Sunday, December 15, 2013

Living in a box



WEEK7- DAY7



1. SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY

Living in a box

Woke up this morning
Closed in on all sides 
Nothing doing 
I feel resistance 
As I open my eyes 
Someone's fooling 
I've found a way to break 
Through this cellophane line 
Cause I know what's going on 
In my own mind 

Am I living in a box
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 
Am I living in a cardboard box 
Am I living in a box 

Life goes in circles 
Around and around circulation 
I sometimes wonder 
What's moving underground 
I'm escaping 
I've found a way ... 
I've found a way ... 

2. PLACES TO KNOW


The Big Bag BoxAn open space made of ten themed “boxes”. Ten cute, customized and compact living cubes. We use them when we work up late,
when we have guests and friends coming to visit.
“Russatore” (or “Snorer”) and has 2 soundproof panels.
“Ordinato” (or “Ordered / Tidy) it has different pockets on the inside surfaces.  XL  - is 50 square centimeter larger than all the other boxes.

3. PEOPLE TO DISCOVER

4. QUESTION OF THE DAY


5. INSPIRATION
Furoshik (a very large cotton cloth or towel). 

How do Japanese take a bath?

An early image gallery of BBBA living unit where simplicity it is foremost a design tool. Make it simpler (and the result, it will be better).

Josef Albers said, “Abstraction is real,probably more real than nature.”

Albers foundation site

"Today I have to think about simplicity. How to think “simple”. How to
transform this quality into a design tool to be used for all the things you do. If you start simple, you can’t be wrong. There is always time to make things more complex. Start simple, be simple. In a world where we are overwhelmed by elaborate information, to be simple is one of the few possibilities for survival (and/ 
or escape). In contemporary world there are a lot of “ecological,”
“sustainable,” “green” products and solution. You can buy them, you can use them, you can believe in them. To us, it is not a matter of labels. It is a matter of a certain state of mind. As soon as something is tagged as
“ecological”, it isn’t anymore. It is like butterflies. If you like them so much to collect them, to collect you have to kill them. For us is the same.
The point is not to be sustainable or green. The point is to design intelligent things. To set up the parameters of success and to try to comply as best as we can." From the Course letter

An human habitation - the portable yurt from Central Asia. Watch 25 minute movie Mujaan.

The Bedouin live(d) in the desert. -  Made from goats and camels’ hair, they are strong and durable. And they also keep you warm in the winter. And then, in the summer, their sides can be rolled-up to allow the breeze to come in.

The twosecond tent - very short video

Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties: The Classic Guide to Building Wilderness Shelters written by one of the funders of the Boy Scouts of America. A how-to-construct more than 50 different shelters. 

Archigram’s mobile and modular living pods: “Speculative proposal for a sculpted and mechanised “trailer home” which can exist independently or be plugged into larger structures.” (David Greene)

“I am sorry for the length of my letter, but I had not the time to write a short one.” (Blaise Pascal)


6. HOMEWORK

If you were to think about your life, the places you go and you know. Some of them are complex and elaborate. Some others are extremely simple.
Think to the simple ones. How do they work? How come that most of the times
they are invisible to our eyes? What could you learn from these places?




This is a place I'm quite fond of - the beach. These tents with stripes are typical from this beach where I live - Figueira da Foz. Last summer I read in the local newspaper that this seasonal business is ending. Owners say it does not pay enough because they have to pay a lot of licenses. They also pay for life guards. This is mainly a family business that lasts for 2-3 months in the summer. For many years there was no other way of enjoying a stay at the beach. But now many families prefer to carry their own tents and beach umbrellas to the sand. I have seen people with that two-second Quechua tent also! I found it very cute, of course. But I think it's a shame if these stripped tents go away because 1. they are a part of the beach scene, our collective imaginary 2. if it goes away it will disappear a particular kind of community that is formed each year around the tents with adults and children from all over. After 8 or 15 days sharing that tent neighbourhood it's common to become friends. With beach umbrellas scattered in the beach most of the times there is no socialization among the beach goers. You go, you live. Oh, this got me thinking: when we carry our own beach umbrella are we designing a more simple life?




No comments: