Category Archives: Technology

What are WorkVitamins?

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In 2001, Martin van der Linden developed a new architectural methodology while working as an assistant researcher at Tokyo’s Waseda Univeristy. Martin believed that architecture should be a catalyst for change in innovative environments, and his methodology – called WORKVITAMINS – was based on this idea. But designing innovative and inspirational spaces from the inside out is not an easy task: descriptors such as poet, artist and great lover must be earned by the one being described, and the title of innovative workspace is no different. Therefore, Martin crafted a closed-loop system with four distinct steps:

Initiate: setting the tone and direction for the project using a Shared Workplace Vision,

Analyse: Understanding the specific place-related needs of the organisation. Finding the gaps between an organisation’s ideal conditions and its current situation,

Change: Testing creative ideas to address the issues discovered during the analysis,

Implement: the realisation of steps 1 through 3 and the design and construction of a truly innovative workplace.

Architecture is space created for human activity. The role of an architect designing a workspace is to provide the users with a variety of spatial choices that will accommodate their changing work needs. Architecture that starts with WorkVitamins encourages authentic experiences at work.

 

Philips Biosphere Farming

Interesting projects by Philips on sustainability and  forward thinking.

“This is exploring the integration of electronics and bio chemical functionalities into the inert material of the built environment. The design of the concept fundamentally changes the current approach to buildings and habitat.  This future habitat shifts from the current state where the  building surfaces are benign inert ‘dumb’ materials only used for construction and shielding purposes to sensitive functional skins that are ‘alive’ and act as membranes to harness energy. A membrane creates a strong link between the exterior and interior of the habitat and used as a transporter collecting and channeling the elements of air water and light – from the outside feeding into the inside space. This will supply the habitat with all necessary sources to be able to live off the grid.”

I especially liked their Biosphere Home Farm.

“kitchen skyscraper’s concept development is to explore the possibility of growing at least part of one’s daily calorific requirement at home, as explained by Philips. Using the synergies between fish, plants, vegetables and algae, the Biosphere home farm has been designed to stand up right, to minimize the amount of floor space required (great for small apartments or tiny kitchens) but to also enable the stacking of the various mini eco-systems to ease the flow of nutrients from one level to the next. Not only will this mini-at-home-farming system produce natural foods such as lettuce, cucumbers, spices and shellfish, the ability for it to operate without electricity using only water, organic waste and the sun’s energy to power up should also bring much appeal.”

via Vidafine

Back to basics

An interesting new trend according to Designboom is the return to low-tech equipment:

“As technology evolves, new innovations are constantly replacing old ones. this cycle is repeated over and
over until old technologies are almost completely forgotten. whether this is good or bad is really in the 
eyes of the beholder, but the pace of technological innovation is unavoidable. in the past this technology
turnaround was slow and measured, but it has been steadily increasing to a rapid clip today. so fast in fact,
that many of us have trouble keeping up. 

in spite of these hurried times, some of choose to stick with what we know or look back in history. 
rather than listening to music on an mp3 player, some choose to listen to lp records and rather than design 
a poster using the latest computer software, some choose to use an antique letterpress. this burgeoning 
trend of anti-digital activity can perhaps be attributed to a form of technology nostalgia but there is clearly
something more. for starters, many of the people turning to retro-tech weren’t even born when these
original products were around. there is something else at work, perhaps something is missing from the
future-forward disposable technology of today? with each new generation of technology we lose 
something from the past, the comforting sound of the needle on vinyl or just getting our hands dirty 
instead of messing around with a mouse. 

high technology may be the zeitgeist of today, but every trend has its adversary. today this adversary takes
the form of vinyl records, film cameras, typewriters and other relics form the past. perhaps we seek comfort
in the familiar or just need a break from our digital lifestyles. no matter what the reason, there is a clear
movement at work that can be seen throughout contemporary culture. looking into the future, the products
and tools we use today may soon be added to this list of antiquated technology, awaiting a resurgence of
there own.”

Personally, I enjoy using some of these old analogue synths, such as the fantastic Korg Ms20.