Kosmonaut Zero
Richard Evans’ science fiction novel Kosmonaut Zero is a clever commentary on the perennial human desire to transcend the limitations of the body.
Technology
Merz to Emigré and Beyond
Merz to Emigré and Beyond by Steven Heller, first published in 2003 and republished this summer, is a richly illustrated chronicle of the radical magazines, newspapers and journals published during the 20th century.
The discipline of design: Massimo Vignelli’s monastic modernism
Massimo Vignelli (1931-2014), who died last week, was one of the great designers of the 20th century. The principles he applied to his work tell us a lot about what design is and isn’t.
Brutalism, the sublime and everyday digital design
The avant-garde and everyday design: notes on the BBC documentary Bunkers, Brutalism and Bloodymindedness by Jonathan Meades.
Re-engineering politics: the promise and limits of digital solutionism
Moral and political issues are not engineering problems to be fixed, but expressions of differing, irreconcilable visions of the good that must be negotiated. Some notes on digital ‘solutionism’.