June 2013 Reading List Recap

Great Streets: Allen B. Jacobs -
The seminal classic of taking a comprehensive look at the manner factors that make streets "great". Violating the current American premise that pedestrians are a liability on a public way, Great Streets breaks down the historically great streets into specific manageable components for explanation and comparison. Factors such as scale, activity, spaces for rest, solar/wind exposure, connectivity, view and vegetation are all explored first through historical case studies and maps (Nolli plans) and ending with a series of cross sections. The sketches are not exact, and most of the plans and sections are to a rough scale which makes the book even more important as it deals more with the perception of space than the actual cataloging (and technical breakdown). There is no fixed formula for putting together a street that people are comfortable on and want to visit, but there is a rationale for understanding how streets should be used if one wants to grow a healthy retail (storefront) space and increase activity (safety). A fantastic exploration and one necessary for anyone interested in planning or good architecture. 10/10

BLDGBLOG book: Geoff Manaugh -
If I were lucky enough to choose two people with whom I would want to spend the evening conversing in a nerdy fashion it would be Geoff Manaugh and Roman Mars. Manaugh's book, BLDGBLOG book sums up exactly why. There is no better way to talk about design and architecture than talking around design and architecture. In what was my most enjoyable read this summer, I was reminded exactly of why I loved architecture, from the exploration of forgotten infrastructure to the daydreams of recent movie writers, the lens of spatial design is liberally applied in the most certain of fashions, even as a web of science-fiction is weaved through the stories forming a sinuous pathway of logic. There is a fascination expressed with the built environment that a smarter contemporary than myself called "almost child like", which causes this ridiculously fun read to be so enjoyable. There is a wonder and joy expressed that few practitioners allow to be expressed (why DO we all wear black?). An unbelievably great book for the most curmudgeonly of your architecture friends. 11/10

Manage Your Day to Day: 99U -
I admit, the grind of working in a firm on projects that I am not incredibly in love with (or have any control over) is massively depressing. It makes one feel powerless, as if only responding to man-made emergencies. Sometimes you just have to find a way to re-prioritize and usually I need a little karmic kick in the ass to get myself going. To that end this "self help book" for designers attempts to break down a list of things you, as a designer, can do to make yourself more efficient and in the end, happy. The range of responses is nice, I suppose there cannot be any one answer for everyone, but it is hard to solve the problem if one cannot isolate it (or, even if isolated if there is very little one can do about it). Not a horrible read, but nothing especially ground breaking. To sum it up, don't waste time and energy on things you don't think are worth your time and energy. 6/10

Spatial Agency: Other Ways of Doing Architecture - Nishat Awan, Tatjana Schneider, Jeremy Till
You know how some people want to talk about architecture? As in lecture you endlessly about their own views, hoping you will smile and nod and squeak out "you are so brilliant, what insight!"? This book will make them flee from your desk due mostly to picture to work ratio. Acting as a more "architectural" response to Design Like You Give a Damn (if you interpret DLYGD as more industrial design focused) Spatial Agency attempts to offer a curated view of architecture whose worth cannot be offered simply in dollars spent, or publications made, but as community impact. Where Manage Your Day to Day offers the hope of invigorating one with the possibility of taking control, Sparial Agency offers example of those doing it (and it is what I want to be doing). This book has the potential to make you take stock of your career and question exactly what you have been working for. Some folks like everyone to know they are an architect, some folks would rather just be an architect and do some damn good. Buy this book. Do some damn good. 10/10

May 2013 Reading List Recap

Well, this reading list review is being typed up much later than anticipated. I admit my reasons are self centered. I had to put together 2 exhibition boards as well as study for my last ARE. By last I mean the last one I can take for 6 months.  Anyway, here we go, May of 2013.

Design is a Job: Mike Monteiro - the man behind "F*ck you, pay me", the Creative Mornings talk that showed the design world that what we do is work and should require compensation helped launch the podcast "Let's Make Mistakes" which appears on Monteiro's Mule Radio Syndicate, a "subsidy" of Mule Design. Enough of the accolades, let's get to the meat. I don't have this book anymore. I read it, was completely frustrated by how taken advantage of I felt (from working in a creative field) and subsequently loaned it out, with a fervor reserved for religious fanaticism. The book itself is easy to read, almost conversational, and contains strategies of the utmost importance for any designer, the most important being that your ability to design/problem solve is a skill and you have every right to compensation for your work. That being said, quite a bit of the book is not only how to protect yourself (via contracts or knowing when to use a lawyer), how to best interact and most importantly how to help slightly allow yourself the higher potential of enjoying your job. It is a necessary read for anyone running or involved with a design business. 10/10

LOG:26 - Most interesting articles (from my perspective): "Three Aphorisms", Wes Jones; "Digital Darwinsism: Mass Collaboration, Form-Finding and the Dissolution of Authorship", Mario Capro.

Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change: Victor Papenek - A suggested reading from Design is a Job. Another design book from the early 70’s, revised for 1985. Primarily a manual of “Do more then no harm, go forth and do good”, exposing the appropiation of design by marketing/sales in leui of fulfilling needs to humanity. One can see the light bulb go off in Cameron Sinclair’s noggin while reading this. It isn’t so much a call to arms as an attempt to be an alarm clock. Great ideas touched upon (and in no way limited to) include what we call BioMimicry, Designing for teaching self sufficiency to the ‘third world’, design for those of limited mobility/physical ability, overall, design for those that NEED it. As well as idea of the Creative tithe (Kymmenykset) - reallocating 10% of your time/income or CREATIVE ENERGY for something or someone in need.  Do more, do more good. Also got me excited about teaching again, dang it. 8/10

Seeing Voices: Olivar Sacks - An insight into the world of the deaf, via historical and sociological perspective of the development of ASL and other cultural sign languages. What started as an interest in cultural distinction has blossomed into a full blown interest in studying this emotive, physical and temporal language. A fantastic writing of a subculture that exists parallel to the world of hearing and offers a new perspective to experiencing our built environment. 10/10

This exercise, in attempting to codify what I have been reading lately, is teaching me quite a bit about myself, including the importance of an altruistic design culture in the workplace.

April 2013 Reading List Recap

I am running out of material that fits my criteria to read on the commute to and from the office; mostly size derived so as to fit quickly into my bag and also not be too cumbersome to read while standing up. I suppose my future reading selections will have to be made in this manner. I am attempting to read larger materials at home but with the constant desire to enjoy the nicer weather coupled with working on interesting things in my off hours, time to sit on the porch and read is scarce. Here's to next month.

CLOG:Brutalism - This quarter's edition of CLOG focused on the style and theory of Brutalism. Having fought to protect Marcel Bruer's Ameritrust Tower from Cuyahoga's Couty's wrecking ball it has a special place in my heart. CLOG contained the usual mastery of well conceived and written pieces and was guest edited by Michael Abrahamson, currently a Doctoral Candidate at University of Michigan, who has a personal vested interest in Brutalism which he shares on his blog Fuck Yeah Brutalism. CLOG continues to appease me and I find myself constantly looking forward to the next issue. 9/10

LOG:24

LOG:25 - The highlight of this issue (for me) was the interview between Negri and Roche.

This is Hybrid - a+t: This primer was a go to source for teaching second year as the first project, first semester typically included an aggregated residential program mixed with some sort of commercial program in order to begin having the students explore private/public relationships and the idea of approach/entry. This is Hybrid offers very quick descriptions of multiple large scale mixed use projects and proposals coupled with a+t's prolific and excellent diagramming. The projects require analyzing the accompanying photos, drawings and diagrams to supplement the provided text and ideas. 8/10

The Architecture of Happiness: Alian de Botton - A quick and easy read on the importance of understanding how personal (world)views can influence design to the potential detriment of the client. Corbu receives a slight flogging for Villa Savoy as Botton attempts to espouse the importance of balancing two of the main tenants of Architecture, aesthetics and functionality (Vitruvius anyone?). There is some interesting roleplaying here, seeing the project as evolved from the designer's eye and then from the response of the client, something that should in no way be alien to good designers, but something that is often overlooked by the mediocrity that surrounds us. At first read it seems light and playful, but there is some hidden snark that should cause those of us familiar with the vocation to take a pause and ponder on what is truly being discussed.  8/10

Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens: How Synethestes Color Their World: Patrica Lynne Duffy - While aware of synthesia I admit I hadn't given it much thought until recently. Blue Cats explores the world of citizens who react to certain stimuli with multiple senses (eg see music as colors, taste sounds, etc.) from the view of a an author who is synethestes (I know I am going to missue the application of the word 'synethesia' as an adjective or pronoun, and I apologize for that). Regardless Blue Cats provides a very interesting look at information coding and sensory perception from an unfamiliar vantage point. Using personal anecdotes, memories and color plates for visual explanation one can start to attempt to imagine how the world of synethesia could appear. I admit I find the theories regarding language making, pattern recognition and recall mnemonics extremely interesting so Duffy's contribution was very relevant and actually quite enjoyable. Provided at the end of the book are links (potentially slightly outdated) for future research. 8/10

March 2013 Reading List Recap

My caveat for March is that I was out of town for a week or so with the new nephews which cut into my reading time somewhat. I know its a lame excuse but I'm making it anyway. I have also come to really not enjoy the days I have to drive to the office for the simple reason that it really cuts into my reading time. I know, what sort of real world problems are those when my biggest complaint is that I didn't read as much this month as I wanted to? Awesome problems, that's what.

Anyway, without much ado I took a massive flashback to the 1970's with four classic selections.

Future Shock - Alvin Toffler
Toffler coined the phrase "Future Shock" in reference to a person's inability to cope with or process the rapid pace in which society changes due typically to technological advances. While reading as a series of psychological/sociological studies and examples Toffler begins to explore the repercussions of rapid changes of personal life, education, government, work and military interventions (in fact Toffler begins to explore what has recently been diagnosed as PTSD). While I admit reading a book regarding the predictive shifts of society 40 years after the fact is sometimes humorous (there are some odd assumptions folks 40 years back were making about the future) it becomes even scarier when one realized just how right Toffler was.

What does this have to do with architecture? Probably it is only useful if the designer is interested in the social sciences and impact of the structure with regards to use (programmatic studies based upon shifting work flows, etc.). 8/10

Tools for Conviviality - Ivan Illich
What is the value of your time? How has the dependence on the automobile affected class economics? Illich begins to weave a careful thread between the desire to create, quality of goods, strong working class and our dependence on technology, automobiles and the ever growing complexity of our solutions. Potentially a wonderful primer for anyone exploring secondary economies or one who struggles with why they feel discontent with their office existence and struggles to feel "useful" or satisfied with the completion of tangible tasks. 8/10

The Right to Useful Unemployment - Ivan Illich
A further exploration based upon the previous Tools for Conviviality Illich further dissects the self replication purpose of most professions. As a former educator (and current "professional") I found quite a bit rather difficult accept even though I understood quite a bit of the reasoning behind it. The simplest explanation being that most professionals develop metrics for success that can only be met by members of the profession, in this manner the power of independence is striped from the common citizen as they are constrained to regulations and expectations of the professions that govern, and in exchange are governed by their specific fields. Illich argues (quite rationally) that this devalues the self reliance and productivity of our citizens in exchange for a sense of security and technological advancement. Quite a quick and smart read. 8/10

The Silent Language - Edward T. Hall
A boss of mine (I suppose I have many) mentioned that this book was considered a primer when he was in school during a conversation regarding the inherent differences between physiological and learned interpretations of our surrounding space, the standard nature versus nurture argument. Hall, an anthropologist, attempts to unravel the unspoken communication that establishes the baseline for interactions. While more general and not as rigorous as I would have liked it is a solid primer for accentuating that it is vital for a designer to understand not only their clients needs but also their culture in order to create complete solutions. 6/10

February 2013 Reading List Recap / Public Transit for the WIN

I know most of the time these "hey, look what I just read list" come across as self aggrandizing attempts to gloat about perceived intelligence and I'm not expecting to write many very amazing reviews unless a particular tome intrigues me, however I have a lot of new commute time on my hands and if I can prove that there is a great value in a relaxed commute, then perhaps some value can be extracted from my (hope to be) monthly asides.

A little backstory. I hate commuting to work. Sort of. I hate driving to work. I commute from Lakewood (on the near West Side of Cleveland to Shaker Square, on the far East Side of Cleveland, typically at 25-35 minute drive, depending on weather, local traffic, construction, level of aggression, etc. The only way to really access Shaker Square is through some particular neighborhoods that the city and/or ODOT don't really care about the smoothness of the roads. There are some crazy potholes. I don't particularly like my car, but I think attempting to drive it around/over such large road obstacles is stupid on my part. So I started taking the public transit, which typical consists of a 10 minute bus ride, 10 minute train ride and a 15 minute light rail ride (with around 10 minutes wait time) which equates to a standard 45 minute one way trip. Double that to come home and I now have an extra hour and half to finally read all the books stacking up on my desk. I was amazed at how much I tore through.

I need to come up with a rating system, suggestions are welcome.

Feb. 2013

In order of been read:

Walkable City: Jeff Speck

Overall this book typically preaches to the choir and while the most interesting and useful portions are not why a walk-able city is important, it is how to attempt to accomplish the goals of a walk-able downtown (whether dense enough to be a major city or a suburban downtown). And the foot notes. I love good foot notes, it basically creates another reading list to go through. I already ordered a couple books mentioned in Walkable City to read. Most of the arguments are good, but should be common sense. 7/10

CLOG 4 - Renders 9/10

CLOG 5 - National Mall 9/10

I am a huge fan of most journals. Usually. CLOG is excellent. I cannot stress this enough, whether it is due to the editors selecting such great content or how the journals are organized around a singular topic, CLOG seems to be a ridiculous success. Damn you Kyle. Great job.

Writing About Architecture - Alexandra Lange

An attempt to exercise instruction of critical writing about architecture doubles as an interesting traipse through classic criticism (Mumford, Olmsted, Jacobs) and dissection of technique. While it will probably not make you a great architecture critic overnight it may just give you a better array of tools for understanding buildings, if you are into that sort of thing. It is a quick read, makes you want to pick up more Mumford and will probably help you with writing overall (maybe, I am admittedly not exhibiting much improvement). Easy to read in short bursts I was capable of picking up and putting the book down during natural break points (when my train reached my stop).  8/10

LOG 23

Log, an architecture journal. At times obtuse and difficult to get through, however my first exposure to Kwinter (swoon!) so I continue to order and read (I am behind by 5 issues or so) to discover more great essayists. At times extremely self referential and long winded (Hays, I'm assuming you are paid by the word) it is still a nice diversion into theory and, at times, absurdity. 7/10

The Landscape Urbanism Reader - Charles Waldheim, editor

You know that book you know you should have read forever ago that is sitting on your shelf mocking you? Yeah, this was mine. I finally finished it, having read it in fits and starts over the course of five years. It is a great primer on what should have been a basic understanding of site investigation/articulation in architecture school (but wasn't). I wish I hadn't put finishing this book off as long as I had, you should pick it up and read it (over the course of half a decade or so). 9/10

Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Mehodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction - Kieran/Timberlake

The thought of being clever enough to plan for the rapid design and deployment of prefabricated design units seems like a rather clever (albeit tried and admittedly failed) however an entire tome dedicated to this idea, comparing buildings to aircraft manufacturing seems not only a stretch but at times attempts to remove the entire "soul" of architecture. While it takes a long warm-up to get to the pitch (specific examples Kieran/Timberlake have attempted to deploy) the results ring shallow (how about those mixed metaphors?). There is what seems to be very little product for the amount of research going into what is basically prefab systems added to what seems to be repetitive points and imagery. Corb did it better. 5/10

LTL: Intensities - Lewis, Tsurumaki, Lewis

Continuing on their trajectory of putting together writings that make rigorous, tactile, craft-centric designers hate their desk jobs, LTL follows up Opportunistic Architecture with a piece showcasing more detail, more thought and more work. If you are not happy in your job, do not read this book. DO NOT GET THIS, it will depress you, that somewhere out there, all the thoughtfulness and care you wish you could take the time to put into the project, is being done, not by you. I borrowed this book, read it, and immediately unfriended the guy who let me borrow it. Not really. It is a great book, a fine example of what really succinct and clever design solutions could look like, if only given the chance. I digress, buy this book, show it to your boss, make them read it, ask them why you aren't allowed to question everything, the program, the process, the assembly and intent. If they can't answer you, quit and find a better job, or start your own firm. Life is too short to pretend you don't care. When I grow up, I want to be LTL. 12/10

Yes Is More: Bjarke Ingels Group

Yes Is More
BIG [Bjarke Ingels Group]
American release by Taschen Books

I am rarely willing to leaf through any modern monographs, most are photos or illustrations of projects lacking any sort of process or context, a form of self congratulatory masturbation.  My stomach is much more willing to accept pseudo intellectual meanderings found in most modern criticism then vapid explanations of window location or careless asides towards materiality (wood is natural, so we used it!).  Lately, my views have taken a more professorial role as I search for tomes that can be dissected and easily assimilated by the 2nd year architecture design studio I have taken to teaching lately.  The fundamental class rests mostly on convincing the students that developing an organization and language for their design, based upon some sort of studied intent will allow them to explain their design in a logical and concise manner instead of relying on replicating historical styles or architectural moves.  Sure we rely on a standard palette for solid and void, point/line/plane, etc. but we deviate from classical orders and proportions so that the students can practice space making on their own.

When was first handed a copy of Yes Is More by a GA two years ago I was immediately taken aback by the how the projects were very simple diagrammatic structures coupled with a healthy dose of post rationalization (the balcony view) and iteration, all topics that I find fundamental to good design creation (and explanation).  Stumbling across the video for 8-House I was convinced, here was a source I could share with the students.  There in lies the power of Yes Is More and BIG.

Based upon a showing of work at the Danish Architecture Center, the Yes Is More compendium is a supplement to an exhibit, edited to stand alone as a cartoon walkthrough of projects.  Instead of merely showing finished projects, there is explanation of context, relationships and iterations which illustrate how important constant development and flexibility can be.  The intent of the project is always evolving, consuming new information in a manner that allows the project response to be specific, not just to site but also to society in an easily digestible manner.

That is BIG's largest strength and most powerful tool in the propaganda box (don't get me wrong, this is propaganda at it's very base and very well executed).  People, society loves to feel clever, we loathe things that make us feel weak and stupid.  If an architect can explain their project (no matter the complexity) in a manner that allows the public to not only understand but possibly anticipate, the public feels as if they can understand this obtuse thing, architecture.  This can be done without the dangerous democratization of design as BIG illustrates in the Yes Is More work.  Simple diagramming, obvious slight of hand with imagery, brief synapses of explanation in lieu of drawn out treatises make the work not only accessible but quite easy to like.  All this is accomplished without sacrificing the design intent, which makes it all the more impressive.  While many of the projects are unbuilt quick renderings lacking structural significance, there is enough expressed to understand the creation of the spaces, which is what the architecture is really about anyway.

Yes Is More coupled with the BIG Vimeo channel is showing the marketing savvy of Ingels, making architecture (that pushes the boundaries to some extent) accessible to the general public which in turn is good for all of us struggling with how to explain what we want to do with our big words and oversized glossy images.

Sanford Kwinter: Requiem for the City at the End of the Millenium

Requiem For the City at the End of the Millenium (Actar)

Sanford Kwinter

2010

Kwinter is one of the theorists that I absolutely adore, whether or not I agree nor understand the specific point of an essay; he is one of the few writers that allows my own mind to parse my limited knowledge and question my own thinking. Much like a rather thick bowl of oatmeal Kwinter's style relies on some personal asides (requiring some extra curricular examination of historical styles or events) and wordplay that may require some extra trips to a handy dictionary. This is no "Theory for Dummies" book and for that I am rather thankful. Kwinter manages to hold erudite discourse without "talking down" to the reader and structures the essays in classic logical styles making leaps of faith easy to undertake.

"Requiem" is a small collection of essays based primarily upon the idea of the city that celebrate a seemingly modernist take of putting the architectural expression of the city under a critical lens (and like Eisenman, pulls no punches).

This is no manifesto for urban manifest destiny, rather an exploration of the pragmatic goals of urban design set against the experiential intent of the designers. Kwinter relies on an heightened awareness of socio-economic impacts upon architectural styles coupled with the new constraints and releases of social technologies. While there seems to be a tone of hesitant fear (warning?) of the mechanations of social techonlogy they center mostly on possible misuse and a disconnection of the tangible idea of "real".

But this is the constant theme of the collection. What is a city? A mere collection of housing that allows for the concentration of density or rather a collective of thought and ideas that has formed it own and powerful identity? This was the rabbit hole the collection warrants chasing.

As for the book itself, it is a small read, much less dense then FFE in scope and breadth of coverage. The little white book fit well inside my jacket pocket, to be retrieved during lulls in the day. While this is the second Actar book I have received that has been printed out of order (why is there 20 pages or so before the table of contents?) that alone was not the causation for reading a second time. For educators out there who would pass along essays to students, I highly suggest having them create comments or questions during their reading so you can ascertain on which ideas they find problematic. Of course that is a post for another day.

book image from Actar

Yeohlee Teng Lecture Review - UMich 2010.11.05

Yeohlee Teng Lecture Review

2010.11.05

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Design

There is simultaneously too much and too little discussion of interdisciplinary design. Too much in that most discussions carefully only touch upon feigning interest and garnering inspiration from previous design work (here I will use the term precedence) while protecting the small collective fiefdoms that these disparate design elements control and harbor interest in; too little in that while the object of the discussion is good (altruistic?), the execution of the ideas is typically underdeveloped (undercooked as a friend would yell at students) and therefore a failure.

Ms. Yeohlee Teng's lecture at University of Michigan this past Friday meandered in and out of being too broad without specific, and too specific without replicable application, neither in an intentional way, instead only as a bitter afterthought which made the long dark journey back to Cleveland seem more dark and dreary.

Dear god, let me explain.

Ms. Teng's history of exploration in the fabric arts of fashion, creating “wearable structure” while exploring use of “economy”, in this term by dealing with the physical constraints of the materials (production widths of fabrics) and by minimizing waste (see Fall 2009 line), are personal ideologues successfully studied and practiced through her collections. The limits of starting out as a individual designer with limited production capability meant that her first well known piece, “Fall 1981 Black wool doeskin “one size fits all” cape”, would create a signature style playing on the terms of structure, flexibility and economy, themes that would become even more popular/fitting in a disjointed, androgynous and economically jilted society.

In fact, the process by which Ms. Teng uses to develop her pieces translates directly into a logical procession for the creation of informative architecture where each step draws from yet directly informs each previous iteration.

• understand/develop want/need
• develop theme of inspiration [flattened]
• understand material relative to theme and demands/constraints
• develop strategy for construction/assembly
• define infrastructure
• relate/restrain/celebrate movement/stance
• locate places of pause/storage (pockets)
• create identity/perception

Even the discussion of construction, the consideration of the edge condition (“magic of the cut” as Teng pontificated), the comparison of fashion as process oriented (draping vs. pattern making), the celebration of using the material to define its own shape via gravity and mass in lieu of constructed supporting structure all related to the idea of honesty of materiality evident throughout Ms. Teng's entire shown collection. While not directly relating to the idea and process of architecture there was a evident shared process of exploration.

The direct comparisons to built works began to unravel at time. The Fall 2008 collection, supposedly inspired by SANAA's New Museum (NYC 2007) and the Guggenheim inspired Spring 2002 collection (Wright, NYC 1959) lack the rigor when compared to the Spring 2007 Collection. The Spring 2007 Line drew upon work done for the Skin + Bones: Parallel Practices in Fashion and Architecture MOCA-LA exhibition as well as the Schindler House (R.M. Schindler, Hollywood 1922) which dealt with simplicity of materiality and construction through fabric selection. The format of the lecture didn't allow any exploration into the reinterpretation of the material selection from an architectural to fashion perspective, especially when it dealt with hierarchy and assembly which I felt could have been overly interesting. The same issue arrived during the explanation of reinterpreting Mies's Barcelona Pavilion, specifically the use of the seams of the clothing in relation to the exposed “X” columns of the building. There a comment comparing the act of using the distinction of column location to organize the pattern grid as the relation to the structure of the pieces and its seams but the further exploration of the work wasn't there.

To be fair the lecture did seem rushed and covered a broad stroke of work that may have been better organized if focused on a few particular lines and the process of study. This lent to quick and unfulling explanation of what the work was supposed to mean or be interpreted which left me yearning for more.

The one aspect that it seemed even Ms. Teng was wanting to discuss was the use of urban design and planning to support artist communities and business development, a topic of study I am personally highly interested in. Ms. Teng is involved in the “Made in Midtown” movement, a grassroots organization that is meant to codify and quantify the value of the garment district to protect its existence and contributions to the fabric of New York and the fashion culture as a whole. I tried to raise a question at the end of the lecture, inspired by Monica Ponce de Leonremarking that Teng is one of the few designers who is politically active*, regarding how to create a grassroots movement in a region that lacks the creative density of NYC. How can we inspire those among us who have lost the will to fight or what magic words can we utter to instill hope in the hearts of those we need by our side?

Like most of the answers during the Q+A, time constraints may have undermined any attempt at useful discussion. I was told there was hope as out of work factory makers were selling handmade bags at local stores and the prospect of urban farming could rejuvenate community. I don't want to be a farmer, I would not be that good at it and I think the idea of having to begin an alternative craft to what I love to do insulting.

Again, I blame the format of the lecture for my unsastiated hunger. I can only hope Yeohlee Teng's work continues to playfully intwine the reinterpretation of the boundaries of design and will some day accept that as fashion can be inspired by architecture, architecture may be inspired by fashion. What other way can we extrapolate on our “first shelter” (our clothing) to become more intimately comfortable in our spaces?

resources:

YEOHLEE : WORK (book website)

YEOHLEE>>collections

skin+bones gallery guide (pdf)

skin+bones review (pingmag)

Made in Midtown

*I wonder at times the issue of architecture as a political act. There is a civic will required to create good buildings and spaces. I have a concern that if architecture is not political in any means that it is pointless. I am not espousing the standards terms of politics to be in play here, there is no republican architecture or democratic architecture, but architecture is a social act, a social art and science that must have some humane disposition to be successful. If architecture does nothing to respond to the needs of the society at the time of its inception then how can it possibly succeed? Whether personal politics are evident is up to the designer, however some personal morals or mores must inadvertently make it into the work. The idea of resting ares or building efficiency or socialization or hierarchy of space all stem from our ideals that have a political basis. It may not affect how we vote (if we do) but is sure as hell affects our designs. What good do we do then, if we sit on the sidelines and are not vocal in our beliefs, especially when it directly affects our practice?

Far From Equilibrium - Sanford Kwinter

Far From Equilibrium: Essays on Technology and Design Culture by Sanford Kwinter has been mostly gracing the top of my desk (having been fully read) for the past few months. I have had a hard time coming up with a responsible way to synthesize my thoughts on the collection as the writing topics are typically so varied and well researched/thought out that I had to read it a few times to feel comfortable. I have been lugging it around in my backpack, with the promise of letting a friend borrow it, for the last couple of weeks however I find my enjoyment of the introduction itself truly frightening. To the point that I feel guilty for reading it. I shake my head vigorously, "Yes!" I think to myself, "criticism, good criticism is severely lacking and most of society feels better off for it, possibly due to fear or guilt of honesty". I mean, how in this day and age, can you not agree with a criticism on the lack of good solid criticism? How can one expect to improve without it? How can a movement, a design theory, a process or a designer expect to quickly grow if not to hear or witness responses to their designs?

Enough on the criticism though, the collection itself is a series of loosely arranged essays spanning the past two decades over a series of topics, mostly criticism of contemporary (or avant garde if one is comfortable using such a term) architecture and exhibitions, along with some forays into theory. Written in the language of a designer, it is playful and precise, darting through movements and upending intent with the skillful hand of someone who thinks they know the way out and is willing to go it alone but is offering compatriots a chance for salvation if they explore together.

Interjected into the essays is a series of foldouts (images and essays) which at times I admit confused and befuddled me until I stopped trying to think so linearly and got down to the serious task of reading the darn thing.

From the textured cover to the staggered typeface used to set the cadence of the essays I found the detail spent deliriously wonderful. This is bookmaking at its best, the contents just add to the enjoyment.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness: Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein

One would like to assume that given enough information and a variety of choices that a reasonable person would be able to make decisions devoid of unsound external influence. To some this is called paternal libertarianism or retaining the liberty of having choices however slight incentives or nudges are utilized to create a “metered amount of regulation”. The goal is to allow people to take responsibility for their actions by understanding the direct and indirect consequences while keeping them generally free from harm.

In the book Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein the idea of shaping choices smartly is illustrated in examples from grocery store product placement to default application selections. The concern is that by altering the order in which choices are presented one can help shape the perceived value that each choice represents and in essence shape the selection process while still leaving the possibility for self appraised alternatives to exist.

For anyone who has to interact with those they wish to influence the idea of knowing how to shape a question in order to receive the desirable answer is valuable. There was a story on NPR a while back (which I cannot find now) in which giving a child a choice or whether to wear a red or green jacket outside was more useful then simply telling a child to put on a jacket. The inference is that the jacket is automatic but the there is a choice available, red or green. The child still feels as if the important decision making is up to them (or that they have some control) while still being protected from inclement weather.

There are similar examples in the book, especially when it comes to choosing things such as energy providers (the choice isn’t whether you want/need one but instead you get to select which one provides which service). Granted many of the stories are oversimplified the bridging between the arguments is still strong enough to warrant paying attention. I found the voice of the book more personal, as if in a living room conversation with a friend or co-worker instead of being lectured to by a professor, which was fine if not mildly campy at times.

In all it was a quick book to read, not entirely full of new information but the collection offered was good enough to either get one started on the idea of “choice architecture” or offer some different insight into use and framing of selections. At the very least you will look at the grocery store in a new way and may even figure out how to ask someone a question in such a way that they will respond how you want. That alone is worth the price.

resources:

The Nudge Blog

choice architecture primer

Transmaterial 3: Blaine Brownell

Transmaterial 3: edited by Blaine Brownell

Now in its third edition the physical manifestation of the popular Transmaterial webblog has recently been released by the publisher and is now available at your book outlet of choice. Mine arrived from Amazon Monday (to my surprise, I pre-ordered and completely lost track of time).

For those of you not familiar with Mr. Brownell or Transmaterial the work aggregated and researched by Mr. Brownell typically is in response to the desire of the materiality of design, either through expressive/communicative, performance or efficiency characteristics studied through the Transstudio research and design group. Mr. Brownell current teaches at the University of Minnesota and is an avid research/writer and lecturer.

A guide such as Transmaterial fulfills two of the most necessary components of creating a built environment, the proffering of materials to fulfill required tasks (not easily obtainable by "standard" materials) and by constantly demonstrating the continuous research and development of new materials from which to design, build and aspire. Granted many of the materials illustrated in the Transmaterial books are not necessarily affordable (see cheap when compared to existing materials) however they are not meant as simple replacement for existing systems but marked improvements in performance, environmental consideration (footprint) and customability/usability. I was extremely pleased to discover just how many of the materials in the book were being developed by companies in the United States (easing access) and have already begun book marking pages for my wish list to someday see available in Cleveland (or where ever I end up doing whatever I am doing).

In more than one way the book is fabulous design porn. Materials are organized by material makeup (concrete, wood, metal, etc.), complete with thumbnail images, brief descriptions of material contents, applications, types/sizes, environmental concerns/benefits, testing/examination certificates, product limitation and the ever important manufacturing contact to find if the product is indeed available in your project's area.

At the very least it is fantastic to see what new materials are being made available for use and may even help in one's own development of project design through materiality, which makes the book well worth the purchase price in itself.

Transmaterial also offers a weekly email subscription of new materials. Granted the materials you receive are typically also showcased in the following book release, however the book contains over 200 products which is more than you would have access to via email along, you also get a rather nice bit of reading material that you can mark up and book mark for future reference.

Asterios Polyp: David Mazzucchelli

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

A "paper" architect (one who wins recognition for proposals/competitions but not built work) suffers from being overly academic, fatalistically literal in his search for recognizing (what he sees) as design purity and insufferable in having the last word (typically critical) has his past life destroyed by fate, realizes what happiness he sacrificed to further his own self-satisfied identity and finally admits his ability to be incorrect in an attempt to regain his humanity.

What more could I say? It is sort of a fable for today's over critical designer. What is lost when snarky commentary replaces helpful critique? How much is sacrificed when one exists in a world where only your own view is valid? How can beauty be judged?

Like most graphic novels there is so much more than the story telling, there is the graphical work consisting of elegantly simple drawings depicting stylistic changes to accentuate how our memories of events are a retelling of stories colored by our own emotion. The layers of stories, current lines interjected with memories as the main character, Asterios, struggles to comes to terms with how his life has resulted in its current state, allows one to trace the slow development of his emerging humanity as he crawls forth from a defensive shell of hyper-evaluation used to ascertain his own superiority (and of course how he got there in the first place).

Of course it isn't just Asterios whom makes the story fascinating, there is a whole realm of characters, at times caricatures of society, exploring the confounding interactions between these disparate groups and deftly illustrating that life, like architecture, is most interesting where dissimilarities occur.

It was a quick read and actually quite good that would make a fantastic gift for anyone slowing slipping into the world of becoming a self-contained and annoying self referential bastard. I admit, I recognized bits of myself in there.

Tim Beatley non-lecture workshop - recap

To be completely fair and honest I did not attend Dr. Beatley's lecture at CMNH however I was included in the 2 hour workgroup which occurred before the lecture which was more of a Q&A session with Tim Beatley and others involved in the city. Luckily Erie Wire commented on one of my posts and directed me to a podcast of the lecture so I was able to at least listen to his presentation and mentally compare it to what I had seen in his movie preview clip (The Nature of Cities) as well as what was discussed at the workgroup.

The main concern that seemed to arrive from the discussion was a dire need for policy to support the grassroots involvement brewing to alter how communities and infrastructure are planned and thought of. I admit I was looking for specific case studies to apply to our current condition (in order to fortify policy discussion) which were lacking in the workgroup.

There was discussion of risk aversion and how it affects design. Brought up by the images of a wetland park lacking railings that leads to a park in the inlet which had a hole in the center to watch the tide rise and fall, and of course the clip of the children walking/hopping along larger stones, it was commented upon how a similar situation would be hard pressed to occur in the States due to our litigious nature. Which I have to admit is a damnable shame.

It seems that as a society and more nuanced, as a local community, we withhold ourselves from attempting anything truly innovative or ground breaking, instead we are awfully careful with our development. I believe this stems from a combination of not trusting the intelligence of the general public (hence we are not treated as adults, instead we are fed morsels of safe information about projects like children) and a lack of accountability/transparency. I would suggest that bold initiatives require strong leadership and change carries a risk however if the current situation is not very good the risk/reward ratio should be tilted to accommodate more risk. The difference between "bottom" and "rock bottom" isn't that great when you have no chance of moving above a current situation due to a declining situation (ie. Cleveland's tax supported school system, public transit (as transportation infrastructure) and job base).

However, the case studies were evidently saved for the lecture and not part of the discussion, which means that it is up to us again, looking to ourselves for leadership and solutions because, let's be honest, if we don't do it, no one will.

I don't blame Beatley for not being a savior, he wasn't brought here for that. Instead he offered some glimpses into what could happen if communities were better thought out, designed and were based upon a human scale, or at least a reaction to finding our humanity. Which is a point you don't hear often when words such as "sustainability" or "green" occur. Our humanity includes the natural environment (we are animals after all) and being "green" typically saves money (in operating costs anyway), so the symbiotic nature of our coexistence with ourselves should be a pinnacle purpose of this argument. Health, Safety and Welfare shouldn't be concerned with who can get sued instead HSW needs to develop into how beneficial something is. Designing for bikes instead of cars, building places for people to be outside, children's exposure to nature, natural foods, sunlight, wind, rain, are all glorious things to celebrate. I have even heard that some people even look forward to snow. How often do we design in order to shut this all out instead of incorporating and celebrating it?

Too often.

So I thank Dr. Beatley for coming to our city, for taking the time to answer a barrage of questions, to give a presentation and to work so diligently for his beliefs (as to publish, film, teach and practice extensively). I only hope we can persuade him (and others) to spend a bit more time studying Cleveland in order to better help us formulate stronger policies and procedures.

And I ask our communities to ponder the following points as we look towards how Cleveland can resolve its livability in the future.

• How do we properly educate ourselves so as to not fall into the trap of "popular marketing" and instead spend our time investigating solutions responsibly?
• How can we integrate functional design in lieu of just as a spectacle in order for communities, infrastructure and buildings act not just as passive structures (to be witnessed or experienced) but active objects that interact productively with the community/region/etc.?
• Which case studies can we properly look towards, emulate, adapt and make our own? Which data is imperative and applicable? How do we foster techniques to study and implement this research (ie. where is the funding from, how is it paid for, how is it validated)?
• What differentiation of scale is allowable for interventions to have any affect? How do case studies scale? How are regions and communities studied and through which lens best allows for application (and how does one convince designers and clients to look past the boundaries of their property when designing these solutions)?

Douglas Farr Lecture - Recap

cellphone photo

Last Thursday at the Case Medical Library Douglas Farr gave a brief lecture on smartly planned neighborhoods. I typically don't like to use words such as "green" or "sustainable" as they impose an aura of misplaced and misleading marketing that devalues the true intent, instead I would like to offer that Mr. Farr presented case studies and experiments in smarter urban planning with the intended goal of creating better used and useful communities. Regardless of which lens you would most enjoy peering through the end goal is to take these lessons and apply them in a manner that would benefit local community planning and development.

The crowd comprised of a few Case School of Architecture alum (which opened in 1929 and was closed in 1972, which is a shame as the City would no doubt benefit from a full local program), planning students from Case and CSU, some local architects, urban planners and community minded people who believe in strong communities. There were some noticeable people missing who shall go UNNAMED with the intent that they should already feel guilty enough about missing a local lecture on such a topic without being pointed out.

It is rather difficult to take a talk on planned communities and distill it into little memorable quotes. Luckily Mr. Farr did that for me and without his permission I will reveal to you some of the secrets you could have garnered for yourself if you bothered to show up. Take from it what you will. This is a TOIstudio public service announcement.

1- start an aspirational development

2- strengthen existing neighborhoods and corridors

3- fix the rules, ask the right questions

4- advocate for living locally

What exactly do those statements mean? They mean that for the most part American post war society has created an insular set of rules, mores and regulations that actually weaken neighborhoods and by extension communities. We (social humanity) are actually fighting an uphill battle to better neighborhoods and to do so requires a lot more work, understanding and manifested intent. They mean that for every decision that must be made it must be asked "why". Why is that decision shaped that way, Why do the building/zoning/planning codes require these solutions, Why is a development or community not interacting, not succeeding, not vibrant, not interesting? Ask the questions and think on the answers, then act in the necessary manner.

It really isn't rocket science, we had that licked in the 50's. This is a "soft" science and it requires diligent thinking to attempt to solve it instead of cookie cutter plans and misanthropic regurgitations of 20 year old books used as a marketing ploy. It requires a bit of research, critical thinking, a little bit of heart and quite a bit of hard work, and when it works a designer can sit back and go, "Well I tried to make the world a better place. How can I improve on what I last did to make it even better?"

resources:

Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature (book)

2030 Challenge - Congress of New Urbanism

All You Can Eat - Recap

photo cred: POST (someone with a camera)

Last weekend the Sculpture Center hosted an event named "All You Can Eat", billed as "a buffet of architectural ideas for Cleveland". The exhibit received 46 submissions, some traveling all the way from Georgia, of proposals for our fair city.

Opening night (Friday) saw a pretty impressive turnout and conversation topics mostly stayed on the positive aspects of the city and this exhibition in general. If anything the overall vibe was that there isn't enough attention paid to our built environment locally and it will take many events such as this to carry the movement forward. Everyone seemed starved for new ideas and, well, interesting solutions in lieu of the local pedestrian proffering typically construed as "ground-breaking" (or even "good") architecture.

Saturday's round table discussion (from what I hear) was pretty interesting. I didn't make it, however Ferringer did capture the first hour on video and it should eventually find it's way onto the Post webbernet site.

Some of my favorite submissions were from a third year studio class at Kent State CAED by Professor Charles Fredericks. The student's projects were part of a presentation made earlier in the day to the Fairfax Redevelopment Corporation. The projects, entitled "Curbside Urbanism" explored utilizing residual space for garden paths and pavilions to create public space interventions and redefine neighborhood characteristics.

Granted some of the submissions were not "ground breaking" or "innovative" but their application locally would definitely be, at the very least, amusing. To be honest their is nothing wrong with offering a tried and true solution to be experimented with locally however my attention is drawn more to the suggestions from the absurd to the over analytical is the suggested solution is experimental enough to create interesting results. My caveat to this was the board of "S.L. Brainard House @ 4107 Denison Ave." where the local chapter of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America suggested a complete historic renovation of the residence. The drawings and photographs made the offering completely reasonable in scope and scale but also historically necessary to understand the regional built history.

It will take many more exhibits and calls for work to move architecture and design forward enough to overcome much of the static complacency the region suffers from (education is usually the best weapon). I believe the All You Can Eat exhibit, coupled with the Cleveland Design Competition has made Cleveland a blip on national architecture/design radar. I would argue we are almost a quarter of the way there, but to be truly successful it (the need for and exhibition/celebration of thoughtful design strategies and innovative ides) needs to be so overpowering as to be happily annoying.

resource:
All You Can Eat
All You Can Eat on Facebook

Cecil Balmond Lecture at UMich - Recap

Last Tuesday the MarJ and I once again hopped in the trusty xBox but this time pointed West, not as far west as our hearts yearn but western enough to notice a substantial change in license plate design. Our destination, Ann Arbor, Michigan home to the University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and other good things to see and hear Cecil Balmond (of Ove Arup -AGU and UPenn) work his magic. We intentional sandbagged our journey with a couple extra hours to make up any confusing Google directions and to give some time for a greater exploration of UMich's program then we were allowed at Buffalo.

A couple of things were noticed immediately. Monica Ponce De Leon's (Of Office dA) posistion as dean of the Taubman College of Architecture is supplemented with an Associate Dean/Director and an Assistant Dean/Director, which was seemingly not offered to Steven Fong when he took the similar position at Kent State (and subsequently left). Secondly Ms. De Leon is lecturing all over the dang place as is illustrated in the hundreds of lecture posters that line the corridors of the school. Not that she is lecturing at every school on those posters but it came as a very noticeable difference between KSU and the last two schools I have visited in that there are lecture posters for lots of other schools on the walls, as if the school was striving for a non-insular learning experience. We didn't get a chance to talk to any of the students as we arrived on an open house day and most of the staff/students were busy with selling the school to prospective students and I didn't want to get mired. Instead we wandered the building, visited a gallery, looked lovingly upon the various lecture series (and is how I discovered a couple I couldn't find online) and then went out to walk some of the campus, which is tied together with a staggered series of open green spaces in a rather comfortable rambling way. I can imagine the campus is amazing to hang out on when the weather is nicer.

The Lecture:

Monica gave an amazing intro to Cecil. She seems like a genuinely nice and warm person which set the tone perfectly for Cecil's dry humor and deft sense of humanizing a rather difficult subject. The auditorium was packed with spill over to some back up spaces showing the lecture via closed circuit television. We got second row seats due to our pushy and uncompromising nature. For those there on account of the open house I can only say how lucky they are to be exposed to these sorts of ideas so early. Too early to understand but the intent and rigor should be now incubating in the back of those young noggins. If only I knew then...

I don't know how to properly sum up the Balmond lecture. He showed some built work and explained the thought process including a couple of Serpentine Galleries, the CCTV building and the pedestrian bridge in Coimbra, Portugal. He then walked the audience through the impetus behind a few unbuilt works and explained the purpose behind Ove Arup's Advanced Geometry Unit and his work at UPenn (H_edge) before giving us a glimpse of some unpublished work that he is currently working on based upon complex algorithmic interactions.

The intention behind a lot of the thinking of the projects, and arguing upon form based architecture versus architecture that strives for deeper exploration, was touched upon by Cecil but inherently augmented by the discussion. The overlying complexity of much of the forms was really nothing more than the scalable interpretation of a singular mathematical construct meaning that when a bias or intersection created an interstitial space/condition a revisiting of the original premise would allow for an intuitive solution that did not deviate from the overall scheme, resulting in very complex iterations that could be simply construed by understanding the basic premise. It was the complexity and simplicity, existing simultaneously that allowed for the natural discoveries to be made in the work and it was these experimentations that Cecil obviously savored. I was concerned that the MarJ, not being of architecture training, would find Cecil obtuse and confusing however her love of mathematics and Cecil's coherent lecture style gave us much to discuss on the 3 hour ride home. Obviously much of the audience wasn't ready for such heady discourse but it is sure to prove helpful in the coming studio years.

Throughout the lecture, however, Cecil's ability to concisely and clearly state his ideas (as illustrated in his written works) made the lecture experience quick paced and fluid. Illustrations deftly maneuvered the conversation through discussing the work with clients, contractors, other designers and the current audience. It was a sort of "happy learning" that made MarJ and I both realize we enjoy the lectures because you recieve the joy of learning something new and possibly exciting without the chore of having to recite/regurgitate it later (as if we were still in school). I don't know if Cecil's experience as an educator gave him experience in knowing how to easily discuss his ideas (and let his own excitement shine through) in a similar fashion to Dan Rockhill but I have noticed that educators seem to give better lectures than most "Design Professionals". They realize they have an audience there to listen to them care about what they are presenting about, they don't have to shock and awe the audience with made up architecture words that hinder the ability to understand a clear idea (those asking questions from the audience take note!).

Would I see him speak again? Undoubtedly, it was exciting and interesting and he presents fantastically. I feel very sorry for my friends who didn't get a chance to see him speak (cough) and hope they DO take the effort to catch him as soon as they can.

It was a fantastic lecture and I thank the University of Michigan for hosting it.