Alvar Aalto gets a close look from Google's Cultural Institute

2014-08-28T15:53:00-04:00

Google's satellite imaging allows us to virtually tour remote or inaccessible locales the world over, and with recently improved resolutions and initiatives from the Google Cultural Institute, our gaze can go farther and more intimately into places we may never physically visit. Google's interest in maintaining this visual resource has implications as far-reaching as its imagery, but it's also a boon for architecture education, where access to imagery and certain spaces can be highly exclusive, and retaining a global (and historical) perspective is exceedingly important.

To this end, Google's Cultural Institute has partnered with the Alvar Aalto Foundation in order to make the famous Finnish architect's spaces (and of course his famous stool no. 60) available online in 360-degree panoramas, detailing every surface. The partnership's collection focuses on eight sites, including Aalto's studio, Säynätsalo Town Hall, and the House Kantola, as well as an exhibition at the Aalto Museum in...

Google Adds Graffiti to Its Art Portfolio

2014-06-20T14:10:00-04:00

Using images provided by cultural organizations worldwide, some of which were captured with Google’s Street View camera technology, [the Google Cultural Institute's Street Art Project] includes street art from around the globe, including work that no longer exists [...] Google is the latest organization to wade into debates about how or whether to institutionalize, let alone commercialize, art that is ephemeral and often willfully created subversively.

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Alvar Aalto gets a close look from Google's Cultural Institute

Google Adds Graffiti to Its Art Portfolio