The advent of the airplane and skyscraper in 1920s and lsquo;30s America offered the population an entirely new way to look at the world: from above. The captivating image of an airplane flying over the rising metropolis led many Americans to believe a new civilization had dawned. In Impossible Heights; Adnan Morshed examines the aesthetics that emerged from this valorization of heights and their impact on the built environment.The lofty vantage point from the sky ushered in a modernist impulse to cleanse crowded twentieth-century cities in anticipation of an ideal world of tomorrow. Inspired by great new heights; American architects became central to this endeavor and were regarded as heroic aviators. Combining close readings of a broad range of archival sources; Morshed offers new interpretations of works such as Hugh Ferrissrsquo;s Metropolis drawings; Buckminster Fullerrsquo;s Dymaxion houses; and Norman Bel Geddesrsquo;s Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York Worldrsquo;s Fair. Transformed by the populist imagination into ldquo;master builders;rdquo; these designers helped produce a new form of visuality: the aesthetics of ascension.By demonstrating how aerial movement and height intersect with popular ldquo;supermanrdquo; discourses of the time; Morshed reveals the relationship between architecture; art; science; and interwar pop culture. Featuring a marvelous array of never before published illustrations; this richly textured study of utopian imaginings illustrates Americarsquo;s propulsion into a new cultural consciousness.
#1280600 in eBooks 2014-12-05 2014-12-05File Name: B00RQXS0JW
Review
65 of 66 people found the following review helpful. IndispensableBy Arjun DhillonAs a user experience designer with 10 years of experience and clients like National Geographic; Stephen Hawking; Best Buy; Bon Iver; and Harvard University; I have experience with nearly every method described in this book. Yet when I pack up to go to work or consulting gigs or client meetings or lectures or workshops; this is the first book that goes into my bag before I leave home. When Im not carrying it with me it is usually still close at hand. There are many more inspiring; industry-changing texts on the market; but Universal Methods of Design is simply the most valuable book in my day-to-day practice.I thought of saying that this book is to user-centered designers what Strunks Elements of Style is to writers; but the analogy isnt quite right. Writers generally know the best practices for semicolon usage and unordered list formatting. In contrast; most people that claim the title "user experience designer" still spend the majority of their time wireframing or designing in Photoshop. Its really not your fault; it is ours; the UX community has done very little to help educate entering UX professionals; so you have likely never been exposed to most of the methods detailed in this text. You dont know how powerful a simple technique like Affinity Mapping can be; or how the investment in LEGOs Serious Play products can yield a hundred-fold return; or how an absurd hour spent writing love letters and hate letters to yourself can significantly improve a product. But for the aspiring UX designer; this book is an essential introduction to the methods used in professional experience design projects.For those of us that have experience with these design methods: we all have dealt with those challenging projects; difficult stakeholders; or unique product requirements that seem to exhaust our standard design toolbox. Those situations where our usual methods for scoping; defining; researching; modeling; prototyping; producing; and testing seem inadequate. In these situations; there is no better reference than what Hanington and Martin have put together in this book. Buy it; and if you are underwhelmed then Ill buy you a drink and let you hassle me about it when I see you at the next conference.21 of 22 people found the following review helpful. A Current; Comprehensive Survey of Best Practices in Design Research MethodologyBy Maneki NekoThis is a reference book and a survey book; of one hundred current methods in design research methodology; for the fitting of a product; service or system to a user; client or customer population. The survey and the text are the product of the superb learning and research environment for these methods at Carnegie Mellon University.Methods are listed in alphabetic order. Each is given a two page treatment; one page of text and another of figures and diagram. URLs; standard reference sources are conveniently listed on the same page; and not in an index at the back of the text. The treatment of these diverse methods in identical format makes a cross comparison of methods simple and fast. Further; an indication is given (an index of 1 through 5) of whether the method is useful at the early or the late phases of the research process so that methods can be compared within phase-catagories.The format and page layout in the hard-copy version are such that moving between methods; and cross comparing methods will be easier in the paper format than in the electronic. At the bargain price of 24 USD this is both an affordable and very complete aid to current best practices in design survey methodology.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. A good Introduction and synthesis to design methodsBy FJCThis book has a similar format of Universal Principles of Design; but in this case; is a compendium of methods. It has 100 design research methods; sometimes are analysis techniques or research deliverables that constitutes some of what people call design thinking.In the book you will find design research methods that could be exploratory; secondary; generative or evaluative. I think is a good synthesis especially if you want to learn how to do the design work that in a lot of books is just ethereal. But if you really want to implement a specific method perhaps you will need another source for deeper understanding. In most of the methods you will find the sources for more information; and sometimes the seminal publication of the method. It also presents suggestions of complementary methods inside the book in a "see also" line.I liked the format of the book because is easy to read and to use as a guide: it has just two pages per method; one small description and an example. The book helped me a lot gaining a big picture of design methods. A must have for someone who wants to get deeper in the design research.
