bicycles light up giant bulbs the Grand Palais

People pedal on bicycles equipped with dynamos which light up gigantic bulbs as they participate in the art installation “Dynamo-Fukushima” created by Yann Toma during the European heritage day “Journees europeennes du Patrimoine” at the Grand Palais in Paris

CCA – Paris 2011 workshop is completed

thanks to all participants and a stellar group of contributors

It’s hard to kill a city.

Unlike animals, cities do not slow down as they get bigger.  They speed up with size!  The bigger the city, the faster people walk and the faster they innovate.

A review of the Geoffrey West lecture at LongNow.
» hear the lecture

mixing type and architecture

Naji el Mir visits Biometric City on July 26. Naji is a highly skilled cross-media type designer who intervenes across all media. Shown here is a collaboration with graphic designer Max Kisman & architect Hisham Youssef.  More on Typographic Matchmaking in the City – the video
»  the presentation 

Quantum City

With his latest book Quantum City, architect Ayssar Arida explores the relationships between the history of science, urban design and the concept of the city, light-heartedly but with a very serious aim: to radically change the way the urban realm is both experienced and designed. Ayssar visits BiometricCity on July 21.

Flea Market: a "crime" zone

The Paris main flea market is not in Paris. It is its own universe run by its own laws, with its own cultures, treasures, wonders, risks and dangers.

a peculiar “bio diversity” and its cultural tensions, as seen by Tammie Paek

one of countless treasures, found by Kehau Lyons

mapping the project

Initial planning of our Biometric Paris explorations. The selected areas range from a single street to the whole of Paris.
The two main key notions are “designer as observer” and “urban coding”.

CCA – Paris 2011 workshop officially begins

urban wrapping

 

The wrapping of European monuments, when they are being renovated, has become a very interesting medium, often spectacularly conceived and sometimes poorly executed.

Here is the historic heart of the city (the former royal palace and Marie-Antoinette’s jail) now imprisoned by the Dior brand.  Next to it is Le Pont Neuf, which was wrapped by conceptual artist Christo in 1985.

the temple of digital arts and new musics

La Gaîté Lyrique is the new venue in Paris dedicated to digital arts and new musics. It was launched in the Spring 2011 with a true commitment to innovation in design.

new approaches to data representation

data in sight is a community of designers, researchers and programmers who share a passion for data. The website also offers a great list of references. In last Sunday’s event two presentations did provide a great intro to the basics of dataviz: Maria Giudice and Benjamin Wiederkehr

Don’t ask what your city can do for you. Ask what you can do for your city.