Hasta La Ideas

div style=”align: right;”img src=”http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/2010/08/0liquidmetmach005.jpg” width=”468″ height=”426″ alt=”0liquidmetmach005.jpg”//div

pApple’s “A HREF=”http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/25/apple-to-hold-special-event-september-1st-well-be-there-li/” special event/A” scheduled for next week (and probably heralding the arrival of a new iPod Touch) is intended to excite consumers, but it is yesterday’s Apple news that’s sure to capture the imagination of industrial designers./p

pAs A HREF=”http://www.cultofmac.com/worlds-most-advanced-machinery-was-reason-for-apples-liquidmetal-deal-expert-says/55322#more-55322″ reported by Cult of Mac/A, Apple has or will soon have “the most advanced manufacturing machine on the planet,” a prototype injection molding machine designed to accommodate Liquidmetal, the new material recently licensed by Apple. (The photo above is a “similar” machine made by the same company, Switzerland’s Buhler Group.)/pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/materials/apple_preparing_to_take_huge_production_method_leap_forward_with_the_most_advanced_manufacturing_machine_on_the_planet_17238.asp”(more…)/a
pa href=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/u32vngLhWnyP-IO220MuRVuNodk/0/da”img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/u32vngLhWnyP-IO220MuRVuNodk/0/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”/img/abr/
a href=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/u32vngLhWnyP-IO220MuRVuNodk/1/da”img src=”http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/u32vngLhWnyP-IO220MuRVuNodk/1/di” border=”0″ ismap=”true”/img/a/p

This visitor centre in Redbridge, England, by UK firm Sarah Wigglesworth Architects features a zig-zag roof with oversailing wooden trusses.

Situated in the heart of Ray Park, The James Leal Centre becomes a gateway to the Roding Valley and contains leisure and education facilities.

The north-facing sides of the roof have a shallow pitch and are covered in solar thermal collectors, while the south-facing sides are steeper and admit indirect natural light.

A translucent canopy covers a forecourt to the west, which can also be used as an outdoor gallery.

Photos are by Mark Hadden.

Here’s a bit more from the architect:

Ray Park Visitor Centre, Redbridge, London
2006 – 2009, £1.2 million

Located on elevated ground on the site of the former 18thC Ray House, this new sustainable building acts as a gateway to the Roding Valley Corridor, providing recreation and leisure facilities.

The flexible open plan space contains a café, exhibition, internet and toilet facilities, a teaching/training space and the Greenspace Team’s office.

An external translucent canopy defines a large forecourt to the west that acts as a gathering zone and outdoor exhibition area with cycle and disabled parking facilities.

The cafe extends south over a new terrace adjacent to raised planting beds which grow edible plants for use in the café.

The brief for a sustainable building is reflected in the roof form. Multiple pitches support solar thermal collectors on shallow south faces while steeper north faces allow good roof light.

The design includes passive earth tube cooling and a biomass boiler.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

See also:

.

Cremorne Riverside Centre by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects	Bermondsey Bike Store by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects	More architecture stories

Victorian paper art revival comes to NYC

Profiling people on September 11th may sound off, but when it’s done by master scissor artist Karl Johnson, your silhouette will never look so good. The Southern California-based artist brings his services to the NYC, handcrafting paper cut-outs of personalized portraits.

Johnson fashions the beautiful, vintage-inspired silhouettes from black paper in just a matter of minutes. A nearly extinct art form, his work spans simple to intricate, with each piece suggesting rich sentiment and personality of t.

Johnson will be on hand from 10am-5pm, 11 September 2010 at Babesta Cribz. Each profile costs just $25 with duplicates available for $15.

REPAIR – ready to pull the lifeline
In search of ways out of this mess we’ve gotten into, the 2010 Festival
for Art, Technology and Society ..

The website She-Conomy (a site that focuses on the business of marketing to women) recently published the article “Men, Women Lead 4 Out of 5 Stages of the Buying Process.” This interesting article discusses Marti Barletta’s research in the book Marketing to Women and how when “men and women buy as partners, women control at least four out of five stages of the purchasing process.”

The five stages of the buying process are Kick-off, Research, Purchase, Ownership, and Word-of-Mouth. Barletta’s research found that the only stage of the purchasing process men dominate is the actual laying down of the cash, and that women are in control of the other four. Then, she implies that men don’t actually control the buying, even though they think they do.

The explanation about the Research stage of the buying process is eerily similar to how we plan purchases in our home, except it isn’t always me taking on this role:

Once the decision has been made to make a purchase, it is the woman who does research to develop the short list. She may begin with numerous options, but she is very detail oriented as she narrows the field … They consult with close friends and family, as well as experts, Web social networking, local news and magazines. Once she feels she has investigated all of her options thoroughly, she compiles the short list or makes a final decision.

It is this list or choice that she shares with the man. So if your product or service doesn’t make it on this list, it is very unlikely it will be considered when it comes time to make the purchase. After all of the research and time she has put into it, she typically knows exactly what she wants.

In my relationship with my husband, we usually alternate who is the researcher and who is the buyer based upon who is interested in the purchase. Having the researcher not being the person who is putting down the money for the product usually means that we’re spending more wisely than we do independently. We’re smarter consumers because there are two of us involved in the process.

Even if the research is true and the majority of women in relationships do control the five stages of the buying process, it doesn’t always have to be this way in your home. You can mix things up as a way to keep your spending in check and be smarter consumers. If you’re not in a relationship, you can use these five stages as a checklist to ensure that you’re being a smart consumer and not simply purchasing things on impulse.

Overall, I found this article to be a fascinating analysis on the buying process and how products find their way into our homes. The more we know about the science of buying, the better, more informed consumers we can be.

Thanks to reader Deb for introducing us to this research.

Like this site? Buy Erin Rooney Doland’s Unclutter Your Life in One Week from Amazon.com today.