Tag Archives: Architecture

Spatial Representation of Number

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Graham Shawcross

Francis Galton “…this peculiarity is found so far as my observations have extended, in about 1 out of every 30 adult males or 15 females. It consists in the sudden and automatic appearance of a vivid and invariable “Form” in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Brain Physiology, Embodiment, Enumeration | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Five Finger Exercises

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Graham Shawcross

Written and spoken numbers are represented differently. In English numbers are usually written with Arabic numerals or as a transliteration of the spoken version, for example 342 or three hundred and forty two. Rod counting provides a written representation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Brain Physiology, Enumeration | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chocolate Fireguards

Posted on January 13, 2014 by Graham Shawcross

A very short post on Chocolate Fireguards, which as the name suggests are objects which subvert their own function. The first example is a real fireguard, though not one actually made of chocolate. It is an example of an object … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetics, Architecture, Brain Physiology, Design, Design Methods, Logic, Objects | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Subitising

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Graham Shawcross

The school report of Emily, our 4 year old grandchild, said that she could subitise up to the number 6, and I had no idea what this meant. Subitising is a technical term that comes from the Latin root subito … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetics, Architecture, Brain Physiology, Design, Design Methods, Enumeration, Geometry, Randomness | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

House Design

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the design of British Local Authority 2 and 3 story house types became so severely constrained that it became feasible to think about generating all possible house type designs. Three different groups became involved … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Design, Design Methods, Enumeration, Housing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Embodied Materiality

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

This is another list, probably even a listicle, of objects with eccentric properties. In this case objects that are, or were originally, named for the materials they are made of. Richard Wentworth was the curator of the highly influencial 1999 … Continue reading →

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Haptic Interfaces: Extending Object Capabilities

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

Whilst looking for more up-to-date scanning devices I came across this nice haptic interface that extends the capabilities of everyday objects. It comes from the Fluid Interfaces Group of the MIT Media Lab and uses my favourite definition of a … Continue reading →

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Smartgeometry 2013

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

The tenth annual smartgeometry event has just finished in London, and was held at the Bartlett School of Architecture. Previous years’ events have been held at Troy, Copenhagen, Barcelona, New York and San Francisco with institutions bidding for the privilege of hosting … Continue reading →

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Woodland and Silver

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

The co-inventor of the bar code N. J0seph Woodland died recently; his other co-inventor, Bernard Silver, having already died in 1963 aged just 38. They had been inspired by Silver overhearing the president of a food chain pleading with one … Continue reading →

Posted in Aesthetics, Architecture, Classification, Enumeration, Graphics Technology, Rhythm | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Visual Pangrams

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Graham Shawcross

How Space Begins: Georges Perec This is an extract from The Page the first essay in Georges Perec’s Species of Spaces and Other Pieces, Perec (1974, 1997).  “This is how space begins, with words only, signs traced on the blank page. To describe space: … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Brain Physiology, Enumeration, Graphics Technology, Visual Pangrams | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments