James Howard Kunstler @ Cleveland Public Library March 14th

James Howard Kunstler

Writers & Readers Series

Cleveland Public Library (Louis Stokes Wing)

325 Superior Ave. N.E.

Cleveland, Ohio 44114

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

2pm

An author, journalist, and urban planning expert, James Howard Kunstler is one of the foremost social critics of our time. The Geography of Nowhere (1993) and Home from Nowhere (1996) established him as a fierce critic of suburban sprawl and the high cost of our automobile-dependant culture.

His bestselling book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century (2005) addressed the ongoing global oil crisis by exploring the sweeping economic, political and societal changes that will result from the inevitable end of access to cheap fossil fuels. He expanded on his previous criticisms and detailed the impact the crisis will have on the way we live, work, farm and build.

The 2008 publication of his 10th novel, World Made by Hand, placed those ideas and his critique in a provocative fictional setting. Given the wild fluctuations in prices and concerns over the world’s oil supply, World Made by Hand is both timely and portentous. Through the eyes of the citizens and mayor of Union Grove, Kunstler imagines what will happen in Small Town USA when the oil wells dry up, the climate changes, and the economic system collapses. While it is “grim with portent,” the San Francisco Chronicle said, World Made by Hand “is an impassioned and invigorating tale whose ultimate message is one of hope, not despair.”

Kunstler’s earlier novels include Maggie Darling (2004), Thunder Island(1989), The Halloween Ball (1987), An Embarrassment of Riches (1985), andThe Life of Byron Janes (1983).

A former staff writer for Rolling Stone, he continues to be a prolific journalist and essayist whose writings have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Orion Magazine, The New York Times Sunday Magazine and on Slate.com.

A native New Yorker, he resides in Saratoga Springs.

Towpath Trail Open House - March 9th

Towpath Trail Open House

Tuesday, March 9th, 4:30-7:30pm

St. Joseph / OLA Center

2346 West 14th Street in Tremont

Please join the Towpath Trail Partnership Committee and Michael Baker Engineering, consultants for Phase 3 design and engineering for our second public Towpath Trail Open House. They will share a preferred Towpath Trail route alternative, provide land use scenarios for the accompanying greenway and introduce interpretive themes and settings.

Come. Let them know what you think. Give them your questions and concerns. Tell them what you favor.

Please RSVP to Amilyn at acadergree@mbakercorp.com.

Ohio Canal Website

GreenCityBlueLake Website

Tremont West Website

While we are away

TOIstudio bloggerness is currently undergoing a transitional system change. Google (who we all love here and promise our undying affection) is removing FTP ability meaning that this blog will soon have to be hosted on Google's webbernet sites unless a different interface system is used.

We are currently trying to work out the bugs in the various systems to make a final decision and hope to be back up shortly.

We know everyone has been extremely concerned. Please take this absence as no indication of any opinion that Cleveland has already destroyed our hope, soul, good nature, willingness to expect change, love, affection, joy, ability to dream or mental stability. The sun is out, the weather is getting nicer and once this dang chest cold goes away I expect to once again be a bouncing example of overabundant exuberance.

In the meanwhile TOIstudio headquarters is full of interweb code and related hijinks in an effort to bring you, our valued reader(s?) the best quality architecture thought and opinion directly South of Lake Erie and North of 480.

We appreciate your understanding.

Brite Winter Festival

Brite Winter Festival
Saturday, February 27th, 2010

Food and Beverages

Italian goodness and adult sodas, courtesy of Louie at Sainato’s Restaurant

Soup, sweets, and soothing hot drinks, courtesy of our sponsor Gypsy Bean Coffee and Baking

Music

a DJ will set the mood

The Hot Rails : “the penultimate 70s hard rock band”

Uncanny Xe La : Soul/Jazz/Dub Quintet

This Moment in Black History : “Once you label me, you negate me”

Art

Austin Kotting – Kent State University – subjective cartography, aka “You Are Here.”

Gauri Torgalkar and David Jurca – Pop Up City – PopUp-BlowUp Chill Domes. Your one and only chance to listen to music or play ice bocce ball in a room made out of sheet plastic and duct tape.

Other artist info under Art Tag at top of page

Activities

Bonfires: chill out and stay warm

Cornhole: not just for tailgating and picnics anymore. Organized by Cleveland Plays.

Giant “skeeball”: Chuck E Cheese for big kids. We hope we can pull this one off.

Ice bocce ball = water + spherical molds + freeze + Italian tradition

Chalkboard graffiti: self-expression strongly encouraged

Bridge War reenactment: East Side vs. West Side, courtesy of Mother Nature, snowballs, and wacky Cleveland history

Afterparty: Mulberry’s Bar. Activities, karoke, drinks, and extended fun.

For more detail, click on “Schedule” tab.

Ohio's 3C plan, lack of bold vision posistions plan for eventual failure

I love trains. I am a complete sucker for convenient rail travel. When ever anyone asks I feel the urge to gush forward on the amazing journey I had from Akron to Milwaukee back in 2001/2002. The seat was wide and reclined so nicely that catching a train at some ungodly and chilly morning hour didn't bother me so much. I was on a mission, to see the land that Pabst created, it was a holy crusade of sorts and I wasn't going to let something as trivial as a logical or convenient timetable get in my way. Of course my ever trusty VW Polo (called a Fox in these here states) was in a constant state of disrepair as undergraduate school meant funds were allocated towards, lets say social gathering research, rather then personal transportation.

With eager ears I awaited the news of Ohio's 3C corridor "high speed" rail plan. Who wouldn't? I am extremely excited about taking the train to OSU or Cincy to catch some of the amazing architecture lectures available for public attendance at those fine institutions. It isn't that I don't enjoy driving, I just don't like the vast majority of other people on the road. Going slow in the high speed lane, not using blinkers, not letting anyone merge so a complete and utter clusterf@*k occurs slowing EVERYONE down, etc. I would rather sit comfortably in my oversized reclining chair, listening to something drone on the headset and watch the Midwest do what it does best, roll gently by a window. Heck, I could even read a book or trade magazine, perhaps do some writing. At the very least I could be mildly productive which for the 3 hour trip is roughly 1/6 of my waking time that day (one way).

Of course that only makes sense if I can get back at a reasonable hour. The timetables so far suggested infer that if I were to catch a lecture at Knowlton School of Architecture at OSU, which are mostly in the early evening (say 6pm for this example), I would have to catch the 6am train. 3 hours of travel mean I arrive in Columbus fresh and ready to learn by 9am which is perfect if I had a morning meeting, which I probably wouldn't. That would leave roughly 9 hours to explore Columbus, without a car, which would probably be interesting once (not to be cruel but I honestly would spend most of the time fretting about getting to the lecture on time). Somewhere in there I would have to spend more money to get to the lecture. Fine. So say the lecture is amazing and ends at 8pm with a rather invigorating Q&A session. I grab a couple of drinks to digest and start thinking about how to get home.

I have to then wait in Columbus for 19 more hours as the return train to Cleveland doesn't depart until 3pm.

There is the flaw in the plan. The limited schedule makes me question who the target demographic for the system is. I have no problem if my plan is to catch an exhibit at museum or even perhaps a late morning to early afternoon meeting (although giving up my whole day for a single meeting due to train schedule is asking a bit much, it better be an amazing meeting, with doughnuts and really good coffee and boxed lunch) but there is very limited availability to say catch a college football game at OSU (I hear they have a team) or a concert or do any of the other tens of things that tourists want to do. I would argue that the train line is more work/commuter oriented but if that were the case a line from Cleveland to Akron would a tad more sense, running from 7 am and again at 7 pm.

Or course this proposed schedule is just the beginning, proposed schedule, all aspects subject to change, nothing in stone, we don't even know what trains will run on the tracks but I want the system to succeed dammit. I want to be able to take a train to Philly and Toronto and New York. I don't want to depend on my car more than I have to (I still don't even like owning one actually but working in Cleveland, especially when one has to visit job sites makes that extremely difficult). I want to not even have to plan that far in advance. I would love to just realize that it is Saturday morning, grab the MarJ and hop a line to, I don't know, Chicago, for the day. Have our fun and catch a train back, sleeping on the return trip so we can reasonably enjoy the rest of the weekend. I don't even mind if the commute is slightly more time consuming than driving (thinking of the time saved trying to find parking, also being able to converse with someone without having to half wonder if the Chucklehead in the Explorer is meaning to be in your lane or the lane next to you as he wanders about in a self absorbed stupor).

It all seems so very sensible if done correctly. Or half correctly. The one thing we cannot have at this juncture is the possibility of implementing a system that could for all wants and purposes alter our society's way of moving about, paid for with our taxes, designed for users that really don't exist. We need a more cohesive schedule to allow movement back and forth for tourists, sports fans, urban explorers and business people in a timely and realistic manner. If it means that more trains have to added and costs per ride have to increase slightly then be it. I would rather the system be a more expensive realistic option then one that I can't possibly use.

And yes this is all about me. I want this project to succeed more than anything in the region right now. I think this could make Cleveland a much more fantastic city then developing the waterfront or putting in a med mart or redesigning public square or even connecting the East and West side with bike access to a major bridge project (although, that one should be a gimme), as it would connect this city to the rest of the nation in a cheap and effective manner. I cannot, however, understand the logic behind the current planning/schedule and that annoys the heck out of me.

resources:
WCPN 2010.02.02 Sound of Ideas
Access for All music video

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.

Tonight's Lecture, Elena Manferdini, is Postponed - Kent State CAED

Tonight's Lecture, Elena Manferdini, is Postponed.

Due to weather, Elena Manferdini's flight has been cancelled. This lecture will be rescheduled in the future. Please check our webpage & events section of the E-News for updates on this event. Thanks.

Kent State CAED link

Pecha Kucha Cleveland Vol. VI

PechaKucha Night Cleveland Vol. VI

Friday, Feb. 12th, 2010

House of Blues, Cambridge Room

308 Euclid Avenue

216-523-2583

Hope everyone is off to a great 2010!

Next Friday, February 12th, is the 1st PechaKucha of the new year, and we hope everyone will be able to make it out to see/hear the work and thoughts of some insanely creative people! Please forward this email to anyone you think would be interested! Event is free and open to all! Forgot to plan that Special Valentine’s Day dinner? Bring that special someone to PechaKucha on Friday to show them how much you love them. We’ll be giving away VERY romantic Valentine’s Day Cards! (hard to convey sarcasm, but these cards really are awesome..thanks Candra!)
See you Friday!

Cheers,
Mike Christoff & Raseem Parker

Feel free to check us out on Twitter, Facebook, and of course most importantly - pass along this email to ANYONE and EVERYONE you think would enjoy!:)
Photographs from previous Volumes of PechaKucha Night Cleveland can be seen @: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pkncleveland/ and on our Facebook Group Page.

Event webpage: www.pecha-kucha.org/night/cleveland/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PechaKuchaClev
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=55172018029&ref=ts

Roadtrip (15)! Kent State University Lecture Series (Spring 2010)

Kent State University has just posted their 2010 Spring Lecture Series (and the first one is coming right on up!)

Elena Manferdini
Design Is One
February 09, 2010 7:30 pm
Michael Schwartz Auditorium

Mark Foster Gage
Computation, Aesthetics & the Contemporary Baroque
February 23, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium

Hansey Barraza
Studio Luz
March 10, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium

Stephen Cassell
Architecture Research Office: Recent & Future Work
March 17, 2010 7:00 pm
Cartwright Auditorium

Andrea Ponsi
Florence: A Map of Perceptions
March 25, 2010 7:30 pm
Michael Schwartz Auditorium

All lectures are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Visitor Parking for Cartwright Auditorium can be accessed off Terrace Drive. Visitor Parking for the Michael Schwartz Auditorium can be accessed off East Summit Street. For more information, please contact the College of Architecture & Environmental Design at 330 672 2917.

Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting - bike on a muthaf-ing bridge!

I never did see Snakes on a Plane, however if you have any interest in advocating for a cycling/pedestrian path on the innerbelt bridge because you are one of the people who live near and go to downtown Cleveland you may want to stop in at this Friday's Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting and show your support or voice your concern. Friday, February 5th.

Cleveland Planning Commission Meeting
601 Lakeside Avenue East Cleveland, OH 44114-1078
9am - 11.30am

Cleveland City Planning Commission meeting February 5th, 2010 9am Cleveland City Hall - Room 514 Agenda:An Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)representative will be present to address questions or concerns regarding the multi-purpose trail as a design alternative on the Innerbelt bridge.

The representative's presence is a direct result of discussions between advocates and Commision members during the Jan 22 meeting.

Agenda online: http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/designreview/schedule.shtml

your bike/innerbelt bridge news source: green city blue lake

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.

Discourse

Discourse is one of those things older people and professors talk about when they wax poetic about how good ideas are the result of collaboration, civil discussion and a willingness to expand beyond your own preconceptions to willingly accept another's beliefs even if you cannot fully support them.

It also makes conversation interesting.

Cleveland Design Competition Reception

Cleveland Design Competition Reception
Friday, January 29th, 2010
Colonial Marketplace, 530 Euclid Ave. Cleveland, Ohio
enter from Euclid side
6pm - 9pm

Reception Page:
6:00pm Light hors d'oeuvres (catered by The Greenhouse Tavern) and Project 2009: Lakefront Station Design Ideas Exhibit
7:00pm Welcome
7:10pm Introduction by Councilman Joe Cimperman, City of Cleveland
7:25pm Announcement of the Awards by Kathryn Lincoln, Chair of the Board of Directors, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
9:00pm Awards Reception Conclusion

This reception is open to the public.

If you have any questions about the reception, please do not hesitate to email us at reception@clevelandcompetition.com.

Roadtrip (14)! - University of Buffalo - Spring 2010

University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning posted their spring 2010 lecture series. 3 hours from Cleveland makes it an easy drive to see a city that is so remarkably similar to Cleveland (albeit their downtown seems a little more lively) and catching a decent lecture just adds a bonus.

Spring 2010

Lectures

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

• 01.20.10 Gallery Talk

  The Richmond Olympic Oval exhibit is now on display in the Hayes Hall Lobby Gallery. A talk will be given on the design process of this ice skating facility for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

  01.26.10 Dr. Donald Shoup, Clarkson Chair in Planning

  Dr. Donald Shoup, Professor of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, will talk on "The High Cost of Free Parking," the same title as his influential book which is leading a growing number of cities to charge fair market prices for curb parking, dedicate the resulting revenue to finance public services in the metered districts, and reduce or remove off-street parking requirements. This lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m. in thet Hohn Lecture Hall at the Research Studies Center, Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo.

01.27.10 Dr. Donald Shoup, Clarkson Chair in Planning

Dr. Donald Shoup, Professor of Urban Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, has extensively studied parking as a key link between transportation and land use, with important consequences for cities, the economy, and the environment.

02.01.10 Fast + Epp

Duane Palibroda, an associate and general manager at Fast + Epp Structural Engineers in Vancouver, British Columbia, has worked on both commercial and residential projects in Canada, the US, and around the world. Sponsored by the Canadian Consulate General of Buffalo and the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers, the lecture will focus on "Hybrid Structures."

03.17.10 Richard Meier

Richard Meier, managing partner of Richard Meier & Partners Architects, is well known and respected aroud the world and has received numerous awards for his architecture and designs of buildings such as The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the Frankfurt Museum for Decorative Arts in Germany, and the Canal Plus Television Headquarters in Paris. The lecture will take place at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.

03.25.10 Edward Steinfeld

Ed Steinfeld is a professor in architecture inUB's School of Architecture and Planning, the director of the IDEA Center, and the recipient of the Presidential Award for Faculty Excellence at UB.

04.07.10 Yves-Alain Bois, Clarkson Chair in Architecture

Yves-Alain Bois is a professor in the School of Historical Studies at the Insitute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. A collection of his essays, Painting as Model, was published by MIT Press.

More lectures forthcoming...please check back for updates.

View selected lectures

Exhibitions


• 01.11 - 02.06 Richmond Olympic Oval
  Hayes Lobby

• 02.19 - 05.30 Kuitca Exhibit
  Albright-Knox Art Gallery

• 03.28 - 04.17 Freshman Studio
  Anderson Gallery

Lectures and exhibitions supported by: Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Alumni and Friends; Buffalo/WNY AIA; Canadian Council of Forest Ministers; Canadian High Commission; Cannon Design; Clarkson Chair endowment; Hyatt's All Things Creative; Rigidized Metals Corporation;UB AIAS/GSA; UB College of Arts and Sciences; UB School of Architecture and Planning Dean’s Office. AIA continuing education credits available.