Thursday, February 28, 2008

El Segundo Beach Resort - 2020 (industrialization gets bitch slaped by the experience economy)




The future of the El Segundo power plant seems to be fading as Southern California Edison no longer needs power from the El Segundo plant. City councils have voted for the rezoning of the 33 acre site with plans in mind for a Beach Resort. If it is realized it would be the only beach resort operating between Santa Monica and Huntington Beach. Except for having the Chevron refinery and a waste treatment plant as its neighbor, it sounds like a great opportunity for El Segundo. But what of the existing power plant? Will reminiscence of its existence still remain on the new plans? Will this resort be completely detached from the aura of its site? What brand is El Segundo? I smell a thesis project brewing. out.

Pompidou meets US bank building

If the machine had blood this would be one of its vital organs. The aesthetic is consistent, Industrial. But how is it portrayed in the information age? What is the aesthetic of informational? Should my next image be a close up of a motherboard?

Shout out to El Segundo's Finest

Just want to give a huge thank you to the Chevron Oil Refinery and the El Segundo Police Dept. for their hospitality and for avoiding the strip search and cavity check in their homeland security exercises of inspecting my personal items and camera images. Apparently in our "heightened state of alert",photography of infrastructural buildings are suspect to terrorist activities. Not to say that I'm upset, I'm more or less conditioned to the institutional implementation of fear to its masses. I was free to go after a full written report and an explanation that I wasn't a terrorist. At least, they let me keep the pictures.

Must be Lucas' inspiration for imperial walkers

These supercranes animate an imaginary futuristic sensory when engaged from the ground level. If these magnificent structures were actually cities they would be a direct realization of the technological and infrastructural visions of Archigram in the 60's or the drawings of futurist Sant'Elia in 1914.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Massive Importation of Goods

Looking at the almost automated operations at the port give you an overwhelming sense of the magnitudes of societies industrialization. mechanization versus automation. Are we ready for AI and Neural Nets?

Port of Los Angeles

America's busiest port with record volumes of cargo moving through the 7500 acre harbor