As India’s Mangalyaan rocket sets its course for Mars, it’s worth reflecting on those deep seated reasons for aiming so high, and at such a cost. Not much further down the list from national pride, international competition, hothousing engineering and scientific talent and the slim probability of distant economic rewards come the symbolic and psychological associations of…More
Tag Archives: mood
Absence of melancholy
The muted joy of autumn melancholy: who can resist the temptation to be lyrical in such a season? By all accounts melancholy is the feeling you get in the event of loss or absence, as in the passing of summer. Melancholy is also absent from classifications of mood and emotion as devised by experimental psychologists. For…More
Melancholy urbanism
I revisited Waverley Cemetery in Sydney a few weeks ago. It covers a valley that looks out to the Pacific Ocean. It’s a site of loss and remembering of course, but it also conforms to the architectural geometry of melancholy. The horizon is sovereign, and reminds the visitor of the reaches of time, distance and…More
Some wild life
An engagement with nature enhances people’s emotional attachment to places according to a recent article by researchers into sustainable cities, Timothy Beatley and Peter Newman. They maintain that “Urban environments that are greener, more nature-full, will attract greater interest by residents and help to strengthen emotional bonds to place and community, in turn increasing urban resilience”…More
Pride of place
“And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.” This is a quote from the official Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in February 2008. A signed copy of the apology is on display at Parliament House in Canberra. Pride is…More
Freeways in the sky
I’ve just visited the Keppel Bay residential estate by Studio Libeskind, a luxury apartment development in Singapore — through barbed wire. I’ve also been reading Peter Adey’s very helpful book, Mobilities. The Keppel Bay development puts me in mind of some of the key themes of the book, which summarises how geographers and sociologists think about…More
Howling at the moon
Google have launched 15 m wide helium balloons into the stratosphere to extend the Internet to remote areas. It’s called “Project Loon.” According to Google engineer working on the project Cliffe Biffle, “Balloon-powered Internet sounds positively mad” (Youtube). “Loon” is clever branding. The association with lunatic and the extra terrestrial is obvious. According to the OED lunatic…More
Accentuate the negative
Protesters are demonstrating against plans to build on Gezi Park in Istanbul (Financial Times). Commentators say the park issue is just a trigger for the expression of widespread discontent. But people do have passionate views about open outdoor space. A recent article on the BBC Science website says, “Being physically active can bolster good mental health…More
As the mood takes you
Studio Libeskind designed the Westside shopping and Leisure Centre in Bern, Switzerland. It opened in 2008. I’ve not been there yet. It’s difficult to comment with any authority on a building, monument, landscape, or place without going there. Everyone knows that travel is part of the architectural experience, and architectural connoisseurs of all tastes and aptitudes…More
Digital mood modifiers
Apparently botox helps you feel better. I’m researching mood, so I’ve skimmed through a recent book called The Face of Emotion: How Botox Affects Our Moods and Relationships, in which the author says, “If you smile broadly, at that moment you will feel happier. You need your smile to help you ‘feel’ the emotion.” Conversely, frowning…More