The Frame Hotel, A Tree Building Dream Comes True

The Frame Hotel designed by International Architecture Development is a WAN award 2009 entry that brings today's sustainability to a higher level. The framework of the structure is inspired by nature that symbolizes the growth of a tree and vines. Designing the a new building in the world's most popular desert, Dubai, the design team is setting a new standard and monument for the future sustainable architectures. The theme for the Frame Hotel is the vertical garden, which a garden expands from the ground floor lobby all the way to the structural vines and the roof top of the hotel. Innovatively, the vine-like curve beams provide the support to the whole building, which it is like a true form of a tree.

Also, the building is going to have scattered patios on the different floors. To walk around this building among different vegetation planted inside is going to be like living among trees. The skin of the structure is made of plant-like material. The skin is solar protected dark glass that not only protects the structure from sun and wind. The black prism becomes almost transparent at the hotel zone for tourists, and it would only reappear at a certain designed angle. This design maximizes the concept of a true nature environment.

I still remember from an environment awareness course, the ideal sustainable building and city are a building that looks and functions like a tree and a city that like a forest. Could the Frame Hotel become the ideal sustainable building?

HappySlip. Social Media Bloom

The viral icon of an Asian girl with a yellow skirt reminds people of Happyslip, a screen name that had became instantly bloomed-popular on the internet. Happyslip has flooded every popular internet social network, such as Yotube, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, etc. Being one of the most-subscribed-to channel on Youtube, it is difficult for anyone to ignore the name Happyslip. The person who stands behind this name is Christine Gambito, a funny Philippino-American actress and comedian who has small parts in television commercials, movies, industrial and training films. With her unique character and background, she has soon won a lot of praise from her audiences.

Thanks to the social media of today's internet networking, the phenomenon of Christine's viral icon becoming instant popular is not surprising; however, it is definitely something that is not common for the old days when there was no internet. Christine's success did not depend on any media agents or program producers. Instead, she shares the roles of media agents, program producers, actress, which were required to make herself succeed. Christine was able to play all the roles behind the scene of the internet. The social media today has allowed Christine to make herself popular without other company agencies. The little design of a viral icon is the key for the audience to be reminded of a person in such social media networks. And Happyslip is remembered and accepted by society in the same way.

A New Design for Space Saving. 90 Degree Vertical Parking

I still remember, because the lack of living space in over-populated cities, the concept of 90 degree vertical beds emerged. It was a concept that a single room studio could have a real living when the bed is placed vertically, and you only pull the bed down (with simple mechanism) when you sleep at night. It was a great concept. And now, inevitably, due to the increasing numbers of vehicle in the cities, parking becomes a major problem for city planning in urban environments.

Designed by Baita Bueno, a vertical parking system has emerged which allows you to park your electricity powered vehicle in a 90 degree angle. Compared to the space used by a horizontally parked vehicle to the vertical parking system, the new system would allow up to three vehicles parked within the same space. The space saved is even better than the two stories lift-up parking system, which has a mechanism that simply lifts up a vehicle on top of another one.

In addition, the new design of the vertical parking system would provide green energy through solar panels to power future electricity vehicles. With safe clamps to the four wheels, the vehicle is designed to fit securely while sitting in a 90 degree angle. While a vehicle is parked, it will be charged at the same time. The vertical parking system is very much a necessity driven by limited city space. Since being the greener and space saver, I believe it would be very beneficial to packed societies.

Juxtaposted Ad - Google Chrome

I found that in this information-overloaded internet-driven world, things are ironically becoming simpler. After reading the descriptions (or I should say pictures) of the new Google Chrome internet browser, I became interested and decided to use it in replacement of my Microsoft Explorer internet browser. The sequence art of juxtaposition of Google Chrome had convinced me. Google creatively used a cartoon to describe and sell their new product. Google gave an easier way to introduce the complicated information that they are trying to advertise.
Found this familiar? Yes, this is Scott McCloud's comic book, and it is a comic book that was drawn to describe Google Chrome. This is definitely a new monumental stage for information management. Before, I might have to read an instruction manual, and it could be a nightmare or the most boring thing to do; but now, I can actually read through the 39 pages of Scott's Google Chrome comic book. The format of this Google Chrome comic book is very much the same as Scott's other comic book - Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, as the humor narrator walks you through the ideas and the concepts behind the product. The sequential visual art approach is much more interesting than reading couple hundreds of lines of boring text. As each juxtaposed window of image leads your eyes from one to another, it grabs your attention with not only the figure's body language but also delivers the informative more accurately. It delivered the information more efficiently by explaining the theory step by step. Also by pictures of product comparison (Internet Explorer vs. Firefox), the better product easily stood-up from the rest. The new Google Chrome comic book guideline by Scott McCloud is definitely reshaping the way the society is receiving overloaded information on the internet.

Narcissistic Pop-Culture

This poster grabs most people's attention, especially teenagers during President Obama's campaign in 2008 (I was one of them). Instead of "HOPE" written at the bottom of the poster like most people see on the similar posters on streets or t-shirts, this one has "PROGRESS" at the bottom. It is not a recreation by someone's "simple-text generator", but instead, it is the original text/word that Shepard Fairey (the artist of this poster, also known as the producer of Obey Giant) was going to use on his endorsement poster for Obama. However, due to many misinterpretations from people's misunderstanding of his previous works, he changed the word choice in order to give full cooperation to Obama's campaign. Fairey is a popular pop-culture artist who had done many successful artworks in the recent decade such as the street poster (shows below).

Fairey's works have been very popular in the recent decade due to his commonly known narcissistic way of street art practice or self expression. The Obama campaign poster, like much of his previous works, is a pop-culture expression with bold, simplified lines and simple color theme. For example, the "Obey Giant" poster above,used the same style as the Obama camp poster, which quickly grabs teenagers' attention by its bold presentation. The idea behind his pop-cultural art is "to express an act of defiance and rebellious in nature and that politicizes it which it is this 'medium is the message' principal", said Fairey. On a flip side of the Obama camp poster from the rest of Fairey's works is that it isn't meant as a rebellious street art. Fairey states,"I'd like to get involved but I didn't want to do something and then have them say an illegal street poster campaign is bad, 'we don't want that association.'" In this aspect, it differs from the "Obey Giant," which had been quickly posted on the street walls, billboards, subways, bridge pathways of different cities in the United State when it first came out resembling rebellious street art.

Nowadays, the misunderstandings in society believe that a street artist (pop-culture) should be doing whatever things that are groundbreaking and politically rebellious because they present the streets and mass culture. Fairey argues that a lot of people are doing street art for fame, which is meaningless. And he has been accused to be one them (self-promoters).

In Obama's camp poster, I see a different expression of pop-art, a new approach. Here, Fairey does not express his own will in a rebellious purpose. Instead, the poster was made under everything that were needed to assist Obama's camp strategy. Fairey attempted not to associate any kind of illegal street poster, although he could of done so by making his own prints as on the "Obey Giant." I believe Fairey has created a new understanding for the society in appreciating pop-art.

Frank Gehry...Artist Inspired

Frank Owen Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2003

Although not as grand or as fancy as the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao that Gehry designed in Spain, but his Walt Disney Concert Hall has inevitably became symbol of the city of LA (according The Guardian reported from UK). Gehry is one of the world famous contemporary architects. His own house, the half-torn down kitchen with exposed structure, that was also designed by Gehry, has been published by numerous reports and media being as a new architectural breakthrough, and lectured as a destructivism example in many architecture classes (of which, I took a few).

Not to mention other great buildings Gehry had designed (Exhibition Center in Columbia, Edgemar Retail Complex in santa Monica, Frances Howard Goldwyn Library in Hollywood, and more). But what has been the driving force behind Gehry's inspiration that propelled him into such success?

Reading from a Seattle Post, "The Creator: Frank Gehry builds on his experience - Striking an artistic chord" by Regina Hackett (intelligencer art critic), I realize, like many other successful designers and artists, Gehry's inspiration comes from nature. For instance, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was inspired by an aquatic creature that has a lot of fish scales on it, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall was inspired by simply the concept of iron. Interesting, Gehry is also inspired by the natural forms in shells, spider webs, lilies, artichokes, Grand Canyon, and the nature list goes on...

American Victorian...The American Dream Home Fading Away?

The abominated cumbersome interiors of unnecessary ornaments, excessive gables, wasted spaces that happened to be found in early American homes, are the designs of a common recognition of the old-fashioned Victorian style. This common recognition is usually misunderstood due to the fact that American Victorian is eclectic combination of styles.

For an untrained eye, it is also difficult to distinguish that the Victorian as a style of interior architecture, a type of home, a selection of furniture or even an imitation of styles from the past, as opposed to other assumptions that the Victorian is the imitations of many different architectural styles and was actually the ideal homes and interiors in American’s Golden Age (18th c.).

Inside the American Victorian houses, the style evokes the vision of the rich and splendid society by providing a way of life that existed in America for the 18th century. Victorian refers not only to a style, but to a period of time as well. As in all eras, the Victorian was held together by its own interpreted values, beliefs and codes of behavior, where they were defined by an eclectic series of revivals that derives from classical, medieval, Renaissance, and seventeenth century European forms and designs.

Regardless of how loathsome it may be to certain modern tastes or that it may be fitting to only unique perceptions, I believe American Victorian’s interior furnishing style had contributed to the modern architecture and should be appreciated for its concepts and designs that were drawn from the eclectic series of revivals. Modern Victorious style is surviving in American society, and it is transforming as its eclectic series of revivals gains modern Minimalism while dumping the unwanted excessive ornament.

Here are some Modern Victorious interior photos: