Clipmarks | Architecture Clips

Animal Intelligence and the Evolution of the Human Mind

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 11:50:26 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: Subtle refinements in brain architecture, rather than large-scale alterations, make us smarter than other animals

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

The human brain lacks conspicuous characteristics—such as relative or absolute size—that might account for humans’ superior intellect.

Researchers have found some clues to humanity’s aptitude on a smaller scale, such as more neurons in our brain’s outermost layer.

Human intelligence may be best likened to an upgrade of the cognitive capacities of nonhuman primates rather than an exceptionally advanced form of cognition.

As far as we know, no dog can compose music, no dolphin can speak in rhymes, and no parrot can solve equations with two unknowns. Only humans can perform such intellectual feats, presumably because we are smarter than all other animal species—at least by our own definition of intelligence.

Of course, intelligence must emerge from the workings of the three-pound mass of wetware packed inside our skulls

Thus, researchers have tried to identify unique features of the human brain that could account for our superior intellectual abilities

Tags: brain, mind, evolution, intelligence

"Eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes"

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:02:29 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: http://www.physorg.com/news138541462.html

Clip Source: www.physorg.com

Eco-architecture could produce 'grow your own' homes

"Eco-architecture" may sound like a Buck Rogers vision of an ecologically-sustainable future, but that future is now thanks to the guidance of Tel Aviv University Professors Yoav Waisel and Amram Eshel. The concept of shaping living trees into useful objects -- known as tree shaping, arborsculpture, living art or pooktre –– isn't new. But scientists are now ready to use this concept as the foundation of a new company that will roll out these structures worldwide.

Pilot projects now underway in the United States, Australia and Israel include park benches for hospitals, playground structures, streetlamps and gates. "The approach is a new application of the well-known botanical phenomenon of aerial root development," says Prof. Eshel. "Instead of using plant branches, this patented approach takes malleable roots and shapes them into useful objects for indoors and out."

10 Homes that Defy Gravity

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:19:03 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Amazing pads!

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

10 Homes that Defy Gravity

Wozoco Apartments (Amsterdam-Osdorp, Netherlands)

A zoning law and blueprint flub were the inspiration for this apartment complex.

Floating Castle (Ukraine)

Supported by a single cantilever --and quite discussed at Panoramio, this mysterious levitating farm house belongs in a sci-fi flick.

Habitat 67 (Montreal, Canada)

Apartments connect and stack like Lego blocks in Montreal's Habitat 67.

Free Spirit Spheres (British Columbia, Canada)

Free Spirit Spheres can be hung from the trees as shown, making a tree house.

Cube House (Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Living in a tilted house is much easier than it looks—just ask the people living in these the Kijk-Kubus homes.

Gangster's House (Archangelsk, Russia)

Russian gangster Nikolai Sutyagin’s home is certainly unusual.

begun in 1992 stands 13 floors, 144 feet high.

Mushroom House (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Upside-Down House (Syzmbark, Poland)

Pod House (New Rochelle, New York)

Heliotrope Rotating House (Freiburg, Germany)

Tags: architecture, gravtational force, apartments, housing

Styrofoam Dome Homes

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:33:49 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.pinktentacle.com

While styrofoam may be most commonly associated with disposable coffee cups, meat trays and packaging, prefab home manufacturer Japan Dome House Co., Ltd. uses it to construct easy-to-assemble modular kit homes.

The styrofoam used in the Dome House’s 175-millimeter (7 in) thick walls is significantly denser and stronger than ordinary packing foam. The material has excellent thermal insulation properties, resulting in higher energy efficiency and lower heating and cooling costs.

Construction of the Dome House shell is quick and easy. The prefabricated pieces, which each weigh about 80 kilograms (175 lbs), can be carried by 2 or 3 people and assembled in a few hours. Once the shell is put together, coats of mortar and paint are applied for further protection from the elements.

The Dome House can also be used as a bar, karaoke room, steam room, and more.

Tags: architecture

7 unconventional and creative ways to recycle

Tue, 06 May 2008 20:04:50 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

here are seven ways to make recycling a visible impact

7. The Walking Bike

This invention from Max Knight is a creative way to use old shoes.

Of course, you have to be willing to give up your hand brakes, but it’s a small price to pay to ride in such amazing style. The bike even has socks!

6. Pop Art Duck

5. The Washing Machine Spaceship

This alien-looking craft is, believe it or not, made entirely out of refrigerators and washing machines, dishwashers and garbage compactors.

4. A 2-liter Paradise: Build Your Own Island

looks like a fairly normal island, doesn’t it?

Why, you’d never suspect that it’s covering a floating heap of trash, thousands of plastic bottles in bags, held together with a bamboo frame, the island is 66 by 54 feet and can support a two-story house!

3. The Beer Bottle Buildings

a way to create odd works of pop art while building a brutally tough structure

2. Garbage Architecture

1. The Trashosaurus

this is a dinosaur made entirely out of garbage

weighs one ton

Tags: environment, green, design, cool

movie of Stewart Brand's "How Buildings Learn"

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:42:28 GMT

clipped by: Lexica

Clip Source: www.metafilter.com

How Buildings Learn--Stewart Brand, 1997, BBC, 6 Parts; Flow, The Low Road, Built For Change, Unreal Estate, The Romance of Maintenance, Shearing Layers. "What happens after buildings are built? Why do some buildings get better over time and others get demolished? Stewart Brand says architecture is a prediction, and all predictions are wrong, so the more monumental the architecture, the more wrong the building is. The buildings that thrive are those that can adapt to how people actually use them. The worst buildings for inhabitants are usually statement architecture -- buildings that look like art. The best buildings are often non-descript, and pick up character as they evolve. In other words they grow into art." Kevin Kelley
posted by vronsky (14 comments total) 40 users marked this as a favorite

Tags: videos, learning, buildings, architecture

Natural Fashion

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:56:17 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: The art of the people of the Omo Valley

Clip Source: www.everyoneforever.com

"This unique art (shot by Hans Silvester) of the African Surma and Mursi tribes of the Omo Valley. These nomadic people have no architecture or crafts with which to express their innate artistic sense. Instead, they use their bodies as canvases and adorning themselves with materials obtained from their surroundings such as flowers, leaves, grasses, berries and branches which seems endlessly inventive, and above all, fun"

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Clip Source: taintball.blogspot.com

Clip Source: www.lamaisonpresbastille.com

Clip Source: www.livresphotos.com

Clip Source: www.lamaisonpresbastille.com

Hans Silvester
biographie

Clip Source: www.amazon.co.uk

Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa (Hardcover)

by Hans Silvester (Author)

£12.97 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £15 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

ZIGGURAT: Dubai Carbon Neutral Pyramid will House 1 Million

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:05:05 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Wow!

Clip Source: www.inhabitat.com

ZIGGURAT: Dubai Carbon Neutral Pyramid will House 1 Million

The Mayans and Egyptians constructed incredible feats of architecture able to weather the test of time, but they had no idea their pyramids would inspire the shape of the latest carbon-neutral super-structure to hit Dubai.

aptly named Ziggurat - with plans for its official unveiling scheduled for the Cityscape Dubai event which runs October 6-9 of this year.

Ziggurat will be capable of running completely off the grid by utilizing steam, wind, and other natural resources. The tightly knit city will also feature a super efficient public transportation system

According to the International Institute for the Urban Environment, the technologies incorporated into the Ziggurat project will make it a viable metropolis, and Timlinks has responded by quickly patenting the design and technology developed for the project.

European professors will be

at CityScape Dubai to explain how the Ziggurat project can be incorporated into grander plans

Tags: eco-friendly, carbon neutral, emissions, dubai, uae

8 haunted houses and hotels

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:32:46 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

Clip Source: weburbanist.com

Not all well-known houses are famous because of their stunning architecture. Some houses receive attention because of the alleged paranormal activity that goes on there. From sites of suicides to the eventual sets of ghost-hunting television shows, here some of the (supposedly) scariest haunted houses and hotels from around the world.

Chillingham Castle, Northumberland, England

Whaley House, San Diego, California

Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, Colorado

The Crenshaw House, Gallatin County, Illinois

The Winchester House, San Jose, California

Loftus Hall, County Wexford, Ireland

Historic Anchorage Hotel, Anchorage, Alaska

Beauregard House, New Orleans, Louisiana

Tags: houses, haunted, hotels, world

Pelosi's Poison Pill Plan on "Energy Independence"

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:00:38 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Less capital will flow into energy exploration and refinement, supply will be constrained, and prices will rise. Those causal linkages aren't matters of partisan debate; they're simple and incontrovertible matters of economics.

Still, as much recognition as Pelosi deserves for championing illogical policies for their own sake, I suspect the inclusion of these punitive measures in her new "plan" serves a simpler purpose. Namely, to make whatever "comprehensive" bill might emerge so unattractive that it will lose the bipartisan support enjoyed by the singular matter of whether or not to permit offshore drilling.

Clip Source: www.suitablyflip.com

In a Saturday radio address, Nancy Pelosi appeared to buckle to overwhelming popular support to lift the ban on offshore drilling.

Unfortunately, the plan is larded up with other provisions that make it wholly unpalatable.

Among the "other tax credits" Pelosi's targeting is the tax break that enables all manufacturing companies to deduct 6% of their qualifying income. The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which included this tax relief, takes a very broad view of what qualifies as manufacturing. In addition to traditional manufacturers, the act covers companies and individuals engaged in engineering, architecture, software development, lavish Hollywood blockbusters, and yes, the production of electricity, natural gas, water, etc.

And the end result would be just as foreseeable and inevitable. When you punish an activity by introducing an incremental financial disincentive to engage in it, you'll swiftly see the corresponding market response

Tags: pelosi, lift ban on drilling, production of electricity, natural gas, water,

The City Of Strange And Unusual Architecture

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:18:46 GMT

clipped by: Mohiul
clipper's remarks: Sheba (Yemen)

Clip Source: funpresident.com

Dean of USC Architecture School Rails Against Preservation

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:44:17 GMT

clipped by: presohio

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

A city built on impermanence -- and that's OK

'Most of them are so superbly ugly that they're exciting." That's what Qingyun Ma, dean of the architecture school at USC, told me last Tuesday afternoon when I asked him what he thought of this city's remarkable explosion of skyscrapers.

Ma sheds no tears for the quaint buildings that have given way to thousands of new structures -- and they aren't all ugly by any means. In fact, he barely conceals his disdain for architectural nostalgia. "The concept behind historic preservation is foolish," he said. "It assumes that there is infinite space for future generations. We have to allow people in the future to build their environments based on their own needs and intelligence."

It turns out that L.A.'s lack of historical sentimentality is one of the reasons Ma enjoys his adopted home. "L.A. is for the future," he said.

Tags: preservation, philosphy

The House That Always Faces The Sun

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:19:12 GMT

clipped by: tanjazaric

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

it’s surprising that there’s so little (english) information available about this house as it seems to be such a piece of engineering brilliance and a building which, when designed, was way ahead of its time. it was built and lived in by an italian ship engineer by the name of angelo invernizzi (along with assistance from architect ettore fagiuoli) between the years of 1929 & 1935 and can still be found in marcellise, italy.

the top half of the building rotates around the centre of the circluar track on which it rests (which happens to form the roof of the lower, static half of the building), much like the hands of a clock

the ‘tower’ which forms the pivot is 43 metres tall and the power needed to move the structure is generated by 2 motors (3 horsepower in total): a full revolution of the 1′500ton building would take just over 9hrs, travelling at a speed of 4mm per second, unless of course the rotation was delibrately slowed.

the house is called ‘il girasole’ - the sunflower

google maps

Tags: house, architecture, digital, italy

Should technology be allowed to tumble records?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:50:47 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Should technology be allowed to tumble records?

Spectators at Beijing's Olympic swimming pool have witnessed some outlandish goings-on over the last couple of weeks: 25 world records have fallen, compared with eight at the Athens Olympics four years ago. Seven of them were broken by one swimmer, Michael Phelps of the US, while the UK's Rebecca Adlington improved on the 800 metres freestyle record - unchallenged for 19 years - by more than two seconds.

The Beijing pool is 3 metres deep, a metre deeper than standard competitive pools. As explained in this week's issue of New Scientist magazine, the extra depth helps dissipate the turbulence caused by the swimmer's movement, causing less resistance. In other words, they are being helped by the architecture.

You could argue that technological "fixes" like this diminish the value of modern sporting records, making it unfair to compare the performances of this year's athletes with those through history.

Tags: tech

Chand Baori - The amazing well in Jaipur, India

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:28:17 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08
clipper's remarks: Well...Its beautiful!

Clip Source: www.odditycentral.com

The amazing well of Chand Baori

Built back in the 10th century, the incredible well of Chand Baori, India was a practical solution to the water problem in the area. The arid climate forced the locals to dig deep for a dependable water source, one that would last throughout an entire year.

Chand Baori well is 30 meters deep, it has 13 floors and 3,500 steps. Legends say that ghosts build it in one night and that it has so many steps to make it impossible for someone to retrieve a coin once it’s been dropped in the well.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Chand Baori

Chand Baori is a famous stepwell situated in the village Abhaneri near Jaipur in Indian state of Rajasthan.

Chand Baori, in the village of Abhaneri near Bandikui, Rajasthan.

This step well is located opposite Harshat Mata Temple and is one of the deepest and largest step wells in India. It was built in 9th century and has 3500 narrow steps and 13 stories and is 100 feet deep.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

[edit] References

Tags: well, architecture, legend, ghosts, mystery, jaipur, india