Technology and stuff

Lydia shared a link with me today to Microsoft Surface. This sparked a really interesting conversation about the best ways to use this type of technology, specifically how it could be applied to architecture, interior design, product design and other related fields.

Her idea was that this type of touch technology would be an incredible design tool. You could draw and sketch onto this surface and have your creations immediately converted into 2D digital drawings, or even 3D drawings. She painted a mesmerizing picture of a free-flowing design experience, where the architect draws ideas onto the surface, which are quickly extruded into three dimensions, can be rapidly modified and rendered, and presented to a client. The designer can take hold of the building and guide the client through it, quickly changing colors, downloading furniture, lights, materials from the internet and instantly dropping them into the building.

As a designer, it is a very seductive idea. It is an incredible amount of power that we're talking about. Its a combination of the best parts of hand sketching, BIM drawings and 3D rendering.

I took a photo of the new Cooper Union building by Morphosis this evening after getting my hair cut (finally). Its pretty dang cool from the street. not sure what it is like from the user's perspective, but everything I've seen from Morphosis so far has been pretty cool. If anything could make me want to move to L.A., it would be that firm.

Got my hair cut in a "New York institution", Astor Place Hairs

tylists. Its located in a basement on Astor Place, a famous little street near NYU, the Cooper Union, Union Square, etc. The basement was packed with cutting stations, 30 or 40 grouped around the pillars of the building. I was pointed to an idle stylist, whose first words were, "talk to me." I told her what I wanted, she said, "yeah yeah blend no fade thin on top keep it long got it." She took me to the sink, back to the chair, five minutes later she's finished. I was honestly shocked. never has my hair been cut so quickly and effectively. Amazing. And cheap! The whole time I kept thinking about the place as a giant hair factory, with the scraps falling to the floor, being swept into giant vats further underground and being woven into quilts or tourist t-shirts by rooms of house elves. I like the place. I dig it.

Bah, here's a photo.