Foxconn’s founder and chariman Terry Gou said the company will replace an unspecified amount workers with one million robots in three years. Foxconn is the Asian manufacturer that is responsible for many components inside of Apple, Sony, and Nokia’s devices. — 9to5mac.com
For a related discussion check The Diminishing Returns of Technology. View full entry
Our friends at OpenBuildings have just announced that their mobile app, already available for the iPhone, is now available for Android users. Go check it out explore the architecture around you! View full entry
SKATE 1.0 is a sound and light installation by Electroland. It is installed at the A+D Museum in Los Angeles as part of the COME IN! 2: SURF.SKATE.BIKE exhibition. The exhibition dates are from June 14-July 24, 2011. The SKATE 1.0 installation will continue past this date. Artist: Electroland... View full entry
Alfred Ely Beach is best known for his invention of New York City's first concept for a subway: the Beach Pneumatic Transit, which would move people rapidly from one place to another in "cars" propelled along long tubes by compressed air. — io9.com
People from plumbers to astronauts, thanks for the ride — thelastshuttle.com
UltimateCubicle: Space Shuttle Discovery Flight Deck 360 View full entry
The sanitation revolution has done more to save lives and improve health than any public health intervention in the past 200 years. But the flush toilet has only reached one-third of the world’s population. Clearly, we need to encourage new ideas and new approaches to accelerate safe and affordable access to sanitation for everyone. — gatesfoundation.org
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the launch of a strategy to help bring safe, clean sanitation services to millions of poor people in the developing world. The foundation also announced $42 million in new sanitation grants that aim to spur innovations in the capture and storage... View full entry
The world’s largest data center sits in Gothic revival splendor just a couple of miles south of Chicago’s downtown Loop in a former R. R. Donnelly printing plant. I happened to walk past the center a year ago and was impressed by the scale of the building and the serenity of the setting... — blogs.forbes.com
[Via Mozy] View full entry
The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), in collaboration with Brooklyn-based fabrication house FLATCUT_ have announced winners of this year’s ACADIA 2011 Design + Fabrication Competition. — bustler.net
An incredible crop of solar-powered "Supertrees" is rising at Singapore's Gardens By The Bay, a 101-acre garden site that will support 226,000 plants and flowers from all over the world. Designed by Grant Associates, the gardens' 18 Supertrees will serve as towering vertical gardens that collect rainwater, generate solar power and act as venting ducts for the conservatories. — Inhabitat
LA architecture office INABA and NYC graphic designers MTWTF have shared with us their design for the information center for Little Tokyo Design Week: Future City. The festival, which opens this Thursday, July 14, celebrates the intersection of Japanese design and technology with experimental... View full entry
Lian Chikako Chang thinks that "It's worth it for the image of the jumping Ai Weiwei alone!" and must really mean it since she posted twice. However, jcr considers the image from the zine's front "cover is the epitome of bad taste. You are disgusting."
We're excited to announce the release of the first issue in the Archinect Zine! This is a collaboration between Archinect and our friend Christian Chaudhari's publishing initiative Friction House and features "The most absurd bits of Chinese culture, art news and dissident activism directly... View full entry
NASA's last shuttle is on its way to the International Space Station. We look back at 30 years of technological history and ask if a powerful American dream has also come to an end. — kcrw.com
Thom Mayne contributed to a discussion on the future of NASA and space exploration that included space solar power, and retirement homes on the moon. View full entry
We loved the futuristic lobby, which is decked in purple neon and stainless steel, and has a robot that stores luggage. It feels more like the inside of a video game than another overstuffed hotel entrance. — businessinsider.com
Architects: Acconci Studio, Asymptote, Cleater Studio, Kol/Mac, Metaxy, Leeser
Architecture, Studio Daniel Libeskind, SHoP, and SITE
— Architecture Omi
Opening Saturday JULY 9 2011 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM The Fields Sculpture Park at OMI :1405 County Route 22 Ghent, New York 12075. Bring your smart phone for an evening of architecture in the landscape. By pointing your iPhone or Android at the sky, you will see virtual pieces of... View full entry
When I first came to Japan a quarter decade ago, toilets were in unheated spaces, and it was sometimes a shock to sit. About 20 years ago, leaders in the industry came up with a nifty solution: a small heater in the seat. Over time, more and more features were added: massaging and bidet features are common, newer ones have a little air fan for deodorizing,... play music, and light the inside of the bowl. Somewhere along the line, the original reason for the heater itself became less important — The Berkeley Blog
