why design

Phillippe Stark spoke at the TED annual conference

about design. It's funny and french. Watch the video

(to learn about TED, click here)

dance dance party party

Party season is upon us! This is just a small lists of events. Please
email if there are additional invitations you'd like posted!

This week: (tonight Dec. 6th)

Antron and InterfaceFLOR
5:30 to 8:30
Alhambra Palace
1230 W. Randolph
rsvp molly.johnson@interfaceflor.com

Steelcase Wreath Menorah Ornament
(Gensler has 3 submissions!)
5:30 to 8:00
Steelcase Showroom Suite 1032

NOOD
5:00 to 9:00
Pops for Champagne
601 N. State at Ohio

Next Week:

Gensler Chicago Annual Holiday Potluck
Dec. 11th
4:00 to 6:00
DS3/ Cafe
rsvp by this Friday to Christine Solario with
the number of guests and ages of children attending
*this is also a food/beverage/ugly sweater competeition!

Gensler Chicago Promotions Party
Dec. 14th
4:00 to 6:00
12th Floor
Employees Only

Week After:

Haworth Winter Holiday Party
Dec. 19th
6:00 to 9:00
La Pomme Rouge 108 W. Kinzie
rsvp chicagoevents@haworth.com

January:

Gensler Chicago Post Holiday Party
Jan. 18th
6:00 to 11:00
River East Arts Center
Employees & Guests

the black hole

Coudal.com has been a great source of content for the blog

(museum of online museums, etc.) with all of their interesting

finds online. Coudal Partners has also begun to tackle film making.

While doing research for another film, they stumbled upon a very

interesting fellow in Los Alamos, NM and were so struck that they

decided to make a series about him. I actually met him and visited

his store this summer while on a trip visiting family in New Mexico.

Take a few minutes to watch these beautifully shot stories.

Laboratory Conditions

something we'd like to not have happen...

The Tate Modern has a new installation in their Great

Turbine Hall by Doris Salcedo. The space was memorably

transformed a few years ago for

Olafur Eliasson's 'The Weather Project' and is again for

'Shibboleth'. A hairline crack turns into a chasm about 4

inches apart at it's greatest width and stretches 584 across

the entire length of the hall. A cast from a rock wall in the

artist's native Columbia to gives the floor it's texture.

It is said to symbolize the history of racism and the

inquality amoung countries.

funny face

Ok, yes it's a little silly but it's still fun.

Faces in Places site documents the faces

they find in everyday places.

gtank

Please join us for gtank this week to hear an in depth review of

the Principal's meeting that Chicago hosted last month.

gtank is an informal, interdisciplinary design discussion. We meet

every other Wednesday at 5:30pm in DS3. Everyone is invited and

encouraged to participate.

around the world around the world

A hotel that travels the world?? Hotel Everland is currently sitting atop

the Palais du Tokyo museum in Paris

(by the way, this museum is a must see for any trip to Paris).

Back to the hotel. It is a travelling art installation by two Swiss

artists that began in 2002. For that drop-dead view, you can

actually book the room for a night.

seeing red...a lot of red

Over the weekend, a group of vandals claiming

to be neofuturists poured red dye into Trevi fountain.

As the fountain began to cycle the water through, it

soon spouted red water. They say the fountain is not

permanently damaged and that they marble statues

did not absorb any of the dye.

The vandals who took responsibility were

apparently protesting expenses incurred during

the Rome film festival - a nod to the red carpet.

They were insprired by the Futurist movement

of the early 20th century.

Makes for an interesting photo.

lite brite

Artist Richard Box recently finshed an installation of

1000 fluorescent tubes lined up in rows that flicker

to light. They are powered by the electromagnetic fields

surrounding the power lines that run overhead.

Read more and see photos here. Via Coudal.

good for something

Inhabitat has a great post about a true Cradle to Cradle concept that

Heineken introduced in 1663. It's called the WOBO (world bottle) and

it is a beer bottle that can be used as a brick after the beer has

been drunk.

The idea was conceived by architect John Habraken after Alfred

Heineken came to him with a problem. He had recently been to the

caribbean and noticed that they had a lack of affordable building

materials and beaches littered with bottles. The bottles can be

layed horizontally and stacked in traditional brick and mortar

construction.