iPastoral

Architectural theorist and educator Mark Morris parallels the 18th-century enthusiasm for the Claude glass, a black mirror that framed and filtered views into painterly landscapes, with the current infatuation for a similarly small shiny black device with a capacity for taking picturesque images.     

Wild City: MVRDV - Weaving Nature and the Urban

Architect Marta Pozo Gil , who leads the Sustainability Department at MVRDV, draws on a correlation between people's retreat indoors, with urban populations becoming increasingly divorced from nature, and the growing ambitions for ‘green’ cities and the ensuing benefits they bring to our quality of life. How might it, though, be possible to realise such a vision? Pozo Gil describes some of MVRDV's lesser-known projects that weave nature into the city.     

Biochemistry Department,University of Oxford

Howard Watson describes how Hawkins\Brown's new Biochemistry Department for the University of Oxford represents an innovative new model for scientific research institutes. Spatially, its interior not only positively embraces and encourages social interaction and the fertilisation of ideas, but also brings art, architecture and science together under a single roof. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

John F. Byrne's Chaocipher Revealed: An Historical and Technical Appraisal

Abstract

Chaocipher is a method of encryption invented by John F. Byrne in 1918, who tried unsuccessfully to interest the US Signal Corp and Navy in his system. In 1953, Byrne presented Chaocipher-encrypted messages as a challenge in his autobiography Silent Years. Although numerous students of cryptanalysis attempted to solve the challenge messages over the years, none succeeded. For 90 years, the Chaocipher algorithm was a closely guarded secret known only to a handful of persons. Following fruitful negotiations with the Byrne family during the period 2009–2010, the Chaocipher papers and materials have been donated to the National Cryptologic Museum in Ft. Meade, MD. This paper presents a comprehensive historical and technical evaluation of John F. Byrne and his Chaocipher system.     

John Matthews Manly: The Collier's Articles

Abstract

In the fall of 1927, John Matthews Manly wrote a series of articles on contract for Collier's Magazine about the cryptographic section of the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. Army during World War I. These articles were never published, and they disappeared until recently, when they were discovered in the William Friedman Collection at the George Marshall Foundation Library in Lexington, Virginia. This article describes how the articles were written, how they ended up in the Friedman Collection, and what they contain.     

论工艺美术运动的追求

本文通过研究工艺美术运动的历史背景和特性,阐述了工艺美术运动的最终目的是以设计来改良社会,它所表达的内涵是"人性之美":是对理想的社会制度的追求,是对传统道德的渴望,对生活环境自然生态的关心,以及对艺术和美的精神与实质的探索。     

Review of the 15th NSA Cryptologic History Symposium

The 2015 edition of the biannual NSA Cryptologic History Symposium attracted over 250 participants. Interesting talks were given, among other topics about Elizabeth and William Friedman and Alan Turing. Not a part of the program but subject of many discussions was the planned new National Cryptologic Museum. An obvious goal for future symposia should be to attract more young people.     

Teapots,Dresses and Chairs

Contrary to the impression given throughout this issue of 2, the future of the architectural profession is not to be found in scaling down to the level of household products and fashion items. So argues London-based architect Gilles Retsin , who teaches at the Bartlett School of Architecture. While embracing transdisciplinarity and engagement with multiple scales in architectural practice and education, he sees these as evidence of a more research-based turn, rather than an abandonment of architects' key calling. Although also opening up the profession to a product rather than service-based business model, small-scale objects essentially offer a context for experimentation with new technology that then begs to be scaled up.     

Interconnected Approaches to Sustainable Architecture

Is minimising the negative effects of human activity on people and the planet enough, or can we aim even higher? Guest-Editor Terri Peters introduces the concept of superarchitecture: architecture that is not merely sustainable, but offers positive benefits for both human wellbeing and the environment. As demonstrated by the three international case studies she presents, it is applicable not only to healthcare architecture, but also to the spaces in which we live and work, and the wider urban realm. At its heart is a deep connection with nature.     

Distinguishing Concepts: Lexicons of Interactive Art and Architecture

Interactive design has come about as a result of the intermingling of disciplines. As a consequence, the language it uses has become blurred - borrowed or stolen with little restraint from elsewhere. Though particular terms have become ubiquitous, the original concepts that lie behind them have been lost. This means that all too frequently they are no longer knowingly used. Usman Haque sorts the wheat from the chaff and brings clarity to bear on the vocabulary and thinking behind interactivity. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.