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There is something I’ve always loved about a city with hardly anyone living in it.  I just recently blogged about China’s Ordos and before it, about others like it.  Urville, though, takes the cake because it exists entirely in the head of its chief architect, savant Gilles Trehin.  And he’s been drawing it for the last twenty years.

(io9 – again)

This is a brand new, absolutely jaw-droppingly beautiful museum designed by some truly phenomenal architects in the middle of Ordos, a city in China…with a population of zero people.  Did I mention it’s also in the heart of the Gobi dessert?

China, dear, what are you doing?

I would also like to point out that it’s basically a set from the Charlize Theron reboot of Æon Flux, a fact that I have no problem with but still merits mentioning.

Come to think of it, though, if you were to construct the last city on Earth, you couldn’t really do much better than the Gobi, right?

(io9)

Since I will most likely forget by the time I get to reading it, I want to remind myself publicly to pick up a copy of 1Q84.  This NPR review explains why.

Its mention coincides nicely with Kate’s question:  ”Did you see the time-lapse video of Tokyo set to the score of Blade Runner?”

android dreams from Samuel Cockedey on Vimeo.

The answer to which is now “Yes.” What a perfect companion to Murakami’s book.

In this product showcase from Corning – that io9 has dubbed “creepy” – we are presented with a world that benefits largely from the ubiquitous integration of touch-enable data displays integrated into every day glass surfaces. It’s beautiful and I want to live in this version of the future, but I think the first YouTube commenter summed up a nagging feeling in the back of my mind best:

BUY STOCK IN WINDEX NOW!!!

Aside from the impossibly clean houses, cars and public spaces that Corning seems to envision, I am also curious about how we are powering more and more screens at bigger and bigger sizes.  How are we producing all of this glass and where?  And who has access to the technology aside from the conspicuously diverse group of under 40s actors who portrayed “the near future”.

They may always end up as fodder for Paleofuture, but these videos sure do encapsulate the nearly Utopian dreams of our modern society, don’t they?

You’d better believe that if BMW was going to look to the future of travel, Audi was going to not only take a peak at mobility but also the concept of how we will live in a mobile world – and then create a damned juried prize and conference series around it. It’s probably my inner SimCity lover, but the shape of tomorrow’s urban spaces has always fascinated me so I’m all for Audi’s newest project.  I am more than dubious that the car will be the catalyst for our development as a species, though.

(Autoblog via Translogic)

What will the world look like in 2019?  io9 posts a video interview with visual futurist (a title I’d kill for), Syd Mead, that aims to answer this question.

2019: A Future Imagined from Flat-12 on Vimeo.

I think what I enjoyed most was Syd’s advice for doing good work – being the creator, the technician and the observer. This is kind of the core of my job and has been since I started at 19, so it’s good to hear it from such a visionary. Thanks, Syd!

Does anyone else think this exceptionally well-shot ad for The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas looks like it could be a promotion for the next vampire hotel visited on True Blood?

New-old coworker, Hannah, just sent me this über cool video of a Czech clock tower being brought back to its former glory in Prague. Wouldn’t it be cool to try this with any number of historic buildings in small towns across the country? I can imagine this being an outstanding history project – just wonder how difficult it would be to actually pull off?

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

All boxes are unpacked.  All books shelved.  All floors vacuumed.  All curtains hung.  It’s an incredibly relaxing feeling and I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out.

For those of you who can’t see Flickr’s Flash-tactic player, the set is here.

Kate and I met the movers at my current abode here in State College on Wednesday morning after racing up through the twisty, confounding backroads that Google had chosen for us near Lancaster.  The three man crew made a mockery of every moving attempt I’ve ever undertaken (thirteen as of this one) and got everything plopped in roughly the right spot within three hours.  Wegman’s was visited, Target was repeatedly purchased-from and a mountain of cardboard and packing paper (seriously, guys – that much?!) has been trickling out to the dumpster.  I will theoretically have more to add soon, but it’s all been a rush and I can’t believe I’m actually here again.  Surreal, for sure but not uncomfortable by any means.

Here’s a photo of the living room thus far.  Books and trinkets will be unboxed tomorrow: