Spark 117 – June 20 & 22, 2010

On this episode of Spark: Virtual Street Corners, responsive architecture, and the future of public libraries. Click below to listen to the whole show, or download the MP3 (runs 54:00).

Play audio:

You can also listen to individual stories below.

The future of public library design

What can public libraries learn from retail bookstores?

For a long time, libraries were repositories of a scarce good: information. But now, information online is everywhere, at least for those with access to the Internet. So, public libraries need to think about being valuable as public space, as community hubs, and as places to help navigate the seas of data to find quality information.

One approach to this comes from the New Library in Almere, The Netherlands. It takes many design cues from retail bookstores. Nora talked to Chris Wiersma, the director of the New Library, and Erikjan Vermeulen from the architecture firm concrete about the library’s design. Then, for a Canadian perspective on the future of library design, Nora talked to Gerry Meek, CEO of the Calgary Public Library. (Runs 16:12)

Play audio:

• The New Library in Almere
• PSFK: Library Or Bookstore: New Netherlands Branch Blurs The Line
• concrete
• Calgary Public Library
• Nora’s full interview with Gerry Meek

Virtual Street Corners

John Ewing is an artist based in Boston, and earlier this month, he launched Virtual Street Corners. It’s a pair of interactive video screens in two different neighbourhoods: Coolidge Corner, Brookline, and Dudley Square, Roxbury. Each corner has a display, a camera and a microphone. When you look at one video screen, you’re actually looking at a completely different corner in a completely different neighbourhood. It’s like a digital portal. Nora talked to John Ewing about the project. (Runs 7:18)

Play audio:

• Virtual Street Corners
• Nora’s full interview with John Ewing

Gumdrop and upcycling

Each year in the UK, 3.5 billion pieces of chewing gum are disposed of improperly. And that’s something product designer Anna Bullus is trying to change. Anna has created Gumdrop, a chewing gum disposal bin that’s made of used chewing gum.

You might think that Gumdrop is just an inventive, kinda wacky idea, but beyond the issue of chewed gum, it’s an example of something that’s actually a big design trend these days: upcycling. Nora talked to Anna Bullus and product and experience designer Todd Falkowsky about the trend. (Runs 14:30)

Play audio:

• Gumdrop
• Anna Bullus
• The Canadian Design Resource Website

Responsive architecture

Imagine window blinds that shut themselves when it gets too sunny. Or a house that knows when you’re coming home from a winter vacation.

Ideas like this are part of a new movement in building design: responsive architecture. Responsive architecture is actually already beginning to become a reality in the actual buildings around us. Lisa Rochon is the architecture critic at the Globe and Mail and she talked to Nora about Canadian developments in responsive architecture. (Runs 11:16)

Play audio:

• Nora’s interview with Philip Beesley aired on Spark 116
• North House

Episode Details

Additional links:

• YouTube Play
• Nora asked for help with her Nicholas Carr interview

Creative Commons sound effects used in this episode:

• “Countdown” by Corsica_S
• uk_call_tone.wav by ukjoncollins

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[Original images by westher, Virtual Street Corners, Isla Macleod, North House]