04 PM | 05 Feb

Parallax – 2009 National Architecture Conference

A line-up of leading international designers and thinkers is assembling for Australia’s foremost architecture conference in April, 2009.

Parallax is this year’s Australian Institute of Architects national conference, under the creative direction of  TERROIR directors Gerard Reinmuth (Sydney), Richard Blythe (Melbourne) and Scott Balmforth (Hobart).

TERROIR’s provocative program invites the profession to take a ‘parallax’ view of the conditions in which it practices, heartily fuelled by contributions from leading international designers, philosophers and cultural commentators.

Confirmed conference guest, the controversial public intellectual Slovoj Žižek (Slovenia/UK), uses parallax to refer to situations where the same thing, when viewed from two different perspectives, presents itself in two completely irreconcilable ways.

“Žižek’s confronting assertions will make us think much harder about what we are willing to believe and accept. His interrogative perspective will stir our thoughts about the choices we make as practitioners and how we determine what becomes privileged in our selections,” said Reinmuth on behalf of the creative team.

Other confirmed guests are: Aaron Betsky (USA), Tatiana Bilbao (Mexico), Sou Fujimoto (Japan), Bijoy Jain (India), Jeff Kipnis (USA) and Peter Wilson (Australia/UK/Germany).

Describing their program as the “writers festival of architecture”, the creative directors have designed six main thematic sessions – Studio, Politics, Media, Young Guns, Collaboration and The Cosmopolitan. Each is built around two key speakers exploring a specific issue, followed by a facilitated panel for extended discussion and debate. The Parallax format promises free flowing discussion with regular crossovers during the event.

“The best conferences build momentum as they unfold over a few days, as key topics emerge in response to the particular cocktail of speakers present and the opportunities they are given to unpack these topics over an extended period,” said Reinmuth.

In the 12 workshop sessions a keynote guest will discuss issues of particular local relevance of contemporary practice in conversation with an Australian speaker.

Early bird registrations: March 2nd, 2009

Parallax – 2009 National Architecture Conference 30 April – 2 May, Melbourne architecture.com.au/parallax

More info on Žižek – http://www.ff.uni-lj.si/oddelki/filo/english/staff/zizeka.htm Žižek’s Facebook page: –  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slavoj-Zizek/8406557479

02 PM | 04 Feb

Rubik’s Cube inventor is back with new Rubik’s 360

A new game by Professor Erno Rubik, inventor of the iconic Cube, is tipped to become a best-seller when it goes on sale.   The Rubik’s 360 is set to repeat the success of the maddening Cube, which became an overnight sensation almost three decades ago and remains the world’s fastest-selling toy.

Now the reclusive Hungarian inventor hopes to recreate the buzz of Rubik’s Cube with his new game, featuring six balls trapped within three transparent plastic spheres.

The puzzle, shown to the Sunday Telegraph is being unveiled at a toy industry fair in Germany on February 5; the toy confronts users with the same frustrating challenge – a task that is simple to understand, with only one possible solution, yet extremely difficult to execute.

Players must get the coloured balls from an inner sphere into matching slots on the outer sphere by shaking them through a middle sphere that has only two holes.

Read more of the story at The Telegraph, UK.