2. “A Fortune-Teller Told Me” by
Tiziano Terzani
“Which place, better
than a station, reflects
the soul of a country,
the mood of its
people, their
problems?”
Photo: Steve McCurry
3. PLOT WHAT I HAVE
LEARNED
In 1976, a Chinese fortune-
teller advises the author not to
fly during all of 1993 because
he risks to die. In 1992 Tiziano
Terzani, tired and doubtful
about his job, decides to
believe in the prophecy by
looking at it as an opportunity to
see the world from a new
prospective. He therefore
decides not to use aeroplanes
for a year, not quitting his
profession as a journalist in
Asia. He starts to travel all
around the East by land,
visiting a fortune-teller in every
place he goes.
● To take abnormal events as
an opportunity to
expertiment
● To open my mind and get
fascinated by the Eastern
spiritualism
● To see the world from a
different point of view,
trying to find new incentives
in everything I do
● To size up every situation
and take the best from it
4. “COMME des GARÇONS” by Rei
Kawakubo
“I never intended to start a
revolution. I only came to
Paris with the intention of
showing what I thought
was strong and beautiful.
It just happened that my
notion was different from
everyone else’s” Rei
Kawakubo
Fall-Winter collection 2013
5. STORY WHAT I ADMIRE
The Japanese label was
founded in 1969 by Rei
Kawakubo in Tokyo. She has
presented her first show in
Paris in 1981, with a
revolutionary collection. Not
everyone in the fashion
system was ready for this
change but, many collections
later, COMME des GARÇONS
has proved its worth by
sparking off a new era of
creation and brand
management and becoming
one of the most influential
brands to emerge.
● The approach to the traditional
fashion from an innovative
angle
● The avant-garde: Rei is never
satisfied by her work and keeps
trying to do better
● The way the brand goes against
the tide, designing not what
people like, but making people
like what they design
● The company, not only the
clothes. COMME des
GARÇONS' creation deals also
with new business ideas,
revolutionary retail strategies,
unexpected collaborations,
nurturing of in-house talent
6. Google Search, the most used search engine nowadays, was
founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1997, who wanted "to
organize the world's information and make it universally accessible
and useful". It is the first system to analyze the relationships
between websites instead of counting how many times the search
terms appeared on the page. Since 2001, Google has acquired
many companies and developed new products. The most famous
are Google Maps, Google Earth, Youtube, Android, Gmail, Google
Chrome, Google+, Google Glass.. This multinational corporation is
also developing new products such as Self-driving cars, Makani
Power (airbone turbines that collect wind power and deliver it to
the ground via cable) and Project Loon (baloons able to transmit
Internet to remote regions from about 20km in the air). Google is in
permanent growth with a profit of US$10.74 billion in 2012.
7. WHAT I ADMIRE
● Page and Brin have invented something that people didn't realize to
need, and they have made it impossible to live without
● The philanthropy: with the creation of the not-for-profit Google.org the
company is trying to create consciousness about climate change,
global public health, and global poverty
● The “Googleplex” (Google's headquarters in Mountain View): the
complex is furnished in an original way with massage rooms, saunas,
bars, recreation rooms.. Google created a stimulating environment
that incites collaboration
● They keep looking for new acquisitions and partnerships
● Google Doodles (changes of the Google logo in the homepage to
celebrate holidays, anniversaries, lives of famous people): it attracts
the attention of the press as well as general public notice. A
constantly changing logo was thought to reduce brand equity, but not
for Google
8. “Artist's Shit” by Piero Manzoni
“Artist's Shit” is an artwork by the
Italian artist Piero Manzoni. It
consists of 90 tin cans filled with
faeces, each 30 grams and
measuring 4.8x6.5cm. Some think
the cans are filled with plaster,
conviction denied by the artist's
girlfriend who helped him making
the artwork. Opening a can would
be equal to cut a painting, so the
real content will always remain
unknown. The cans were originally
valued according to the weight in
gold, with the price fluctuating
according to the market. The best
price one of the cans was ever sold
is €124,000 in 2007.
9. CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE
ARTWORK
The “Artist's Shit” has been seen as an ironical metaphor of the
artwork's deep origin or, in a wider way, of the human being that
creates it; other interpretations sustain that Manzoni intended to
demonstrate how a well-known artist could find agreement from
the market and the critics even with a mediocre work of art, deeply
criticizing the contemporary's art world. I find genius in this piece.
The artist, inspired by dadaism, has taken an every-day object and
made it a work valued up to €124,000. He intended to make a fool
of a sick era, controlled by influential people, and to demonstrate
that anyone who has connections can litteraly make a piece of shit
a masterpiece. Furthermore, besides the deep meanings behind it,
the “Artist's Shit” is a demonstration that a new idea is usually a
good idea. Anyone could have done it, but being the first person, in
the right place, at the right time is what is important for success.
10. “Solar Umbrella House” by
Brooks+Scarpa
“The
environmentalism
is the real
contemporary
cultural revolution”
11. ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS
This building, located in Venice, California, is a remodelling of a
bungalow using active and passive solar design strategies. It
provides a contemporary reinvention of the solar canopy
which,beyond providing 95% of the facility's electricity using
photovoltaic panels to transform sunlight into energy, screens most
of the structure from the exposure of the sun, protecting the
residence from thermal heat gain. The photovoltaic array is
connected to the grid, eliminating both the need for a storage
system and the time-of-use charges, associated with traditional
electricity use. The house, built with recycled and renewable
materials, was shifted by 180 degrees from the original position,
allowing the building to gain the necessary sun to be illuminated
internally on a sunny day, not requiring electric light. Solar hot-
water panels heat the domestic hot water and the swimming pool.
The house is an example of both high style and sustainability and
was listed as a top-ten green project in 2006 by the American
Institute of Architects.
12. WHAT I ADMIRE
● The architects succeded in creating a building with aesthetic
design and at the same time costing almost nothing to run,
blowing away the frumpy image that helps keeping solar houses
out of the mainstream
● The architects, also owners of the house, cofounded the non-
profit Livable Places to fund environmentally friendly projects and
to help build public support for sustainability. Environmentalism is
a very important topic and should always be taken as seriously as
they do
● Since the building is 95% self-sufficient, living in it is very cheap.
This demonstrates how caring about the planet can also bring
economical advantages, even if sometimes in the long term
● The particular solar canopy is an example of modernization in
sustainable architecture, making a double use. Innovation is
always possible and in every field; the job of human beings is to
keep trying to make the world a better place
13. “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin
Luther King
“Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
[…] Somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow
in the valley of despair.”
14. “We refuse to believe that the bank
of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to
believe that there are insufficient
funds in the great vaults of
opportunity of this nation.”
This speech is soaked with hope
and faith. It brings to the listeners
the desire to rebel to what doesn't
bring them satisfaction and believe
in a better tomorrow.
“In the progress of gaining our
rightful place we must not be guilty
of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek
to satisfy our thirst for freedom by
drinking from the cup of bitterness
and hatred.”
Discipline and dignity mustn't be
forgotten. People have to fight to
follow their dreams, but it's also
important not to hurt others in the
process.
“I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be
judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character.”
We often complain for worthless matters.
This speech always reminds me the
primary of freedom and equality, that we
often give for granted.
15. “We are the world” by USA for Africa
“Send them your heart so
they'll know that someone
cares,
And their lives will be
stronger and free,
As God has shown us by
turning stones to bread,
So we all must lend a
helping hand.
We are the world, we are
the children,
We are the ones who
make a brighter day.”
16. “We are the world” is a single
written by Michael Jackson and
Lionel Richie. The aim of the song
was to gain funds for African
famine relief. It was a worldwide
success and received a Quadruple
Platinum certification by the
Recording Industry Association of
America. Promoted with a music
video, a magazine, several books,
posters and shirts, the single
raised over $63 million for
humanitarian aid in Africa and the
US. The song was remade and
renamed “We are the world 25 for
Haiti” by the supergroup “Artists
for Haiti” after the earthquake that
devastated the mentioned area
and killed thousands of people, in
the hope to help this population.
● In front of natural disaster and
humans' misfortunes, human
beings realize that, as
Shopenhauer meant it, “tat tvam
asi” (literally “that you are”,
meaning that what happens to
others affects everybody).
STORY POSITIVE POINTS
● The recording of the song
brought together some of the
most famous artists in the music
industry, racially and musically
diverse,aiming to help the less
fortunate.
● Even if the song hasn't
always been warmly
embraced by the critics, the
public felt satisfied in buying it,
knowing that the money was
going to charity.
