Many principles of architecture apply to computer programs. What you see on a computer screen affects you in the same way buildings do. Like buildings, computer programs create the environment that we exist in. Computer programs give us a space to live in and to work.
Computers first of all act as tools. But they are also much more. People have emotional relationships with their computers as they would with their house or car. Look, for example, at how much value people place on iphones. Computers have become an important part of our environment.
Like buildings, a lot of thought needs to be put into how people relate to a computer. The part of an operating system that shows the windows, scroll bars, buttons, text, etc. and which lets you type and move your mouse around is called the the GUI, short for Graphical User Interface. The part that shows the desktop is the shell. The shell on a Windows operating system is explorer.exe.
To understand what a shell is, press ctrl-alt-delete on your Windows computer, go to "task manager" , click on the "processes" tab, right click on "explorer.exe" and select "end process." Your desktop start-bar just disappeared. That's what it's like without a shell. To bring the bar back again, go to the applications tab, press the new task button, type in explorer.exe in the box, and press OK.
Do you remember how difficult it was to use DOS? DOS had a primative shell. It only showed text and accepted simple commands. The introduction of the mouse and buttons in Windows, the entire concept, changed everything. Remember how much better it felt to use OS X (on newer macs) or Windows XP after Windows 98. Windows XP and OS X felt better because it looked more lively. Its graphical user interface was more sophisticated.
What a shame it is that something as great as Linux was long ignored because no thought went into its "architecture." Linux was really well designed but few know about it. Android is an OS built with Linux as its foundation and a new, better shell. The Android shell made people fall in love with their phones.
What makes Apple products so special? How does it make you feel? What about this product makes people feel like that? Steve Jobs made sure Apple put serious effort into their "architecutres."
The GUI in OS X give the computer a sense of life. The launcher bar at the bottom moves in a fluid motion whenever you touch it with the mouse. The icons similarly jump up and down. More transparency adds to that fluid, crystal feel. The buttons look like some kind of magical crystal. It has an expensive-looking gloss just by in increase in the brightness in a rectangle-shaped area. The buttons have a physical, glowing look. Acceleration rather than constant speed makes the windows more appealing, especially when minimalizing. The shadows and reflections from windows and the desktop gives you a sense of room and personal space.
The computer is a good example of how principles of architecture apply to other fields of design. Industrial design is not too important to program. What is really important and overlooked is functionality and ease of use, timeless principles that historically tied technological design with architecture.
-Guest post by Christian Blankenbehler
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1/6/12
Architecture In The Wizard Of Oz: Dorothy's Cottage
Funeral Chamber
The original Wizard of Oz shows a gray Dorothy asleep on her bed. She rises as if lying dead on a willowy cloud, merging into a dark sphere. A window in this sphere hints at a bright world beyond.Egyptians portrayed the entrance to death as a cavern. The tomb structure took the form of a dark, tiny room like a cottage. At the same time Egyptians viewed death as as a climb upward into the sky. The dead body passed into the caverous pits of the pyramid, and yet descended up its slope into the sky. An image of Dorothy peacefully flying up into the bright heavens while asleep on a bed is perfectly appropriate to the Egyptians.
“…you shall become clean with her in the sky [and in] the Duat with Horus of the Duat. The Looking (Waters’) cavern has been opened to you, your striding the sunlight has been broadened for you.” (p.190)[1]
This funeral chamber was at the same time deep in the earth and high in the sky. It was called a house: “….‘house’ in Classic times would usually mean the chamber located on the top of the stairs of a pyramidal temple.” [2]
Primitive Hut
Dorothy's cottage can best be considered a point of transition. The simple cottage represents Dorothy's primitive and un-evolved beginnings. The whirlwind represented evolution, as described by author L. Frank Baum's Theosophist colleagues. Roman writer Vitruvius spoke of th a primitive hut from which all architecture originates. Early contructions of houses were the original temples, said Vitruvius. Midieval scholars such as Walther Rivius and eighteenth century architect Marc-Antoine Laugier grasped on this explanation for man’s origins.
Dorothy’s cottage was a typical American cottage:“Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room.” (11)
It follows the simplest description of a primitive temple, and further dwelling-places for Dorothy follow the description. On her first night in Oz, Dorothy "reached the cottage, and Dorothy entered and found a bed of dried leaves in one corner.” (49)
The walls of the primitive hut imitated trees which held up the natural canopy, Vitruvius said, looking much like the log cabins in the book's illustrations.The fireplaces in both cottages represent man's earliest technology. Early man’s discovery of fire was his most basic technology for social gathering, said Vitrivius. This was why Frank L. Wright placed special importance on the fireplace, making it the most inner sanctum of a house. [3] She continued to find cottages or natural conapies in which to sleep overnight throughout most of her journey:
“They were obliged to camp out that night under a large tree in the forest, for there were no houses near. The tree made a good, thick covering to protect them from the dew, and the Tin Woodman chopped a great pile of wood with his axe and Dorothy built a splendid fire that warmed her and made her feel less lonely.” (75)
Dorothy awoke up from the rays of the sun each morning. Each cottage or sleeping place was therefore illustrated inside a sphere, so we know it was a holy place. Her sleeping arrangments evolved into a larger and brighter place:
Dorothy’s House > Forest Cottage > Forest Camp Fire > Palace at Oz.
She evolved toward rebirth.
Light in the Darkness
Dorothy’s death was represented by her peaceful sleep in her cottage amidst the tumultuous cyclone.
“Dorothy sat up and noticed that the house was not moving; nor was it dark, for the bright sunshine came in at the window, flooding the little room. She sprang from her bed and with Toto at her heels ran and opened the door.” (19)
Her little cottage was flooded with a new light in the same way the Egyptian pyramid received resurrecting light for the deceased. It wasn't so much an arrival as a discovery of the light. The sun had always been there, but it had burned the land gray with consuming fire. Everything had turned into gray dust:
“When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side… The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it…” (12)
Even Aunt Em had lost her healthy red. The intense light of the sun had burned her gray. Uncle Henry was worn out by all the work from the farm. But Dorothy’s youthful exuberance gave her a chance to be transformed before it was too late.
“When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears...
Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know was joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn and rarely spoke.” (12-13)
The red sun needed to be viewed in a new way so it could illuminate the seven colors, a metaphor for Dorothy’s self-actualization. In “Over the Rainbow” Dorothy wished for a physical transportation to get illuminated. Dorothy needed to be physically moved into the sky where light and color originate.
The film’s switch from black and white to technicolor shocked audiences of the day, as it was one of the first films ever presented in color. It illustrated the concept of transportation to another world where one could see things in a whole new way, bringing renewed life and vitality. To Theosophists like L Frank Baum, the variation of colors and brightness of the sun brought spiritual revelation. It was an exestential journey filled with fragrances and music:
“This is a vision that came to one, watching… He knelt in the Holy of Holies of a Temple, where there were flowers and perfumes and beautiful objects, strains of distant music, harmonious divine and tinted lights from jeweled windows…
A long, long while he knelt there, in an ecstasy of adoration, his soul filled with wonder and joy of it. But lo! He looked up and all this had vanished. It was cold and empty and full of grey light, and the pain of revelation was overwhelming.”[4]
Perhaps Baum borrowed his colorful transformation from this story. The very pages of Buam’s book changed color from gray to different colors of the sun in the sky.
The transformation of the sun in the book symbolized Dorothy’s higher self becoming physical. Drawing on mystic Jewish sources, Theosophists saw two parts in the beginning of the universe: The Deep and God. The God moved upon the Deep and everything resulted. The God (Ain-Soph) merged with the deep’s Source of Light, unmanifested Logos, and gained physical form. Logos manifested as a chariot descending from the sky. This manifested Logos was the physical form of the body.
“But after He created the form of the Heavenly Man, He used him as a chariot wherein to descend, and He wishes to be called after His form.”[5]
God discovered the unmanifested logos and thus formed the physical objective universe, according to Theosophist colleagues.
“In the Zohar… It is the Depth, the Source of Light, or Propator, which is the unmanifested Logos or the abstract Idea, and not Ain-Soph, whose ray uses Adam-Kadmon or the manifested Logos (the objective Universe) "male and female"– as a chariot through which to manifest.”[6]
A sudden flash jarred the dead awake. The Egyptian concept of reawakening from light was later seen in Christianity: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:5)
Theosophists quoted this scripture, and explained that “the Light awakened the astringent Spirit, and gave all into the Hands thereof to hold or preserve it.” [7]
This reawakening was represented by statues in the Egyptian vaults. Statues representing the desceased’s body or spirit had sunlight poured upon them; “penetrating mystically by the apertures of the temple to the statue hidden in the darkness of the sanctuary at the heart of the sealed naos.” (396)[8]
The Egyptian Book of Breathings described the living light shining in the darkness:
“The sky is opened, the earth is opened, the apertures of the celestial windows are opened, the movement of the Abyss are revealed, the movements of the sunlight are released.” [9]
“Thou awakenest every day and seest the ray of the sun…. thou breathest by it every day when thine eye beholds the rays of Aton…. Re shines upon thy cavern (house or hill), O Osiris, that thou mayest breathe and live by his rays.” [10]
The first rays of the sun shone on the deceased Egyptian king on New Year’s morning. This was the first creation, the first resurrection, which leads to subsequent rebirths. Up until this event there was deepening darkness and death. The new light created an upward spiral of progression, as Pharoah passed on his divinity to illuminate others.
Dorothy later became this role of light giver, “she who shines into her temple on New Year’s Day.” [11]
The sun shone on the tomb in the the Duat, underworld, in orderto grant resurrection. The suns “rays are upon him mysteriously. Khepri comes forth early from the Duat at dawn; his full glory bursts upon the world at the House of the Apparition…” (398) [8]
This first creation was also represented by the Pharoah’s ritual battle with the evil serpent, [12] as seen in the bible’s Book of Revelation dragon.The victory over the evil serpent Apap heralded a bright New Year with the rise of a bright new sun:
“It was represented in the mythology that when Horus had conquered Apap in one of his great battles the reptile sank, pierced with wounds, into the depth of the waters, and this event was said to have occurred at the very moment of the new year.” [13]
Divine Protection
Dorothy was safe in her cottage. She had her friends to help her, but but she also had one other protection, often overlooked, and that was the kiss that the Good Witch gave her in both the movie and the book.“’It is a long journey, through a country that is sometimes pleasant and sometimes dark and terrible. However, I will use all the magic arts I know of to keep you from harm… I will give you my kiss, and no one will dare injure a person who has been kissed by the Witch of the North.’
She came closely to Dorothy and kissed her gently on the forehead. Where her lips touched the girl they left a round, shining mark, as Dorothy found out soon after.”(27)
“…while you bear upon your forehead the mark of the good Witch’s kiss, and that will protect you from harm.” (66)
In Hinduism, the Bindi is worn on the forehead as a symbol of protection by following by a god. It is often placed above the doors of houses. The horseshoe illustrated above the door of Dorothy’s cottage was also tear-shaped and had reflective metal that made it the symbol of divine protection in many cultures.
“Upon ancient Celtic sculptures the horse-shoe represents the arch of heaven, and was regarded as having divine powers.” [14]
This symbol is derived from the ancient Egyptian use of a half-moon shape for protection againt the evil eye:
“…the half moon was often placed on the heads of certain of the most powerful Egyptian deities, and therefore when worn became a symbol of their worship… this theory of the origin of the superstititous use of the horseshoe.” [15]
The nineteenth century custom of hanging horseshoes above the doorway had Egyptian roots: “…the horse-shoe form is believed to be a survival of an ancient religious symbol often seen in Assyrian and Egyptian sculptures, siginifying the mystical door of life.” [16]
People in Baum’s time hung it above doorways for divine protection: “Another extremely comon protective device is attained by nailing a dung-coated horseshoe above the door…” [17]
^James P Allen, The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Lit, 2005)
^Jessica Zaccagnini, Maya Ritual and Myth: Human Sacrifice in … , Southern Illinois University Carbondale , 190
^Richard A. Etlin, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier: the romantic legacy, (UK: Redwood Books, 1994), 205
^Cavé, “In a Temple,” Theosophy, Volume 12, Issues 1-7 (NY: Theosophical Pub. Co., 1898), 24
^Zohar, ii., 42b in Judge, The Path, Volume 1
^Helena Blatavsky, The Secret Doctrine: Cosmogenesis, (London: Theosophical Pub. Co., 1888), 214
^Jakob Bohme, The Works of Jacob Behmen, the Teutonic Theosopher…, (Montana: Kessinger Pub., reprint 1764), 193
^F. Daumas, Sur trios represenetations de Nout a Dendara, , (ASAE 51, 1954)
^Pyramid Text 503: 1078, in Faulkner, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, 179
^Book of Breathing, 39,57, in Nibley, The message of the Joseph Smith papyri…, 60
^Normandi Ellis, Feasts of Light, Celebrations of the Seasons of Life Based on the Egyptian…, (IL: The Theosophical Publishing House, 1999) xxv
^see Jon. D. Mikalson, Herodotus and religion in the Persian Wars, (USA: The University of North Carolina Press, 2003), 187
^Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt, the light of the world:..., Vol.1, 292
^ed. Cora Linn Morrison Daniels, Charles McClellan Stevens Encyclopaedia of superstitions, folklore…, Vol. 2, (Chicago: J.H. Yewdal & sons, 1903), 1291
^Robert M. Lawrence, “The folk-lore of the horse-shoe,” Journal of American folklore, 9-10, (1896): 288-289
^Robert Means Lawrence, The magic of the horseshoe, (Boston: Houghlon, Mifflin, and Co., 1898) , 67
^Middleton A. Harris, Morris Levitt, Ernest Smith, Toni Morrison, The Black Book: 35th Anniversary Edition, (reprint USA: Random House, 2009), 137
© Benjamin Blankenbehler
1/2/12
Review For Brother MFC-6490CW Printer: Poor
 Specs: -35ppm black/28ppm color -6000 x 1200 dpi max resolution -down to 1.5 picoliter droplet size -two-year warranty -19.2 x 21.3 x 12.7 inch; 34.4 lbs -802.11b/g wireless and 10/100Mbps wired network interface -Similar printers: MFC-250C, MFC-255CW, MFC-290C, MFC-295CN, MFC-490CW, MFC-495CW, MFC-585CW, MFC-790CW, MFC-795CW, MFC 990CW, MFC-5490CN, MFC-5890CN, MFC-5895CW, MFC-J220, MFC-6490CW, MFC-6690CW, MFC-6890CW |   - 2 out of 5 starsArchitects are always on the look-out to find an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier that has an 11x17 paper option. This printer fits the bill, but buyer beware! There are many cons: No double sided printing, tedious to switch paper sizes, failure to print on most anything but standard paper, below-par photo quality, weak customer support, slow, noisy, sucks through ink quickly. The ink cartridges will be empty before you know it (they claim to be empty anyway), and you will end up spending twice what you should for replacements. Most printers like to milk their customers for ink, but Brother takes the game to a higher level. Brother "cleans" the cartridges frequently. The scan quality is excellent. The printer offers full network capabilities, though it is hard to set up correctly. It faxes. But all in all it is a weak product. I don't recommend it! |
(Brother MFC-6490CW Printer 2 out of 5 based on 1 ratings. 1 reviews. Specs retrieved from www.amazon.com and about.com.)
Fort Vancouver Regional Library, Vancouver Washington
Adin Dunning of Miller Hull Partnership designed the main library for Vancouver, Washington. The vast exterior glazing, thick concrete massing, and stacked elements in a free environment was first implemented in the nearby Seattle library. The exterior is somewhat more conservative here, however, and fits into the architectural context. The innovative signage at Seattle's library can also be found here, as each floor is labeled brightly on the bare concrete staircase.
Wood interiors warm up the otherwise cold and brutal concrete. The streaming sunlight is mitigated by careful shading methods. New materials are presented to give each space a different character, and a balcony above the entrance introduces the visitors to a wonderful green space and connects them back to the city.
This project is not as stunning as the Seattle project, but it presents a few differences that give a feel that is more appropriate for a city library. Mostly, it looks to the Seattle library as a template for library language and design, which is wholly appropriate to do.
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12/24/11
Unilever, HafenCity Hamburg Germany
Behnisch Architects designed the Unilever Headquarters building on the Strandkai of the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany. As part of the HafenCity development, the project emphasizes urban development and environmental sustainability. It boasts LED energy-efficient lighting, natural thermal cooling, and a large atrium that lets natural light into the heart of the building. Walkways criss-cross this space in a very constructionist way, with plenty of interactive opportunities and clashes of functionality.
Sheets of ipasol solar control glass on the exterior facades provide an extera protective barrier and a thermal space for heat gain or cooling. It also gives a dynamic texture to the blocky leaning forms that reminds one of the tipsy old-style German buildings. This gesture toward historic precedence and affinity for transparency can also be seen in the London Unilever building retrofit.
Interestingly, Unilever's expensive projects haven't proven too costly in the wake of the 2009 recession, as new building projects continue, and Unilever is called the best place to work. This wonderful example of architecture can at least be partly a cause, or result, of this effort.
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12/17/11
Taj Mahal, Agra India
Emperor Shah Jahan created the Taj Mahal "crown of palaces" in Agra India, completed in 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri of Persia supervised the design, with extensive personal involvement in the construction, and architects included Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan and Makramat Khan. The famous white mausoleum is just one part of the enormous 55.5 acre complex, dedicated to Jahan's third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. But the notion of romantic dedication is ironic as it was their son, Aurangzeb, who arrested the Mughal leader shortly after the mausoleum's completion and held him in captivity until his death. The British invaders abused the site until it was restored in 1908.
The lotus flower is borrowed from the Egyptians as a symbol of regeneration in the afterlife. Indeed, the entire layout of this Islamic complex follows Egyptian sensibilities. A lively Taj Ganji, the equivalent of a shopping mall today, contrasts the spiritual otherworldliness of the complex. It gives way to a grand gateway structure full of tombs of servants and predatory rooms for the procession inside. A gathering hall for attendants recalls the Egyptian hall of Maat. The 300m2 Charbagh garden is divided into quadrants and alludes to the holy garden of paradise, with its fountains of life and cypress trees of death.
The mausoleum comes next in the procession and is flanked by mosques. The site gradually slopes downward in steps toward the river, as the water suggests rebirth and cleansing in the afterlife. The tombs are actually located below ground, at water level. The mausoleum's domes are tipped with moon symbols, and it is the moon garden across the river that symbolizes the eternal paradise awaiting the family. This moon symbol is ingeniously mixed with the symbol for Shiva, the Hindu god of exaltation.
The base is 55m across with chamfered corners, and a large pishtaq on each side in an iwan is flanked by stacked pishtaqs. Atop a 7m drums stands the 35m dome, which has the same height as the structure's length. It is flanked by smaller domed chattris, with guldastas beyond that, and minarets at the final corners. The minarets tilt outward as an opitcal illusion of vertical alignment from far away, much as with Greek temples. The rational design for repetition and proportion incorporated advanced calculus and revolutionized the idea of symmetry. Each element establishes a realm of space in the grand procession and gives greater privacy to the more intimate and inward concentric spaces. The technical achievement of Ismail Afandi's dome is only surpassed by the foundation structure of deep wells packed with stone.The calligraphy by Amanat Khan reveals that the tomb models the throne of God above the Garden of Paradise. An inscription on the southern facade on the main gate quotes the Q'uran: "Come back to your Lord... And enter you My Paradise!" The white marble of the edifice symbolizes purity and the light of the sun that revives the dead and inspires the living. Flowers, vines, and fruits carved into the stone emphasize growth in this heavenly garden. This element and the proportions of the building can make its language comparable to the Corinthian column, feminine and slender. The inlaid gems at the tombs further emphasize divine light, with the crypt's inscription: "O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious!"
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Video: Un-Muslim Origins , Secret Meanings
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