Modern Architecture Blogs

Trend Romance Games for Mobiles

Softbank has announced that a long-distance romance role-playing game for mobile phones, called, amusingly, the Ã¢â�¬Å�Marginal PrinceÃ¢â�¬Â� from Serendipity will be available this month for users of the latest phone models. The game has become immensely popular since it was released exclusively on Docomo a few years ago.

What exactly is a long distance romance role-playing game, you ask? Here is the premise: Your little brother Youta is studying abroad at a mysterious all-boys academy, St. Alphonso, on the remote and secluded foreign island of the same name. Youta happens to be the only boy at school with a mobile phone (the most high-tech Japanese mobile equipped with one-seg TV capability no less) which makes him very popular with his classmates who are eager to talk to people from the outside world, especially you, most likely a teenage or 20-something girl.

As you, the user, navigate the game, Youta introduces you to these Ã¢â�¬Å�Marginal Princes,Ã¢â�¬Â� and if you find one to your liking you can engage in a more romantic conversation, with the goal of acquiring love points in the form of letters or love songs.

If you can think of a better way to while away your morning commute or the wait at the doctorÃ¢â�¬â�¢s office, weÃ¢â�¬â�¢d like to hear about it.

For the original post and the latest reviews on other Japanese trends please visit our CScout Japan blog.

Trend Updates of Social Networking in China

Social networking (SNS) becomes more focused in China.

Trend Discription:

Instead of setting up an all-round Social Networks, the IT professionals in China chose to push the SNS to a more focused direction. They try to attract registers by inviting elites of the industry circle to the network and cater to the urgent needs of the people, such as providing job-hunting information.

Cases

Ã�Â 5G

5G(Wuji, meaning Five Seasons) is an IT-industry-focused SNS co-launched on June 20 by a couple of IT elites like Oak Pacific InteractiveÃ¢â�¬â�¢s former IT community Donews.com chief-in-editor Hong Bo,Ã�Â Microsoft global technology center founder Hua Hongwei and social networking site Linkoo.cn CEO Jin Xiaofeng. It aims to set up socialization platform for IT talents, promote discussions and offer recruitment information.Ã�Â Oak Pacific Interactive also runs ChinaÃ¢â�¬â�¢s leading student-focused SNS: Xiaonei.
Workmate SNS

TechWeb, ChinaÃ¢â�¬â�¢s IT information portal website, started the first Ã¢â�¬Å�workmateÃ¢â�¬Â� SNS on June 26. The SNS claimsÃ�Â 2,972 members across 359 companies on its launching. It houses 11 sections such as mini-blog, online photo album and recruitment- and business-related simulation games. So far more than 50 virtual companies have registered on the website.

Trend Potential:

Asia is widely talked as having the most developed social networking in the world. Facebook introduced its simplifed Chinese version on June 26, the same day with the Ã¢â�¬Å�workmateÃ¢â�¬Â� SNSÃ¢â�¬â�¢s birthday. How much can it take away the share of local SNS and is it going the right direction? LetÃ¢â�¬â�¢s wait and see.

For the original post and the latest reviews on other Chinese trends please visit our CScout China blog.

News Article in Japan Inc Magazine on Digital Shopping

Now that the Japan Inc. magazine has gone monthly once again, CScout JapanÃ¢â�¬â�¢s contributions will be ramped up as well. Look out for us every month in the Trends in Japan column, but be sure to check out the entire magazine as well by getting a subscription.

Read the rest of the post at the CScout Japan site.

Trend Informal Performance

Events previously shrouded in formal procedures are being replaced by semi-rehearsed, impromptu interventions that rely on audience participation.

Trend Description

New forms of entertainment are challenging traditional notions of what being an audience member involves. Static seating, ticketing, start times, staging, linear plots, perfectly rehearsed performances and passive audiences are all concepts that new entertainment companies are breaking down.

Audience reward comes in the form of more engaging, personalised and unique performances. As a conference format, this style is guaranteed to keep participants awake and engaged with proceedings. The audience is also kept happy in the knowledge that if they stop enjoying proceedings at any point, they can always leave to find something in the building that they do appreciate.

Cases

Shine Unconference

The content of this London conference is created by its participants, who are signing up to contribute to the program less than two weeks before it starts. Instead of a formal program, attendees are simply encouraged to walk through the space, getting involved with interesting discussions and presentations as they happen. The rough-and-ready Bargehouse space, with its trendy bare brick walls and peeling wallpaper, suits the style of the event to a tee.

Shunt

Every week, a different artist curates Shunt, a bar and performance space under the railway arches at London Bridge. Gigs, dance, performance art and activities such as cupcake decorating sessions can be found as users wander around the space. Some pieces are presented as works in progress, adding to the sense of impromptu entertainment.

Punch Drunk

Punch Drunk is a theatre company that transforms entire five-storey buildings into performance spaces containing forests, feasting halls, dungeons and churches. The audience dons masks and is encouraged to explore the space: perhaps discovering the elaborate sets alone or following a particular actor as they move through the building. Sections of the performance happen simultaneously around the building: no one gets to see all aspects, but this makes every experience unique.

Trend Impact

Audiences are beginning to value substance and engagement over presentation. Gig spaces may soon be expected to have numerous performances and activities happening in the same building at one time, ranging from bands to circus acts to arts and crafts sessions. Customers may also expect to get more involved with their experiences: for example, value could be created by inviting restaurant-goers into the kitchen to create their own sauce for their meal. This trend also means that attendance no longer guarantees presence: if something doesnÃ¢â�¬â�¢t interest your audience, they wonÃ¢â�¬â�¢t feel compelled to stick around.

Trend Raw food

Healthy, eco-friendly and innovative, raw food is offering a new way to excite and engage customers.

Trend description

Interest in raw food diets is growing, as cooked food gets slated in the media. Raw food proponents believe that cooking food destroys nutrients and enzymes as well as altering chemicals, so that food no longer benefits the consumer, introducing free-radicals and poisons instead. A raw food diet, which is vegan by nature, offers a supposedly healthier alternative, as well as offering sustainability benefits. The diet has a smaller carbon impact than a conventional one, due to its avoidance of animal products, lack of energy used for cooking, and inclusion of organic ingredients wherever possible.

Cases

Saf, London

Turkish for “pure”, Safâ��s menu is seasonal, locally sourced and made from ingredients that are either raw or cooked at temperatures below 48C. Despite being an eco-friendly business offering organic, healthy food, the space looks like a conventional high-end restaurant. The approach is not overly serious either, withinnovative, exciting cocktails on offer, such as kumquat caipirinhas made with fresh organic juices.

Raw Fairies

Raw Fairies is the UK’s first raw food delivery service, providing clients with every meal needed for the day. Everything it delivers is organic, raw and vegan, as well as being wheat and dairy free with no added sugar. It has recently collaborated with Detox International to provide a complete 12-day detox for busy people. Currently, all food is delivered using public transport, with electric scooters and vans soon to be employed. Wherever possible, ingredients are locally sourced, packaging is biodegradable and recycling is encouraged.

Trend Impact

Many businesses offering either health benefits or environmental benefits may soon feel pressured to extend their offering, encompassing a greater section of customer interests. However, as health and environmental benefits often go hand in hand, businesses may not need to reinvent the wheel to take advantage of this trend. A few well chosen, cost effective initiatives may be enough, or it may even be a case of revisiting marketing angles in order to increase the value of existing initiatives.

Links:

Saf

Raw Fairies

Event Mission Future Ars Electronica

Mission Future again brings together creative masterminds, innovators and business leaders to envision and drive the future of the knowledge-sharing economy. The event takes place on September 8 in Linz, Austria, amidst Europeâ��s foremost celebration of media and digital art innovation, the Ars Electronica festival.

300 guests and speakers from around the world will attend this invitation-only, one day event to discuss the sustainability of the new open-economy mentality, explore real possibilities for the future, and exchange ideas as influenced by their diverse disciplines. Mission Future commits itself to the principles of Open Source, where attendees are active participants. Creative methods such as FutureSlam and FutureHunting guarantee spirited exchange and a genuine experience of the sharing economy.

Focus 2008:Â Weâ��re open - How open minds and open industries are shaping the world.

Until now, creating and protecting intellectual property was considered the essential competitive factor. Today, however, opening up innovation processes and creating flexible company structures are becoming increasingly important. Trends like Open Source, Open Innovation and Open Brands, through which the potential of todayâ��s information economy can be fulfilled, are becoming the basis for processual innovations and new products.

Our invited experts include:

Joichi Ito, Founder of Neotony and President of Creative Commons.
Lars Hinrichs, Founder of the German Business Social Network Xing.
Isaac Mao, Founder, CNBlog.org, Partner & VP, United Capital Investment Group.
Gerfried Stocker, President Ars Electronica.

To learn more, visit our website http://missionfuture.trendpool.com

We also offer companies the opportunity to be a visible part of Mission Future with a comprehensive sponsorship package including brand presence on-site and in all PR and communications for â�¬8,700.

For further information visit our website, contact us on missionfuture@cscout.com or call +49 (0) 17 28 28 50 60.

Trend The Mobile Taste of the Beijing Games

Innovative ways of applying mobile devices give audience worldwide unique perspectives of the event.

Trend Description:

Not being able to launch 3G does not mean this yearâ��s Olympics keepsÂ the hottest mobile media outside China. A bunch of companies are rolling out their mobile applications for the Games, which, if not becoming popular right away, carry profound meanings for world-level events later on.

Cases:

Twitterâ��s #080808 Campaign

Twitterâ��s campaign (pronounced tag 080808) is chalking up good result since the opening ceremony on August 8, 2008. Initiated only two days before the opening of the Games, it claims about 5000 entries coming in on the big day and is updated with an average rate of 1 piece every 0.2 seconds. A secret of its success is the easy way to press the keys of â��0? and â��8? on mobile phones. No matter who are you are and where you are, as long as you think or experience something related to the Olympics, you can tweet a couple of words starting withâ��#080808?.

Lenovo Olympics 2008 Application

Levono, one of the top sponsors of the Beijing Games and the official PC provider is NOT gonna lag behind those mobile savvy in playing with new technology. It lined up with Zumobi and rolled out the Lenovo Olympic 2008 Application, with which users of microsoft mobile, blackberries and iPhone can follow up the latest sports news, images and comments during the Olympics. It also contains blog posts selected ramdonly from anonymous athletes and is powered by ads of Lenovo and Intel.

Qik:

Located in California, Qik is a video-sharing company that allows Qikkers to stream their mobile captures directly to the website. Users have access to the service when they buy mobile phones installed with the software and will save money if they have signed up for unlimited data plans. Qik is now encouraging its users to send back footages taken on-the-spot of the Games. It will beÂ a great fun for journalists and spectators who use proper telephone plans to point their mobile phones directly to what they are experiencing. Check up the Qikkerâ��s footage of the opening ceremony here.

Trend Potential:

Given the fact that 3G is still to come in China, there is no sweeping success for any mobile application in the Beijing Games so far. However, the experience drawn here and business models initiated will remain good cases for later studies.

For the original post and the latest reviews on other Chinese trends please visit our CScout China blog.

Trend Stimulant-Infused Energy Snacks

Companies are developing new ways to energise customers by infusing natural foods with stimulants.

Companies are infusing energy-giving ingredients into food products as a new way to attract customers. Energy foods provide all the stimulation of energy drinks, whilst possibly cutting out high levels of sugar, unpleasant tastes and unnatural chemicals. This trend is further evidence of the â��functional foodâ�� trend, which refers to foods chosen for reasons beyond satisfying hunger.

Cases

Sumseeds â�� Energized Sunflower Seeds
Promising to fill the customer with energy, Dakota Valley Products use a patented process to manufacture natural, healthy seeds infused with caffeine, taurine, lysine, and ginseng. Customers are drawn to the product for the flavour and energy-giving nature of the seeds, which gives twice the amount of energy as an energy drink without the added sugar.

NRG Potato Chips
Noted by some as a strange idea for a product associated with television snacking, NRG Potato Chips are the world’s first “energy potato chip”, containing taurine, caffeine, and B-vitamins. The chipsâ�� flavourings mask the stimulantsâ�� bitter tastes to provide a similar amount of stimulation per serving as a cup of coffee.

Engobi Energy Go Bites
Engobi is targeting video gamers with its caffeine-infused â��Energy Go Bitesâ��, with the point of differentiation being the 70% higher caffeine content when compared to conventional energy drinks.

Trend impact
This trend shows that consumers may be distinguishing between somewhat unhealthy stimulants, which they desire, and high sugar content in drinks, which they do not. Stimulants could be infused into many other foods â�� breakfast foods may be a particularly good candidate, including energy-giving cereals, breads and spreads. There may also be an opportunity in the sports or body-building market to develop very specific functional meals, for example a pre-gym meal of chicken infused with taurine to boost performance and results.

Trend Yamaha music mobile

As usual, the latestAU Design Project from KDDI is pushing the boundaries of what we think a mobile device should be to us. Japan is already known for putting out massive varieties of phones to cater to niche groups, so why not musicians?

The au Design Project x Yamaha does just that with a series of phones that double as musical instruments (or instruments that double as phones?). Designed by a foreign and Japanese team of young innovators (including Marianne Bailey) , these handsets are original, creative, and (the best part) actually able to make music!

Read the rest of the post at the CScout Japan site.

Trend Location-based Services in Asia

A snapshot of the latest trends of Location-based Service (LBS) in Beijing, Shanghai, Hongkong and Tokyo.

Trend Description:

Many people would agree that Location-based Services (LBS) are becoming increasingly popular worldwide and are opening a host of opportunities for business, but few would agree on the business model that will best monetize the service. Nokia expects to ship 35 million GPS-phones in 2008 and the latestÂ ABI report blueprinted a $ 3.3 billion market value for LBS, but still the way to whip up revenues from existing technology and infrastructure remains unclear. Here we filtered some promising, if not profitable, practices of LBS in Asia to summarize new trends for industrial practitioners and those who may be concerned.

Cases:

GyPsii is a social networking platform headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherland. It has partnered with Shanghai Rannuo and China Unicom to launch its GyPSii service during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and has opened a China Data Center to enhance local user experience. What GyPSii is doing in China is encouraging its network users to send back location information via mobile devices and integrate it into the digital map. Other users (who are also content creators) then, can experience a seamless mobile lifestyle, connecting with friends and communities, searching UGC and viewing maps and directions to points of interest.

Naviblog X is Japanâ��s first location-based moblog/mobsearch website. With this service, usrs can easily create their mobile diary sites within 60 seconds even if they know little about programming.Â After the sites are created, they point their mobile phones to the QR Code auto-generated with the sites and transfer them to the mobile phones of their friends or clients to log on the sites. It is also designed to geo-tag usersâ�� information by one-click. Naviblog is said to be used on non-Japan phones soon.

Fashion makers lag behind to none in creativity if not in high-tech. With thousands of foreigners entering China this Olympic year, Louis Vuitton, the French luxury fashion brand entered the mobile space with a unique location-based audio guide, available in six languages, to three major cities, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. The voice is coming from three locally born actresses: Gong Li for Beijing, Joan Chen for Shanghai and Shu Qi for Hong Kong. It directs visitors by mobile phones in real time through the cities and costs 17 USD for for each city in one of the six languages, English, French, Cantonese, Chinese, Korean and Japanese.

Trend Impact:

The convergence of social networking, user-created content and location is a big trend. Mobile-enabled LBS is important because it links up something missing on the internet. There are some major barriers for business related to mobile internet, such as licensing and sophisticated algorithms, but as some of the global players have discovered, a fast track to enter a local market is to line up with local mobile carriers, technological developers and last but not least the users, who know best what they want.

Electrolux Design Lab 2008 Call for Entries

Electrolux Design Lab, established in 2003, is an annual global design competition open to undergraduate and graduate industrial design students who are invited to present innovative, daring ideas and solutions for home appliances.

Visit Electrolux Design Lab for more information.

Entry Deadline: 30 May 2008
Finalists Announced: End of June 2008
Finals in Zurich: 08 and 09 October 2008

UNKLBRAND Longboards

UNKLBRAND has ventured into the longboard realm with their upcoming mini-series via Boardeli. Each deck will be produced at a low, low run of 4! Pre-sale hits March 1st.

Link: UNKL
Link: Boardeli

I want a Tris If only I could spare 10 000

Ideal Standard's new Tris Sauna-cum-Steam-cum-Shower Room is a dream come true. The only downside? The price tag!

While working on a private house for a client, I have been researching into steam/shower rooms and to my delight I have been coming across some fantastic work by product designers alike.

Tris by Ideal Standard in particular has caught my attention (and the client's too!)

Link: Tris

Get ready to CA Boom baby

I warned you way back in September, and now CA Boom is almost here... before you know it CA Boom will be all up in your grill, so get the lead out and make your plans today. I mean right now, because you dear Land+Living readers have been extended a whopping $4 discount for purchasing tickets in advance; enter discount code "land" when you register online and if the discount isn't incentive enough, just think about the headaches you will save your self by being able to walk right in.

Link: CA Boom
Buy: Discounted tickets, enter code "land"

Back to the Boom

Okey dokey, very quiet around here for CA Boom time of year... yes we are usually buzzing with activity. Alas, not this time. We will have some stuff to share with y'all later, buy you'll just have to wait. In the mean time, here are some links to tide you over:

LA Times was there, and they were snapping pictures:

LAist was there... first timers? Dunno, but they put together a nice photo essay from the Hangar:

Photo Essay: CA Boom V

And the NY Times was there too... no comment:

In California, Eclecticism Rules

Props to the Curbed LA peeps for stepping it up this year with some nice coverage of the home tours:

Kanner Residence | Kanner Architects
(we were there back at CA Boom 2... just had to say that)
Felderman Keatinge Residence
Alan-Voo House | Neil M. Denari
Red Barn House (for sale with questionable use of "stone")
House of Sand | lee + mundwiler architects (another one for sale?)
Modern-Shed on the Prefab Floor | Modern Shed (for sale signs galore!)

The Uncanny Orlow

Brought to you by Milwaukee DJ/Artist The Uncanny Orlow is easily one of the hottest customs seen in sometime.

More images after the jump!

Link: The Uncanny Orlow

Post Family at Letterform

Chicago collective The Post Family recently wrapped up a showing last month over at Letterform. Served as an unofficial retrospective of the groups work, the exhibit had displayed everything from screen print and letterpress work to post-it note and found object installation as well as photography.

Images after the jump. Enjoy!

Link: The Post Family

DecodeLondon

DecodeLondon is a new and innovative British design and manufacturing company committed to working with London's best creative talent. The Textile Side Unit, designed by Jethro Macey and featured above in Floral, is crafted using CNC milled stone composite doors and a solid oak base.

Link: DecodeLondon [Thanks, Gautier!]

CA Boom V _ Friday but not really

CA Boom V follows in a tradition of providing sensory overload to design professionals and aficionados alike (hint: the architects are normally the tired looking folk, since the wardrobe no longer reveals anything apparently), and this edition did not let anyone down in that respect.

Unfortunately for us (and for you), we were unable to go on the architecture tour on Friday, so there is no coverage of that excursion.

Fret not, since we provide you with links to all the architecture offices involved (after the jump). You will have to imagine our witty banter and myopic architectural insight when perusing the web sites of the participating architects, but, letâ��s face it, you like the pictures best anyway.

Reference: Back to the Boom

Finnish Summer Houses

One of our most popular posts here at L+L is the Finland Summer House posted by James back in January 2005. If exploring summer houses in Finland is your raison d'Ãªtre, then we have a book for you. Finnish Summer Houses by Jari & Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen is a new book from Princeton Architectural Press that showcases work from architects such as Eliel Saarinen, Alvar Aalto, Juhani Pallasmaa and many others.

Architectural styles featured in the book run the gamut from farmhouse villas of the late 1800's to the modern structures of today.

Link: Princeton Architectural Press

Beautiful Losers

Featuring the work of Thomas Campbell, Shepard Fairey, Ed Templeton, Barry McGee and others, Beautiful Losers highlights how these artists, with almost no influence from the established art world, have been transforming pop culture.

Link: Beautiful Losers
Via: 70percent.org

CA Boom V _ Saturday in West L A

Has the suspense gotten to you yet? At long last, we put you out of your misery. And the bling was worth the wait... lots of picture galleries for you modern home loving peops.

Day 2 of the guided home tour takes us around West Los Angeles and it feels sorta like homecoming. It just so happens that Neil Denari, Chris Genik and Kevin Daly all instructed some of us at SCI-Arc years ago, and nothing like getting those boys back for the countless sleepless nights they made us spend cutting basswood and atomizing onto mylar we say, so letâ��s have at it.

Gallery: Alan Family House
Neil M. Denari Architects, Inc.

Gallery: Red Barn Prefab
MXA Development

Gallery: Anderson Residence
Jesse Bornstein Architecture

Gallery: Creative Living Space
Delta H Design

Gallery: Mar Vista House
Daly Genik Architects

Piel Skin

A new "paperless" architecture book featuring facades from around the world.

This book is the result of two years of architectural research. Dynamic facades, ventilated, high-tech or traditional composites with new features. This book shows that currently new skins not only act as an isolating element, besides interact with the environment, optimizing energy exchange with the outside. From Germany to Australia or Korea to Colombia, there are many examples that readers can visit with this publication. With international vocation due to bilingual English-Spanish text and a language away from technicalities, this paper aims to show as an "interactive toy" the evolving field of the facades in architecture.

Link: Piel.Skin [Thanks, Ethel]

CA Boom V _Sunday

Woah... that was fast...

In fact, Day 3 went by so fast that we missed one of the houses on the tour... Oy vey! We did walk through the other four examples of nouveau LA living, and there is plenty to observe and say about these abodes.

Here's the breakdown (with the skinny after the jump):

No gallery: Mi-Ca Residence
Jesse Bornstein Architecture

Gallery: Ocean Park Housing
Michael Folonis and Associates

Gallery: Santa Monica Prefab
Office of Mobile Design

Gallery: House of Sand
Lee + Mundwiler Architects

No Gallery: Our House
du Architects

Cities Should Be Like Pizza Clipping

Mmmm... pizza. (via Planetizen)

Hey who watered my fireplace Clipping

Because nothing says style like a marble mantle that combines an indoor water feature AND a fire place... Now where can I get that LA-Z-Boy with the integrated loo? (via househacker)

Guerrilla gardener movement takes root in L A area Clipping

"Stealth growers seed or plant on land that doesn't belong to them. The result? Plants that beautify or yield crops in otherwise neglected or vacant spaces." (via LA Times)

Greener is the new Blacktop Clipping

A $5 million research program which hopes to make blacktop more ecologically sustainable. (via Wired)

Brad Pitt blah blah blah Clipping

"Brad Pitt will be part of a team of consultants appointed to design a new five-star hotel and leisure development in Dubai, developer Zabeel Properties said on Monday." (via Reuters)

Southern Speak s Clipping

A big, fat shoutout to our former instructor, thesis advisor, graduate director, drinking partner and friend, Michael Speaks, who has been named the Dean of Design College at University of Kentucky! Well spoken!. (via newswise)