Postal services combined with telegraphs and telephone is a classic association. However the alliance of a post office with a savings bank is neither rare and can be found in Europe and the United States starting in the 19th century 1. As we can read in this article giving a large overview of the american and european concept of integrating a bank into the postal service. For France we read: ...
Old walls
What does these old tapestry and colors tell us? The images presented here were taken at the very old castle at Chaumont on the Loire river. We would like to make a carbon analysis to explore the pigments used to colorize theses rooms considering aestethics and use-ability. For an introduction to color read Ball1 and for pigments and glues, there’s an excellent introduction in French by editor Allia date: next week ...
One meter
Measuring length is still a mostly analog matter. A basic tool of wood, plastic or metal calibrated by an official length keeper is all what is needed to have precise measurements. Place found: Geneva flea market Price: 1 CHF Date: 30.01.2015 date: +10 days
Faber Polygrade Blei
Writing instruments were not always so omnipresent as today. Especially industrially engineering and design changed the availability of pens and pencils as we can read in the excellent book on design by Papanek1 . Shortly after the end of World War II the New York Times carried the first full-page ad for Gimbel’s sale of the Reynolds ball-point pen at only $25 each. By Monday morning. Herald Square was so clogged with people waiting for Cimbel’s to open that extra police had to be brought in to control the crowds. Places in the ball-point pen queue could be sold for $5 to $10, and, until Cimbel’s slapped a one-pen-to-a-customer order on the sale Wednesday, pens could be readily sold for $50 to $60 each. ...
Le phare de Nividic
Signalization plays an important role in communication. A lighthouse gives visual signals to ships passing by to help navigation and avoid accidents. A lighthouse can give additional acoustic signals profiling the soundscape of surrounding area. However today, in a world of modern positioning systems, freely available maps of highest detail and radar systems, the need of a lighthouse seems to be outdated. The environmental impact is not to be neglected. Light pollution is considerable in the surroundings, as personally observed near the Phare de Creac’h, which has a visibility of 50 km. ...
graineterie
There are some kind of shops that have disappeared in the last fifty years and been integrated mostly in a larger structure, a big general store or a super market. Think of the cordonnier who merged sometimes in history with the locksmith. Or the kitchen supplier who rarely still has his own shop, at least in a small town. Between specialized knowledge and the convenience of having everything on one’s fingertips, the trend went to the latter. ...
Hospital demolition
The architecture of an hospital has changed very much in the last 50-100 years. And this on a micro and macro point of view, concerning interiors to urbanism. The answer for the new needs on both scales is mostly destruction of existing structures after construction of a new one. This must be done in a sequential order to avoid interruption of the permanent activity. location: Ambilly, France Time:08/08/2014 Psychogeography (Chtcheglov): useful ...
The rolodex filer
A classic of the obsolete things these days is the Rolodex paper file system. Simple lines and good usability but no real remaining value in digital times. We read on the web1, that: In 1954, Hildaur L. Neilsen, an employee of Arnold Neustadter’s Zephyr American Corp , invented a rotary card filing system much like those seen on desktops today. The product was brought to market in 1958 as the Rolodex. ...
A letterpress: WAM model B
A letterpress is one of those objects which make the transition of a craftsmen utility to an artist tool. To revive analog over digital, to resist plastification etc. Indeed only few objects keep its traditional form from the early industrialisation to now. The KitchenAid might be such a toot to resist. So why do arts and craftsmen resist? Perhaps in love for detail, quality and nostalgia. Understanding the process by learning to use the machine. ...
Aérotrain
While traveling by train between Paris-Austerlitz and Blois on the Loire border on IC14041 we were puzzled by a viaduct like construction longing the rails nearby. I first suspected an industrial transportation system like a viaduct, aqueduct etc., as those can be found somewhere else in this flat region, for example stone transport from a quarry. The above pictured viaduct however, as research revealed, is the relict of an experimental track for the high speed train aerotrain developed by Jean Bertin in the sixties. ...