Hide Your Cars

Above ground, the people live. Below, the cars.

The parking robots are coming.

Over the past decade, automated parking systems have become quite common in Europe and Asia, where land use constraints are tighter and many areas more congested than the US.

Automated parking systems can fit up to 20 cars in the footprint that would traditionally house just four.

The number of automobiles produced worldwide may actually be on the decline, but we still crank out over 50 million cars each year.

Along with the new trend of “bright flight“, American city developers are feeling the capacity crunch, and auto-auto-lots have begun to appear here as well.

Although the first of these facilities — built in Hoboken, NJ in 2006 — was plagued by technical glitches and failures (little things, like dropping an unoccupied Cadillac 6 stories…), the technology has advanced quite a bit since then. Working automated lots are in use in Washington DC and New York City, with more planned for other locations.

The fourth automated lot in the country — and the first in Philadelphia — has just opened below ground at 1706 Rittenhouse Square Street.

Garage entrance

The compact, underground lot was crucial in getting the luxury, single-residence-per-floor tower approved and built. The small space, just off of Rittenhouse Square behind the Curtis Institute, had been a surface parking lot owned by Philly-based Parkway Corporation for the past several decades.

Parkway teamed with Scannapieco Development Corp and asked Cope Linder Architects to come up with a design that would maximize potential of the parcel. The group’s plan was to fit into the historic neighborhood and keep the tower’s footprint relatively small and set-back by incorporating an underground automated garage.

1706 Rittenhouse’s is the most advanced model on the market, designed by German manufacturer Wohr, who have been building automated garages since the 1970s. “It’s run by incredibly sophisticated software,” said Cope Linder partner David Ertz.

Koi pond & garden, instead of a surface lot

As residents of the building swipe a fob past a reader next to the elevator, the garage robot searches out their car, slides its pallet onto a lift, moves over to the entrance and raises the selected car to ground level, facing the street. A rep from Quality Elevator, in charge of maintaining the system, estimated the time it takes the car to arrive at 60 seconds or less. “It’s really just a big elevator,” he said. [6ABC has a video of the process]

The parking lot, like the rest of the tower’s design, is understated. The limestone facade that echos design cues of the older buildings on the small alleyway transitions to concrete on the upper floors, and is so minimal it’s in danger of being boring. But the 360-degree windows on each level and the attractive curbside koi pond and garden make up for it.

And they certainly look better than a gaggle of automobiles, sunning on the surface.

Swiss Cubes

There is something universally pleasing about a cube. The symmetry is easier to grasp and to describe than a sphere’s. Cubic forms are primary building blocks both in physical construction and in the realm of thought.

The cube can be an elucidatory shape, such as in The Emperor’s New Mind, where physicist Roger Penrose falls back on the familiar cube to explain higher dimensions, as does Carl Sagan in Cosmos.

[Viz: if we recognize that a two-dimensional line drawing of a cube really shows us a “shadow” of the actual 3D cube, we can think of the 3D cube as a “shadow” to imagine the 4D version, and so on up the dimensional ladder.]

The cube can also be a form that connotes mystery and intrigue, such as the Bene Gesserit‘s pain box in Dune, or the puzzle box in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser.

Manufacturer Arca-Swiss has a cube that’s a bit of both. A few years ago, the company, which is well-known for ball-head tripod attachments, released the C1 cube [PDF], which “simultaneously achieves mastery of control with an appearance approaching the status of jewelry.”

The elegant C1 is a precision geared tripod head that can hold and position heavy, professional camera rigs, and weighs less than 25% of anything comparable.

Outfitted with bubble levels, the head adjusts on two sets of x-y axes, and allows for tilt and pan, all while keeping the image plane — or lens nodal point — in pretty much the same spot. (Jack Flesher has a great review with more details from a photographer’s perspective.)

The only drawback to this cube is that Arca-Swiss appears a bit snobbish. The company eschews an online presence, having no website and contact emails with addresses like aol.com and swissonline.ch. And, the price tag: yours for only $1,699.

But compared to $5000 for an ugly, large, mechanized auto-adjusting tripod head, the cube seems a better choice. And as Swiss-designed tabletop sculpture goes, it’s probably quite cheap.

[h/t Shao for reminding us this particular cube is on our wishlist]

Pleasing Pedals

This one zipped around the gadget, gear, gizmo and design blogs faster than Lance Armstrong on steroids.

A limited edition of 250 Cannondale OnBikes are now available.

The erstwhile high-end bicycle manufacturer went for clean lines and unorthodox profiles for this $6,150 transportation statement.

From the Cannondale website:

Form meets function: Every millimeter of the onBike has been thoughtfully crafted to create a work of art. Ride it and then hang it on the wall. It’s a masterpiece on the road and the gallery.

Available only in black (matte), the cycle’s drive and gears are whisked out of sight, enclosed in a sleek billet-carved sheath that becomes part of the structural frame and connects the rear wheel.

All of the brake cables are also enclosed, and run down the front wheel on a single side, counter-balancing the chain case.

The casing around the drivetrain should keep out dirt, avert misalignment and provide better performance over time.

Perhaps we could get a bicycle loan for this one?

[h/t @aleiter via Gizmodo]

Spydey Sense

Seen parked on the sidewalk of a small city side street, a red Can-am Spyder Roadster is a head-turner.

In fact, the product website for this 2008 entry into the recreational vehicle market doesn’t even showcase it very well. This hybrid of a motorcycle and a convertible looks much more impressive in person.

With its “Y-frame” and three wheels, the vehicle is more agile than a car, but much safer than a traditional bike, with anti-lock brakes and traction and stability control. With an average rating of 35 miles per gallon and a small parking footprint, it could be an environmentally friendly alternative for auto commuters. Prices range from $16,000 to $26,000.

Today, the manufacturer, BRP — Bombardier Recreational Products — is better known for the Sea-Doo, one of the most popular brands of wave runners, but they’ve been making innovative vehicles for almost a century.

In the 1930s Canadian Joseph-Armand Bombardier patented the first caterpillar track snowmobile, and in later years helped turn snowmobiling into a whole new adventure sport.

The company has since made a name for itself with flashy motor-vehicle products. Some motorcycle enthusiasts decry the Spyder’s unusual handling, but are, however, enthused about its “style and grace.” These wheels are perfect for cruisin’ down city streets or beachfront boulevards.

You can take a Can-am Spyder out for a spin at a dealer or at a tour event; find one near you with BRP’s handy online map/schedule.

Art Cards

Artist Amy Orr works in a novel medium, one that only recently became readily available: plastic cards. She cuts them up, then rearranges the fragments into mosaic-like compositions.

Previously the exclusive realm of Visa, MasterCard and American Express, in the early 1990s plastic calling cards were introduced. Unlike traditional credit cards, these cards were relatively disposable. In the late 90s, the plastic gift card began replacing gift certificates, starting at McDonald’s and spreading rapidly through retailers everywhere. In the past decade, the plastic gift card has become the most popular present.

In 2006 alone, an estimated 17 billion of these cards were produced. There are a couple of companies that have popped up to either collect and recycle the cards, or to resell and exchange them. Orr’s decor pieces are aesthetically pleasing, but also a statement on the rise of consumerism across the globe.

Amy is one of several emerging crafters who will be featured along with established artisans at the Philadelphia Invitational Furniture Show, opening this weekend at the Naval Yard.

Friday evening’s Preview Reception will benefit InLiquid, a Philadelphia-based non-profit that helps artists gain exposure and promote their work. The reception will feature Orr’s work, along with others who work with “recycled materials.”

As long as industry and science continue to find and develop new materials, craftspeople will find ways to make them into art!

Form Fail

Good design is a synergistic meeting between form and function, not a compromise where one overshadows the other.

It’s always disappointing when something looks wonderful, but does not perform.

This stainless steel tea infuser from Kitchen Craft, for example, seems like it will be pretty cool.

It sports an attractive, sleek shape, and the way it opens — by pressing down one end so the tea-holding ball slides in half — is fun. But it completely fails at its intended task.

When you release the tip to close the ball after dipping in loose leaves, the halves slide back over one-another, pushing out a good deal of your tea.

When you want to empty the used tea, you discover that even when you push the spring-end as far as it will go, the two hemispheres don’t completely separate. Much of the dredge is stuck in the ball. It takes a few uncomfortable swipes of the finger to clean it out.

“Form follows function” has been a popular credo of modern design movements, from architecture to products to programming. The idea and phrasing is usually attributed to Louis Sullivan, who in the late 1800s designed the first modern skyscraper.

But aesthetics are intrinsic to perception, and can play an important role in the success or longevity of an object. And as the New York Times noted recently, the digital age has allowed us to move farther and farther from the need to connect the two. The tiny iPod Shuffle is their premier example.

And sometimes it’s worth conceding a bit of practicality: the Cube Jigger was derided by a few bartenders as unusable for the quick pours needed in a restaurant setting. But for a home user, the cool look makes it a fair trade off.

Have you run into an object that sacrificed functionality for good looks? What was it? Was it worth it?

Buy It, Fill It, Drink It, Roll It

It’s not often that a new product come along that makes total sense, is wonderfully sensitive to the environment, AND is affordable.

The Vapur™ Anti-bottle is a foldable 16oz plastic water bottle. It contains no BPAs — the chemicals in rigid plastic bottles that leech into liquids over time — so it’s completely refillable and reusable.

When full of liquid, the brilliantly-designed bottle stands upright. When empty, just roll it up and stuff it in a pocket, or even flatten it and slip between the pages of a book.

Vapurs are available in an assortment of colors, and come with a carabiner for easy carrying when full. They can be frozen for use as an portable ice-pack, and are dishwasher safe.

Lay your hands on one for the bargain price of $8.95, or a set of four for under $30. You can even buy extra screw or squirt caps separately.

Introduced in late 2009 by a California-based company, the bottles are manufactured entirely in the United States, and ship flat (taking up 90% less trucking space than comparable rigid plastic bottles).

Packaging is printed using wind power with soy-based inks on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. The company also participates in the 1% for the Planet program.

Compare that to the approximately 17 million barrels of oil it takes each year just to manufacture standard water bottles for the US market, and the fact that an estimated 30-40% of water is wasted while filling these bottles for sale.

Sure, you can use an expensive, bulky aluminum canteen instead. But why would you?

Get yours now & spread the word!

[via core77]

Twitter: @vapur

Anna and the Universe

What is space?

Most likely, it is a property of the human mind. An algorithm, like time, that helps consciousness make sense of the world around us.

anna 1

That our idea of space is relative can be illustrated simply, without need to delve into quantum physics.

mirror bookTake the “Magic Mirror” toy that was popular in the late 19th century. Images that appear to be distorted blobs become detailed drawings when viewed in a different way — in this case as a cylindrical reflection. This is an example of anamorphosis, which has been used in art since Leonardo Da Vinci and by many since, including Salvador Dalí and Marchel Duchamps.

Putting the concept into practice in a very modern way is one of Swiss design firm Zmik‘s latest installations, appropriately entitled “Anna.”

The main corridor in the new offices of Swiss interactive firm iart is visually expanded by a series of large-scale drawings.

From five set viewpoints, these sketches coalesce to reveal wireframes of (both real and imagined) spaces behind the walls. Viewed from any other position, the design appears to be simply a rather random pattern of graphic lines.

Zmik describes the work as an “allegory for the quest of new perspectives.”

anna 2

It can also be viewed as a metaphor for the “fixed vantage point” each of us holds in this journey of life, along with its accompanying limitations, biases and opportunities.

But this rigidity is changing. Whole new online communities — such as Twitter, World of Warfare, Second Life — are forming with their own, different rules of space and time.

Dr. Robert Lanza says, “Reality is simply an information system that involves our consciousness.”

Understanding consciousness and the way it shapes our worlds is the next big step in evolution.

Let’s be intent on getting there.

anna 3

[via core77 and dezeen, interior photos by Eik Frenzel]

Choose Your Own Adventure

crooked-neck
Crooked Neck has a circuit bent drum machine & 2 battery powered amps built-in. The speakers for the amps are behind the blue & grey circles on the body.

Or does your adventure choose you?

If you’re an artist, usually a bit of both.

Ben Simon makes wonderfully whimsical and unique handcrafted electric guitars and other instruments.

After growing up all over the East Coast, he landed for a time in the Carolinas — a region with a rich history in woodworking — and immersed himself in learning the craft at Burch Company Wood Studio.

As a musician, Simon noticed that some of the more elaborate cutting boards he was working on were reminiscent of electric guitar bodies.

Taking 2 and 2 apart, he deconstructed an electric guitar, did some research, and in 2006 crafted his first custom instrument.

He went on to twice tour Europe playing self-built guitars and basses with his band Get the People.

The instruments themselves have evolved over the years. One was made using 18 different types of wood.

The repertoire is also no longer limited to guitars; pieces have been built that incorporate synths, drums, speakers and amps.

exotic
Bass made with exotic hardwoods

A true artist, one of Ben’s goals is to teach, and spread his specialized knowledge and discoveries.

As a member of the Brooklyn artist community center 3rd Ward (which it so cool that it gives all of its members free bicycles — yes, free bikes), Simon has access to a full woodworking studio.

He’s working on an instrument building program for disadvantaged youth featuring small classes there.

(This should be very popular with kids, who will see tangible, usable results from their hard work.)

To own your own one-of-a-kind musical art piece, you can consult with Ben (bensimonmusic@gmail.com) and discuss types of wood, shapes, hardware and more.

Prices start as low as $500.

Check out more photos below after the jump, or on his Flickr stream.

The adventure’s just begun. Continue reading Choose Your Own Adventure

Cube-aholic

cubejigger2No, not as in someone addicted to Rubik’s Cube.

But for those addicted to appreciative of cocktails: the Cube Jigger.

Inspired by traditional Japanese sake cups, from which the drink is sipped at the corners, Philadelphia designer Josh Owen came up with this elegant bar tool in 2007.

Made from aluminum, the jigger provides an elegant way to mete out the six most common drink measurements, compactly arranged in a single 3″ x 3″ x 3″ cube.

Owen is an educator as well as designer, teaching at both UPenn and Philadelphia University. His design philosophy describes him as “simple, practical and quietly innovative” and states that he “defines function in humanistic terms.”

His other products range from clocks to socks to furniture and more, and have earned placement in museums and garnered many awards. (Love the Stoop Bench, created for DesignPhiladelphia 2009.)

Available online for $30 at Kikkerland or in person for $25 at Portfolio, the museum store at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Cube Jigger might just make it into our home bar collection very soon.

[via mealticket — we knew there was rationale behind our addiction to food blogs]