Donovan Gillman

Robert Irwin was the keynote speaker at the Parsons conference, “Aftertaste 2011: Immaterial Environments,” this past weekend. His lecture, “On the Nature of Abstraction,” was a meditation on the “mechanics of experience.” Sitting on a simple stool with his typical sunglasses (he has glaucoma) and baseball cap, Irwin begins the lecture by claiming to be dumfounded by …

ROBERT IRWIN ON THE MECHANICS OF EXPERIENCE Read More »

From a a discussion on LinkedIn here is Kevin Songer’s post of a “Natural” Green Roof “,  in France,  very much like what are called “Earth Roof” elsewhere. I could well imagine replacing the Arundo reed (called Spanish reed here in RSA ) with local Restio or Thatching Reed! Kevin’s blog Living Green Roof’s is a mine of information …

FORGET “GREENWASH” : “NATURAL GREEN ROOF VIA “LIVING GREEN ROOFS” Read More »

WebCams Now Spot Which Ads Your Watch Pervasive surveillance is now becoming extremely personalized – is there an infringement of our private space – are we even aware of all the body language we imply in a brief glance at  a piece of chocolate cake, a shiny new bauble in a window display or an …

FACIAL MONITORING: THE ALL-TELLING EYE Read More »

Rio de Janeiro was one of 24 cities awarded development grants through IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge. Photo via seier+seier. Consistent with its long-established reputation of exploring the forefronts of technological development,IBM, the technology firm, displayed interest in “smart city” technology with the grand gesture of creating The Smarter Cities Challenge. This competitive challenge awards 100 cities …

FINDING A SMARTER APPROACH TO “SMART CITIES” Read More »

The idea of giving back something of what you earn to those less fortunate than you is a notion as old as the bible – tithing,  giving a percentage of your income in charity is a part of many religions and for a business to engage in it is just good business sense , despite …

WHAT’S NEXT: RETAILING WITH HEART – VIA STANFORD SOCIAL INNOVATION REVIEW Read More »

On the ongoing debate about the value of city rankings and their prevalence in the media, I looked at Monocle magazines latest one yesterday and as discussed here  by george carothers on [polis], wondered what value they are, seeing as how we haven’t yet agreed on what the real values (metrics) needed are for the people who …

CITY RANKINGS: MORE HARM THAN HELP? Read More »

For the world envisioned in Minority Report with its driverless cars and big brother surveillance systems to become a reality (for better or worse?) much improved infrastructure is needed – two recent articles give indication of the drive to achieve this- at least in American Cities and definitely for the commercial benefit of the automakers …

FOR DRIVERLESS CARS TO SUCCEED WIRELESS INFRASTRUCTURE IS CRUCIAL Read More »

Food and technology are often considered antithetical. Whether you’re scarfing down a locally grown arugula salad or a big beefy burger, you’re probably more likely to think of the bucolic scene from which it came than the technological advances that brought it to your plate.  When food and technology are brought together in the same …

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: COMING TO A FOOD POLICY NEAR YOU Read More »

Isn’t this the truth all planners and urban designers are hiding from  – we are in love with our cars and the motor industry is doing everything in its power to sell more – Europe’s fate depends on it – Isn’t that what makes Germany able to pay for all its poor lazy cousins in …

PEDESTRIANS X URBAN DEVELOPMENT VS BRT X CARS Read More »