Check out this cool Japanese water fountain:

I want to live in a dome house! I think…

From the pretty darn cool green-blog Inhabitat.

Thanks to Toshi’s educating me on the matter, one of my all-time heroes is R. Buckminster Fuller. He’s featured in a wonderful article in the current New Yorker. The occasion of this article is an upcoming Fuller retrospective being mounted at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Sounds like a field trip is in order!

UPDATE:
The Whitney show is on view June 26, 2008-September 21, 2008. I plan to try to go in mid July when I’m on the east coast. - Toshi

We’ve all heard of “evidence based medicine”. Well, the field of urban design is working to develop approaches to their work that use the same concepts: design spaces using an evidence based understanding of the environment and needs (as opposed to unfounded assumptions or purely political pressures).

Space Syntax is one of the world leaders in urban planning. Space Syntax takes an evidence-based approach to the planning and design of buildings and cities, using advanced computer modeling technologies.

Our good friend, world-class genius, and US Director of Space Syntax, Noah Raford, recently spoke to RUDI (the Resource for Urban Design Information) on the “real time data collection methods, parametric modelling at the urban scale, and future possibilities of ‘remote control urbanism’”. Noah predicts both the cool and creepy possibilities that are developing as a result of emerging technologies.

Find out what “spime” is HERE (20 Min Video Lecture)

This week’s New Yorker Magazine has a great article on elevators; how dangerous (or safe) they are, their history, and many fun facts. Gizmodo pulled a bunch of the most interesting elevator facts here.

READ THE FULL NEW YORKER ARTICLE HERE.