Reference Page: January 2005

Dressing up a Mall
Xilver, www.xilver.nl, supplied the LED fixtures and E:Cue, www.ecue.tv, worked on programming to allow the Galleria West’s facade to interface with video and film. Abgujeong-dong, www.abgujeong.com, is just across the river from Yongsan, yongsan.go.kr/eng, the location of the U.S. military’s headquarters in Seoul, where withdrawal of the 7,000 troops in 2008 will open up 630 acres of the city to redevelopment.

True Vision
The exhibit Sagmeister: Made You Look will run until December 11th, 2004 at the School of Visual Arts: 601 West 26 Street, Suite 1502 in Manhattan. The book of the same name was written by Metropolis contributing editor Peter Hall and published in 2001 by Booth-Clibborn Editions. If you have a craving for more Q&A with Sagmeister, go to www.sagmeister.com, and click on “answers for students.”

The Road to Innovation
For more on Single Speed Design, check out the .June 2004 issue of Metropolis or the Oct/Nov issue of Dwell. You might also go to their Web site www.singlespeeddesign.com. The firm will give a presentation of their work at Labash 2005 at Ohio State University on April 2. The conference runs from March 31-April 3.

The Ultimate Client
The Columbus Area Visitors Center www.columbus.in.us, offers one- and two-hour architecture tours of the city, not to mention a Twilight Walking Tour that includes stories of “yesteryear” and a stop at Smith’s Row, www.smithsrow.com, for a glass of vino.

Symbolic Architecture
To receive regular notices on everything from real and imagined slights against Serbs to ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and restore historic properties in Kosovo, your best bet is to sign up to the mailing list at www.kosovo.net. Be careful, though; it’s hard to get off of it. For connoisseurs of the history of the wrongs against architecture in the region, there is no substitute for Crucified Kosovo: Destroyed and Desecrated Orthodox Churches in Kosovo and Metohija, www.kosovo.com/crucified/default.htm, available in print through www.serbianorthodoxchurch.net. Except perhaps for its Albanian counterpart: Serbian Barbarities Against Islamic Monuments in Kosovo, published by the Islamic Community of Kosovo, www.bashkesiaislame.net.

America
The best site about the Moving In Moving Out exhibition at Flex Storage Systems is www.elwoodllc.com. Images of Topeka by Mike Sinclair can be viewed online. You can find out more about the work of Josh Shelton and el dorado inc—the self-described most progressive architecture firm in Kansas City—at www.eldoradoarchitects.com. An early take on the problem with Kansas by Thomas Frank, editor of The Baffler and author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America (Metropolitan Books, 2004) is posted at www.thebaffler.com/frank1-excerpt.html.

“Powers of Design” Introduction
Powers of Ten caused an excited stir in the Metropolis office when it was circulated among staffers about a year ago “We should reveal several points of view in each article,” one staffer wrote in response, “ranging from the experience of the individual to the larger events of nations and peoples.” DVDs and videos of the film can be purchased through the Eames Office, www.eamesoffice.com. There’s also a special site devoted exclusively to marketing a whole range of Powers of Ten-related products and educational materials, including a traveling exhibition, www.powersoften.com. The Eames Foundation, www.eamesfoundation.org—not to be confused with the Eames Office—was set up to preserve and protect the Eames House and promote its use as an educational tool. To schedule a tour, call (310) 459-9663.

Home Away from Home
Xero has a neat site (www.xero.se) that simulates zero-gravity in the way it responds to movements of the mouse. We have to admit that the pictures of happy people flying around make us want to do it too. Contact information for Umbilical Design can be found at www.umbilicaldesign.se.

The Greening of Health and Science
The U.S. Green Building Council Web site, www.usgbc.org, is comprehensive and well organized. To learn more about Labs21, go to www.labs21century.gov. The 2005 Conference on Sustainable Building will be held in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia from April 11-13, www.cibklutm.com. Alternately, you may wish to attend the Engineering Sustainability 2005 conference in Pittsburg from April 10-12, www.engr.pitt.edu/msi/conference.html.

Rereaching for the Stars
If you’re into super-tall buildings, the place to start is the Skyscraper Museum, www.skyscraper.org. Their new SOM-designed gallery is located at 39 Battery Park Place in Lower Manhattan and is open from 12-6 PM, Wednesday through Sunday. If it turns out that you’re completely fetishistic about skyscrapers, you might enjoy www.skyscraperpage.com or www.skyscrapercity.info. Both Web sites host extensive online forums, though the participants seem more fanatical than curious. Additional information on the Burj Dubai project can be found on the SOM Web site www.som.com. A good interview with Adrian Smith can be found at www.emporis.com/dk/nc/iv/as/.

Interactive Design
You can see all of To22’s completed designs at www.to22.net. Current projects include a ceramic tile collection and a living room in Nottingham, England, though they are secretive about the details. Their vase design The Other Half was featured in the twelfth issue of the Italian magazine Artlab: www.artlab.it. To22 is open to inquiries regarding commissions and exhibition opportunities. They can be reached at (212) 989-7607 or info@to22.net.

Tech Styles
See more Looolo textiles on their Website: www.looolo.ca. Contact Looolo at (416) 276-6560 or contact@looolo.ca to purchase or inquire about carrying their products. William McDonough was featured in the cover story of the Aug/Sep 2001 issue of Metropolis. Learn more about him and his work at www.mcdonough.com and www.mbdc.com. To find out about Climatex Lifecycle yarns, go to www.climatex.com.

Next Big Thing
A great resource for nanotechnology is the MIT Technology Review: www.technologyreview.com. You need a subscription to access the archives, but there’s plenty of free material as well. For more on the NanoHouse, go to www.nano.uts.edu.au/nanohouse.html. Konarka can be found at www.konarkatech.com. The Nanosys Web site provides accessible information about their work and about nanotechnology generally: www.nanosysinc.com. The Web page for SunClean Self Cleaning Glass is www.ppg.com/gls_residential/gls_sunclean. Learn more about Nano-Tex fabrics and where to buy them at www.nano-tex.com. If you really can’t get enough, you might consider going to the Nano Tech 2005 conference in Japan. It will be held from February 23-25 in the Tokyo International Exhibition Center. Admission is free if you register online at www.ics-inc.co.jp/nanotech/index_e.html.