Territory, Authority, Microwavable Dinners

Today was not as productive as I'd hoped- I spent a long time modeling the structure of the Burj Khalifa for my building systems class. Adrian Smith, the architect formerly at SOM: chicago who designed it, was right- it really needs to have that proportions. If you squish the whole building down, it starts to look like a literal pile of droppings.

Lecture tonight by Saskia Sassen, author of Territory, Authority, Rights, and spoke about...something.... It was very vague and general, mainly about power, and inequality, and the conditions of our global society that are made vs resultant. Not sure I totally agree that the poverty level of 1 in 6 Americans was something engineered (by whom?) but some interesting, if general ideas. She spoke about the city as having a kind of innate ability to change collective behavior, and to subvert or undermine technological systems. I would confront her with the provocative TED talk about algorithms, which suggest that it is the other way around. Anyway, it made me interested in her book, since I'm always interested in who has power. Also provocative was the statement she made that the middle class around the world is beginning to push back against the powers that be, to revolt in various fashions, including the Arab Spring. She said that the American middle class, which is under assault as well, is oddly silent and passive.

Worked late tonight in studio. Just got home an hour ago and microwaved one of my last roommate's frozen dinners which has been sitting in the freezer for not a few months. Hope its still ok to eat.