Subject: Viridian Note 00338: Sustainable Metropolis

Key concepts:: Metropolis magazine, sustainability

Attention Conservation Notice:: an invitation to green viewers and designers from "Metropolis," a magazine the Pope-Emperor reads faithfully.

Links:

http://www.time.com/time/roomba/index.html
The Roomba Robot Vacuum, a consumer emanation from Rodney Brooks of MIT.

http://www.reemco.com/pets/catmantis.html
How have we lived this long without the "Reemco Cat Mantis"?

Entries in the Biofuture Robot Dog Contest:

From: Laura Sterling http://www.viridiandesign.org/contests/laura.html
From: Mark Simpkins <mark*nodalpoints.org>
http://www.nodalpoints.org/viridian/index.html
From: Paul Jimenez <pj*place.org>
http://www.place.org/~pj/ROVER.txt
From: Giles Turnbull <giles*gorjuss.com>
http://gilest.org/242

"Hi Bruce - my entry is up. - Giles"

From: david rice <david*futurefeedforward.com>
http://futurefeedforward.com/dingostroller.html

"I whipped up a little entry for the dog contest. I've had some downtime before I begin my new job, so I've started a futurefeedforward novel. I am also the proud father of a newly built Linux system."

From: Duncan Stewart <stewarts*stewarts.org>
http://www.stewarts.org/viridian/gbn/watson.htm

"Well, the competition is looking good...a little too good, in fact. I decided I'd better finish up now before all the good ideas get published.

"I present to you Watson(tm), the complete companion- building system from your friends at <company as yet unnamed>
. A mixture of tried-and-true technologies and pure speculation. But with the right financing... crossing my fingers... Duncan Stewart"

This contest ends September 30, 2002.

Source: Metropolis magazine http://www.metropolismag.com

"Newsletter of Metropolis Magazine 9/2002

"The Sustainable Metropolis

"At the beginning of this section, we invite viewers to submit their sustainably designed projects for use on our site. We're looking for houses and office towers, as well as thoughtfully designed chairs, tables, or other furnishings == all emphasizing environmentalism and creativity. Please send your sustainable project, including jpegs and a list of green features, to Metropolis at talk2us*metropolis.com.

"Here are two very different, yet equally important submissions:

"A Simple House in Washington, D.C.

"My wife, Julie, is an environmental policy researcher and I am a partner at istudiodesign, a Washington, D.C.-based collaboration of architects, designers, and planners dedicated to the design of livable, sustainable communities. We chose this house, our first, for sustainable reasons."

http://www.metropolismag.com/html/sustainable/simplehouse.html

"Pharmacia Laboratory Building

"Green features need to be planned from the very start of a project, not simply added as an afterthought. A pre- design charette, hosted by Bill Browning of the Rocky Mountain Institute, was held off-site with Flad & Associates and other members of the design team, the client, and the contractor. Careful use of sustainable techniques and materials should save Pharmacia an estimated $800,000 per year in energy costs."

http://www.metropolismag.com/html/sustainable/pharmacia.html

From: Bruce Sterling [bruces@well.com] Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 5:12 PM