Esoteric Survey

Home of the Future, 1925–1985: Designing Domestic Utopias at LACMA The exhibition explores the technological optimism of futuristic living while questioning who was excluded from this high-tech future and whether this domestic utopia was ever realized. Spoiler alert, it hasn't been. The exhibition was curated by Wendy Kaplan, Bobbye Tigerman and Staci Steinberger. Having an ephemera display on the title wall is a good sign. The exhibition starts off with machine age designs, like the Beta chair and model by Nathan George Horwitt and Morris Katcher (1929). Nothing says industrial progress like hygienic tubular chrome. Gilbert Rohde lamp/table (1933), Walter von Nessen lamp (1927).  These were used at Kingswood at Cranbrook Academy . I can't believe I didn't do a full blog post on that. Lurelle Van Arsdale Guild Electrolux vacuum (1937). Lester Beall Wash Day. Rural Electrification Administration (1937). Sun-Kraft Jr. portable ultraviolet ray lamp by Frank Furedy (1947) Ra...

Eva Zeisel Space dividers Dansk and Trude Petri   Bucky and Creative Playthings

For years I've had a childhood memory of playing in a space age bubble. I asked my mom and she had no idea what I was talking about. My deep digging on the web never provided any leads. I remembered it was in Rohr Park in Chula Vista, which also had a mini railroad. Last week, after talking to a friend who also had memories of the bubble, I decided to do another search. It paid off.   Source: Chula Vista Star News This is the one I played on. It was constructed in 1978.  It went by many names, such as Soap Bubble Castle, Bubble Maze, Curved Space Diamond System, or Curved Space Labyrinth. The Lexan plastic structure is a "nature-based, large scale, sculptural system that maps the geometry of a diamond crystal at approximately 16 billion times its actual size".  Peter Jon Pearce created the Curved Space Diamond System to demonstrate built environments patterned after natural structures. Much along the same lines as the  Metabolism ...