11.24.2010

krazy for kites!

It seems the whole world is
KRAZY for KITES!!!
This is an early
"Winged box kite"
Châteaux de Rouzat
France
1905
Nice sun hat Jean-Claude.

G.S. Kemp
Assistant to
with a "Levitor kite"
used in Marconi's early experiments.
Guglielmo Marconi
1874-1937
You can blame this 
nobel prize 
winning joker 
for your annoying cell phone.

in action testing his
"Manlift kites"
in Stanwell Park, Australia,
1894.
In case you were wondering,
that's his assistant
James Swan to the right.

 Larry again,
playing with his silly kites.
This time he is working out some cellular permutations.
Crazy Larry!

 "War Kite"
by
1904
Assitant unknown

Check-out SFC's stash!
Nice lid too Sammy.

Cody again,
with his
"Cody Kite Corps"
1904.
He was such a badass.

Cody showing off
(that apparently wasn't hard for him)
just a few of his kites
1905.

The man, the myth, the
badass.

"Man carrying biplane glider kite"
by who else 
but
1905

Members of Cody's Kite Corps
with a
"Lifter kite"

"Man-lifting kite"
France
1910

in da house!
"Bell kite"
1902
(This was later turned into a winged boat,
where is that picture?)

You are 
SO strong 
Dr Bell....
Rockin' 'stash too!

One of Dr. Bell's
"early cellular giants"
 being launched.
(Moments after this shot, the kite broke apart.)

 "Siamese Twins"
Dr. Bell's potential
"man-carrier"
1905

Dr. Bell 
with his
"Oinos kite"
1902

Kite flying
in
Biarritz, France
1904

Walter Brook
holding a
"Jibbed box kite"
early 1900s
Wally and his brother Thomas
formed
and cashed in on the kite craze.
The company is still around today
in case you are looking for a
kite.

again
and some of his
dihedral and cellular kite configurations.
1893
Cool

'"The finest kite designer of all time."
and "aide"
with a
"Aerocurve kite"
1897
This design would later be the basis 
for early biplanes.

Selection of
English "box kites"
designed to carry advertising banners.
(You knew that was coming....)
1920s

"Twelve-sided giant radial-wingerd kite"
Dr. Bell again.
This is my favorite.
The "helper" 
on the ground
will remain annoymous....

More 

11.23.2010

blow me: inflatable art, architecture and design

Michael Webb
of
Archigram Group
with his
full-size model of the 
"Cushicle"
1967
(David Green inside)
Looks comfy!
I wish I knew what his glasses were all about....

Warren Chalk, Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton,
 Ron Herron
"Control and Choice Dwellings"
1967

Frank Lloyd Wright
"Rubber Fiberthin Airhouse"
(for the U.S. Rubber Company)
1956

Jean-Paul Jungmann, Jean Aubert, Antoine Stinco
"Architecture Pneumatiques"
Paris
1967

Jean-Paul Jungmann, Jean Aubert, Antoine Stinco
"Architecture Pneumatiques"
Paris
1967

Jean-Paul Jungmann, Jean Aubert, Antoine Stinco
"Architecture Pneumatiques"
Paris
1967

Frei Otto
Inflatable Pavilion
Rotterdam Expo
1958

Nicolas Grimshaw and Partners
Cornwall, England
2001

Haus-Rucker-Co.
"Gelbes Herz"
1968

Haus-Rucker-Co.
"Gelbes Herz"
(Yellow Heart)
1968

Haus-Rucker-Co.
"Oasis 7"
Presentation at documenta 5
Kassel, Germany
1972

"Structures Gonflables"
Musée de la Ville de Paris
1968
LOOK GREG!
There's a "Silver Cloud"!

Otto Piene
"A Field of Hot Air Sculptures Over a Fire in the Snow"
MIT
1969
Totally rad.

Hans Haacke
"Sky Line"
Central Park
NYC
1967

Maurice Agis
"Dreamspace"
This would later
(I think it was the pissed off ghost of Verner Panton....)
Visiona II (Verner Panton)
1970

Bernard Quentin
N.Y. World's Fair
1964

William H. Miller
"Chair"
1944

"Barbarella"
Rodger Vadim director
(That's Jane Fonda being imprisoned by,
it seems like, 
Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne?)
See what I mean???

Walter Bird
"Radome"
Ithaca, NY
1948

Nice segue right?
"Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex"
Woody Allen
1972

"Mr Blowup"
GET INTO IT!
For more
buy
"blowup: inflatable art, architecture and design"
Sean Topham
Prestle