urban explorer

This guy is seriously cool. Theo Jansen, artist, engineer, god? has created a new species, the Strandbeest. For the past 10 years Jansen has been constructing the Strandbeest out of plastic electrical conduit. The Strandbeesten use the power of the wind as their lifesource. A hydraulic system driven by compressed wind enables them to move freely. Jansen has developed a genetic code using the basic module of the cheapest conduit available as its generic DNA. Each strandbeest is constructed according to this genetic code. He then races the Strandbeesten against one another in order to determine which combination of DNA is the best, he then modifies the weaker Strandbeesten in order to strengthen the species as a whole. It is Jansen’s dream that the Strandbeesten will outlive him and eventually form their own communities, living freely in nature. Also, go to his website and check out the Rhinoceros Transport

The open road, nothing but my good friend Henning’s wonderful violet bike and my trusty pluggers (flip flops, thongs…whatever) then all of a sudden…..a sharp corner, some furios peddling, the brakes slam on…..we have a blow out…. no not the bike, my trusty pluggers have decided to call it a day leaving me ‘barefoot in Berlin’. After some careful consideration i decided the only sensible thing to do would be to visit Daniel Libeskind’s famed Jewish Museum. After my previous Libeskind experience i thought i would be in for a treat this time, and if not the novelty of my exposed digits would provide a novel distraction to any unispiring architecture. After managing to wander in barefooted past the security (minus my swiss army knife) i thought i would make use of this uniquely tactile experience by documenting a footographic account of the building.

To be honest the tactile qualities and the building in general were pretty disappointing, but it was definately fun, so much so that i recommend all dedicated students of architecture to go on barefoot tours of their favourite buildings today!