flash mobs

youtube example


A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. ...

Altering space, time, comfort....
virtually and physically gathering a twisted sense of community, collection...
presenting an unknown, unexpected presence in public spaces...
changing space by re-programming its use: Tesco as disco, public square as silent rave, zombie cemetery, foux finger gun fight...

one of my favorites:

On Ananova.com

A Brazilian flash mob has hit the busiest road in Sao Paulo.

Around 100 people gathered in Avenida Paulista and pointed remote controls at a giant screen, as if they were trying to change channels.

After exactly three minutes they put the controls away and walked off as if nothing had happened, Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reports.

The first Brazilian flash mob happened last week when a crowd converged on a Sao Paulo street corner, removed one shoe each and beat it on the pavement several times.

The flash mob phenomenon, in which crowds organised by email and websites perform pointless stunts, started in the US and has spread around the world.

The Walled City

one of the most densely populated places on earth, the Kawloon Walled City was destroyed in 1993. It had a population of 50,000 people in the space of .01003865 square miles or 6.4247 acres. The walled city was defined by the existing ancient Chinese watchpost that wasn't under British Rule, it became then a sort of rule-less outpost that at the time of its demolition had everything from drug rings, casinos and factories within its walls.

Density at its greatest, the vertical city was a one of a kind...

A Japanese team documented one of the last "expeditions" to this matrix city.

Un-super size me

The image above is Tesco's (out of the UK) latest contribution to the American landscape. Nearly reminding one of a corner Walgreens within suburban sprawl...smaller than a big box....but getting Wal-Mart's attention?

The new trend may be small, neighborhood and convenience. While we are way familiar with American convenience--- small and neighborhood are hardly an American truism - at least not in the 21th century. But as food becomes more local, cars become smaller....why not grocery stores?

The "Fresh and Easy" is Tesco's latest mini-store (they are the big box of the UK) to open in the Southwest (NV, CA...). It offers less of a selection, but more integrated into urban environments due to its smaller size.

Wal-Mart is said to be close behind with attempts of mini-marts in the Arizona area.

?????...what anti-big box group could imagine hearing that?
Wal-mart breaking from its mold and downsizing.
Its all about the dollar and its seems that time-craving americans actually are hinting at having "less of a selection" in return for quick and easy shopping.

Are we seeing a turnaround in this mega-scaled lifestyle?
What are the new scales of capitalism for the 20th century?
What are the new smaller scale lifestyles of the new American?
What is staying big? What will return to a human scale?

Articles:
New York Times
Reuters
NY Post

wire-less Power

reference


I think Powercast is the next step in revolutionizing architecture...not in necessarily the way curtain walls did for modernism, but the way electricity did for building. Imagine not having to wire a house? an office building...a city?

As simply as creating a "utility" tower (a la Ito (Sendai Mediatheque or L. Khans, Salk Institute) that can distribute this radio-wave like power, a small unit within the buildings could run all their equipment, gadgets... all without wires. Construction costs go down, construction time go down, the confusion and oddity of small boxes placed on the walls is eliminated.