Oscar Niemeyer - Images of the architect's works

ANTONIO SCORZA/AFP/Getty Images - Slide show

Published: 20071225
"The corbusian influence is evident in the early works of Oscar Niemeyer. However, the architect gradually acguired his own style: the lightness of the curved forms created spaces that transformed the architectural scheme into something that was hitherto unknown; harmony, grace and elegance are the adjectives that are most appropriate to describe the work of Oscar Niemeyer. The adaptations produced by the architect to connect the baroque vocabulary with modernist architecture made possible formal experiences in spectacular volumes, executed by famous mathematicians including the Brazilian Joaquim Cardoso and the Italian Pier Luigi Nervi." Read more...

French creative studio Trafik - Art of Code

Graphic Design

Damien Gautier,

Pierre Rodière, Julien Sappa, Lionel Michée

Multimedia Development

Joël Rodière

Combining the arts of design and coding, French creative studio Trafik designs dynamic visual art and interactive environments then builds the custom applications necessary to realize them. In creating exhibitions, scenography, and other multimedia projects for institutional, cultural and industrial clients, Trafik’s five graphic artists and one programmer push their Macs to the limit, using special applications created in Xcode in combination with other creative applications as primary design tools. Although their work runs the spectrum from classic graphic design to new media, they have received special attention for their signature interactive work. For their Sonic Cube, a large illuminated canvas box shown recently at the contemporary art center, La Ferme du Buisson in Paris, they developed an interactive application that reacts to sound. In this and other projects, Trafik’s designers and coders have uniquely established themselves as “artists of programming.”

Illustration: Early 50s Disney Christmas Cards

Animator Clair Weeks has had a hand in creating some of Walt Disney Studio's most memorable animated features, including Snow White (1931), Bambi (1942), Cinderella (1950), and Peter Pan (1953). A missionary's son, Weeks was born and raised in India and did not come to the U.S. until his late teens. He joined Disney in 1936 as an assistant animator, remaining there until WWII when he left to serve in the military. He came back to Disney in 1946 and remained there another decade. In 1956, Weeks became an animation ambassador and returned to India to help develop its animation industry. He remained in Asia, traveling to Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Malaysia over a 16-year period.

• Born: in India
• Died: Aug 26, 1996 in Los Angeles, California
• Active: '50s
• Major Genres: Children's/Family, Fantasy
• Career Highlights: Peter Pan
• First Major Screen Credit: Peter Pan (1953)

Italy - CINEMA UNDER FASCISM

"When the Italian government moved to block Hollywood's near monopoly of film distribution within the Italian market, the Hollywood "Big Four" (20th Century Fox, Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros.) withdrew from the Italian market in protest. No longer forced to face overwhelming American economic pressure, the Italian film industry eventually rebounded, filling the void of Hollywood products with nationally produced films."
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Ars Subterranea: The Society for Creative Preservation

"Ars Subterranea is comprised of artists, historians, and urban explorers working to create an intersection between art and architectural relics in the New York City area.

Our aim is to instigate unique perceptions of New York's history by constructing narratives around the city's forgotten relics. Ars Subterranea encourages its audiences to interact with the city's neglected and ruinous locations by recreating obscure but fascinating aspects of its urban development. Our projects include art installations, history-based scavenger hunts, unusual preservation campaigns, and much more."

William McDonough - The Next Industrial Revolution

“I believe we can accomplish great and profitable things within a new conceptual framework—one that values our legacy, honors diversity, and feeds ecosystems and societies . . . It is time for designs that are creative, abundant, prosperous, and intelligent from the start.”

William McDonough is a world-renowned architect and designer and winner of three U.S. presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004); and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). Time magazine recognized him as a "Hero for the Planet" in 1999, stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that—in demonstrable and practical ways—is changing the design of the world."
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While some environmental observers predict scenarios in which a rapidly increasing human population is forced to compete for ever scarcer natural resources, Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart see an exciting and hopeful future. In their vision, humanity takes nature itself as our guide, reinventing technical enterprises to be as safe and ever-renewing as natural processes. It's part of what architect McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart call The Next Industrial Revolution.

Marketing Mentor - Ilise Benun

She is the author of "Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive" (Career Press 2006), "Self-Promotion Online" and "Designing Web Sites for Every Audience" (HOW Design Books), and "The Art of Self Promotion" (Marketing Mentor Press). She is also co-author of "Public Relations for Dummies, 2nd Edition" (Wiley, 2006).
Her work has been featured in national publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, The Journal News, The Denver Post, Inc. Magazine, Nation's Business, Self, Essence, Crains New York Business, IQ (a Cisco Systems magazine) and Working Woman, plus all the major design publications, including HOW, Dynamic Graphics and more.

About Marketing Mentor
The mission of Marketing Mentor is to teach the "creatively self-employed" how to run the business side of their business. Through both one-on-one coaching and group mentoring programs, Marketing Mentor provides accountability, feedback and hand-holding (when necessary).

Marketing Mentor was founded in 2004 by Ilise Benun and Peleg Top and since then has helped hundreds of designers build and grow their businesses.

Alex Freund and Lisa Mosko publish Gravure

The onslaught of pretty (and not-so-pretty) images leaping from magazine covers and newstands around the world can have a dizzying effect. New York-based husband-and-wife team Alex Freund and Lisa Mosko, however, publish Gravure with their own funds and ambitious business philosophy. This struck us as a courageous move in a marketplace where the bottom line and collusion (to ensure a rosy bottom line) are the name of the game. We sought out the entrepreneurial duo to discuss the genesis, advertising strategy, and future of its bi-annual magazine.

JC Report is a bimonthly email magazine providing an insider's view on fashion trends emerging around the world.

The Moment

The Moment is a daily blog that spans the T Magazine universe of fashion, design, food and travel..

Vedic architecture – the power of life-giving principles

"People who have subtle perceptions of these sorts of things have very clear experiences when they come into these houses of a certain kind of coherence," says Lipman. "Using the laws of nature … we can create predicted influences on the lives of the people who live in and use our buildings. And this is real, and it is measurable, and this is palpable and once you’ve tasted it yourself, if you have enough compassion you want everyone in the world to have it."

As far as advice to people who are interested in applying Vedic principles to their current environments, Lipman recommends three things: 1) acknowledge that the environments we spend time in have a very real influence on us and be aware of that. 2) Gather information about what will be most beneficial, and act on the information. "If you’re going to spend 90% of your time in buildings, which we do, be sure it's an East or North facing building. And if you live in a house and it's not east or north facing, see what you can do to close up the south or west doors and use east or north doors. Sleep with your head to the east or the south. Do these two things and don't take my word for it, see what your experience is."

Read the article...

http://www.vastu-design.com/

For more information vedicarchitecture.org; for more information about the Marharishi Vastu programs maharishi-india.org/programmes/p4sthap.htmlFor info on the Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, incorporated on July 21, 2001, as a model of ideal city life see maharishivediccity.net

12 days - a Year of Design

This is the story of 12 leading artists each tasked with creating a piece of calendar art in their own unique style. Meet the artists, explore their work, and watch them create digital magic. For the next 12 days, a new work by one of the artists will be revealed highlighting the process and experience of its creation.

A Copy Is Art. So What's the Original?

“Since the late 1970s,” writes Randy Kennedy, “when Richard Prince became known as a pioneer of appropriation art — photographing other photographs, usually from magazine ads, then enlarging and exhibiting them in galleries — the question has always hovered just outside the frames: ‘What do the photographers who took the original pictures think of these pictures of their pictures, apotheosized into art but without their names anywhere in sight?’”
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Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times

Published: 20071205
Images from the works of Richard Prince and Jim Krantz.

WE ADD UP

"In case you’re looking for a great gift idea for the holidays or maybe a unique fundraising idea for your school or group the “WE ADD UP” T-shirts from the folks at “I’m Organic” just may be what you’re looking for. The whole idea is to help people realize that while no one person can do everything, it is certainly possible for everyone to do something to help slow climate change. And do something we must, because ultimately “WE ADD UP”.

Essentially, you order a shirt with your choice of one of 24 possible actions that people can take to help make a difference. Then, your number in the list of shirts sold to people committing to take at least one step in the right direction is added to the front of the shirt along with the action you’ve chosen to commit to on the back.

I’ve heard there are schools and church groups selling them successfully to raise a buck in the process and I bet there are more folks out there who might like one in your area too…

I say give ‘em a look!"

@radical.media

"We believe that the future belongs to those who can connect with an audience in lots of different ways. Which is why @radical.media has evolved into a multi-disciplinary integrated media company.
Perhaps best known for commercial production, our vision for the company has always encompassed much more. We were convinced from day one that we were uniquely equipped to offer a range of programming and design capabilities."

Jon Kamen, chairman and chief executive officer @radical.media, a multi-disciplinary producer of television programs, feature films, branded content and theater.

Among @radical.media's many productions are the Academy Award winning documentary Fog of War, the Grammy success Concert for George, and sponsored entertainment productions for Ford, American Express, and Nike. Mr. Kamen spearheaded @radical.media's involvement in the strategic planning, creative development, and production of the non-for-profit television, print, and online efforts for the ONE Campaign, U2 front man Bono's campaign against the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty.

Project {M}

In 2000, I had the extreme good fortune to hear architect Samuel Mockbee lecture. Samuel co-founded The Rural Studio for architecture in Alabama and won the MacArthur Prize for his work, inspiring young architects to design and build homes and community buildings in Hale County Alabama. As I sat watching Samuel’s presentation, I thought “why isn’t there anything like this for graphic design?"
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