Number 9: Cecil Balmond

Number 9 - The Search for the Sigma Code by Cecil Balmond was purchased simply to delve into a great designer's fascination with numbers. Engineering (aeronautical) was my first path upon graduating high school before I decided architecture would be more interesting but I have always been fascinated by the science between good engineering for far more reasons than pure logic. I always felt there was a certain mysticism in numbers, a religious transcendence of belief that values of certain variables, when combined, could form something almost entirely different. What made me a geek in school remains interesting to this day (although I hate excel spreadsheets for various reasons, least of them math related).

It is this magic of numbers that Cecil speaks of profoundly yet almost concealing the punchline of a cosmic joke. Number 9 uses the parable of a character named Enjil as a vehicle for simplifying the complex path of numerical interactions and attempting to recognize and disseminate the many natural patterns of mathematical calculations were are exposed to each day. It is recognizing these patterns that is fascinating. In reconstructing them we are able to realize an inter connectivity that requires a certain ability to believe. I hesitate to use the word religious again, but at times there is a suspension of disbelief required as the reader begins down the path towards understanding.

The book is simple, almost cute in design. Storytelling weaved into basic proofs illustrated with various diagrams showing the connections and beauty of the relationships of numbers allows one to feel the main character's torn indecision at achieving success by exemplifying what his "teachers" wish him to be or by expressing what he naturally is, someone who understands that it takes the simplicity of a childlike mind to unlock the secrets of the universe.

I fantasize that this book will reach the hands of a young student who is just beginning their exposure to higher math lessons and who is able to live out the wonder that is youthful exploration of the sciences. Where would I have been if I had learned that math was a toy to be played with instead of a series of proofs and equations to memorize and recite?

Well, this blog would be a whole lot different.

Roadtrip (8)! - Cranbrook Fall Lecture Series

Cranbrook Academy of Art has posted their Fall Lecture series including the Artology Series (a fusion of art and science), Animal Logic (Richard Barnes installation), Saarinen House Tours (may through october).

You can peruse all this information at the link above. The Academy of Art Fall Edition Lecture Series is listed below.

Reflecting the current variety of contemporary creative practice, the [FALL] Edition Lecture Series presents a series of evenings with all forms of innovative inquiry. A part of the academic program at Cranbrook Academy of Art, the lectures are open to the public – inviting the community to share in the ideas and discussions of the Academy.

All lectures begin at 6:00 pm in the Cranbrook Institute of Science Auditorium and are free, unless otherwise noted. Please park in the public parking deck.

Tuesday, October 6
Michael Rotondi
Architect
“No-D”
Sponsored by the Architecture Department

Michael Rotondi is the principal at RoTo Architects. He is internationally recognized as an innovative architect/educator and has practiced and taught architecture for 30 years. His projects range from educational to institutional, cultural, commercial, entertainment, residential and religious. Mr. Rotondi’s work as a transdisciplinary educator–practitioner has given him the skills, knowledge and insights that are essential to an open-minded approach to solving complex problems innovatively and working with a diversity of people and organizations.

Tuesday, October 13
Kate Bonansinga
Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso “Making it Relevant: The University Art Museum in the 21st Century” Co-sponsored by the Critical Studies Program, Ceramics, Metalsmithing, Fiber and PhotographyDepartments.

Kate Bonansinga is the Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her interest lies in contemporary art that resides at the intersection of materials-oriented fine craft and concept-driven fine art. She serves on the editorial advisory board for Art Lies: A Contemporary Art Quarterly, Houston, TX and as a national art peer for the Office of the Chief Architect of the United States. She is guest curator for Staged Stories: Renwick Craft Invitational 2009 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Thursday, October 13: 8pm - updated!
David Taylor
Photographer and Associate Professor, New Mexico State University
“Working the Line: Photographs of the U.S./Mexico Border”
Sponsored by the Photography Department.

David Taylor is an Associate Professor at New Mexico State University, where he teaches photography. His photo constructions, multimedia installations, and artist’s books have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions at around the United States. His work is in a number of permanent collections, including Columbia College Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia; University of Washington, Seattle; El Paso Museum of Art; and Fidelity Investments, Boston. Taylor’s documentation of the U.S./Mexico border has been done with the support of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Tuesday, October 27
Lane Relyea
Cranbrook 2009 Visiting Critical Studies Fellow and Associate Professor, Northwestern University
“From Spectacular Commodities to Bricolaged Objects” Part of the fellowship series, “D.I.Y. Culture Industry: Signifying Practices, Social Networks and Other Instrumentalizations of Everyday Art”.

Lane Relyea is the Fall 2009 Visiting Critical Studies Fellow at Cranbrook Academy of Art. An Associate Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University, Professor Relyea has written for such magazines as Art Journal, Art in America, Artforum, Frieze and Parkett and has published monographs on contemporary artists. He is the former director of the Core Program at the Glassell School of Art in Houston and his book D.I.Y. Culture Industry is forthcoming from MIT Press.

Roadtrip (7)! - University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning

The UB School of Architecture and Planning already had some good lectures (I keep forgetting about this school for some reason, must be a mental block thing) but I am excited about Dan Rockhill and SANAA and think Xu Bing would be very interesting.

Here is the schedule including some items that we have already missed, just to rub it in that they have a lecture series too:

Oh, and they also have selected past lectures online for you to be viewing (Quicktime) online. Yay!

Fall 2009

Lectures

All Lectures begin at 5:30 pm in Crosby 301 unless otherwise noted.

• 09.09.09 Molo

  Stephanie Forsythe and Todd McAllen, of Molo, founded the critically-acclaimed, collaborative design and production studio which is based in Vancouver, known for its materials research and explorationof space-making designs.
  

09.11.09 Simon Harel

Simon Harel has written extensively about cities and is currently engaged in research on homelessness. He is a Professor in Literary Studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal.


09.30.09 Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects

Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam are architects working in practice in Atlanta. The designers of several significant award-winning libraries and educational buildings, their work has been widely published and received numerous awards.

10.09.09 Dan Rockhill

Dan Rockhill is an architect and Director of Studio 804 – a program that enables architects and students to design and build houses and public buildings.The Rockhill lecture will be held at 12:30 p.m. in 301 Crosby Hall.


10.13.09 SANAA

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have been working collaboratively under the name SANAA since1995. Their most recent work includes the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion in the UK. This lecture will be held at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery at 6 p.m.

10.28.09 Maryann Thompson

An architect and landscape architect based in Boston, Maryann Thompson has designed a series of significant public buildings as well as notable new landscapes.

11.09.09 Xu Bing

Xu Bing’s artistic practice is an exploration of language. He studied printmaking at of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, where he is currently Vice President. This lecture will take place at the Center for Fine Arts at 6:30 p.m.

11.18.09 Johannes Stiefel, McHale Fellow

Johannes Stiefel is a founder of Stiefel Kramer Architects - a design studio that is based in Vienna and Zurich. He recently won a major design competition for a new public space in Switzerland. He is the 2009-10 McHale Fellow at UB SA&P.

Cleveland Design Competition III - goes live

I have found that holding my breathe doesn't really make things move faster or occur sooner regardless of what idioms you may hear. This is why I am extremely very excited to announce that registration and the official launch of the third Cleveland Design Competition happens(ed) today, October 5th.

The timeline is already in place and as a slight teaser the scope of the project will include the Lakefront Rail Station, a major component of the 3C rail line, the Medical Mart project and Cleveland's foray into the model sustainable city it claims to want to become.

I for one, am extremely excited.

EXTREMELY.

...and I am going to throw down the gauntlet. If you are an architect/designer and claim to give the slightest crap about Cleveland's future but can't be bothered to take the time to even help a team on a competition hoping to elevate not only the image of the city but the discussion of how we can make our place better through experimenting with design, you need to stop telling people that you are a designer who cares about Cleveland. Action or words buckos.

Action or words.

See you at the awards ceremony.

updated image - ed