I witnessed the whole construction process of his building "Graduate House of University of Toronto" day to night, day by day from 1999 to 2002. Amazing. Nothing is better than watching the whole building starts from the ground to its climax. It can melt me bit by bit. Want to know how's the feeling from inside out.
Founder of the influential studio Morphosis, and co-founder of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne marries conceptual ideas with form, challenging the way we perceive structure, building and the environment.
Widely regarded as one of the world's most provocative architects, Thom Mayne is only interested in exploring the new, the present and the now. For him, architecture is not a matter of producing a readily imaginable building, but is instead a starting point for a larger discussion. The output of his Santa Monica-based studio, Morphosis, shows the results of the negotiations between concept and reality.
As Mayne describes things, the only constant in his professional career has been people telling him something can't be done. But he and his studio continue to produce astonishing work for clients worldwide, including government offices, hospitals, restaurants, residences and schools. Redefining how buildings work both within themselves and within their environment, Mayne and Morphosis are forging dramatic new landscapes for a startlingly modern world.
"Thom Mayne has never been a shy architect. His designs mix technological bravura with the kind of urban grit that you associate with [LA]'s sprawling freeways and giant billboards. Yet underneath the tough veneer lies a strong current of social optimism."~New York Times
Nov 26, 2009
Nov 24, 2009
TED: Genius, how we ruin it.
Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius.
Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of – running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.
She's a longtime magazine writer, a novelist and short-story writer. Her work has been the basis for the movie, Coyote Ugly, based on her own memoir.
Elizabeth Gilbert faced down a premidlife crisis by doing what we all secretly dream of – running off for a year. Her travels through Italy, India and Indonesia resulted in the megabestselling and deeply beloved memoir Eat, Pray, Love, about her process of finding herself by leaving home.
She's a longtime magazine writer, a novelist and short-story writer. Her work has been the basis for the movie, Coyote Ugly, based on her own memoir.
TED: Schools Kill Creativity
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance.
Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance.
TED: Our Brain: Left Brain (Serial Processor) + Right Brain (Parallel Processor)
吉兒泰勒(Jill Bolte Taylor)因為哥哥被診斷出有精神分裂症，日後決定投入研究 人類腦部科學。吉兒神為一位腦神經學家居然親身經歷過一次腦中風 。1996年吉兒在睡醒的那一刻發現自己的腦部出現了問題。一根 血管在她的左腦破裂，並且在中風後的四個鐘頭內，看著自己的腦功 能徹底退化。這段演講吉兒用生動的演講來講述她整個中風過程。
One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, memory, self-awareness -- shut down one by one.
Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."
"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."
Jill Bolte Taylor
One morning, a blood vessel in Jill Bolte Taylor's brain exploded. As a brain scientist, Jill Bolte Taylor realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, memory, self-awareness -- shut down one by one.
Amazed to find herself alive, Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. She has become a spokesperson for stroke recovery and for the possibility of coming back from brain injury stronger than before. In her case, although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy from her right. From her home base in Indiana, she now travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist."
"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career."
Jill Bolte Taylor
Nov 12, 2009
Nov 11, 2009
Don't try to be original...
"Don't try to be original, just to be good." ~quoted from Paul Rand. Cheers for good health, long life, positive attitude designers.
Nov 9, 2009
【海納百川，有容乃大】
海納百川，有容乃大；壁立千仞，無欲則剛。它山之石，可以攻玉。
Every culture has their strength and weakness. Learn the merits and understand the limits, your world will be bigger and wiser.
Every culture has their strength and weakness. Learn the merits and understand the limits, your world will be bigger and wiser.
