Plastic

Recently the fashion publication Lucire did a feature on plastic surgery from a plastic surgeon's point of view. An article written by Dr Luciano Lanfranchi himself, he outlines the guidelines and concerns he has with his own field and practice. Many of the points mentioned are directly related to the creative disciplines in general.

Harmony, proportion and safety are in different ways applicable to other creative practitioners. In architecture, for example, harmony of the 'architectural intervention' with the existing fabric of the city must be maintained. Proportion of the spaces and how the building sits on the site a huge factor in urban design and safety for those who use the creative product is guarded by a tome of building standards.

The tricky thing about Dr Lanfranchi's form of art is that he is modifying the human body itself. Whereas a field such as fashion works with the body, plastic surgeons work on the body. We know the human body intimately - the human figure has been studied intensely from every angle, from medical anatomy to Da Vinci's detailed studies. The difficulty is in the involvement of a unique individual:

Even if these three fundamental concepts represent the meeting point between a plastic surgeon, an architect, a designer, and a musician, we rarely strike 1 + 1 = 2 in medicine, since there are a lot of possible variables that change from patient to patient.

That’s why we are all like single snowflakes: unique and unrepeatable.

So does medicine carry the ultimate burden of the creative? It works with the most fundamental building block of humanity - the body and in doing so, the mind. Nor is it sheer creation but working with the framework that already exists. I was surprised at how similar the issues that a plastic surgeon has to deal with are to the other creative arts - so vastly different but with the same undercurrents that we can all learn from.

Read the original article at Lucire's website.

Harmony

In Bb 2.0 is a music collaboration that was prepared over the interwebs. It takes the form of a bunch of Youtube clips with their creators making a sound. Follow the instructions, turn them on and you get a symphony that somehow works. I'm afraid my musical knowledge only goes that far - perhaps they all use the key B flat? It's a key that I often enjoy when playing music, for its melancholic yet strong qualities.

Make sure you take a look and listen at http://wwww.inbflat.net/

Sunset

Photographed at Meola Reef.

Parts

The intricacies of engineering and aesthetics such as the steam punk movement all glorify the innards of what most see as whole, very useful objects. In the way one might draw something as an exploded axonometric, Brittny Badger has photographed gadgets after painstakingly taking each component apart and recomposing them for the lens. Suddenly they become a thing of their own with shreds of familiarity to the pieces, whether it be the bit that glows in front of your morning toast, or the colours that are revealed when a cord frays.

Engorged2

Take a second look at this modern piece of furniture, for you can eat it. Nothing like a bit of attention to detail.

For more posts on food, check out the Culinary section.

Vals

Therme Vals by Peter Zumthor is hailed by many as a wonder to behold in the architectural world. As architecture students, the more you see it, the more you hear about it, and the more you investigate its details, the more you drool.

But its future is, at current, uncertain. The real world has caught up the spa full of ethereal shadowed spaces. Finance and management issues have crumbled the very foundations of what makes this piece of contemporary architecture from becoming an abandoned rock in the landscape. Peter Zumthor, who has fought very hard for this project to go ahead in the first place is now taking matters back into his own hands, trying to strike a balance between financier and the culture of Vals.

It is fantastic to see a creative practitioner care so much for his own brain child. Architecture to an architect is as a painting is to an artist - it is an extension of oneself - at least for those creative products which are made with not only effort, but instinctive creation. Those are the ones worth protecting and are the best of the practice, in my opinion.

I can only hope the Therme Vals will not be gone or lessened before I visit it! It unites two passions for me: architecture and a good soaking in a spa.

For a detailed video report about the current dilemma of the Therme Vals, visit Swiss Info

Crates

When I first saw this crates project I was hesitant to even click it. Although a rather neat office space was created, would someone actually want to work around and about the wooden pallet feeling? The office comes complete with a crate wall divider (which I'm sure has no acoustic anything) and a set of perilous crate stairs.

Imagine walking around your office and 'desk space' with the thud and creak of the wood at every step. 

It's not that I don't like the reappropriation of used or common materials. If only there was a cleanness to the design or if the unit was transformed so you almost couldn't even tell it was a wooden crate (see the post where chopsticks transcend themselves in a chair design). There's a reason materials are dressed and prepared, like the Pacific notion of 'teu' - creating a pureness in the material before using it.

More about this design for BrandBase Office at Design Milk.