In a Public Space

"In a Public Space" is a website set up to organise some acts of urban guerilla activity. Basically you leave strange objects in public places and then record them on the website.

Is this just littering or creating "urban follies" (like the Shoefeti)?

Is this too organised for something that should be random?

All of these questions will get answered. The website is only new and the posted photos are of the items - but not in-situ, so it's not very entertaining yet. I'll be watching though ... let's hope it works out. It should be a lot of fun if it does.

Shoefiti and Shoes Trees

According to Wikipedia, "Shoe flinging or "shoefiti" is the American and Canadian practice of throwing shoes whose shoelaces have been tied together so that they hang from overhead wires such as power lines or telephone cables."

I love shoes strategically tossed (especially on mass) so that they become urban follies. I like it when people write their own stories into the landscape through acts like this. Every-time you walk past that pair of shoes you threw up in a tree it will trigger your memory.

After the "shoe throwing incident" with Bush, there has been alot of interest in shoe throwing and what it means to us in the "western" world. Socyberty explores this issue and looks into the act of "Shoefifi" and Shoes Trees. Here are some of the featured pics:

Photo credit

Photo credit

Photo credit

Unslient Night

Unsilent night happened in Melbourne and Sydney this year! Next year Brisbane?? I wish.

Unslient night is described as,

Phil Kline's free outdoor participatory sound sculpture of many individual parts, recorded on cassette tapes, CDs and Mp3s, and played through a roving swarm of boomboxes carried through city streets. Bring your own boombox and drift peacefully through a cloud of sound that is different from every listener's perspective.

Check out the website for more information.

These are some pics from Melbourne from the Unsilent Night Melbourne 07 Flikr!

Street with a View

I love Google Street View, it really has helped in my job (although some Landscape Architects might get lazy and feel that don't need to visit a site anymore). I like that it reinforces what I've seen or enables me to find something I've missed.

There is, however one other thing I love about Street View and that is all the crazy stories you hear, like the man who was caught cheating on his wife, the house that was on fire ...

I think this is why I love this art project so much! "Street with a view" uses the Street View format (static images in a 360degree environment that you move through to get an idea of the place) but it adds some more excitement, some fictitious stories. They set up a marching band, a sword fight, a rescue and much more.

Check it out...

Next site my street pls?!

Wi-fi in our landscape

As a Landscape Architect I cannot wait until the Built Environment Profession really acknowledges Wi-fi technology and embraces its potential. I think something like this is a start...

Desk by Life Goods found on Design Boom

In saying this I should note that there is one stand out structure in Brisbane that incorporates Wi-fi and that is the State Library of Queensland. City of Sound recently blogged about it. Hill comments that modern urban / industrial activity is quite invisible (Wi-Fi laptop use); it isn't like the thick black plumes of smoke that used to be associated with industrial activity.

Also while your reading the article make sure you scroll down and check out the 3D mapping of the Wi-fi's signal strength!

Herdshare

Similar to the Landshare concept is Herdshare. The bonus of Herdshare is that it is in my home town, Brisbane!

The website explains the concept:

Consumers pay a farmer a fee for boarding their cow, (or share of a cow), caring for the cow and milking the cow. The cow share owner then obtains (but does not purchase) the milk from his/her own cow. This arrangement is similar to arrangements of owning a share in a crop, racehorse or a bull.

Found on Map Magazine: Street Editors

Now on Tumblr

Check me out on Tumblr - http://a-me.tumblr.com/