WEEK 3 - DAY 2 - MY DIARY
1. SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY
Vinicius de Moraes: A casa (sorry, I disliked the video proposed and changed it. The sound wasn't this good. It's from Vinicius de Moraes with Renato Contente. And what about this one, Vinicious and Toquinho talking and singing about it? I love Vinicius, a great poet of the Portuguese language. I listen to his songs often.
The house
It was a very funny house
It had no roof, it had nothing
No one could get inside
Because the house had no floor
Nobody could sleep on the net
Because the house had wall
Nobody could pee
Because there was not potty/jerry
But it was done with great care
On the street of fools, number zero
Now, there's a difference between house and home. House describes a type of building. Home is the place where you live and feel that you belong to. What do you think it's better title for this song? Now, the interesting thing about this song is that the house that inspired Vinicious is real. Vinicious wrote this in the 80’s. The house is in Uruguai – it’s called Casapueblo. It’s on a cliff, by the sea, and looks like a castle. Artist Carlos Vilaró started the building in 1958. He made the house brick by brick and it took thirty years to build it. Vinicius de Moraes visited the Casapueblo several times but all he saw was a house in permanent construction. He sang the song for the first time in that house and dedicated to the owner’s daughters. Today the house is a beautiful hotel and each room has the name of an artist.
2. PLACES TO KNOW
Roquebrune-Cap Martin - Un voyage avec Le Corbusier Youtube video made by a venezuelan architect who visited the place.
Le cabanon de vacances or "machine à habiter" (Riviera):"I have a castle on the Riviera who is 3.66 meters by 3.66 meters. I did it for my wife and is an extravagant place of comfort and kindness. It is located in Roquebrune, on a path that reaches almost to the sea. A tiny door, a tiny ladder and access to a cabin embedded below the vineyards. Only the site is great, a superb bay with steep cliffs ". "Built entirely of wood. It was designed based on the "Modulor", a system of measures directly related to the human scale, invented by Le Corbusier. It is considered a simplification of his thoughts and views on architecture, because the "Cabanon" has been a bright year modulation in a micro space, is a cell that sums up the idea machine for living.
He considered the objects of daily life - a chair, a cabinet, a bottle - as "tools," elements whose form and function could be rationally resolved and then standardized. His own metal furniture, designed in collaboration with Pierre Jeanneret and Charlotte Perriand, was based on strict conceptions of utility and typology that nevertheless resulted in pieces that were among the most elegant and luxurious creations of modern design. While Le Corbusier's reputation was based on his rhetoric of functionalist utility, standardization, and the machine, his rational approach was modulated by human experience and had a poetic and complex relationship to the built and furnished environment.
Take a closer look at the Cabanon
A short video on the Cabanon
3. PEOPLE TO DISCOVER
Le Corbusier - Modernist visionary, Controversial Genius
A site on Corbusier
Charlotte Perriand - The designer primarily responsible for Le Corbusier’s furniture was Charlotte Perriand.
Corb your enthusiasm - an article on Perriand
Wiliam S. Burroughs - a daring writer of psychedelic literary experiments, an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, painter, and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author.
David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch - have you seen this movie?
4. QUESTION OF THE DAY
5. INSPIRATION
Because design always comes from the intersection between space and time. Dealing with space is the easy bit. Dealing with time is slightly trickier.
Several artist notebooks
site
Le Corbusier's carnets de voyage
The 3rd Mind, the book Burroughs wrote with Brion Gysin.The cut-up method, invented by Gysin, a painter, and most famously utilized by Burroughs in his many books is discussed in detail here. The cut-up technique is an aleatory literary technique in which a text is cut-up and rearranged to create a new text.
“The home should be the treasure chest of living”.
Le Corbusier
A
wardrobe designed by
Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier. It is made of wood, metal and plastic.
“The diary should be a treasure chest of the mind”.
Lots od sketchbooks on Pinterest - link added by fellow student Sol Favre Vila
(Castelar)
6. HANDS ON
There is not an objective way to decide that something is good or not. It all depends of your chosen parameters.The exercise is to analyze different notebooks, clarifying in your mind your own parameters of selection.
1. Search for (and compare) existing notebooks used by different people. The kind of reference you can find surfing the web. A lot of good designers, architects, artists, musicians kept notebooks and diaries...Think about the relationship between the notebooks you will find, the type of “notes” they contain and the person who kept them.
Nick Cave, Albert Einstein, Fridha Kahlo, Marilyn Monroe and more, here
Hemingway, Picasso, Potter and more, here
Travel journals by different persons on Pinterest.
Fantastic travel journal about Lisbon - Mary Ann Moss is from L.A. She says: "I usually carry my camera, books, journals and an inky pen." I am choosing her diary as my favorite because I love travel and because she changed a book into a marvellous object.
2. Choose an image of a notebook you like very much. Why did you choose it? What makes it special to you? What are the parameters you are working on?
3. Then, go to a stationery shop (or more than one if you have time). The one around the corner or the one at the shopping mall. Check out various notebooks on sale. Which one could suit you best? Why? What are your parameters of selection?
Today I will not go to the stores because I did that two weeks ago. I did not went to the stores with that purpose but while I was waiting I saw the notebooks so I gave it a pretty close look. This was motivated already by Design 101 course. I did not buy any. In fact I have plenty and I will show it to you. My friends gave it to me. They know I keep writting and drawing, that's why they are usual Christmas and Birthday gifts! Usually I buy simple and cheap notebooks that I use as diary/planner/sketchbook/archive. As I told you it's a messy pile of sheets and words and papers. I don't look at it as something to keep and treasure. It's garbage and someday it will be recycled. Take a look at some of it here.
Here's what I learned on the store. To buy a notebook can be tricky. There are lots of different types of notebooks! They can have different kinds of cover, different sizes or different quality paper. So, what's the best out here? I guess that the ideal sketchook must be the one that will work best to your needs. We must know that before we buy one.
The binding. I like a sketchbook that lays flat on the table.
The cover. I like a sketchbook that has a cover that can protect the sheets from damage and also that allow me to draw at any surface even a rough one.
The paper inside. I could not check all notebooks. They were sealed. There are sheets of paper that are only good to use with pencil or stingy ball point pens. If the paper isn't absorbent enough it will result in bleeding and feathering with fountain pens. Some paper will not accept ink well and it will show on the opposite side of the page. So paper weight/thickness is important if you want to use both sides of your sheet of paper. Here's something I know: if I want to do watercolor I must use a stronger paper. So with sketchbook is just the same. It's also important that the paper is smooth but not glossy and that it does not take long to dry. I guess the sheets must be yellowish in most of them, the ones I saw on the store were. I liked the hue.
Portability. You may want a sketchbook you can carry in your pocket or small purse. But I can't make anything in small format. So A4 is too big, less than A6 is too small.
The round edges - it's better if you plan to carry it in the bag
Price! Outch! Some of it can be expensive!
What's in the market? We have lots of products. National and imported.
These are maybe the most famous Portuguese notebooks, one is from Papelaria Emílio Braga, the other from Firmo.
Portuguese writer Lídia Jorge speeks about the Portuguese Caderno (Notebook). This notebook has been manufactured since 1918 by Papelaria Emílio Braga. She says it's an object of cult, something to use next to the iPad. It's good for taking notes, to glue photos, flowers, anything. It's an object to write down the memory of our lifes. It's available in Angola, Italy and New York.
This is another Portuguese product. The Caderno Azul has been manufactured since 1951.The brand is Firmo.
International brands - these I did not find at the local store. I have to say that I live in a small town where there is not much choice. It's enough for me, for course!
When looking for a notebook Moleskine is the first brand that comes to mind. These journals are legendary. I like the texture of the oil cloth cover and the curved corners of Moleskine. But there are other brands.
- Fiorentina's leather journals and sketchbooks are quite exceptional. They are Italian design and made with high-quality materials. They are functional and also beautiful.
- The Ciak journal has nice touch and feel and it will please anyone who wants to sketch and note taking in it. It's acid-free materials and has a modern design.
- Rhodia have bright orange covers. Rhodia notebooks are available in classic black, too. You can use Rhodia with wet pens such as fountain pens and rollerballs.
- The Cartesio leather journal was named from the latinized form of the name of Rene Descartes the "Father of Modern Philosophy". With thick leather covers and creamy paper they are quite beautiful.
- Leuchtturm - ...
And what about handmade journals?
I liked these handmade journals.
Here. Plot out your route across America on the cover of this quirky diary.
I also liked this one! I have a passion for travelling. I would like to make one for me. This is Coptic biding. I don't know how to do it. But until the end of the week I might discover! They are made by Araya.
4. Take a picture of your favourite notebook. Tip: have the notebook + lean background. Nothing else. Upload your two images to the homework section in today’s unit with a short caption.
This one is ok for me. It has a good size, hard cover, I can open it flat. The rounded edges are missing but I like the fabric cover so much, the color blue and the label, the tradition! But I still need to write and sketch on it to have an opinion on the paper.
One last reading or two!
I enjoyed this reading I found on Masukomi - It's called The entrepreneu's notebook
“Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.” - Francis Bacon, Sr.
First, you need to get a notebook; a real, paper notebook. Lots of you will think "But I love [insert favorite note-taking app here]." Trust me, you want a physical notebook. A physical notebook always exists. It doesn't disappear when you quit it. It doesn't need to be launched. It doesn't get low batteries, or need to be woken up, and you won't be able to forget about it when you're constantly carrying it around. It sits there, on the edge of your vision, silently encouraging you to write in it.
It's easy to ignore, or forget about something you wrote down in an app, especially when it isn't visible at the moment, but, your notebook is right there, and as you flip through it, looking for the next blank page, you are reminded of all the other ideas you've written down in it, and connections begin to form that wouldn't otherwise.
(See? He says don't mix the list of groceries with the rest! He also says keep just one notebook at all time. I agree! And he says a lot more interesting stuff, like you should doodle in it so it will not scare you!! And he also presents a another brand of notebooks - it's Midori. Very nice.)
And there's a site full of notebooks and stories!
And what about a notebook for rainy weather? Outdoor waterproof notebooks!
And 10 famous authors on the importance of keeping a notebook!
“As soon as I get an idea, I write a short story, or I start a novel, or I do a poem. So I have no need for a notebook. I do keep files of ideas and stories that didn’t quite work a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago. I come back to them later and I look through the titles. It’s like a father bird coming with a worm. You look down at all these hungry little beaks — all these stories waiting to be finished — and you say to them, Which of you needs to be fed? Which of you needs to be finished today? And the story that yells the loudest, the idea that stands up and opens its mouth, is the one that gets fed. And I pull it out of the file and finish it within a few hours.”
Ray Bradbury
Diário gráfico - em Português
Urban Sketchers - em Português
