Playpumps

I came across this site while doing some research for the creative playground currently under construction in Richmond. The PlayPump is a creative solution to providing clean drinking water in Africa and adding some great play value for children. This is one type of child labour to feel positive about.

We were considering using this at the playground in Richmond, but it didn't work out for our site. However, we will definitely look for other opportunities in the future.

The link to the frontline website features a brief video telling the story of the pump.

FRONTLINE/WORLD . Rough Cut . South Africa: The Play Pump | PBS

PlayPumps International

Majora Carter - Greening the Ghetto

We are currently working for the Vancouver Parks Board on Oppenheimer Park. This project is in the heart of the downtown eastside. This is a challenging project for us and one that we are honoured to be involved with. The goal of this project is to develop a park that inclusive of the diverse community without driving people from the park. The space is already one of the most used park spaces in the city and we hope we can make it better for the community.

The video below is of Majora Carter from the Sustainable South Bronx it is encouraging to hear the passion in her voice. She is spearheading efforts that utilize sustainable open space to help improve the lives of the community. Check out what they are doing at www.ssbx.org - and help support them by buying a T shirt. I already have mine - green the ghetto. I was particularly excited about this because it sort of marries two things close to my heart public realm and hip hop.

powers of 10

This is a classic video produced by the Eames office in 1977. It graphically illustrates the scale of the universe, definitely ahead of its time.

Cyclone Hart vs. Vito Antuofermo

The following story was featured in the NY Times magazine recently. It is a story that Bill Parcels uses to inspire his football team, though I believe it has relevance for most people. The story is part of an excellent article written by Micheal Lewis.

Parcells didn’t see the Hart-Antuofermo fight in person but was told about it, years ago, by a friend and boxing trainer, Teddy Atlas. It stuck in his mind and now strikes him as relevant. Seated, at first, he begins to read aloud from the pages: how in this fight 29 years ago Hart was a well-known big puncher heavily favored against the unknown Vito Antuofermo, how Hart knocked Antuofermo all over the ring, how Antuofermo had no apparent physical gifts except “he bled well.” “But,” Parcells reads, “he had other attributes you couldn’t see.” Antuofermo absorbed the punishment dealt out by his natural superior, and he did it so well that Hart became discouraged. In the fifth round, Hart began to tire, not physically but mentally. Seizing on the moment, Antuofermo attacked and delivered a series of quick blows that knocked Hart down, ending the fight.

“When the fighters went back to their makeshift locker rooms, only a thin curtain was between them. Hart’s room was quiet, but on the other side he could hear Antuofermo’s cornermen talking about who would take the fighter to the hospital. Finally he heard Antuofermo say, ‘Every time he hit me with that left hook to the body, I was sure I was going to quit. After the second round, I thought if he hit me there again, I’d quit. I thought the same thing after the fourth round. Then he didn’t hit me no more.’

At that moment, Hart began to weep. It was really soft at first. Then harder. He was crying because for the first time he understood that Antuofermo had felt the same way he had and worse. The only thing that separated the guy talking from the guy crying was what they had done. The coward and the hero feel the same emotions. They’re both human.”

What kind of genius are you?

Author David Galenson has developed a theory where he identifies two distinct types of geniuses. His book, Old Masters and Young Geniuses: Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity, analyses the career paths of major artists and recognizes a pattern. One group he calls the conceptual innovators are characterized by early achievement and creating their masterpieces at an early age. They have a strong vision of what they want to create and typically work quickly in the creation of their work. Conceptual innovators identified are: Picasso, Mozart, Maya Lin, and Orson Welles.

The second group of geniuses, experimental innovators, typcially create their most signifigant work later in life. They often don't know where they are going when they start a project. They are constantly tinkering and refining their projects and arrive at a conclusion through trial and error. Experimental innovators identified are: Cezanne, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alfred Hitchcock, and Beethoven.

While Galenson primarily studies artists this thinking can also be applied to other fields as well. It is an interesting idea. I can see alot of value understanding how we arrive at our ideas. Malcolm Gladwell delivered a lecture at Columbia based on these ideas, using a comparison between Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles as an illustration.