Abernard

Comparison

2006-12-11T02:52:35Z

I found these readings to be enjoyable, but to make a simularity between the two was tryingsome for me. They held an ideal complexity which is hard to grasp. I believe that the connection comes between an idea and a learning expierence. Kahn has a belief. A belief of nature and it creating humans. Almost as it's machine. at least that is how I percieve it. Nature has given us this power, however it can destroy the machine it created. This isn't fact, it isn't proven but it is more of a theroy. A theroy of Nature being the highest power, (at least in the Man vs. Nature comparison.) Now in the Fabrication Lab article, Gershenfeld talked about how the machines were making other machines. So if you apply the theroy used by Kahn, does that mean that these machines can destroy the machines it created. It is not so far fetched. When reading these articles I kept going back to the Neal Postman article, (it was my favorite.) and I keep being left with many questions of pushing technology too far. In the nature creating Man example, did nature let man go to far. Does nature have control anymore? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it. I mean many bad things keep happening to mother nature and although she does do some things in consequence, I don't believe nature is winning. However, I still think nature has the ability. How far does man go until something drastiic happens. Now appling this to man vs. machine. How far does man let machine go? I personally don't know, but sadly I think we will let it go to far. Man crave efficientcy, efficiency means machine, and there for it will keep going. Hopefully we can still always have a ruling over technology but I don't believe that we will know when enough is enough.We haven't yet. We allow every thing to keep happening.
Furthormore, I also want to comment again on the gernshenfled article, just for the article. I liked the idea of this class. It seemed like a learning expierence anyone would like to have. I know I would. The way the class became structured I think was wonderful. I think that the interweaving of teacher/peer/student/colleage would create an ideal type of enviornment. I think anyone would benefit from it. I also liked the work that they did, that alone students would learn from. A learning that I think would mean much more than the actual course content itself.

Technopoly

2006-11-30T04:28:35Z

" The least movement is of imprtance to all nature. The entire ocean is affected by one pebble."
Blaise Pascal

]]> This word Technopoly was a bit hard for me to grasp at first I read some of the passages in the text over and over to really try and understand it. Hopefully throughout my trials I shall prevail. I think that this word is hard to grasp because it was a word that Postman created for a theroy that he found hard to grasp. From what I understand of the reading and our lectures a Technopoly is a technology in which is well known and accepted. It is also a technology which changes are percpection. The way that we think about things, basically our frame of reference. I believe that this idea of a technopoly has been around forever. It is how we naturally progress. We think about simple technologies like the wheel, which completely changed the way we saw transportation for ever. The wheel became a wagon. Wow we could traverse the country in a couple months time. We thought that that was fast. The wheel became a bike. We have more control over transportation, and it's definately more compact than a horse and bugy. Then from there we keep building. We keep changing our frames of reference through what we design and make technology. We build a car and wow we can get some where even faster. We can get from Minnesota to pretty much any destination in the contiental us in less than 3 days! So just looking at the wheel our definition and perception of time is totally differnt now because of a technopoly which kept turning itself into a new technopoly. Our minds naturally do this, we didn't stop thinking when things started to be written down like some predicted. We kept thinking which makes our minds dangerous and infinative at the same time. We are only left to question. How long can it go on? How long can we keep building on our past technologies and technopolies before every thing becomes dull due to mass production? And with this what happens to people in this never ending web of technopolies? We keep building things to be more efficient and more efficient to take less and less time. For what I ask? Normally unfortuantely it is a material issue, let's face it we are a material culture that loves money. We normally think of technology as good. It has brought us wonderful things, but what happens when we build the machine that is so efficiant it can do absolutely everything? What happens to us? Do we walk through world as meaningless creatures that do no longer need to think? Maybe the theroy of writting things down would destroy our brains is partially true, just in an adjusted scale. After all of this it also comes down to if technopolies occur in our nature was nature meant to eventually destroy us. It just might be the natural way to fix all problems that nature it self created. To self destruct!

Mathematics in design

2006-11-08T15:09:18Z

The use of a geometric figure has been used throughout time in multiple design. The geometric figure I am refering to is that of the triangle. The triangle itself has many mathematical principles applied to. All of its properties need to be understood to incorperate it into design.

]]> In the beginning of time the triangular form was used by the egyptians in their pyrmids. Mathmatics in this design not only was needed to create the shape, but was also involved in creating each stone in the pyrmid. Also it is very important to state that mathematics/science are necessary for the construction of such an object. A deep understanding of concepts were completely necesarry. Even if the people creating the structure didn't realize the mathmatics they were using, it was still being applied.

The triangular form was also somewhat used in archietecure by some of the Mexican Maya's in their own style of the pyrmaid. Many of the above charecteristics apply to these pyrmids too.

Many Native American culture also used a simular triangular or cone type sturcture that also has a lot of mathematical and scientific concepts.

In present day these principles are also used in multiple design. The tepee style is used in military tents. Also basic geometric figures like the triangle are seen in many of the large buildings in our culture today.

Opposition

2006-10-25T12:18:50Z

The Opposition I chose to discuss is one that fits into the category of many verses nature.

]]> It deals with archietecture and the climate or weather. It is ceilings and how leak. No one can ever say they've never seen a leaky roof. It happens every where. It can be from it raining outside, or it can come from condensation in the materials or inbetween the floors due to the climate conditions outside. This is an oppisition because nature is creating a building problem for the human man. We need consider many things now when building a house because of nature and we now have to consider leaks. We need to think of materials and how they work to cure such a problem. Some people would just patch a leak. however, those normally come back! Trust me I know. Some may decide to re-shingle their roof or even remodel. Their are many choices and each is up to the individual.

Phenomena

2006-10-11T01:01:52Z

Document a Phenomena that includes things, frameworks and clockworks.
The Phenomena I chose to document is that of the tides.

]]> As talked about it lecture it is the things, frameworks and clockworks are what actually create a phenomena; so in order to document the phenomena of tides I will go through each part of the equation.

1) Things: The things that create the scene of a tide are as follows. The water, rocks, sand, foam, gravity (the moon).

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2)Frameworks: The Framework is the water coming in at certain times. They come in rhythmically, some would say not missing a beat, wave upon wave. The amount of sand or earth that disappears or appears is measurable and constant depending on the tide.

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3)Clockworks: These frameworks once added to the thought of gravity and the rotation of the earth make up the clockwork. It is regular and predictable. You can find out when their are low tides or high tides. They are also repetitive and the water always returns to its previous position over and over again.

Therefore by tides possessing all of these elements and by adding them together we come to the conlusion that the tide is a phenomena. And in this case a natural phenomena!

Genius Loci

2006-10-04T00:33:38Z

From What I understand a Genius Loci is the spirit that a certain place holds at a certain time. The spirit can be alive only when it is hit by a certain light or when some element is just right. We were asked to document a place that had meaning and to find its Genius Loci.
For This entry I decided talk about the only thing here (In Minneapolis, and on campus) that reminds me of home! My Bed!

]]> Okay when I say my bed, it's not just a matress on a piece of ply wood. Although when my bed is made you couldn't differentiate it from any other bed on campus. But mine is different because of it's charecteristics that make it feel like home!

1. 4 inches of memory foam padding- This is what really gives the feel of home. Minus the fact that the bed is smaller the softness of it gives me the feeling of being in my own bed, in my own room, in my own house, in my own town. Which is a great feeling to have!

2. My No-sew blanket and pillow- This adds to the first charecteristic because it came straight from my own bed, in my own room, etc. It was made by someone who loves me and I love and transfers that feeling and warmth to my bed. Making me feel not one bit lonely when I fall asleep at night!

3. Pink Soft sheets- This one is pretty self explanitory! My sheets were soft and pink and my sheets now are soft ( I made my mom wash them a lot before I got here) and pink. It's just one of those things!

4. Pictures posted above my head- These are there to remind me every morning of the people I love and who love me. To remind me on hard days there are people who believe in me. To remind me there have been good times and are many more to come.

This places Genius Loci is the spirit of home and it has two times in which it is strong! The first is right at the moment the lights go out when I am snuggled in my blankets, with comfort underneath me, and the last vision in my mind of all the people I love. Even when the lights are out I feel the saftey of my bed and my home and the feeling comes over me of happiness and belongingness! The second Genius Loci time may be even more powerful! It is the moment I first wake up in the morning and relize that my bed once again delivered me safely through the night and the sun comes in my window and lights up all of my beloved ones faces. It puts me in a the best mood possible as I role out of bed knowing that these people want me to succed. ( And want me to get out of bed and to class )

However the most important spirit is the one of home and family. Being able to capture part of that miles away from home makes it so much easier to get up every morning and less lonely going to bed every night.

Social Design Issue

2006-09-27T00:39:48Z

My Definition: Something within the designed enviornment inwhich creates a social problem or issue.

]]> This entry is a bit tough for me, I am not from here and so that makes it tough to find such a place with in this area! So although I may edit this entry once I am more fimiliar with this area, I will begin the prompt by talking about a social design issue in my hometown which principle may spill over too other areas. I am from a small town so social problems are well known when they come about. However the Issue I am choosing to go into depth with deals with Alternative education. I think the principles of alternitive education are great. You take kids that don't succeed in a traditional enviornment and put them into a more sutible situation where they can learn at a pace more beneficial to their learning. As I said I agree with this principle, but I question wheter it works. For some I know it does, but others I know it fails. I believe it is not a good Idea to put a lot of borderlined trouble kids into a single envionment with many that are too far into trouble to easily get out. I think it gives the borderline kids an easy slide further into trouble. They don't have good examples too look to and have easy access to people that can get them into trouble or worse get them into illeagal things. I have seen it time and time again. Kids go in not being in great standing with athority and either never get out of nome out worse than when they started. I think that the whole Idea needs to be restructered into something that is more benefical to all the kids that may need to seek alternative education.

Midtown Market

2006-09-20T01:58:28Z

"We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."
Jimmy Carter

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I went to Midtown Market on a tuesday, needless to say it wasn't really busy! really liked the area and it was not even close to what I expected! It reminded me a lot of the Pike Street Market in Seattle, except on a smaller, completely indoor scale. Because of this comparison I automatically had a feeling I would like the area, I love Pike Street Market and its enviornment. My intuitions were right. Even on the Tuesday I could feel the potential energy of the building and the subdeued energy that was present. I could visualize the buzz around the venders and the little restaurants everywhere, the excitment, the fun, I could picture it all. On top of this the set up of the building is condusive to conducting everyone's energy through out the majority of the building. The space is basically open only blocked of by vendor's partions, still allowing sound to travel freely. The Market also lends a cultural element, so much is represented and so much is there to be expierenced. You can feel things you've never felt before, taste things never imagined, and expierence things you would have never expected. The energy of the unknown and unexepected makes the market what it is. It creates its Idenity to some. However due to the versitility of the building the identity can be very different depending on the visitor. As I mentioned before the cultural influence that were present, well to some these things may symbolize home and the market is their "taste of home" so to speak. For others it is an adventure and entertainment. Then you need to look farther into the market, into it's less populated open areas. These symbylize a unobtrusive, easy going energy, some place to relax. It's amazing to walk from the some what chaotic energy within the alleys of the venders and come upon the extreame change of the openness. It gives off an amazing subdued and tranquill energy that you would not expect to find. Then looking closer I came to find that these areas also doubled as areas for aerobics and yoga! Basically what all this comes down to is the Market being diverse and versitale. It can be many things and above all offers a use to anyone who is looking. All someone has to decide is what kind of energy they want to surround themselfs with and then find it!