Joseph Brin
Arts + Culture, Healthcare Architecture

What Do Comics Have to Do with Medicine?

The Graphic Medicine conference showed how comics traverse the Worlds of Wellness and Illness, using a visual language of memory and malleable time.
Joseph Brin,

“I believe this medium is the new literacy in this country. Words themselves are not able to keep up with the speed of information. This combination of words and images will continue to grow and it will dominate.”                         —Will Eisner, father of the modern graphic novel  What do comics have to do with medicine, you ask? The Johns Hopkins…
Design

Stick-lets: Bringing Urban Kids Back to Nature

Industrial designer Christina Kazakia hopes to reconnect urban children to nature with Stick-lets, colorful connectors that let kids build with sticks.
Joseph Brin,

  Children are destined to inherit the planet – but they already inhabit our cities. So how can we nurture and protect a child’s infinite capacity for play in the big city?   “Grasshopper Green” Stick-let In Philadelphia, Stick-lets industrial designer Christina Kazakia has discovered a way to “reconnect urban children to nature with play” combining a transportable, minimalist design…
Arts + Culture

Philly Works’ Latest Exhibit Shows What Philadelphia May Become

“Qualities of Life in Philadelphia,” an exhibit by Philly Works, displays intriguing projects that are re-envisioning and revitalizing Philadelphia.
Joseph Brin,

“The Lure + The Perch” Jason Austin, Jack Fanning, Sneha Patel, and Sally Reynolds/Philly Works 2012 “Philly Works is collaborative of artists, designers, and makers all working towards the goal of bettering Philadelphia. It’s a tool for empowering creative individuals in Philadelphia.” That’s the elevator pitch that Will McHale, Katie Winkler, and Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich use when someone asks. “We know…
Architecture

Stoking the Furness

Philadelphia played a large role in ushering in an age of modernism, and architect Frank Furness was a major part of the movement.
Joseph Brin,

Philadelphia played a large role in ushering in an age of modernism, and architect Frank Furness was a major part of the movement.
Architecture

Moonrise Over Architecture

A competition by the Oregon Jewish Museum called for designs for a contemporary sukkah – a temporary dwelling erected for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.
Joseph Brin,

Design me a structure that is open to the sky, partially enclosed, all natural materials, fragile, permeable, no heat, no electricity, no plumbing…and only lasting 7 days. What? Simple structures, complex and rich with meaning can still be irresistible to designers. A recent national design competition, “Sukkah PDX (Portland, OR), Ancient Tradition Contemporary Design” was sponsored by the Oregon Jewish…
Arts + Culture

Noguchi Museum Digitizes Isamu Noguchi’s Body of Work

Merging traditional artistic scholarship with contemporary publishing technology, the museum now brings the art and life of Noguchi to your glowing screens.
Joseph Brin,

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) Photo: Anzai “Sculpture to be Seen From Mars” Model (left)1947 (destroyed) Photo: Soichi Sunami Isamu Noguchi’s prodigious and expansive artworks spanned the world of sculpture in stone, metal, paper, wood, and ceramics. His striking vision conquered territory in architecture, landscape design, playground and park design, furniture and lighting design, and theater set design in collaborations with Martha…
Design Education

Design as Destination

Hilary Jay presides over DesignPhiladelphia at the University of the Arts and has seen exponential growth in programming as well as attendance since its 2005 debut.
Joseph Brin,

Hilary Jay presides over DesignPhiladelphia at the University of the Arts and has seen exponential growth in programming as well as attendance since its 2005 debut.
Sustainability

The Prescience of Richard Neutra’s Theory of “Biorealism”

The architect's writings on the topic—of human survival, in general—seem more than a little relevant half a century later.
Joseph Brin,

Illustration: “Nature Near” Joseph G. Brin © 2012 Talk about biophilia, biomimicry, or biodiversity and another “bio” comes to mind—that of late architect Richard Neutra. He himself coined the term “biorealism” to connote “the inherent and inseparable relationship between man and nature.” Neutra, who was famous nearly all his life, passed away in 1970. His time has come again. We now…

An Uncommon Common Man

Joseph Brin,

Charles A. Bangert, Jr. was the kind of fellow you don’t come across every day, possessing qualities you don’t always find in one person. He was down to earth, accomplished, meticulous, organized, humble, good-natured, good-humored, and kind. Charlie was an engineer, corporate manager, craftsman and artist, and most important, a mensch (person of integrity and honor). He and his wife…

Beautiful End of the World

Joseph Brin,

“Safe Harbor” Joseph G. Brin © 2012 You may have already had an end of the world experience – and just didn’t know it. I’m not talking about a disaster by any means. Instead, this is about a soaring, heightened sense in nature, attaining a state of grace that is rare, brief and unpredictable. What accounts for this phenomenon? Does…