Tri-C Rauc(ous) Hall Archive- for the love of all things holy...

I admit I had seen what could have been a preliminary image of the Tri-C/Rock Hall archive thing earlier (which I commented upon), one where the stacked glass corner box was a pyramid with a large block balanced on top which was actually quite a bit more offensive then this.

This, this I can almost ignore without getting too angry about. Granted I had to lift the image from the ground breaking video since everyone that was so busy making the announcement somehow didn't get a simple image of what this thing was supposed to look like. This building that somehow they are breaking ground on, that supposedly went through a permit and review process that is supposed to protect the architectural and artistic merit of our city, this building that supposedly the people paying for it had been involved in the design...

Arts buildings should have the intent for delight professed within them.

Like This

ps. watch the video. After the squint/opera lecture/video showing at KSU you almost wonder how good design can easily influence the presentation. Also, they shovel a trough for the ground breaking. Really wacky stuff going on in this town.

Whilst staying on the topic of 'report cards'

To round out my post about the 'Greenest States' and the 'Greenest Cities' I figured I had to pass along the Sustainable Endowments Institute's report rating College's Sustainability

Only Harvard, Dartmouth, University of Washington, Middlebury, Carleton, and University of Vermont performed well enough in all categories to merit the highest overall grade of “A-,” earning them the distinction of College Sustainability Leaders.

The Juilliard School, Howard University, Regent University, and Samford University yielded overall “F” grades, followed by 21 schools carrying a grade of “D-.”

My school, Kent State, must not have gotten invovled at all. That is a shame since it hosts a College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

236 page 3 meg pdf report for some light reading.

39 out of 50 really isn't too great...

Recently Forbes magazine released its rankings of America's Greenest Cities. The usual suspects topped the list; Oregon, Washington, Vermont.

In a ranking which was determined by weighting six categories equally (carbon footprint, air quality, water quality, hazardous waste management, policy initiatives and energy consumption) Ohio came in 39th.

39th out of 50.

Below Texas.

I am aghast. I would really love to see not only the culmulative rankings of what areas we did especially poor in but also what data was collected for this study. Not in an attempt to belabor the rankings either, just to see how the local society percieves itself, foibles and accomplishments.

I just found it interesting.

America's Greenest Cities, don't worry, Cleveland isn't on there at all.

Better yourself, better the world, Free Rice

Free Rice

An online vocabulary game whereas for every word participants get correct an approximate 10 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program. The program automatically adjusts for your skill level whilst keeping track of your score through tracking your 'donation'. Advertisers along the bottom of the screen are the ones who are donating in your name. The adverts run in a rather limited capacity and are not overbearing or even noticeable enough to become annoying. Granted the game is multiple choice and limited as you have to pick the best word to define the word given, meaning that some synonyms are a stretch, but utilizing context clues and lucky guessing it shouldn't prove too difficult. Also, if you get one wrong you are shown the correct answer. At least as far as I have been told. I haven't gotten any wrong yet.

I find the most interesting part of this experiment the idea that that it is improving the English vocabulary for everyone, meaning it could prove to be an effective technique to educate people in new languages. I wonder if there will be non-English versions. I daresay, it could make learning fun and actually more rewarding.

Ameritrust Tower deal goes 'boom(?)', much like its lobby

Even as rumors circulate about the possible sale of the Ameritrust Tower someone is still taking the time to drive about the lobby in a Bobcat. While I must admit that driving a Bobcat about is rather fun, and the prospect of driving one around the lobby of a building that I am supposed to systematically demolish could make me feel rather giddy (if I felt the building deserved it) I should point out that this particular exercise in County mandated destruction derby depresses me.

The best part of the above mentioned article is the responses. Oh internet, you so crazy!

Marcel Breuer: Design and Architecture Exhibit

If you happen to be in Washington DC between November 3rd and February 17th you may want to stop in at the
National Building Museum and check out the Marcel Breuer exhibit.

I found the timing of this show interesting, especially as I received the notice around the same time that I was sent the Plain Dealer article stating that the County Commissioners may not demolish the Tower after all. In what one could call an 'interesting' turn of events, it seems that the County didn't fulfill their due diligence in planning their new administrative complex. Whether the fault could be blamed on poor planning, lack of planning, total absence of foresight or some other descriptive term that basically calls the project incompetent, it is becoming more and more apparent that the premise for the project was severely flawed. The question that remains is how much the taxpayers are going to pay for this mistake. I am guessing the whole thing won't be cheap.

I am sure someone out there is doing some interesting investigative reporting on where the money came from and where the money went. I know I would be interested to see a breakdown.

Hopefully something that fills in the gaps on where the majority of the money went and to whom. I thought this was a fine start.

Squint/Opera Lecture and Video Screening

Squint/Opera
lecture
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
Cartwright Hall Auditorium

video screening
Friday, November 2nd, 2007
CUDC

The Kent State College of Architecture will be utilizing two members of the Squint/Opera production company to teach a 2 week long architecture graduate workshop in filmmaking and production. During their time here the two members will offer a free lecture taking place at Kent State University's Cartwright Hall and a video presentation at the end of the workshop at the CUDC in Cleveland.

You many remember their films from the MOCA Cleveland 'Expanding the Circle' and the 'New Uptown District' shows.

During their workshop with Kent State squint/opera will "guide students through the process of producing short films that reflect their site observations and design concepts for a mixed-use development in University Circle".

Squint/Opera save the date card courtesy of AIA - Clevland