m.arch

Though probably best known for the once abhorred but now treasured glass-and-steel pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre, master modernist architect Ieoh Ming Pei’s (RIP, *1917 – †2019) first major commission in 1961—construction completed by 1967—a flagship laboratory for the US National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, also deserves appreciation.
The Mesa Labs and headquarters building, the cubist structure suggestive of exhaust vents or ship funnels, remarkably continues to serve its original function all these decades later, conducting crucial studies climate change and modelling, and earned I.M. Pei the industry recognition that would lead him to other projects, including the Dallas City Hall, bank buildings, libraries and galleries around the world.

jet set

The TWA hotel housed in an incredibly restored 1962 terminal designed by Eero Saarinen (previously) has just recently celebrated its grand opening and welcomes its first guests at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York. Given the convenience and immersive atmosphere that perfectly captures all the best of Mid-Century modern glamour, lodging seems rather reasonably priced and it costs nothing to visit and walk through the main terminal. Learn more at CityLab at the link above.

morning sedition

Having debuted on the radio in November 1979, the opening theme for NPR’s Morning Edition by BJ Leiderman has become something sacrosanct and dear to listeners, like the prohibition against crashing the pips or how German state broadcasters tried to update the eight o’clock news music but quickly changed it back a few years ago, so we found it more than a bit off-putting that they changed it from the prosaic classic to something that sounds like an alarm designed by a committee of self-styled sleep hygienists to be a less jarring wake-up call. What do you think? Both versions are below for comparison—with additional lyrics from Conan O’Brien.

our polite society

As a vehicle to explore globalism versus localism and identity—plus dominance and obsolescence, a resident of the factory town of Åtvidaberg partnered with the above design studio in a visual research project on the office equipment manufacturer FACIT AB and its legacy through its ephemera. Founded in 1922, the Swedish corporation produced typewriters, office furnishings and mechanical calculators through the 1970s, losing its relevance to Japanese-produced electronic models. In business theory, the failure if the company to adapt and embrace a technological shift is called the Facitfällen—the Facit Trap, especially when there is no funding- or skill-gap.

gotōchi-kyara

I had a passing acquaintance with the rich and strange world of Japanese municipal and corporate mascots but I now realise that I’ve been gravely underestimating the scope and variety after being referred to a veritable clearinghouse of the characters by Super Punch, first introducing us to Madori-kun, a martial arts wrestler with a blueprint of a small apartment for a face that is the symbol for a real estate agency.
Mondo Mascots has amassed and catalogued over ten thousand images of these Yuru-chara (ゆるキャラ—the title is the term for a local character, a specific reference to area mascots) in costume, rendered or plush form and there are already too many superlative examples to list in this growing collection—so it’s worth investigating the archives and sharing some of your favourites. We also particularly liked this floating, stony Pokémon that’s come to represent the Iwate Prefecture (岩手県, literally “rock hand,” after a legend that a menacing demon was lashed to the local cliff face until pledging to leave the villagers alone, making a hand impression on the rock as a sign—still visible after a rain), especially the way the legs are made invisible.

share your story

In a case of biting the vile hand that feeds him, Donald Trump is soliciting for and collecting grievances of social media users who feel that they’ve been banned or banished unfairly, countenancing the chief platforms for politic bias against the right.
To lodge one’s complaint, a detailed questionnaire is completed to include previous warnings, user policy, etc. This is not the first time we’ve seen Trump and compatriots curry individual favour as a way to undermine critics and not the first accusations flung at social media—who’ve been fairly agnostic about the monster they’ve elevated, however outside the norm and another way to weaponise and pander to entrenched beliefs. Of course it might also be a cynical ploy (also not without precedent) to identify with greater granularity potential voters for targeted campaign advertising.