The downside of a new people's car: Unsafe at any price, a Naderesque reference to the possible impact of the new Tata Nano (perhaps the most significant - and widely reported - car launch in history). "Today, the real task is not to create a "people's car" but a "people's transport system".' We're back to Brian Richards again. Perversely, the Nano's undeniably unsvelte and functional appearance might just be its best quality - this is not an object of desire designed to reflect the owner's taste or class. It is aspirational purely for its functional qualities. At a time when the Western motor industry favours the former over the latter (albeit frequently deciding to deliberately confuse the two), perhaps its abandonment of conventional car industry imagery will be the Nano's most important legacy. It's also a nice rejoinder to the industry's rather patronising attitude towards India as a market.

Wargames on a simulated battleship, with the 3/5 scale battleship mock-up melded into the architecture. 'The pier includes scenic elements that convert from Norfolk to Yorktown in a variety of sliding and elevating movements' / 'Doodles, Drafts and Designs, Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian'. Many beautiful things / Ace Jet 170, found type and more (thanks for the link).

Very sorry to miss Mr Manaugh at the Bartlett last night / Dynamic Time-Travel Maps From MySociety and Stamen - combining data sets to work out what it costs to live where travel time is low / sculptures by Etienne Meneau / related to the top paragraph, One Last Journey, a very short documentary about the disposability of modern cars / a set of desk views / Ali Bosworth's images are hugely evocative / ''McCloud'. A forceful sigh, exhaled before conceding that something might just work.'

Labels: linkage

posted by things at 20:13