In various lectures I've given over the years, I often slip in recommendations for a few of my favourite business books for architects. What sets these books apart is that none of them are actually about or by architects. That's not to say there aren't some great books that merge business and architecture, but I believe strongly in... Continue Reading →
The genius loci of design
Genius loci The presiding god or spirit of a place Does the spirit of Mihaly Slocombe's design live in the pieces of yellow tracing paper that we fill with floorplans and diagrams? Or in the massing experiments we produce in SketchUp? Or in the presentation models we build from cardboard and balsa? Does it live in... Continue Reading →
Iterate
This is the 14th of twenty-one lessons for design students, gathered from the combined experience of being a student, and teaching students. I will published one lesson each weekday until they're done. 14. Iterate In complete and unashamed contradiction of my last article, I am now about to explain why it's important to iterate your design (to move sideways... Continue Reading →
Learning is a two way street
This is the 12th of twenty-one lessons for design students, gathered from the combined experience of being a student, and teaching students. I will published one lesson each weekday until they're done. 12. Learning is a two way street Masters level design studios involve two 3 hour sessions of contact time per week. Across the 12 weeks of... Continue Reading →
The many disguises of the film trilogy
After recently seeing, and thoroughly enjoying, the third Transformers film, Dark of the Moon, it came to our mind that not all film trilogies are created equal. Some are imagined with great creativity and care, are built to endure. Others cut corners wherever possible, chasing a quick box-office buck at the cost of quality. Here follows... Continue Reading →
SIGGRAPH animated shorts
What is it? A session of internationally-sourced digitally animated short films that screened earlier this evening as part of the 2011 Melbourne International Animation Festival. The festival runs until this coming Sunday at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image. What did we think? Despite suffering from the mixed quality that often ails short film groupings,... Continue Reading →
The Art of Disney
What is it? An exhibition currently showing at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), running until the 26th of April, that celebrates 70-odd years of the art of Disney. It provides a broad overview of the history of the animation company, centred around the showcase of 9 key feature films, from Snow White... Continue Reading →
Pixar
What is it? Pixar is a CGI animated film studio started in 1979 as the Graphics Group, creator of films like Finding Nemo, the Toy Story trilogy and, our personal favourite, The Incredibles. What do we think? Having recently watched the third installment of Toy Story, we remain amazed at and impressed by the consistently exceptional quality of... Continue Reading →