Essay: Shepherd, sheepdog; on people, robots and cities
My latest column for Dezeen addresses robotics and cities. I'd started writing this months ago, and some of the examples betray that. Still, it took me that long—usually on planes, trains but not yet autonomous automobiles—to find the time to edit it down. As usual, you can read the longer original cut below; the tighter Dezeen version is […]
Essay: ‘Urban parasites, data-driven urbanism and the case for architecture’, from Architecture + Urbanism, 2014:11
Please note: this post has moved over to Medium This follows the earlier post on this set of essays, which also features 'The Commodification of Everything' for 'SQM' and 'A sketchbook for the city to come: the popup as R&D', for AD. This one first published as: Essay: Urban Parasites, Data-Driven Urbanism, and the Case for […]
Essay: ‘A sketchbook for the city to come: the popup as R&D’, for AD ‘Popups and Parasols’
Please note: this essay has now moved over to Medium. This follows the earlier post on this set of essays, which also features 'The Commodification of Everything' for 'SQM' and 'Urban Parasites, Data-Driven Urbanism, and the Case for Architecture' for A+U. This one was first published as: 'A Sketchbook for the City to Come: […]
Journal: Three essays from last summer; networked urbanism
“The secret, I think, of the future is not doing too much”—Frei Otto Around this time last year, at the family home in Brisbane, in the jetlagged early hours of what was ostensibly a holiday, I wrote a set of articles for three architecture-oriented publications—a magazine, a journal and a book—all concerning the dynamics of […]
Sketchbook: London Squared map, with After the Flood
One of the early collaborative projects at Future Cities Catapult—actually roughly the same time as Pixel Track with BERG—was a very small, very quick, but very useful, insightful and powerful bit of information design with After the Flood. I asked them to work with us on a visualisation 'device' for data about London, principally the […]
Essay: On Tesla Powerwall, and the skirmish between Moore’s law and physical laws
My latest column for Dezeen explores the urban implications of Tesla's Powerwall battery storage product. Here's the original edit: — The product launch of the early 21st century is a well-honed little drama. It’s become as streamlined and archetypal as the automobile launches of the mid-1950s, half-dressed girls running their fingers down the fins of […]
Sketchbook: Noticing planning notices
A tidier version of this post sits at Medium, here: https://medium.com/a-chair-in-a-room/noticing-planning-notices-6fe102bce902 — The primary interface between the UK’s planning system and the people and places it serves is a piece of A4 paper tied to a lamppost in the rain. OK, not always rain. But rain often enough. The paper is a public notice […]
Journal: Moscow, December 2014; Narkomfin Building; Melnikov House
Melnikov House, Moscow In Moscow, for two days, for Moscow Urban Forum, and various meetings. I recall photos my father showed me of a school trip he led there in 1968, from the American International School of Zürich where he was teaching, to Red Square and more besides, all saturated Kodachrome, sharp clobber and fresh […]
Sketchbook: Cities Unlocked
We (Future Cities Catapult) launched a major project today: Cities Unlocked. Phase one of a collaboration with Microsoft UK and Guide Dogs, it's a demonstrator of how wearables and 3D soundscapes could improve mobility and wayfinding in a beacon-enabled city. In other words, how might we get around cities in the near future? You can […]
Sketchbook: Interview with Matt George, CEO of Bridj
As research for my recent Dezeen column, and the longer piece it was drawn from—both unpicking the promise and pitfalls of predictive urban analytics and transport startups—I asked Matt George, CEO of Bridj, a Boston-based startup, a few questions. I'm reproducing the exchange below, as I find Bridj really interesting for a number of reasons. Bridj […]