Underground Graphics

During a recent vacation to D.C., I was admiring the modern simplicity of the Washington Metrorail system.

The system was originally designed in 1966, so the planners were able to avoid nearly a century worth of aggregated mistakes of subway systems in larger and older cities. The system is a simple 5-line system, each with it's own color, heading in and back out of the city-center.

Having been planned after significant development of the city, the stations are located near population centers or attractions, and have names that match those destinations. Because of this, the residents of D.C. refer to locations as being "on the green line" and destinations are "off the blue line at federal triangle". There is an inherent value to property located "on the red line" for instance, indicating a freedom from everyday traffic headaches.


From an end-users standpoint, however, what really sells the system is the simplicity of the map. It is not a true cartographic representation (it is not-to-scale) and only has scant landmarks shown. Looking at the map convinces you of the value of the system, because landmarks that are not near the system are not shown. You are only seeing what's convenient to the system.

The style of the map was a revolutionary concept when Harry Beck, an engineer for the London Underground System, created his "simplified map system" in 1933.

The graphical simplicity of Beck's design would later influence Massimo Vignelli, when he redesigned the New York Subway map in 1972. In reality, these transit routes were a rats-nest of squiggly, criss-crossing lines that followed the contours of the land. On the map, however, the system was a simple system of lines, never deviating beyond a 45-degree snap, and often running side-by-side in harmony.



On our way back from D.C., I decided on a lark to see what a simplified transit map would look like, if overlaid onto the greater Rochester Metro Area. It was an interesting excercise, attempting to serve the greatest population centers, and landmarks, with the fewest amount of lines. I ended up with four lines running through the center city and back out to a village center. One of the benefits of the Metro system was being able to pop-up in the center of an outlying village, like Alexandria. I tried to apply this concept to the Monroe County Map.


Click on the image below to view a pdf of the the map. The second page is a detail view of the city center.


Click Here to download a map of the routes in Google Earth.

Architectural Competitions for Summer 2008

USA Newest to Oldest

Lifecycle Building Challenge 2
Submission Deadline: July 31 2008
LBC2 is a national competition that challenges creative minds to develop lifecycle building strategies to facilitate deconstruction and building material reuse. Student and professional contestants can submit entries in 2 categories: building and innovation. Lifecycle building reduces construction waste and conserves the embodied energy of buildings. Construction waste totals more than 100 million tons per year, and the embodied energy of building materials accounts for 12% or more of the total energy used in a building. Outstanding achievement awards will be given to Best Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Best Residential, and Best School entries.
Link

Round Building Reuse: 360 -Open Ideas Competition
Submission Deadline: August 8, 2008
Downtown Orlando is changing. The citizens of Orlando and Orange County have approved the much needed and highly anticipated 3 Venues projects, Including the Orlando Events Center, The Citrus Bowl expansion and modernization and the Dr. P. Phillips Performing Arts Center (DPPAC). The American Federal Building (The Round Building) occupies the southwest corner of the site of the DPPAC and is scheduled for complete demolition. The aim of Round Building Reuse : 360 is to promote awareness and seek the preservation of Florida's mid-century modern architecture. It is the competition objective to have the competitors develop an innovative reuse of the Round Buildings precast concrete brise soleil on another site or sites. Competition entries will provide valuable creative material to support the preservation effort of Central Florida Modern. Designs and Ideas will be used to create excitement, support, funding and a new purpose to a vestige of Central Florida's Modern heritage.
Link

Socio Design
Submission Deadline: November 21, 2008
Socio Design is a foundation that encourages social change through design-based dialog, a dialog fostered through an international student architecture competition. The competition asks students to question how prisons are used throughout today's world: what are the affects of prison design on employees, occupants and adjacent societies. Students are required to design a philosophy on what imprisonment should be, and express that philosophy architecturally.
Link


International Newest to Oldest:

Kings Cross, London, International Urban Design Competition
Submission Deadline: EOI August 1st 2008
Camden Council and Network Rail are seeking expressions of interest from architects, landscape architects and urban designers for the design of a brand new, urban square at Kings Cross, London. King's Cross Square is destined to become one of the great public places in London. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the Grade 1 listed façade of King's Cross railway station, it will be used daily by thousands of commuters, visitors and residents - a unique addition to the Capital's palette of memorable street scenes. To create this new public plaza, an international two-stage design competition has been launched. This search for a world-class exemplar design is jointly sponsored by Network Rail and the London Borough of Camden - recognising not only the Square's role as a major travel hub but also as a catalyst for wider urban regeneration.
Link

International Competition for the Development Proposals for the Olympic Village as Part of the Planning for Candidate City Madrid 2016
Submission Deadline: August 28, 2008
The object of this tender is the selection of the best architectural proposal for the development of the future Olympic Village. This tender of ideas, announced by the Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo de Madrid, will be developed as an open single-phase competition on a draft level. The winning ideas will be ceded to the EMVS and may be used for the presentation of Madrid's candidature for the Olympic Games 2016. If Madrid succeeds in becoming the venue for the Olympic Games 2016, the EMVS undertakes to entrust the winner with the complete construction of one of the buildings contained in the proposal.
Link

Open international competition for the realisation of Mobile Floating Architecture
Submission Deadline: September 15 2008
Organiser: Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land GmbH. The topic of the competition is the design of a mobile floating house to be used as a holiday house or dwelling house in the Lusatian Lake District. The houses should have a possibly high degree of autarky and mobility. The design should typify the life on the water
Link

Oslo Public Library - Restricted Plan and Design Competition
RFQ Deadline: September 15 2008
HAV Eiendom AS invites teams to submit requests for qualification, for the New Oslo Public library Design Competition in Björvika, Oslo. Competitors will be requested to propose urban design strategies that integrate the library's organization and programmatic requirements with the building immediate context; the overall objective is to establish a unique set of relationships between the Library, the City and the Fjord. This invitation is open to international teams and the competition languages are Scandinavian and English.
Link

Got a competition you want listed?
email me
Next competition update is October 1

Getting Ready for Opening Day

As the Art Director for the Brick Street Market, we have been feverishly preparing for the grand opening on July 4th weekend.

This shop will be located in the town of Delavan, Wisconsin (about 1 -1/2hrs north of Chicago and an hour south of Madison)

It is going to be a sweet little shop, where you can get your fix of the finest cheeses, and some other gourmet foods, from small farms around the region.

Laura Jacobs-Welch is the proprietor and she certainly knows her cheese.

If you're in the area, stop in and tell Laura, "Gary sent ya" and she will set you up with some of the finest selections of fromage you have ever had.

Architectural Competitions for Spring 2008

USA Newest to Oldest

Reinventing Grand Army Plaza
Submission Deadline: April 2008
To catalyze Grand Army Plaza's rebirth, the Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with the Grand Army Plaza Coalition, is launching an international ideas competition, "Reinventing Grand Army Plaza," to generate new visions for every aspect of the plaza's design. Grand Army Plaza is New York City's greatest unrealized asset. Home to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch, the elegant Bailey Fountain, the entrance to Frederick Law Olmsted's greatest park, and a major transit hub, the sum of these parts is today emphatically less than the whole. Currently an underdeveloped public amenity, the redesign of Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza will invigorate surrounding communities, just as the re-conception of Manhattan's High Line set off an explosion of activity in West Chelsea. Top submissions will be exhibited at either the Brooklyn Pubic Library or Brooklyn Museum of Art in the summer of 2008.
Link

Contrabands and Freedmen's Cemetery Memorial
Competition entries due by 5pm April 25, 2008:
This Competition seeks design submissions from architects, landscape architects, artists, students, and other interested individuals to memorialize and honor those who are buried at Contrabands and Freedmen's Cemetery in Alexandria, Virginia. The site was established in 1864 as a burial ground for African Americans who fled slavery, seeking a safe haven in Union-controlled Alexandria during the Civil War. More than 1,800 people were buried there over the five years that the federal government managed the cemetery. While other physical sites that recalled the once-considerable African American presence in Alexandria have been lost, the City of Alexandria acquired the property in 2007 in order to remove the buildings, reclaim the cemetery, and create a memorial.
Link

White House Redux Competition
Registration and submissions deadline: April 20, 2008
What if the White House, the ultimate architectural symbol of political power, were to be designed today? Over two hundred years ago the winning design of an 18th century architecture competition became the residence of the president of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. To mark the election of the 44th president of the US, Storefront for Art and Architecture, in association with Control Group, has opened White House Redux, a challenge to design a new residence for the world's most powerful individual.
Link

New York Designs: Threshold
Submissions by April 16, 2008.
The Architectural League created the New York Designs juried lecture series in 2003 to provide a forum for the presentation of innovative and accomplished work built in New York City. This year's theme, 'threshold,' focuses on projects whose design mediates distinct conditions. A 'threshold' might be understood literally as a transitional space that interfaces public and private; that bridges inside and outside; that connects nature and the city ­ or as a conceptual space of overlap between materials, disciplines, cultures, the client and architect, the past and future. What limits, opportunities, and compromises shape thresholds in the city? What can thresholds tell us about the experience of building in New York City and contemporary design practice? The jury seeks portfolios that situate a project within this liminal space. Submissions should demonstrate how a space of transition and the act of mediation informed the final project.
Link

Trans-Atlantic Newest to Oldest:

Belgium: Interieur 08
Registration: deadline: 15 July 08
Interieur 08 is a biennial competition for creativity in interior design, organised by the Interieur Foundation, located in Kortrijk, Belgium. Centred on three thematic subjects, it focuses on new, functional, creative and contemporary prototypes. All entries will be on display during the 21st Interieur Biennale, where they will be seen by potential manufacturers, professional visitors and the general public.
Link

UK: Lex Walsall
Entries by 30th May 2008
Working with partners Advantage West Midlands, Walsall Council and Walsall Regeneration Company, Urban Splash are working on Phase One of the Waterfront development just near The New Art Gallery - a collection of buildings designed by SMC Alsop and shedkm which are set within a public realm designed by Grant Associates. Urban Splash has now been invited to come up with plans for Phase Two, the Lex site, and are looking for a great architect to work with them to deliver more award winning buildings. It. Aspirations for this site are typically high -they are looking for excitement, flair and imagination to be the defining piece of architecture for Walsall.
Link

Denmark: Toftegard Square South International Design Competition Copenhagen
Registration Deadline 14th May 2008
Toftegards Plads Syd (Toftegard Square South) has remained largely unused for several years. In its current form it far from reflects the fact that it is one of the most important and most distinctive gateways to Copenhagen. The City of Copenhagen has decided to launch a competition to obtain ideas for the creation of a lively, human and vibrant urban space of high architectural quality. Entrants in the competition may also include proposals for new buildings, various types of coverings and other structures in the square. The new square must be part of the ongoing development that will turn the southern part of the Valby district into one of the most interesting areas in Copenhagen.
Link

Italy: New Schools for the City of Cultures Competition, City of Prato, Italy
Dossier to arrive no later than 12 o'clock noon on April 24, 2008.
The competition's goal is to generate two distinct preliminary proposals for the construction of two new nursery schools (each housing six classes) and the organization of the outdoor spaces and the green areas for recreation on the school grounds. The first plot is located in the Galcetello zone, in via Marie Curie, and the other in the Ponzano zone, in viale Montegrappa. See the drawings for further details. The two projects will be constructed out in two functional phases, each made up of three sections, as is further specified in the preliminary document.
Link

Germany: Designer´s Workstation
Closing date: April 22nd
This competition, promoted by the Design Institution is aimed at designing the ideal work station for the designer of the XXI century. Competitors may choose the area of design of their proposal: industrial design, interior design, architectural design, fashion design, etc. The competition is aimed at professional designers and design students.
Link

Trans-Pacific Newest to Oldest:

Japan: 3rd Nitori One-House Total Coordination Competition 2008
Entries by June 30th 2008
Nitori develops products based on the concept of One-House Total Coordination Merchandising (OTCM), in which all the spaces of a house are totally coordinated. In this Competition, Nitori invites the public to propose totally coordinated designs of fabrics, furniture and interior accessories that match the idea of OTCM. This competition aims to commercialize excellent designs and sell them at Nitori stores as well as discover new designers to work with Nitori.
Link

Vietnam: Thu Thiem New Urban Area: Ho Chi Minh City.
Submissions: May 19th, 2008
The Investment & Construction Authority for the Thu Thiem New Urban Area (The Thu Thiem ICA) of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam announces an open, international Design Competition in two stages. The focus of this Competition will be on the "Central Plaza, Crescent Park, and Saigon River Pedestrian Bridge". The Thu Thiem project has an area of 740 hectares and is located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City on the east bank of the Saigon River, opposite the existing historic city center. The Central Plaza will be the largest integrated park and plaza within Ho Chi Minh City; the Crescent Park will be Ho Chi Minh City's great waterfront park and promenade; the Saigon River Pedestrian Bridge will be an impressive architectural symbol and represent the future city.
Link

Got a competition you want listed?
email me
Next competition update is July 1

Charting the Eighties

We've all been subjected to terrible powerpoint presentations,
We've all suffered data fatigue in our share of darkened conference rooms.

My colleague/co-founder at Reelpunk, and I were marveling this very afternoon at how Keynote can make even the most banal data look pretty appealing. All it takes is a little self restraint to keep the data to a minimum. As a test, we took the most abstract subject matter as a test.
We decided to create graphic representations of some of the pop-iest tunes from the eighties.
We resisted applying any fancy transitions, soundtracks, or animations, in order to just focus on what the "data" was telling us.

Click on the image below to dim the lights and begin the presentation.



There were many songs that didn't make the final cut, and we decided to withhold songs from other decades for future posts.

omg - fxfowle gets pwn3d @ lvhrd ;-p

400 hipsters (the kind who would have no trouble understanding that post title) from a variety of design trades, dressed as lumberjacks, watched in stunned silence at the Music Hall of Williamsburg as four architects representing two firms in Pink-Foam Battle Royale.

Here's the teaser for the event:


Here's the resulting model from Konyk:


Here's the resulting model from FXFOWLE:


The online and in-person voting results were as follows:
Konyk. . . . . . . . . 765
FXFOWLE . . . . . . 623

Konyk "Brung It" and "Drank FXFOWLES Milkshake"

Our New Album

Here's is a pre-release of the cover art of our band's new album.




Ok I'm joking. I don't have a sitar band named "Silat Bongsu", and we don't have an album called "Oppression Can Only Survive Through Silence", and I don't even know who this guy is. (although he seems like an interesting bloke)

But, if you ever wondered how artists come up with album covers, here's a good example:

Get the name of your band here.

Get the name of your album here.

And get the album cover art here.

(Edit) Clarification: Every time you click on one of these links you get a random wiki, quote, or photo set. No, I'm not sending you to some obscure wikipedia page.

Trajan at the Movies

A funny movie about what happens when a good typeset goes bad.

Xerox and the Ubiquitous Web 2.0 Logo

Well, it was inevitable.
It was exactly two years ago that Kodak announced changes to it's logo at the CES show.


I'm sure the marketing executives will give you plenty of new speak about "restructuring", and "minimizing footprints", and "synergizing backward overflow", but the fact remains, this is what has come of the old photo-repro business:




Yesterday Xerox announced it's new logo, complete with the shiny reflection and transparency of a freshly licked lollipop. This is, after all, a brave new web 2.0 world, where everything is shiny and glossy, and pushed to your blackberry, or trio (yes and your iPhone, Richy Rich).



The Times has an article about the history of the Xerox Logo.

Is your marketing department feeling a foreboding sense that it's getting harder to keep up with the kids these days?

Does your company look in it's proverbial mirror and count the liver spots?

What you need is a web 2.0 upgrade!

A little glossy logo always helps to stave off the infection of creeping irrelevance.

And it is easier to manage than you might think!

Here is a tutorial, complete with a downloadable plugin, which allows you to "lick" your logo into the 21st century.

Here are some funny mash-ups of old-century logos given a new-century treatment. Designers originally submitted these to the YayHooray forums, and they were salvaged before the website was shut down.


The old Philip Morris Logo


The new and improved Philip Morris logo.

Some others:






Again, these are not real, no calls please.

Building a brand is an arduous and long-term process, and redesigning an identity is usually seen as a last ditch effort on the part of an aging corporation to cling to the walls of Fortune's top (insert number here). Just ask any Detroit automobile manufacturer.

Who knows, maybe these print companies, like the music industry, aren't simply "glossing over" their dismal situation, (ehem) and maybe they are just that genuinely optimistic about their futures.

I for one still like the old Haloid logo

Architectural Competitions for Winter 2008

USA Newest to Oldest

Flip A Strip
Competition submission deadline: March 31, 2008
Launches Jan 5th. An architectural design competition and exhibition at The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art which will challenge architects to dream up ways in which to adapt, re-vamp and/or renovate small-scale strip shopping plazas that seem to be dotting all of our metro & suburban landscapes these days. Open to all architects in the U.S. who have been practicing professionally for at least 5 years.
Link

Temporary Outdoor Gallery Space - Art City Austin 2008
Deadline for Registration is February 22, 2008
Art Alliance Austin in collaboration with the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, AIA-Austin, is launching an ideas competition to design Temporary Outdoor Gallery Spaces (TOGS). Any architecture or interior design professional/student who has completed their education within 10 years of the competition announcement is eligible. Student applicants must be in their final year of architecture/interior design school or enrolled in an architecture/interior design graduate program. A two-person team collaboration is allowed however, one member of the team must meet the above criteria. Limit of one entry per person or team.
Link

Young Architects Forum 2008: Resonance
Competition Deadline February 11, 2008
Young architects and designers are invited to submit work to the Architectural League's annual Young Architects Competition. This year's theme, Resonance, posits that architecture is a profession of ideas. Choice, agenda, and a means both to respond to problems and project solutions are key to professional vitality and progress. But how do architectural ideas resonate beyond professional boundaries? What are the means by which an architect's ideas/acts take effect? The committee calls not for demonstrations of instrumental capacity, but for ideas, implemented or not, that leverage that capacity creatively and proactively in the world.
Link

2008 Steedman Traveling Fellowship Competition
The registration deadline is Jan. 29, 2008.
Granted since 1925, the biennial Steedman Fellowship is open to citizens of all countries with not more than eight years of experience following receipt of a professional degree in architecture. The competition carries a $30,000 first place award to support study and research abroad - the largest such award in the United States.
Link

The 99k House Competition for an Affordable, Sustainable House Prototype
Deadline for submissions is January 14, 2008.
The Rice Design Alliance (RDA) and AIA Houston announce a two-stage national competition to design a sustainable, affordable house that addresses the needs of the low-income family in the Gulf Coast region. The competition objectives are to
* Broaden awareness of green building strategies applicable to affordable housing,
* Generate and publicize buildable examples of sustainable, affordable houses, and
* Construct an exemplary sustainable, affordable house prototype.
The competition challenges designers and architects to design a sustainable, affordable house. Special consideration should be given to affordability, longevity, energy savings benefits, and appropriateness for the hot, humid climate of Houston. The City of Houston has donated a site for the house through the Land Assemblage Redevelopment Authority (LARA) initiative. The lot is located in Houston's historic Fifth Ward, a residential area east of downtown. The competition is a two-stage project to be completed in 2008
Link

International Newest to Oldest

Espoo City Hall Ideas Competition
Competition runs to end March 2008
To commemorate the 550th anniversary of Espoo, an international architecture competition is being held for the renovation of City Hall and an adjoining office complex. The languages of the competition are Finnish and English. The competition area is City Hall and its environs, but the entire adjoining office complex and its border areas will be studied. The results of the competition will be published in the summer of 2008.
Link

International Spatial Design Competition for the Mobility Centre Project in Ferizaj/Urosevac
Competition period ends 17 March 2008
In Ferizaj/Urosevac Municipality, is an urgent need for stimulating economic development and attracting investors/businesses, commercial and industrial activities generating opportunities for employment and above all re-exploiting the railway as a catalyst for economic growth. In the Municipality, the concept of a "Mobility Centre Project" which integrates the railway station and inter-city/international bus terminal was raised and discussed with a view of creating a main transport hub. The Municipality of Ferizaj/Urosevac has proposed an "International Spatial Design Competition" as a means to achieving the Mobility Centre Project. UN-HABITAT Kosovo is co-funding the project and will support the competition throughout the process. The competition is organized with a view to explore pragmatic and sustainable improvement measures to be reflected in the "Urban Charter of Ferizaj/Urosevac City Centre".
Link

New Library and Theatre/Concert Hall in the City of Bodo
Registration Deadline 22nd Feb 2008
Open idea competition for a new library, concert hall and theatre etc. in the centre of Bodø. The total floor area is approx. 11,700 m2. The building volume is approx. 70,000 m3. There are three alternative locations for the arts buildings. The idea competition aims to clarify the location, the main idea for the building form and volumes, and the design of the outside areas.
Link

10th Arquine International Architecture Competition -The bicentennial towers
Registration Period to February 4th, 2008.
Thirty years on from the publication of Delirious New York, Rem Koolhaas's manifesto celebrating congestion culture, at the peak of the high building craze in most of the world, and moving on from post 9-11 panic, Arquine announces its 10th International Competition, proposing the design of two skyscrapers, with 100 floors each, to celebrate the bicentenary of Mexico's independence in 2010. The project consists in setting each tower in two strategic areas of Mexico City: the Azcapotzalco Technology Park and the Xochimilco Ecology Park, establishing a dialectic between content and void; between built object and urban landscape. The competition invites you to embark on the projects with two relevant discourses in mind: ecology and technology, true paradigms of early 21st-century culture.
Link

Architectural competition for the extension of the Kunsthaus Zürich
The application deadline is 1 February 2008
The Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, the Stiftung Zürcher Kunsthaus and the City of Zurich announce an international architectural competition for the Kunsthaus extension. Architects are invited to apply for the pre-qualification round. The project, of signal importance to Zurich's urban planning in this area, will be located between Heimplatz and the old Cantonal School, both immediately adjacient to Zurich's old town. The project is part of Zurich's University District master plan, which aims to create an appealing "education and culture zone". Its starting point, the square known as Heimplatz, will in the process be better defined and upgraded. A public "art garden" forms an additional element of the competition brief; from there, a series of park-like areas will evolve along the edge of the slope below the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich).
Link

Got a competition you want listed?
email me
Next competition update is April 1

Tale Of Two Starchitects

Here's an interesting interview with Daniel Liebskind from the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper. A reporter had 10 minutes to ask the designer of the ROM some pointed questions about the functionality of the building.

A couple of great quotes:

“Money is not a determinant of architecture. If you give a poet more money, the poem he writes wouldn't be any better.”
(where does he get this stuff? -ed.)

"A work of architecture is not like a meal where you can add more salt later. It's all thought out before it's constructed."

"I'd be delighted to design a hot-dog stand. It's urban furniture."

Furniture indeed. We'll all be looking for Liebskind branded hot dog vending machines at the local Target...or maybe it'll be exclusive to Saks.

I don't want to seem like I'm picking on Danny lately, but the recent swath of design commentary is too hard to resist.

On the lighter side, the dubiously titled "Worlds oldest architect" turns 100 years young this week. (He's a spry old guy)
Here's a great interview with Oscar Niemeyer, in which he has some provocative quips about his experience working with Le Corbusier on the United Nations building.
This interview was conducted RIBA International Conference.
He also has some interesting (although somewhat less earth-shattering) thought of how reinforced concrete changed our thoughts on design.

"I'm interested in architecture in that I'm interested in life."

Time Lapse ROM

This time-lapse was taken over a 3 1/2 year period at 1:00PM every day and 10 minutes during the opening.
This is one of the better construction time-lapses I've seen, mostly due to the unique structural lattice.



That crazy Danny....

Ode to Paul Rand

The "iconic" Paul Rand was one of the most prolific and influential graphic designers of the twentieth century. His treatise "Thoughts on Design" changed the way we look at pictorial identity.

Here is an incredible tribute to the art of Paul Rand set in motion:



He passed away in 1996, leaving a huge legacy and enormous body of work. He created trademark identities for some of the largest corporations in America; one's which we take for granted today. He also asked future design students important philosophical questions about the function and mechanics of design.

Here is his headstone:

The Veal-Fattening-Pen

It all started in Denver, Colorado in 1953. A young designer and inventor named Robert Probst setup shop. He was a talented inventor, and had true intentions to simplify and change the way people lived and worked.

He was a professor of fine arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His inventions were varied; from a vertical timber harvester, to jet planes, to a quality control system for concrete.

There is one invention, however, for which he is most famous... or infamous.

Herman Miller called upon him in 1962 to help them design a system of office furniture. Probst wanted to capture the restlessness of the era, as well as allow workers to move freely about the office. The solution that he came up with, which Miller would give surrogate birth to in 1964, was called the "Action Office". This would be the progenitor of the cubicle.

But it started with the best intentions. It had light, sleek, ergonomic lines, adjustable-height workspaces for those who preferred to stand and work, comfortable chairs, and a transparent under-carriage and structure. It was only a few years before all grace and transparency was stripped, and even it's fairest virtue, mobility, was being subjugated. Office managers used the system to save money on construction costs, by renting large open floors and filling them with tightly packed rows of dividers. As an added benefit, the office manager could also use a shortened depreciation for temporary dividers, making a genuine impact on renovation costs to a growing company.

The rules of economy prevailed, and cubicles were seldom changed, or moved, or stylish, or airy. In fact, they became a serviceable way to cram as many middle-managers onto one floor of an office building as they would tolerate, without causing an insurrection. Julie Schlosser, in Fortune Magazine, would call it "The Fidel Castro of office furniture." And, as it turns out, white collar suck-ups had a high tolerance for degradation.

Later in life, Robert Probst regretted his involvement in this dehumanizing debacle, as the origins of his ideas were perverted into what he called "Monolithic Insanity"

So it is with that preamble in place that I give you:
Wired.com's "Saddest Cubicle" contest.

The solution to all of your advertising problems

This is going to put alot of people out of work.

I think the AIGA is looking into it. Hopefully they can shut them down.

Eisenman At A Crit

I haven't posted in a while. But I thought this was significant.

"We're losing him..... he's slowly... slipping.... out of touch"