IaaC blog

 The book is divided into three parts and is a research and transformational work of art. All these parts deal with the b zone in europe……the countries on the south east part of Europe which are not yet a part of EU………..about transnational and transitional issues against the backdrop of neo colonial economic strategies, mass migration and war related to the balkan states and the erstwhile Yugoslivia.

The first part ( Black Sea Files )  or research explores the conflicts, disagreements and happenings that occured with respect to the oldest oil pipeline connecting Baku ( Azerbaijan ) which is located on the caspian shore to the mediterranean sea. This involves essays and visuals compiled by Ursula Bienmann - a theorist, artist and curator in Zurich.

Corridor X is the second part of the book which has its basis on the breaking up of the republic of yugoslavia and consequently cutting off the ‘ highway of brotherhood and unity ‘ - historical migration route from Turkey to Germany.

The third part ‘ Postwar Footprints ‘ investigates how the Balkan Wars changed the telecommunication and satellite infrastructure in Croatia, Serbia and the neighbouring states. Lisa Parks ( media researcher ) gives a detailed account about the events that took place in chronological order.

The three research’s zero in on the vested interests of the western countries in these B Zone countries after the breaking up of the Soviet bloc. How crude oil became a focus point as soon as it was discovered in 1872 in Azerbaijan. The western countries all wanted a share of the resources and how an oil pipeline was proposed to connect the caspian shore to the mediterranean sea. The problems that arose due to the construction of the pipeline were overlooked, causing resentment among people. The book also deals with the mass migration from these balkan states to the more developed EU states and how the EU is apprehensive about including these states in the EU. Open borders would bring in mass migration from these war affected states. But the EU also finds these states as a hub for investment because the infrastucture in these countries has taken a beating at the hands of war. So its a dilemma. Post war footprints is the research that deals with the telecommunications sector. And how NATO destroyed the infrasructure during balkan wars , and how now their telecommunications companies are monopolising this sector in those states and a further push from EU to these states to improve upon the infrastructure so as to become a part of EU.

What do you do when you get worked up about work.  When your computer screen has become a favourite in your dreams and its like one of those girl friends who would ask you every ten minutes ” do you still ………..like you use too” etc. What do you do to get yourself on track and back to the unusual world? You blogsploit.

Blogsploitation is term used for all that non sense, sense related musings, insights, declarations, thoughts, secret wishes and comments related to the world of entertainment, pop culture, media, sports, gossips and primarily whats COOL. So when your done with your own world just peep into others’ and BLOGSPLOIT.

Here is what we did……………………..

rohn.pdf

diego.pdf

While going through a blog www.we-make-money-not-art.com i came across this term ‘ survival mosque ‘. Its a kit developed by Asra Aksamija, an Austrian artist and a US based practicing architect, to counter racial abuse against muslims in USA. Survival mosque is one of the many attempts to explore the relationships of Islamic practices and identities in a secular and contemporary context.

The mosque is self sufficient: the prayer rug is supplying its own energy source via photo voltaic solar cells. It also carries different liturgical and practical features such as washing solution for ablution and cleaning when a muslim gets spit on, ear plugs against insults, American constitution proofing rights of American Muslims, weapons and amulets, loud speaker with speech on tolerance held by President George W Bush, ablution slippers, Quran, educative books and diverse communication devices.

 Nomadic Mosque.

The Idea behind this trend is to cater to cosmopolitan generation of muslims yet relating them to the histories and the beauty of the cultural traditions. The ‘ wearable mosque ‘ clothing that she designed had a profile of the exact building and is used as a prayer rug for three. What this might end up doing is to shift the focus from biased interpretetions of Islam and highlight the aesthetic culture of it instead.

These experiments define new means of promoting an expression which could have various interpretations. Architectural Wearable is the term given to ideas, theme’s, expression, fashion etc which could have an infinite domain of operations, with an architectural background. From cultural to political to religious, globalisation to simple work of art,  architectural wearable could serve many puposes and could have many implications for a cause. Its a tool which has a  first hand impact because of the visual nature of the idea behind it. 

Feeling or Transmtting sensation has now become an online process. This is what the new research done by Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore ( http://photonswarm.com/tech-news/?news=13 ). And they have come up with this idea g a Remote Tactile Transmission System.

The system allows remote physical interaction in real time, with initial trials conducted with chickens. Details of the whole experiment could be found in the blog www.photonswarm.com referring to the article human tactile remote sytem. 

Next thing on their mind is to do a human-human remote interaction with “ Tele-haptic” devices used to touch and feel sensations over the internet. A new concept such as ‘internet hugging’ is being investigated which uses high-fidelity haptic suit for humans .

Adding heart beat and body heat sensors is also on the agenda.

Feeling virtual environments could be useful in decision making for various feilds. To feel  unavailable materials before applying to a building will help save time and money. The word ‘ architexture ‘ is derived from architecture and texture. The definition : the process of feeling textures of materials and buildings over the internet ( online ) is called ‘architexture’. 

Goin through my blog GIS i found a similar tool based on geographic informations. But the difference being it focusses on the environment and maps the environmental conditions of an area along with other geographic inputs. So in a way EnviroMapper allows you to generate maps of your geographic area that contain environmental information based on a database called Envirofacts Warehouse. The type of environmental information includes: Superfund sites, drinking water, toxic and air releases, hazardous waste, and water discharge permits. You can correlate by adding map features to your map, including major roads, railroads, churches, hospitals, schools, populated places, counties, states, streams, streets, water bodies, watersheds, rivers, and federal lands. 

Its a new emerging concept, but it could turn out to be one of those environment friendly terms which were invented to sing the same tune of “saving the environment” which has been sung by a major environment pollutor. And as time passes it dies its natural death. Stats and facts are needed to prove its existence.

The Blog was last updated in march 2006. This could also raise a few eyebrows.

Till the time i search more on it……………………..

Click here for the complete report with instructions: bh_rk-digifab.pdf

Our mapping assignments are turning out to be quite fruitful for each one of us. Not only is it giving us a chance to stroll through the city but also go through the variety of menus and price orders of various eating places in Barcelona. So any one who wants to know about where good food is happening just ask us.

Scan of notes taken during the survey of eating places around Barcelona Cathedral.

Our Group is primarily thinking of  noting down how pricing of the menu varies and the inferences that could be drawn out of that about the area and the economy and the density of population of that area. So i went around my area that ranges from The Ramblas to Vietana checking out food prices and the kind of people that visit the place. Checking out whether its an elite class eating joint or a middle class one. Or if its a hybrid place where people from all walks hang out.

Barcelona Cathedral.

Sketch Showing Eating Hubs in Plaza Sant Joseph de Oriol.

Putting all the data led us to the final graphic, which explains the pedestrian flow and the density of eating joints in the city  and how they are compared in terms of prices.  The inferences drawn out of the survey leads us classification of various zones in the area relating to the economic and touristic influence, ethinic bent and the popularity of the place.

Layout of Eating Joints.

The Model.

The Price Variations.

Graph Showing Price Comparisons.

Measurement of tree - a record of observations which may indicate relationships between the various performing aspects of a tree. Geometry of (relatively) immovable parts used as a tool to measure the otherwise dynamic structure.

As a part of the group we were given the task to map out the global eating trends in old barcelona. We split into sub groups and gathered information about our relevant areas. Follow the link http://www.iaacblog.com/krzysztofgornicki/?p=46 for more………