Aaron Koblin - TED talk

This is an extraordinary talk by someone doing extraordinary work. I have used his work in my lectures and have even posted his video for Radiohead HERE. His emphasis on interface is what is I find most compelling. The amount of data we have available to us is nothing less than overwhelming. His work is taking data and changing how we interface with it. I am really struck by how he has incorporated anonymous (or not) people into the creation of these beautiful works.

The idea of interfacing with data, the world really, is the notion that led me to creating Visible Certainty as a course. As architects we are creating spatial, visual, and experiential interfaces whenever we create architecture. There must be some way for us to use data as a fecund source of making architecture. Koblin's work certainly leads me to wonder how architects can create work that interfaces with data -- not in a mimetic way, but one where the interpretive savvy of the designer is rendered visible. Because architecture can not be as dynamic or instantly responsive as Java or HTML 5, we ought to act as interpreters of data; calling out disparities or visualizing differences.