaudi, I can rest in peace. I absolutely adore his buildings.

There’s a certain emotionalism to his work. And this is the art behind it: Gaudi has an incredible sensibility. He knows how to evoke emotion through forms and shapes. He knows how to surprise the user/viewer. His architecture is artistic. This is because the buildings look as though they are alive. As if they are living creatures pretending to be buildings. You feel as if you are partaking in the life of a fantastical but still earthly creature.

And here is the science behind it: Gaudi borrows images, forms, patterns from nature. Images, forms, patterns that for millennia we have evolved to recognize. We respond to the snake patterns, the claws, the skeletal structures, the trunk forms, et cetera because it is our instinct to. An emotional response to such images is only natural; it is part of our survival tool kit.

And that is why I cried when I watched the film. His buildings, or rather his creatures, made me feel.

Wow! This brings back many memories. When I was little I was...

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:21:00 -0700

Wow! This brings back many memories. When I was little I was haunted by this sculpture. I begged my mother to take me too see it all the time and I made up so many songs about the lion of Lucerne. It wasn’t until later I read the quote by Mark Twain. I’d have to say this is probably the first piece of art that really moved me.

ruineshumaines:

The Lion of Lucerne, by Bertel Thorvaldsen.

“The Lion of Lucerne, is a sculpture in Lucerne, Switzerland, designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820–21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. The American writer Mark Twain (1835–1910) praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.”

No such thing as progress in art... At least that is my belief.

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:43:00 -0700

My cousin, the painting major, called me up today sounding very distressed about the way that art is...

Back on tumlbr after a long summer. Went to Yosemite National...

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 02:48:44 -0700

It looks like he's jumping off a cliff 0_obut thankfully he's not.

Glacier point

I made my friend Konstantin through dust over and over again until I got the right shot... I just wanted to catch the sunlight but it was difficult to show without the dust.

Back on tumlbr after a long summer. Went to Yosemite National Park for part of it. It was beautiful as always!

A lovely tree on the UC Berkeley campus

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:57:04 -0700

A lovely tree on the UC Berkeley campus

Started reading From Bauhuas to Our House by Tom Wolfe. So far...

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 00:33:16 -0700

Started reading From Bauhuas to Our House by Tom Wolfe. So far it is incessant ranting about modern architecture. So I guess I don’t hate modern architecture as much as I thought I had. At least Tom Wolf is much more passionate about hating it, it seems. This will be interesting.

Horse fence post

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 17:23:02 -0700

Horse fence post

Sketches, flight

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:02:02 -0700

Sketches, flight

Last night we filled mason jars with marbles and glow in the...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 12:01:10 -0700

Last night we filled mason jars with marbles and glow in the dark stars to use as ambiant garden lighting for my cousin’s new place. Not sure if it will work yet…

Sketches, flowers

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:52:14 -0700

Sketches, flowers

Reading The Long Ships by Franz G. Bengtsson. It reads like...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 01:47:19 -0700

Reading The Long Ships by Franz G. Bengtsson. It reads like typical historical fiction but it is still a very humorous book in a different sort of way. Love it!

Sketches, bowler hat

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 22:03:34 -0700

Sketches, bowler hat

ingridhoeben: One of the best movie posters ever: created by...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:30:01 -0700

ingridhoeben:

One of the best movie posters ever: created by René FERRACCI.

“In the first half of Playtime, I direct the people to follow the architect’s guidelines. Everybody is filmed as if moving in straight lines and feeling prisoners of their surroundings. Modern architecture would like typists to sit straight, would like everyone to take themselves very seriously. In the first part of the film, the architecture plays a leading role but gradually, warmth, contact and friendship as well as the individual I defend, take over this international setting and then neon advertisements make their entrance and the world starts to swirl and it all ends up in a merry-go-round. There are no more straight angles at the end of the film.”
-Jacques Tati-

10 GREAT THINGS ABOUT STREETS IN STOCKHOLM: I found my old...

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:15:00 -0700

10 GREAT THINGS ABOUT STREETS IN STOCKHOLM: I found my old sketch/notebook from when I went to Sweden so I might as well… 1. Lightpoles don’t take up space. On narrower streets there are no lightpoles, instead lights are hung across buildings. 2. Bikes lanes are separated from cars (unlike in the US) and pedestrians (unlike in Asia). Ok so the bike network is not as good as it is in Copenhagen and Amsterdam, but it’s not bad. At least sometimes there is a half curb between the road and the bike lane so that bikers feel safer. And pedestrians feel safer too since there’s a buffer of slower bike traffic between them and the road. 3. There are trash bins on the sidewalk. Does that mean it’s cleaner? I hope so. 4. There aren’t that many cars especially on the smaller streets and on some streets no cars EVER! 5. There are plenty of people. Stockholm is a walking city so it’s never dead on the street. 6. There are all kinds of people walking. Young people, parents with strollers, the handicapped, and the elderly. Everybody walks. 7. There are things to look at. Our brains need something like 1000 stimuli per hour so narrow buildings, some visual clutter, and more people keep us interested. 8. There are things to do and places to go. You can stop by the bank, shop, sit down for an afternoon coffee or evening beer, and go grocery shopping all within a couple blocks. 9. The buildings face the street and are right next to the street so you don’t have to traverse an expansive empty parking lot to get to the building. 10. It’s not just a thorough fare it’s a place, a place you can just sit down and enjoy like you might a park or a plaza.

A quarter of America's gas stations have closed

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 10:41:14 -0700

A quarter of America's gas stations have closed: lifeonfoot: More than 50,000 gas stations have...

Reading notes from Yi Fu Tuan’s Topophilia on spatial psychology...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:16:00 -0700

Reading notes from Yi Fu Tuan’s Topophilia on spatial psychology and symbolism: There is a universal idea of “center” and “periphery” in spatial organization. Cities are built with a center, front, back, and concetric circles of decreasing value the farther they are from the center. This is similar to the spatial assymetry of our own bodies.

The transition from bay to valley via train. I love trains...

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:35:00 -0700

The transition from bay to valley via train. I love trains because I get to just space out and watch the view. I can’t wait for the high speed rail. Finally, skinny California get’s what it needs (there’s a reason why trains work so well in Japan, it’s the shape! among other things). Well, either way public transit is great and we should have more of it.

Photo

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 09:45:16 -0700