|
A monthly review of Web design and resources.
By Ken Coupland
April 2001
Above: FatEarth; Intersections of Art, Technology,
Science & Culture.
|
FatEarth
Pledging "green business solutions made easy,"
FatEarth could provide a valuable and much needed resource. Free to consumers,
the online service uses a "hassle-free" price quote system that
connects buyers to sellers of sustainable products. If you already have
something in mind, the company will try to locate it, along with information
on the topic. Just getting started? Fill out a questionnaire and the FatEarth
team goes to work researching your needs, prompting you with green marketing
tips, innovative waste-disposal approaches, water-saving techniques, recent
alternative transportation developments, and information on green building
supplies and postconsumer office products. If FatEarth can find its audience,
this virtual marketplace of ideas should help businesses with sustainable
practices toe the bottom line.
Doors of Perception
An international conference and knowledge-distribution
network, Amsterdam-based Doors of Perception explores new agendas for
design, with an eye to information and communication technologies. According
to press reports, last year's edition of the thinkfest--touting
a radical aesthetic that embraced new technologies combining commercial
and ecological value--"successfully showed that green doesn't
need to be a dirty word." The Web site posts an illustrated text
of director John Thackara's ruminative keynote address from some
recent proceedings and archives five years of past conferences, listing
copious links as well as notices for the next installment, to be held
late this year.
Archibot
Boasting a "smart" meta--search engine
that promises superior architecture-related results, Archibot looks to
be positioned to deliver cutting-edge reports on the latest developments
as well. Creator Mark Rea Baker, a recent UCLA graduate, launched the
spiffy-looking service because he was frustrated by existing online aggregators
that mixed up design updates with more pedestrian stuff, like code compliance
information and ADA news. Instead Baker regularly combs some 50 online
news sources for stories that focus on top international designers. If
you're looking beyond the headlines the site queries ten major search
engines, tailoring your request to build a virtual database that organizes
results by relevance and source.
Municipal Art Society
A staunch defender of the public good, the nonprofit
Municipal Art Society of New York, according to its unassuming Web site,
"aggressively champions excellence in urban design and planning and
the preservation of the best of New York's past." The site details
the society's varied activities and advocacy initiatives, from its
adopt-a-mural and monument programs, and walking tours to cosponsoring
a comprehensive study of the city's privately owned public spaces.
Highlights include exhibits of contemporary designs from around the world
for urban street furniture and a slew of far-reaching proposals for Columbus
Circle.
Intersections
of Art, Technology, Science & Culture
The digital revolution has spawned its share of
art-related phenomena, and this highbrow site delivers an encyclopedic
overview of the terrain. The database surveys work by artists and researchers
toiling at the frontiers of scientific inquiry and emerging technologies.
An austere interface presents links to thousands of authoritative sources
on topics ranging from biology, the physical sciences, mathematics, and
algorithms to kinetics, telecommunications, and digital systems. There's
also a provocative section on information systems, surveillance, and shadow
corporations. It's not all brow-furrowing either. The Barbie Liberation
Front (remember the GI Joe larynx swap?) gets due consideration under
"voice recognition systems."
Ken Coupland can be reached at screenspace@metropolismag.com.
|
