Bras Across the Kaw

Bras Across the Kaw is a Lawrence, KS event sponsored by the Health Care Access Clinic. With more than 800 bras strung across the Kansas River bridge volunteers hope to raise awareness about breast cancer, honor the memory of those who have lost their lives, and encourage regular breast cancer screenings to aide in early detection.

The Health Care Access Clinic’s aim is “to help facilitate access to health services for Douglas County residents with limited financial means who are not covered by private or governmental insurance programs.” If you or anyone you know is interested in obtaining breast cancer screenings from the Health Care Access Clinic please visit their website for details. If you would like more information about breast cancer awareness go to BreastCancer.org.

posted by: Tricia Rock

Designer Style: Charles Anastase

For his Spring 2009 collection Charles Anastase gave us Degas ballerinas and Lolita, with a dark side. The combination of geek chic, Victorian frills, and stiff tutu dresses with a bad girl attitude captures the duality of fashion. Should I be good or bad, soft or tough? With Anastase a girl does not have to choose. His collection pairs layered socks with towering platform sandals, transparent chiffon skirts and dresses atop gartered hosiery, and ruffled blouses flowing from beneath shrunken leather jackets.

Charles Anastase began as an artist in the early 2000s and soon took up the work of styling for photo shoots. His work as a stylist garnered recognition from the French fashion scene and soon after Anastase designed his first collection. Since his emergence onto the fashion scene, he has shown every season in Paris. His runway shows use intimate settings staged with various themes that range from Alice and Wonderland to the Great Depression. Anastase has an iconic client list including Yoko Ono, Rei Kawakubo, Chloe Sevigny, and Beth Ditto. Following a licensing agreement with Pier SpA and an exciting London debut with front row attendees such as Alexa Chung, it appears Anastase’s popularity has only just begun to rise.

See the full collection at Style.com

by: Tricia Rock

Street Art – b. d. eek

Recently The Rathaus found some new wheatpastes on the streets of Lawrence, KS and they appear to be the work of b. d. eek. Enjoy.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Communicating Through Architecture: Media Facades and the Digital Infrastructure

In Times Square, 1996, the first media facade is erected. At 1,000 square feet the screen now pales in comparison to the likes of those found in Seoul, Tokyo and even newer construction in Times Square. This technology, once limited to the United States, can now be found in nearly every metropolitan area worldwide and has become a symbol of a country’s power or a company’s position in their industry. While media facades are the billboards of the digital infrastructure, the layer extends so much deeper reaching into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. The proliferation of media facades, similar to that of cellular phones, PDAs, Bluetooth technology, laptop computers, and GPS technology is often dismissed or simply goes unnoticed, yet these devices allow instantaneous connection and relay of information with other people almost anywhere in the world. This is a feat found only in science fiction just 25 years ago. As the world becomes more and more connected, questions about sense of place and “here” are raised. Issues of this nature add additional challenges to the architect’s burden of creating powerful, place-specific architecture.

Architects and designers in the first half of the twentieth century were frequently, and often bitterly, at odds with how to handle the explosion of mechanized technology in the architectural landscape, debating whether the machine was a blessing or a curse when used in sterile, inhuman situations. The unnaturally perfected products of machines have, as predicted, come to dominate our consumer goods over those produced by hand in the last century. Now that the analog nature of machinery has cemented its importance in our cultures, we humans have turned over yet another new leaf in the creation of digital technology. Even more quickly than the spread of the machine a century ago, digital technologies have invaded our lives in the last decade thus creating an inter-connectivity never before seen. It’s an interconnected global community that places family members thousands of miles away within closer reach than next-door neighbors. Media is increasingly brought to our homes through Internet and HD television, replacing newspapers and magazines. The digitized and animated presentations in these new methods of conveying information exploits the natural human instincts that draw one to motion and interaction. Increasingly this is accomplished through public media facades in urban areas.

The digitization of information creates a potentially seamless dissemination of information in urban areas where watchful passersby are present twenty-four hours a day. The most densely populated areas in cities harbor the highest potential for testing new technologies because public opinion is easily corralled with such high exposure. Animated media facades are the newest, largest form of communication to be implemented in urban centers. The facades, often applied to existing buildings but increasingly integrated into new building design, provide architects, designers, advertisers and civic institutions with space to convey their given messages in the heavily traversed plazas and intersections of the world’s increasingly dense urban centers.

The dissemination of information has not, however, been the singular function behind media architecture. Digital infrastructure is progressively taking on an interactive role, providing both artists and pedestrians with an enormous public platform for self-expression. Whether in accordance with city planning or using artistic guerilla tactics, these large-scale interactive displays are creating a new perception of architecture while challenging classical notions of the facade. Whether playing host to a net of 10,000 LEDs or providing an eight-story backdrop to a powerful digital projection, even century old facades are being reused and redefined.

A number of examples of this type of digital infrastructure are currently displayed throughout the world. Here are a few photographic and video examples of the projects:

Dexia Tower, Brussels

Nova 3D Light Sculpture, Zurich

The NOVA trials from squidie on Vimeo

Kunsthaus, Graz

SPOTS, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin

Graffiti Research Lab

Crown Fountain, Chicago

special thanks to Ashlen Williams

Street Style: Spring 2009

With nearly a month of runway shows behind us for the Spring 2009 collections, one may find themselves wondering…but what about fall? In the fast paced world of fashion, seasons never seem to be in synch and the styles coming down the catwalk rarely translate to everyday wear. So instead, for inspiration I look to the attendees. Their styles are more wearable and better suited for the current season. Who better to consult for this inspiration than the king of street style himself Scott Schuman? His website The Sartorialist captures willing fashionistas at their best. The following are some of my favorite moments pictured by The Sartorialist during the Spring 2009 runway shows.

posted by: Tricia Rock