March 18, 2010
March 7, 2010
Mexican Fireworks!
Sorry the embedded code isn’t available but check it out. pretty crazy….
February 22, 2010
my homemade tattoos
My buddy Guy Brock is a amazing illustrator and is now starting to tattoo. I let him do his first one on my
leg and I final finished my Packman croc, The bike was drawn by Joe Bargains.
Sorry the photos are pretty crap, did them on dat Iphone
January 28, 2010
RAD NEON LIGHTS
Neon signs are so rad. Last year my buddy Maff got a Neon sign made for him
end of the year art project saying “shelve it”. It looks so so rad! I want one now please..
January 25, 2010
Q&A With Scott Pommier
Scott Pommier’s interest in photography began when he started using his mother’s semi-automatic SLR to take pictures of his friends skateboarding. Since then, he has shot covers for every major skateboarding publication and now divides his time between his position as a senior photographer for SBC Skateboard magazine, a variety of editorial and commercial jobs, a book project to be completed next year, and spending more hours either behind the wheel or in front of the computer than he ever imagined possible.
Your photographs have a timeless quality about them. Which photographers or eras do you look to for inspiration?
‘I feel like I’ve picked up little lessons, or perhaps truisms is closer to the mark, from a lot of photographers. I’ve never studied the history of photography. I only really know what I’ve tripped across. A few years ago, I was at a friend’s place and he had a beautiful book of photographs by Deirdre O’Callaghan called Hide That Can, about a hostel in London. Looking through it, I realized that although I had a pretty good understanding of the mechanics of photography, I wasn’t really attuned to the subtleties. Looking back, that was a turning point in a couple of different ways. For a start, I decided I wanted to get a lot more comfortable shooting available light photographs. And also, I don’t think I’d really thought about journalism as art until that point. I was already a senior photographer for an international skateboarding magazine before I started to figure out how I wanted to shoot pictures and even before my pictures began to mean anything to me. It wasn’t until then that I actually felt like a photographer. This is all actually pretty recent. I wanted so badly to be a child prodigy, but I think I’m a late-bloomer.
‘The way that I do things is a struggle. So I relate to other photographers whose work entails struggle. I love Sally Mann’s photographs, for instance. And when think about what it took to take them, I love them all the more. Joel Sternfeld’s book, American Prospects, made me realize how effective it can be to take a step back. Distance can change the meaning.
‘I bought a copy of LIFE magazine from 1968 and it looked like it could have all been shot by the same photographer. Even the ads. I like that era. There was craft to it, but not an overproduction. Depending on what I’m shooting, I’m conscious of cropping out a lot of the clues as to when a photo was taken’.
You were a skateboarder before you were a skateboard photographer. Do you think it’s necessary to really understand the sport and lifestyle in order to shoot it properly?
‘If your audience is a group of skateboarders, then yes, absolutely. If there’s an exception to the rule, I’ve yet to hear about it. A skateboard photographer has to balance a very particular set of requirements. You have to show the difficulty of what you’re photographing, so you have to be mindful that the angle you choose shows that the railing is very steep, the stairs are tall, the ledge is long, and so on’.
‘You also have to capture what a sports photographer would call the peak action. But the way that a skateboarder perceives that might be a bit different to how the rest of the world sees it. If you were shooting a baseball player hitting a ball, you might get a good shot of the batter with the bat cocked or the follow through after the ball has been struck. But if you shoot a skateboard trick even a hair too early or too late, the photo would never run in a skateboard magazine and the core audience would reject it.
‘Skateboarders are a suspicious bunch. It’s not a role they tend to trust non-skateboarders with. So, there’s a question of access. In principle, it’s possible. But clearing that many hurdles and adhering to that many caveats is really only appealing to someone who’s involved in the sport’.
It looks as though most of your photos are shot on the fly. Do you ever set up shots or do you rely more on instinct to quickly catch the moment?
‘My whole approach has changed in the last few years. I used to set up pretty much every shot. Now I usually only it set up when I can’t find a shot. A few years ago something really obvious would have had to reveal itself for me to abandon whatever plan I had in my head. These days I try and tread a little more softly. I don’t sprint to the finish line, I doddle a little, waiting to see if something suggests itself. And I try to be ready for the fleeting moments. You miss them all the time. But that’s part of it. There are always more to come’.
January 21, 2010
Lego Kitchen
kitchen
It seems that quite a few things will benefit from a Scandinavian touch. Munchausen, a duo formed by Parisian designers Simon Pillard and Philippe Rosetti, took a bold approach with their own kitchen by venturing to IKEA for the basic kitchen island and then spending the next week covering it with more than 20,000 pieces by another Scandinavian brand, Lego
The result is a one-of-a-kind creation that serves as an artistic centerpiece for the space, in addition to functioning as a kitchen counter. Pillard, who works with fashion house JC de Castelbajac, and Rosetti who works with Hugo Boss France Identity, formed Munchhausen in 2004.
The two have recently contributed a collection of T-shirts, cushions, wallpaper and accessories for the new French labelCommune de Paris, 1871. Munchhausen was one of three initial contributors for Commune de Paris, 187. The other two were Julien Langendorff and David Herman Dune. - Tuija Seipell.
January 18, 2010
Nakagin Capsule Tower
The Nakagin Capsule Tower, an exercise in Metabolist architecture.
Once you arrive in Tokyo’s busy commercial district of Shimbashi, a short walk from the station brings you to a noisy highway overpass, and beside that the futuristic Nakagin Capsule Tower. The tower’s stunning design may strike passersby as something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but it stands as a unique architectural beacon amongst the common apartment high-rises and office buildings of Ginza. Designed by the late Japanese architect Kurokawa Kisho, the 14-story tower is composed of 140 individual capsules that function as apartments and business offices. The tower has also served as a prototype of sorts for uniquely Japanese urban accommodations, such as business andcapsule hotels.
Written by Blair McBride
But the future of the tower is uncertain. For various reasons, including maintenance concerns and a lack of local support for preservation, the building will be demolished in less than two years unless a substantial preservation plan can be formed and accepted. The possible demolition would be a disappointing loss for Japanese architecture, as few of Kurokawa’s Metabolist buildings remain in Japan.
Seen at an angle, the protruding capsules are clearly visible.
Nakagin Capsule Tower and Metabolism
Constructed in 1972, the tower is a prime example of Kisho’s Metabolism architecture movement that focused on adaptable, growing, and interchangeable building designs. Metabolism — the word suggesting organic growth that responds to its environment — influenced every step of the tower’s construction. The capsules were manufactured in a factory in Shiga Prefecture and transported to Tokyo by truck. They were then attached to the tower’s central beam. The capsules were designed to be removable and replaceable from the central beam. Even the seemingly small space inside the capsules can be modified — it can be increased by connecting capsules to other capsules. The tower’s simple, minimalist design was deliberate. As a Metabolist building, Kurokawa believed that the inherent beauty of materials like concrete and steel meant that they didn’t need any special modifications or decorations.
Looking up at the Nakagin Capsule Tower.
But why construct a capsule building in the first place? Kurokawa observed that throughout Japanese history, frequent natural disasters — and also the destruction caused by World War 2 — meant that Japanese cities built from natural materials had temporary, even unpredictable lifespans. Kurokawa therefore wanted to continue that tradition of temporality in building design by constructing modern but changeable buildings.
The Nakagin Capsule Tower, not long after its construction. © Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Photo: Tomio Ohashi.
The Metabolist ideas found in the Nakagin Capsule Tower were born in 1960 at the “World Design Conference” held in Tokyo. Most Metabolist buildings were constructed in the 1960s and 70s. Other than Nakagin, some notable Metabolist works of Kurokawa that use capsules include The Karuizawa Capsule House in Nagano and theSony Tower in Osaka. Unfortunately, the Sony Tower was demolished in 2006. Also noteworthy is the gently curving, cellular-inspiredYamagata Hawaii Dreamland Resort in Yamagata Prefecture. An important Western building influenced by the Metabolist Movement isHabitat 67 in Montreal, Canada, designed by Moshe Safdie.
A closer look at the capsules, when the building was still new. © Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Photo: Tomio Ohashi.
The work of Kamakura-based architect Jin Hidaka is heavily influenced by Metabolism. Hidaka operates the Slowmedia Japanese architecture forum. He will present a talk entitled “Reconsideration of the ‘Metabolism Model’” at the upcoming Design 2050 Union of International Architects (UIA) congress, to be held in Tokyo in 2011. As Hidaka states, the Metabolist ideas of the 1960s “were very new, they saw cities as ‘moving’ and dynamic, that concept is real. Metabolism wanted to collaborate with engineers, they invited scientists, designers, and industrial designers. They wanted trans-cultural collaborations. It’s still relevant because of the ‘dynamic city’ and trans-cultural aspects. I want these collaborations to continue.”
A look at the interior of one of the capsules. © Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Photo: Tomio Ohashi.
But Metabolist buildings such as Nakagin and the Sony Tower haven’t proven as resilient as their ideas. “Metabolism wanted to create a new system of architecture,” Hidaka explains. “For example, product design where you can change different parts of it after finishing. [But] Metabolism has limits.”
Those limits are seen in the Nakagin Tower. Hidaka says that Nakagin “is a complicated building and a complicated situation.” Despite the tower’s importance as a major Metabolist project, Hidaka admits that there were faults in design. “The tower had a design period of only four months — shorter than usual, and it was rushed. The designing went on even after construction had already started.”
Another capsule interior. © Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Photo: Tomio Ohashi.
The capsules around the central beam were intended to be replaceable, in line with the Metabolist philosophy of interchangeability. But the capsules haven’t been replaced, and Hidaka points to the design to explain why. “The capsules can be taken apart from the center beam, but only from the top, not the bottom — a simple design problem because taking them apart from the bottom would be easier.”
The Nakagin Capsule Tower, at an angle.
Way forward
The complicated nature of the tower is evident in the mixed levels of support seen for the preservation of the building. As Mr. Tanaka ofKurokawa Kisho Architects explains, there is support for repairing the building, “but then due to budgetary concerns from a small group of people, it was decided after the votes [were collected] from the residents that it is to be demolished,” making way for a new building.
A raised highway passes in front of the Nakagin Capsule Tower (left). A closer look at the capsules.
On the other hand, international support for preserving the building is enormous and articulate. In a survey by London-based World Architecture News, over 10,000 architects in 100 countries were polled on their thoughts on preserving the tower. The survey resultswere as follows: 75% for replacing the capsules, 20% for leaving it as is, and 5% for demolition. Even if the tower is demolished, international interest remains high. According to Hidaka, “the 2010Pompidou exhibition will showcase Japanese architecture, and they want a capsule to exhibit if it is demolished.”
A closer look at the exterior windows of the tower.
Despite the unfortunate possibility of demolition, there are other options for the future of the tower. One is to buy the capsules from the owners one-by-one. That could be an expensive option, but for Hidaka, “it’s worth the cost of buying the capsules if the building can be preserved.” Other possibilities include opening a competition for new interior designs and replacing the current capsules with new ones. If the capsules are replaced, another option is to use the tower as a hotel. But according to Hidaka, Kurokawa tried to do just that and found the situation “difficult.”
The Nakagin Capsule Tower in detail.
No one can be sure as to what will happen to Nakagin. But the building and the ideas behind it have represented unique and appreciated contributions to architecture. Jin Hidaka is optimistic that Metabolism can still contribute to architecture and culture. Metabolism can’t be done “the same way anymore, but if we can change the direction we can do it. Because now we have the technology that they didn’t have back then.”
The Nakagin Capsule Tower certainly faces a troubled future, so if you’d like to check it out for yourself, do it as soon as possible!
January 18, 2010
16 Bit - Fun House
Thought this video was funny.
Track is alright aswell.
Watch.
Thanks Rusht for this video.