Thursday, October 15, 2009

Shoreway Howard Johnson Motor Inn demo pix




For your action enjoyment I am going to take some sweet pix of the Shoreway Howard Johnson Motor Inn finally being demo'ed. I don't know if anything will eventually go in that location, as deserving as it is for something that could be really amazing and beneficial to the community.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Random views around Cleveland


I apologize about how I have been slacking a bit lately on the blog posts but I have been suffering some computer issues and am attempting to sort it out. Which I hope eventually to.

In the meantime enjoy this photo of the the old metal panel skin being taken off the building at 2000 East 9th Street on the Southwest corner of Euclid and East 9th exposing the brick/block beneath. I fear they cut some of the decorative pieces where it interfered with the metal skin. I don't know what the future really holds for this building, I don't work downtown anymore but it is nice to see things happening along Euclid.

Yay!

Monday, October 12, 2009

Dan Rockhill Lecture @ Univ.of Buffalo : recap

image from Studio 804 website

Last Friday the MarJ and I hopped in the TOIbox and headed east to the University of Buffalo to see Dan Rockhill speak at what we were to find out the 40th anniversary of the School of Architecture and Planning. Despite our directions from Google Maps (it was mostly a signage issue) we were able to find Crosby Hall on the South Campus. We even made it a bit early in order to do our due diligence and poke around a bit in order to see what the program was like before the lecture began. From what we could glean from our observations and some gentle questioning to a student or two the beginning of the Fall Semester dealt mostly with precedence studies. From the projects displayed on the walls the studies were more technical and biased toward passive design strategies but also illustrated the intent behind good precedence studies. The students were not merely creating a toolbox of previously successful projects, instead they were attempting to disseminate the driving force behind a selected design strategy in order to determine if the process and product were successful and (I can imagine) what changes or alterations could be attempted.

After our explorations we found ourselves in a medium sized lecture hall with between 80 to 100 other audience members ranging from students to faculty to alumni. It was then that we were informed that the School was celebrating it's 40th anniversary and that Dan Rockhill was indeed a University of Buffalo alumni and with that the presentation began.

I have been to numerous lectures, I actually enjoy them, especially if they delve deeper into the project's intent instead of merely demonstrating a slide show of built work with only the slightest veneer of the effort and thought that went into each project. This Dan did not do. Instead he spoke deliberately and clearly upon each project's intent, weaving between what the project goals were with his own personal goals and illustrating issues, shortfalls and successes. I was taken aback by a couple of points.

First, he didn't talk like an architect. He didn't talk down to his audience by using big, complex language to muddy and idea; instead his explanations and anecdotes evoked the sort of plain spoken charm that explains his success working with non-profit and municipal groups. He knows how to talk to people and he did a fantastic job Friday.

Secondly, Mr. Rockhill's Design/Build philosophy embodies the almost original beauty behind architect as master builder but couples this pedagogy with a playful exuberance that melds with the theoretical study of standard architectural educations instead of warring against it. The premise is that there is necessity for both. As the process unfolds there is a deliberate attempt to mix theoretical rhetoric with practical application but in doing so simply enough that the associations are manageable in both project scope and style.

The lecture began with Rockhill concentrating on the work of his firm, Rockhill and Associates, a design/build/construction practice that operates out of Lecompton, Kansas. A bevy of slides and stories explained how the projects are designed and built by the firm which allows for a time consuming amount of control and the ability to test new ideas and techniques. By assuming the task of construction explanation of construction techniques can wait until proofed in the field which allows for greater exploration by the designer to be made. As noted in the lecture they were able to be "asking clients for an excuse to practice architecture". Their precedence is the vernacular style of rural Kansas houses exemplifying decades of proven passive design strategies and the aesthetic of rural life. The structures were simple but beautiful and so very damn logical that when the intent was explained it was difficult to imagine any other outcome.

The second portion of the lecture dealt with Mr. Rockhill's design build studio called Studio 804 taught at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Treated as a separate non-profit by the University, Studio 804 has full immersion design/build curriculum which is gifted one whole semester to design and build a complete structure. What began as an exercise in teaching students how buildings could be assembled became an award winning design studio using "marginalized neighborhoods" in Kansas and Missouri as playgrounds for energy efficient and low cost housing (albeit the latest project, a LEED platinum residential building, is hard to consider "low cost" at $350k). Regardless the projects are quite nice and utilize a rich palette of materials and modern strategies for living not typically seen in affordable housing.

In all it was a fantastic lecture and a wonderful excuse to visit University of Buffalo. I am hoping I was allowed to attend the lecture (I didn't ask ahead of time, I figure if one publishes it online without any stipulations it is considered free reign) and I look forward again to the next excuse to visit. Especially now that I know where I am going.

Books:

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Number 9: Cecil Balmond

Number 9 - The Search for the Sigma Code by Cecil Balmond was purchased simply to delve into a great designer's fascination with numbers. Engineering (aeronautical) was my first path upon graduating high school before I decided architecture would be more interesting but I have always been fascinated by the science between good engineering for far more reasons than pure logic. I always felt there was a certain mysticism in numbers, a religious transcendence of belief that values of certain variables, when combined, could form something almost entirely different. What made me a geek in school remains interesting to this day (although I hate excel spreadsheets for various reasons, least of them math related).

It is this magic of numbers that Cecil speaks of profoundly yet almost concealing the punchline of a cosmic joke. Number 9 uses the parable of a character named Enjil as a vehicle for simplifying the complex path of numerical interactions and attempting to recognize and disseminate the many natural patterns of mathematical calculations were are exposed to each day. It is recognizing these patterns that is fascinating. In reconstructing them we are able to realize an inter connectivity that requires a certain ability to believe. I hesitate to use the word religious again, but at times there is a suspension of disbelief required as the reader begins down the path towards understanding.

The book is simple, almost cute in design. Storytelling weaved into basic proofs illustrated with various diagrams showing the connections and beauty of the relationships of numbers allows one to feel the main character's torn indecision at achieving success by exemplifying what his "teachers" wish him to be or by expressing what he naturally is, someone who understands that it takes the simplicity of a childlike mind to unlock the secrets of the universe.

I fantasize that this book will reach the hands of a young student who is just beginning their exposure to higher math lessons and who is able to live out the wonder that is youthful exploration of the sciences. Where would I have been if I had learned that math was a toy to be played with instead of a series of proofs and equations to memorize and recite?

Well, this blog would be a whole lot different.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Roadtrip (8)! - Cranbrook Fall Lecture Series

Cranbrook Academy of Art has posted their Fall Lecture series including the Artology Series (a fusion of art and science), Animal Logic (Richard Barnes installation), Saarinen House Tours (may through october).

You can peruse all this information at the link above. The Academy of Art Fall Edition Lecture Series is listed below.

Reflecting the current variety of contemporary creative practice, the [FALL] Edition Lecture Series presents a series of evenings with all forms of innovative inquiry. A part of the academic program at Cranbrook Academy of Art, the lectures are open to the public – inviting the community to share in the ideas and discussions of the Academy.

All lectures begin at 6:00 pm in the Cranbrook Institute of Science Auditorium and are free, unless otherwise noted. Please park in the public parking deck.

Tuesday, October 6
Michael Rotondi

Architect
“No-D”
Sponsored by the Architecture Department

Michael Rotondi is the principal at RoTo Architects. He is internationally recognized as an innovative architect/educator and has practiced and taught architecture for 30 years. His projects range from educational to institutional, cultural, commercial, entertainment, residential and religious. Mr. Rotondi’s work as a transdisciplinary educator–practitioner has given him the skills, knowledge and insights that are essential to an open-minded approach to solving complex problems innovatively and working with a diversity of people and organizations.

Tuesday, October 13
Kate Bonansinga

Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso “Making it Relevant: The University Art Museum in the 21st Century” Co-sponsored by the Critical Studies Program, Ceramics, Metalsmithing, Fiber and PhotographyDepartments.

Kate Bonansinga is the Director of the Stanlee and Gerald Rubin Center for the Visual Arts at the University of Texas at El Paso. Her interest lies in contemporary art that resides at the intersection of materials-oriented fine craft and concept-driven fine art. She serves on the editorial advisory board for Art Lies: A Contemporary Art Quarterly, Houston, TX and as a national art peer for the Office of the Chief Architect of the United States. She is guest curator for Staged Stories: Renwick Craft Invitational 2009 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Thursday, October 13: 8pm - updated!
David Taylor

Photographer and Associate Professor, New Mexico State University
“Working the Line: Photographs of the U.S./Mexico Border”
Sponsored by the Photography Department.

David Taylor is an Associate Professor at New Mexico State University, where he teaches photography. His photo constructions, multimedia installations, and artist’s books have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions at around the United States. His work is in a number of permanent collections, including Columbia College Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Washington State Arts Commission, Olympia; University of Washington, Seattle; El Paso Museum of Art; and Fidelity Investments, Boston. Taylor’s documentation of the U.S./Mexico border has been done with the support of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Tuesday, October 27
Lane Relyea

Cranbrook 2009 Visiting Critical Studies Fellow and Associate Professor, Northwestern University
“From Spectacular Commodities to Bricolaged Objects” Part of the fellowship series, “D.I.Y. Culture Industry: Signifying Practices, Social Networks and Other Instrumentalizations of Everyday Art”.

Lane Relyea is the Fall 2009 Visiting Critical Studies Fellow at Cranbrook Academy of Art. An Associate Professor of Art Theory and Practice at Northwestern University, Professor Relyea has written for such magazines as Art Journal, Art in America, Artforum, Frieze and Parkett and has published monographs on contemporary artists. He is the former director of the Core Program at the Glassell School of Art in Houston and his book D.I.Y. Culture Industry is forthcoming from MIT Press.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Roadtrip (7)! - University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning

The UB School of Architecture and Planning already had some good lectures (I keep forgetting about this school for some reason, must be a mental block thing) but I am excited about Dan Rockhill and SANAA and think Xu Bing would be very interesting.

Here is the schedule including some items that we have already missed, just to rub it in that they have a lecture series too:

Oh, and they also have selected past lectures online for you to be viewing (Quicktime) online. Yay!

Fall 2009

Lectures

All Lectures begin at 5:30 pm in Crosby 301 unless otherwise noted.

  • 09.09.09 Molo

    Stephanie Forsythe and Todd McAllen, of Molo, founded the critically-acclaimed, collaborative design and production studio which is based in Vancouver, known for its materials research and explorationof space-making designs.

  • 09.11.09 Simon Harel

    Simon Harel has written extensively about cities and is currently engaged in research on homelessness. He is a Professor in Literary Studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

    09.30.09 Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects

    Mack Scogin and Merrill Elam are architects working in practice in Atlanta. The designers of several significant award-winning libraries and educational buildings, their work has been widely published and received numerous awards.

    10.09.09 Dan Rockhill

    Dan Rockhill is an architect and Director of Studio 804 – a program that enables architects and students to design and build houses and public buildings.The Rockhill lecture will be held at 12:30 p.m. in 301 Crosby Hall.

    10.13.09 SANAA

    Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa have been working collaboratively under the name SANAA since1995. Their most recent work includes the 2009 Serpentine Pavilion in the UK. This lecture will be held at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery at 6 p.m.

    10.28.09 Maryann Thompson

    An architect and landscape architect based in Boston, Maryann Thompson has designed a series of significant public buildings as well as notable new landscapes.

    11.09.09 Xu Bing

    Xu Bing’s artistic practice is an exploration of language. He studied printmaking at of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, where he is currently Vice President. This lecture will take place at the Center for Fine Arts at 6:30 p.m.

    11.18.09 Johannes Stiefel, McHale Fellow

    Johannes Stiefel is a founder of Stiefel Kramer Architects - a design studio that is based in Vienna and Zurich. He recently won a major design competition for a new public space in Switzerland. He is the 2009-10 McHale Fellow at UB SA&P.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Cleveland Design Competition III - goes live

I have found that holding my breathe doesn't really make things move faster or occur sooner regardless of what idioms you may hear. This is why I am extremely very excited to announce that registration and the official launch of the third Cleveland Design Competition happens(ed) today, October 5th.

The timeline is already in place and as a slight teaser the scope of the project will include the Lakefront Rail Station, a major component of the 3C rail line, the Medical Mart project and Cleveland's foray into the model sustainable city it claims to want to become.

I for one, am extremely excited.

EXTREMELY.

...and I am going to throw down the gauntlet. If you are an architect/designer and claim to give the slightest crap about Cleveland's future but can't be bothered to take the time to even help a team on a competition hoping to elevate not only the image of the city but the discussion of how we can make our place better through experimenting with design, you need to stop telling people that you are a designer who cares about Cleveland. Action or words buckos.

Action or words.

See you at the awards ceremony.

updated image - ed

Friday, October 02, 2009

Roadtrip (6)! John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, University of Toronto.


To be completely fair my first warning of any Fall Lecture series happened because Daniels was kind enough to send me an email which turned my regular crummy day into a wonderful one. It reminded me of a couple truths. That Fall is awesome because of all the upcoming lectures, that Daniels not only has an amazing lecture series but keeps people informed about them and that no matter how hard I try, I will never get my alma mater to put me on an email list so I may as well go to another school and try there.

Toronto has a warm place in my heart and I am already listing the excuses to return. This lecture series offers some fine possibilities. For those of you wondering, no, I will not carpool with you to a lecture series across the border. I am less humorous than a border guard and don't have time for your "jeez, I hope my roommate wasn't wearing this coat" humor when we get to the crossing. Also I want time to do some exploring and shopping.

And yes, there is even a Brown Bag Lecture Series. Eat your friggin' heart out.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Architecture for Humanity: Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) Rebuilding Appeal



Architecture for Humanity is responding to Typhoon Ketsana-Ondoy, which has affected the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. Millions of people have been displaced, with the threat of more typhoons on their way possibly affecting even more people. We are raising funds for transitional and permanent reconstruction of areas affected. Please note this funding will be focused on longer-term recovery rather than emergency relief.

DONATE HERE http://www.architectureforhumanity.org/updates/2009-10-01-typhoon-ketsana-ondoy-rebuilding-appeal

Here’s how we can make an impact:

$10,000 will provide a rebuilding team for six months on the ground.
$20,000 will provide a team in two or more countries.
$50,000 will build a clinic or school.
$100,000 will build multiple community structures.

If we raise less than $10,000 then we will distribute it to local groups focused on reconstruction of affected communities.

After the 2004 South Asia Tsunami we raised close to $500,000, which enabled Architecture for Humanity to build community facilities and homes in more than 20 villages in India and Sri Lanka.

Can’t Donate?

1. Offer your services – link to offer services
2. Tweet this: Support Architecture for Humanity's Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) Rebuilding Appeal: http://bit.ly/3oYvyq
3. Update your Facebook status with: Support Architecture for Humanity’s Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) Rebuilding Appeal: http://bit.ly/3oYvyq
4. Email 10 friends.
5. Host a bake sale (Over $200K was raised through bake sales and lemonade stands during the 2004 Tsunami).

Thank You,

All of us at Architecture for Humanity

Lake Erie Boat Float



Lake Erie Boat Float
Saturday, Oct. 3rd, 2009
Boat Launch at Edgewater State Park Beach
9am

In 2003 Marcus Eriksen sailed down the Mississippi River on a plastic raft called Bottle Rocket

In 2008 he sailed across the Pacific Ocean on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles called JUNK

In 2009 he will sail Lake Erie on a raft made of bottles called The COLA-HOGA!

Come and cheer on all the folks who built their very own recycled rafts as they take to the high um... Lake and bring back their rafts for responsible recycling.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

the Bike Rack Event


Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009
5.30 - 9pm

30 artists (including the yours truly as part of a Cleveland "Dream Team" with David Jurca and Guari Torgalkar) from across Greater Cleveland submitted public art ideas for the facade of a new bike station planned for downtown Cleveland. The submissions were reviewed and winners were chosen by community stakeholders from the Gateway and East 4th Street neighborhood.

Join us on Thursday, October 1, at 5:30pm, to view all the entries and see an installation by the winning artists, Scott Stibich and Mark A. Reigelman II.

-spoiler, the Cleveland "Dream Team" wasn't chosen. Still gonna show up and check out the winners though. Oh sweet victory, will thous't land upon my lips?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sacred Architecture Tour - St. James - recap

The MarJ and I went on a tour of St. James which was hosted by Tim Barett, an architectural historian in Cleveland, who gave a presentation on the history and detailing of St. James which is currently being ordered to close by the Cleveland Diocese.

The city of Lakewood, in which St. James resides, is currently attempting to pass legislation amending the city's historic preservation law to include protecting the interior of historical properties (not just public ones) that "have traditionally served the public". Needless to say the legal issues are at best a sticky wicket.

The church however, even though it displays some damage, is quite breathtaking inside and it is a true marvel to believe that a structure such as this exists. The quality of materials (as pointed out by Mr. Barett) is exceptional and the detailing and thought that went into the design are extraordinary.

St. James is scheduled to be closed in 2010 which may possibly forever take a part of Cleveland/Lakewood history along with it. I suggest if you have the time and inclination to stop in and take a peek around. It is well worth the trip.

resources:

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Bridge Project Recap

If you had spent the last week living under a rock in complete denial of interweb communications or the sun perhaps you had missed out on the Bridge Project an injection of Ingenuity Fest which took place on the streetcar level of the Detroit Superior (Veteran's Memorial) Bridge and hosted the fifth Pecha Kucha Cleveland. There was quite a bit going on and from 4pm to midnight (Friday) and noon to midnight (Saturday) the bridge became the hot new public space of Cleveland.

There was something quite wonderous about the transformation, not the least of which was the studied interventions coordinated by the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative which were intentional pedestrian spaces intended to capture and challenge public interaction and flow. The Bridge came alive Friday night when I was there and turned into the sort of pulsing urban area that makes Cleveland feel like a lively city. From the intimate lighting creating areas of romance and sharing, to the impromptu (for the bridge) fireworks show after the Indian's game, to the constant arrival and departure of the hooting crowds sharing a ride on the conference bike the darkened space never felt nefarious or dangerous or the least bit intimidating. The MarJ and I reminisced upon a time in Portland when we crossed the Morrison Bridge(?) on foot on the way to meet a friend for dinner which gave us an amazing vantage of Portland but wasn't very crowded. I don't think we ever truly felt anything but cold and wet (it was raining), tired (those bridges are LONG!) and amazed at the view. There is something about bridges that offer some of the very best views of a city.

Bridges embolden some very interesting ideas. They demarcate the physical (and usually psychological) barriers between two regions (noticeable in Cleveland as the constant struggle between the vastly superior West Side and that Other Side) and allow typically unhindered vistas along shorelines or gorges typically aligned with major boulevards (necessitating the crossing). They are the physical manifestation of the idea of joining two separate and distinct entities and of overcoming barriers (sadly an idea not touched on often enough) and can be very beautiful, very utilitarian, both or neither but always intentional and purposeful.

So what did we learn from this, our night-time excursion along a path not open to public for decades (at afternoon hours)? We learned that Cleveland has some postcard views, that hearing the cars rumble overhead with the river rushing by below is unnerving but the concrete and steel are reassuring, that if you have something so singular and amazing such as that bridge level, that it needs to be celebrated and shared, and that Cleveland is acres of unutilized potential of river and lake shore and space whose only hinderer is our lack of imagination and our hesitancy to try to do something new and different.

Congratulations to all those hard working folks at the County Engineer's office, CUDC, Ingenuity, etc, who put on a great event. I can only hope that more was awoken in our hearts than a mere desire to walk a great path once and that we can begin to really see and activate/create the potential that does exist here before it is too late. I know I am not the only one of limited patience.