RE: SQUID [1/17] Ylem Forum: Futures of Architecture

From: Russell Whitaker (russell_whitaker@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jan 18 2001 - 11:03:41 MST


Amara and others,

I know the exi-bay list is chartered "announcement-only",
but since you ask below for someone to
"report publically or privately", I'll split the difference
and post here but request follow-ups to the main
Extropians mailing list (extropians@extropy.org, for
Fred Stitt's benefit; he's copied here).

I attended last night with extropian Mariko K. We met
Anton and other extropian named Troy. There may have
been other extropians there, but I didn't recognize any
other faces.

Which is significant, as I estimated about 120 people
in the audience, mostly mid-20's students, a large number
of whom self-identified as architecture students. In
a later informal poll by Fred, roughly 1/3 of those
claimed to have heard the term nanotechnology.

When Fred came in the room, I felt I'd met or seen him
somewhere before, and confirmed it at the break when we
chatted. He's been to Extro4 and a number of Foresight
conferences. He's an old friend of Keith Henson, Eric
Drexler (I see he's mentioned on the Roster page of his
website under SPECIAL PROJECTS - PROGRAM ADVISERS),
Chris Peterson, and a number of other Bay Area notables.

He gave a great talk, very fast paced given the time
constraints. A major theme was the interplay of Organic
and Visionary schools of architecture. In good Objectivist
tradition, he made sure to define his terms (such as -
and I paraphrase - "Organic: site specific, client specific,
innovative, procedes from a central organizing principle").

There was no holding back on the "freedom, immortality, and
the stars" subtheme of the lecture. Given the audience
reaction - he dropped "singularity", "space travel", and
"immortality" in their laps - he managed to both hook and
befuddle them, while tempering it all with well timed
humor.

All this, and he still managed a very informative and
engaging survey of modern architecture, sort of the
Grand Tour version.

The audience loved him.

I'm copying Foresight with the suggestion that they pick
up Fred as a speaker at a conference. Also, Extro5
organizers should consider him as a speaker too.

I've not been to Fred's school to check it out yet,
but here's their contact info:

The San Francisco Institute of Architecture
http://www.sfia.net/

Ad astra,
Russell

>From: Amara Graps <amara@amara.com>
>Reply-To: exi-bay@extropy.org
>To: exi-bay@extropy.org
>Subject: RE: SQUID [1/17] Ylem Forum: Futures of Architecture
>Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 06:02:20 +0100
>
>Spike,
>
>I haven't heard what Fred Stitt has been doing in about 10 years or so,
>but I would say he is well-qualified to use the term "extropian", even
>though I've not seen him explicitly at an "extropian" event.
>
>I met him 13 (14?) years ago at a Libertarian event, and his architecture
>follows/followed that of Frank Lloyd Wright, as I recall. I was receiving
>his
>architecture institute newsletter until about 1990. His philosophical
>background has much of the objectivist tradition. This would probably
>be quite an interesting lecture, and I would go if I were you. (and
>please report publically or privately how the talk is and what his
>institute looks like these days).
>
>Amara
>
> >
> > I am surprised to see someone using the term extropian as an
> > adjective, as if it is a well-known term. Has anyone here
> > ever heard of Fred Stitt? Has he posted here or on the main list?
> > Seems I recall someone who is a friend of Tanya Jones was a
> > student at the San Francisco Institute of Architecture. Tanya,
> > who was that young lady that came to one of the Foresight
> > schmoozes about a year ago? spike
>
>
>
>
>Ylem Forum: Futures of Architecture
>
>Wednesday, Jan 17, 7:30 PM
>
>McBean Theater
>The Exploratorium
>3601 Lyon St.
>San Francisco, CA 94123
>Free, open to the public, wheelchair accessible
>Contact: Trudy Reagan, 650-856-9593, trudy.myrrh@stanfordalumni.org
>
>
>FUTURES OF ARCHITECTURE
>
>
>Fred A. Stitt, founder and director of the San Francisco Institute of
>Architecture, will usher in the REAL Millennium of 2001 with
>extraordinary visions of what our living, working and resting spaces could
>become with visionary architecture.
>
>
>Stitt will discuss
>
>
>Evolutionary & Extropian Architecture:
> Advanced Contemporary Visionary Architecture.
> (You won't see this in Architectural Digest.)
>
>
>EcoTecture, NanoTecture, & BioTecture:
> Buildings that will Grow and Assemble Themselves.
> (Plant the seed and step back.)
>
>
>Visionary Immersion:
> Architecture for the Mind.
> (Environments for the excitation of neural activity.)
>
>
>with examples from the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruce Goff,
>Mickey Muennig, Arthur Dyson, Eugene Tsui, Kendrick Kellogg, Glen Small,
>students of the San Francisco Institute of Architecture, and many
>others.
>
>
>Check our website! http://www.ylem.org
>Complete information listed at
>http://www.ylem.org/NewSite/news/Forums.html
>
>
>
>********************************************************************
>Amara Graps email: amara@amara.com
>Computational Physics vita: finger agraps@shell5.ba.best.com
>Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/
>********************************************************************
>"Sometimes I think I understand everything. Then I regain
>consciousness." --Ashleigh Brilliant
>
>
>
>

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