Author Archives: things magazine

Everything is permitted

Posted on November 12, 2010 by things magazine

Herb Lester is doing sterling work in the recreation of 60s London. As well as their new ‘Wish You Were There‘ guide, a kind of time-traveller’s atlas (‘our guide to London, 1960-66. It includes 130 of the best clubs, shops, … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, collections and archives | 3 Comments

Utopias imagined

Posted on November 9, 2010 by things magazine

Il Girasole, a a rotating house, a film by Marcel Meili and Christoph Schaub / related, the sliding house / a house within a house, an apartment within an apartment / Urine, You’re Out, SLAB magazine on the anti-urinary strategies … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, technology | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Space frames and patina

Posted on November 4, 2010 by things magazine

The Rietveld Collection / photographs by Kyle Scully (some nsfw) / photographs by Steve Fitch, via Old Chum, a tumblr / The Romance and Pain of Penn Station, at (what is this?). A sad demolition / urban computing, Anti-Mega on … Continue reading →

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Come fly the friendly seas

Posted on November 2, 2010 by things magazine

Minimal Details, an ongoing series that fetishises/lauds the simple, unpretentious and functional architectural detail (via Space Invading). A sort of ascetic companion to this / The Pixies have a new website / Madame Saqui at Vauxhall, 1820, at Uncertain Times, … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, ephemera, technology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Crash

Posted on November 1, 2010 by things magazine

The cliched idea that European cars are small, poky deathtraps is gradually subsiding in the American consciousness (although occasionally it pops up in relation to things like the smart car and the new Fiat 500). However, this story from Design, … Continue reading →

Posted in ephemera | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

False landscapes and real memories

Posted on October 26, 2010 by things magazine

Dead lakes and seas have become romantic landscapes of the mind. By this we mean that imagery of these blasted environments are regularly served up as both parables and delights, a warning of impending disaster and a guilty thrill for … Continue reading →

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Random things

Posted on October 22, 2010 by things magazine

Random paragraph of random things today. Jenny Odell’s project The Satellite Collection (via Space Invading) is amazing. An Overpass in Iowa, Repeated is remarkably delicate, a contemporary tracery / the Troll Hunter, a new movie from Norway / Wallpaper handmade, … Continue reading →

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Archaeology of the recent past, revisited

Posted on October 20, 2010 by things magazine

Embedding traces of one technology into another rarely takes obsolescence into account. Back in the early 1980s, a small number of music acts used the then prevalent technology of the time, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, as a conduit for a … Continue reading →

Posted in nostalgia, technology | 3 Comments

Collections and theme parks

Posted on October 19, 2010 by things magazine

The Wellcome Museum has a new exhibition, ‘Things‘. No relation, of course, although things was peripherally involved in the earlier Wellcome show, ‘The Phantom Museum‘, all about Henry Wellcome’s Collection of Medical Mysteries. The introduction to Hildi Hawkins and Danielle … Continue reading →

Posted in collections and archives, things magazine | 1 Comment

Billions and billions

Posted on October 18, 2010 by things magazine

Shrinking the World: How jetliners commercialized air travel—stewardesses and all / see also The Jet Age Compendium, a reprint of [Eduardo] ‘Paolozzi’s works for Ambit… [which] tackle the war in Vietnam, the acceleration of Japanese technology, and the utopias of … Continue reading →

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The golden age of in-flight crockery

Posted on October 15, 2010 by things magazine

My Concorde Thing: ‘It’s not an obsession and it’s not quite a hobby. However, for almost two years, between 2004 and 2006, I checked Ebay nearly every day for Concorde in-flight service items.’ See also Speedbirds, imagery, and perhaps also … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, linkage, technology | 1 Comment

Zig-zags and hidden messages

Posted on October 14, 2010 by things magazine

The upcoming Balfron Project (via Blueprint), ‘a large-scale photographic event to be staged at the Grade II listed building Balfron Tower. Shot on film with a large format still camera, the event will result in a mural sized photograph presenting … Continue reading →

Posted in linkage, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Hand standing

Posted on October 12, 2010 by things magazine

The subjects in Lyle Owerko’s Boombox project don’t look like real things – they have the lightly dusted sheen of props or renders. Pocket calculator show has a good Boombox Museum, with some of the more unusual models, including the … Continue reading →

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Posters, patination and performance

Posted on October 11, 2010 by things magazine

‘ONE SUNNY SATURDAY IN MAY 2003, the majority of citizens in the Czech Republic village of Ponetovice (population approximately three hundred) went shopping at exactly 7 AM and spent ten crowns each on their groceries. They opened their windows at … Continue reading →

Posted in esoterica | 1 Comment

Sound, space, demos

Posted on October 8, 2010 by things magazine

Photographs of University of Glasgow Library under construction, one of the library’s monthly posts from its Special Collections, including such gems as The Curious Case of Mary Toft (1726). ‘Mary Toft’s explanation for her strange births was that, in April … Continue reading →

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Collectomania revisited

Posted on October 6, 2010 by things magazine

A Collection a Day, linked via Grain Edit: ‘San Francisco based artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon has always been fascinated with with collecting, arranging, and organizing her collections. On January 1, 2010, Lisa took it upon herself to photograph, draw, … Continue reading →

Posted in collections and archives, ephemera | 1 Comment

Drowned cities and star guitars

Posted on October 5, 2010 by things magazine

Signature guitars were once the preserve of conventional rock gods, but the inevitable spread of alt culture into the mainstream has created a market for slightly more eccentric instruments, ironically productionised versions of objects that were once customised by their … Continue reading →

Posted in collections and archives, technology | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Runways old and new

Posted on October 4, 2010 by things magazine

Human landscapes in SW Florida, especially Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, ‘originally planned as the Everglades Jetport, and construction started in 1968 on what was to be the world’s largest airport with six runways to support supersonic transport. Being surrounded … Continue reading →

Posted in nostalgia, ruins | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Islands

Posted on September 30, 2010 by things magazine

The latest issue of Cabinet is all about islands. There’s not a lot online (you should really buy the issue; like every Cabinet, it is wonderful), but even the little that is offers tantalising glimpses of histories and connections. Islands … Continue reading →

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Death rays and mazes

Posted on September 28, 2010 by things magazine

Has an unfortunate confluence of angles colluded to produce a Las Vegas death ray? From the article: ‘The tall, sleek, curving Vdara Hotel at CityCenter on the Strip is a thing of beauty. But the south-facing tower is also a … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, linkage | 1 Comment