Category: visual

Tablet devices and mobile apps have become appealing media for artists.

“The UK’s major museums and art galleries raked in £1bn from overseas visitors in 2009, according to the national tourist authority. Of about 30 million visits made to the UK last year, over a third included a trip to a leading cultural institution.”

“Earlier this year came word from New York about one of the more intriguing architecture competitions to emerge in some time. Sukkah City asked architects to reimagine the sukkah, a temporary hut-like structure built in the fall to commemorate the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot.” Twelve finalists will show their work in Manhattan’s Union Square Sept. 19-20.

“A cake made from bricks and a big blue bird are among six artworks unveiled Thursday as finalists for a coveted place alongside Adm. Horatio Nelson in London’s Trafalgar Square.”

“The Egyptian capital’s Museum of Islamic Art – the world’s largest – was officially reopened by President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday after an eight-year restoration project. However the public will still have to wait another two weeks until the start of September to be able to view its 25 galleries containing 2,500 artifacts.”

Chandigarh, designed and constructed as a capital for the Indian state of Punjab, was for years dismissed as empty, sterile, overplanned and misguided – an Asian Brasilia. Yet today visitors are drawn to the city for Le Corbusier’s now-historic (if rather worn) architecture, and his urban planning is considered a model.

Witold Rybczynski pays tribute to the design genius of our “vernacular landscape” – the garage, the ATM, the big-box store, the gas station, even the parking lot.

“Risk aversion has become the rule, however, in part because bashing big-name innovators is in style. I.M. Pei and other celebrity architects are frequent whipping boys. America’s prowess in design and construction has eroded.”

“More museums are paying to send stealth observers through their galleries. Based on what they see, the museums may rearrange art or rewrite the exhibit notes.”

“The free app uses 300 Wi-Fi access points to triangulate location within the building. Visitors can locate themselves on a map and get detailed, step-by-step directions to exhibits, restrooms, shops and cafes. There also are tours and treasure hunts available.”