ESC, NOT[F1]!

Mass Media in the Praise of Shadows

2009-09-08T03:07:00.003-05:00

I took a bath; read In Praise of Shadows, an essay by Japanese novelist Juni'ichiro Tanizaki. I finished my bath. An idea came to mind:

This year, we are to investigate the technical and aesthetic aspects of the urban film archive, situated in the one and only, dirty Houston. Given the popularity (and reactionary spite) of midtown, the film archive will move into this growing area of town.

My partner and I were given the case study of the unbuilt Raaks Cinema Centre in Haarlem, Netherlands, by Bolles + Wilson Architects. I particularly liked their short article titled "Mass in the Age of Media:" My notes are as follows:

Built and digital have surface in common—the monitor and the façade. Virtual depth and material depth. Architecture is no longer an information carrier as it cannot travel by satellite. Architecture, however, has permanence unlike digital data; it cannot be as easily deleted. It is concrete, and has an uninterruptible presence. Buildings (or, can we say, Architecture?) become their site. They become place. However, the digital age has turned “television and the Internet [as] today’s piazzas”, since social interaction no longer requires place. Media has no depth, no human-reference; it can be overwhelming or not enough. Bolles and Wilson characterize the digital as our “infinitely forgettable, post-urban settlement patterns.” Architecture, however, always “gives measure to its immediate context, to eh comings and goings of daily use.” Most importantly, it has mass.

And an important bold quote:

“In today’s carpet-like urban field (the physical consequence of the indeterminacy of logistics), architecture can no longer hope to bring order to the whole (the ambition of nineteenth century planning). Instead, by focusing its unambiguous presence, its mass, architecture has the possibility to hold fast, to anchor, to give measure to the surrounding flux.”

To hold fast, to anchor, to give measure to....what beautiful purpose architecture has! But media... to be fast, to dis-anchor, to forget measure to...

My idea of media, after reading this, is loud loud pollution of light light and sound sound. Then, a bath with Tanizaki took place. Media is not viewed alone.

Media is only accentuated when viewed in the dark...the darkness that Tanizaki mystified, glorified, and attributed to as the essence of Japanese culture: shadows are needed to accentuate light, just as shadows accentuate their architecture, theater, and cuisine.

Then, my brainstorm: If I am to make a film archive-- a cinema, if you will-- why not use light and shadow as my architecture. To pulsate light out to the public-- their movie, their light show, their night life-- then truncate their sentences as they pass this tunnel of shadow. Out from this darkness, like a solitary laser, the secrets of cinema. Like a pause in a drama-- waiting for the actor to sob.

The Nocturnal Grocery Store

2009-09-08T00:34:00.002-05:00

In my aimless hunger, I have formulated a new building type: the sleepless grocery store, open from midnight to six in the morning. Seven-eleven neon lights, fresh vegetables down to your meats. Pancake batter, no problem!

At least 24 hours. Please, city, pop one of these open. I bet I am not the only one that wants to cook in the middle of the night, then fails to notice the lack of groceries. Never lacking creativity! Just material!

Yes, it has been a long hiatus. This blog seems no longer mine. I have ignored it like a damned, annoying puppy. It is now my senior year of undergraduate architecture school. I feel completely different, but very much enlightened. Maybe I will tell you my dreams and nightmares as this semester unfolds.

Calatrava loves cute animals.

2009-05-14T02:10:00.002-05:00

I love how online bloggers called it the "Spiny thing."

Cute isn't it?

Summer?

2009-04-25T03:44:00.002-05:00

I
was
so
sick
of
the
site
of the
sunrise
every
morning
of
charrette.

Sight, I mean.

I'll post more "architecturally" later. I'll post in retrospect, in hopefulness, in poorness (no job yet!)... but alas, other assignments must be completed to finish off this semester.

Desk, currently

2009-03-21T23:25:00.001-05:00

You haven't seen it in a while.

2009-01-06T23:50:00.002-06:00

More and More

"Almost without realizing it, we have absorbed into our lives the first generation of expendables... foodbags, paper tissues, polythene wrappers, ballpens, E.P.s...so many things about which we don't have to think. We throw them away almost as soon as we acquire them.

Also with us are the items that are bigger and last longer, but are nevertheless planned for obsolescence...the motor car,...and its unit-built garage.

Now the second generation is upon us-- paper furniture is a reality in the Sates, paper sheets are a reality in British hospital beds, the Greater London Council is putting up limited-life-span houses."

-Peter Cook, Archigram 3

Trellis

2008-11-16T00:25:00.000-06:00

Treating the trellis as a producer of shadows + a gathering space + vine climbing structure, rather than just a vine climbing structure.

I want to look like SANAA...

2008-11-13T11:03:00.006-06:00

Yes, I haven't written in a long while. So far, partnered project has developed so much! It amazes me how little arguments we have. And when we do, it actually makes the project better than before, simply because arguments only clarify the purpose, the concept, and the idea.

Our professor was in our last review, and before Michael and I even spoke, he laughed. "Gosh, I gotta know why you two are working together."

After the presentation, which went well, we approached him and asked him about his snickering. He declared (after some pushing on our part) that both Michael and I work so differently, that it was confusing why we worked so well. Michael, he says, starts with one, fat graphic idea, and I start with the pieces, and put them together. Doug spoke so much truth, and it only teaches me how we are all in close observance. Perhaps because its only 25 of us, but even then, without a doubt, he knows us after one semester, like the back of his hand.

So for our final review, I joked to Michael that we should look sharp, yet hip, like SANAA. He shakes his head, despite his admiration for SANAA, and says it would be obnoxious, to dress up so 'professionally.'

Well. It's still a thought.

Truth?

2008-10-15T11:16:00.002-05:00

Someone posts on a blog, in response to a parade of exterior shots of a new housing development somewhere in Madrid:

"October 9th, 2008 at 11:32 am
horrible!
architecture because of architecture, not because of living…
bad bad bad"

How right this person is.

And I bet, there's so many buildings out there that are architecture for the sake of architecture.

Buildings without people are nothing, but pieces of concrete and joints, or steel and bolts. But. That's. It.

Make it work.

Nox : h2o pavilion / David Clovers : Nola Filigree

2008-09-09T10:58:00.007-05:00

Scribbled down by our professor, yesterday, next to our rather weak manifesto:

The investigation of the ground plane, and what it suggests for those walking/using it.

The other:

The investigation of the skin.

House : beginning concepts

2008-09-08T17:23:00.002-05:00

It is said, that an architectural "object modifies human behaviors and technical performance." However, we do not want to impose a rigid linear pathway on the inhabitant's movements (hallways), but have a layout formed by their lifestyles, working/living habits, etc. Humans do not simply move in orthogonal paths.

We propose a multipurpose skin system. The skin will provide structural support and storage, and can act as partition, furniture or light filter. It will infiltrate and transform )in terms of function) within the house, then exist again at appropriate areas. It will be readable from both a planar and sectional perspective.

House : H stands for (in)Habitable

2008-09-08T15:58:00.004-05:00

"It's raining in the hall, it's raining in the ramp, and the wall of the garage is absolutely soaked. What is more, it is still raining in my bathroom, which floors every time it rains. After numerous demands, you have finally accepted that this house is uninhabitable." Says Madame Savoye to Le Corbusier.

Lesson: don't let your ideologies blind/block you from realizing that this house will need to hold humans comfortably within it!

Recycle : infrastructure

2008-09-08T11:11:00.008-05:00

Infrastructure for homes: A water tower is converted into a house:

Found here.

Of course, you'd have to have a strong pair of legs to be comfortable in this tower, but the idea is quite elegant. Of course, the question is: how cold is it there....that channel glass there isn't that well insulating...

Desk, currently:

2008-09-07T13:17:00.001-05:00

Start here:

2008-09-07T13:15:00.003-05:00

How the hell do you start designing with no parameters, no restrictions, no limits, no clients?!

There's already so many possibilities, so many permutations, so many options, so many projects streaming from a couple of sentences-- nay, one phrase!:

2 bedroom, 2 bath, site lot: 50'x 100'

The 2,000 SF House

2008-09-06T11:05:00.002-05:00

"Oh, he seems like a nice guy, very chill; but no, he tricks you. He's strict as hell."
"So he tricked you?"
"He tricked all of us."

That was about one of my professors, Sean Lally, coupled with Michael Robinson, during one of my classes, the class above us scaring us with their woes.

I've picked a partner, for our next project: a 2,000 square foot house, with minimal programming-- what this project emphasizes is the design process, and how one visually represents that process. A readable line, be it linear or looped.

"Form is not architecture until you adopt the social dimension," says Robinson.

Chicken scratches on notebook, whatever wisdom they pass forward. Even when I dive into a spectrum of books, it's easy to lose track of everything.

A clear idea of this social dimension, of what a house will be used for, for whom the house is, what activities goes on in there.

"The only times you will be working alone is in architecture school," says Lally.

I had a clear idea of who I wanted to work with or not work with. It's hard to match up your work ethic to people absent during the summer, or absent when you are struggling with your own mind, not a collaborative design. It always appears to be easier, with two minds, split the work, etc. But I know it's not that easy, there's almost some overbearing, pseudointellectual wanting monopoly of the project's concepts and designs.

Miscommunication is the downfall of humanity. Trying to remedy that is impossible; but trying the impossible can always function as some sort of remedy.

Diagramming starts today.

And so it starts, the desk:

2008-08-31T01:53:00.002-05:00

"mean green recycling machine"

2008-08-21T15:08:00.003-05:00

So, my mother, who is a little more sensible to my 'clothing tastes' (I'm being sarcastic), buys a shirt in Target that, in large, bold print reads: "Mean Green Recycling Machine."

Of course, this only makes me shake my head, and think of all the merchandise dedicated to this "green lifestyle"-- commercializing environmentalism instead of really, really living that lifestyle.

So Target, the factory that produced these shirts, are they green?

So, I look at the tag, I find this:

Happens to be, that the Coca-cola company started this 'sustainable campaign' to encourage recycling. Of course, if you want to think a la Cradle to Cradle...so what if you can make clothing out of plastic bottles...in the end, the t-shirts themselves are not biodegradable. They would also need to be recycled.

And me, being the cynical person I am, probably a fraction of the population recycles anyway....

I guess it's just positively hoping-- thus their "Live Positively." Hopefully they change their methods within their company first-- replace the plastic with something biodegradable, for example. Think, of all the core changes to be made, and if each corporation is willing, and each factory is willing, and if each scientist/researcher is willing--- there, some change!

Noriko Ambe : Slice/Carve + Layers

2008-08-21T14:32:00.005-05:00

Artist Noriko Ambe: art that looks like the topography of an architectural model.

White, white, white, white....

2008-08-12T23:39:00.004-05:00

I understand when the architect, Thomas Phifer, said, "it's all about the landscape." Because as I walk to the pavilion, to the west entrance of Fondren, I walk by the cherry trees; the ground changes from grass to mulch, follow the sidewalk, and the texture continuously changes, different shades of green. The fountain, the elm trees, a neutral white, the cheerful seating.

It's quite pleasant.

(My only protest: Coffee House has my loyalties for coffee. Yes, Brochstein Pavilion, you are gorgeous, but how dare you not be student run?!)

I have yet to enjoy a stay at the pavilion.

Mie Olise Kjaergaard - coupling of architecture and art

2008-08-08T08:32:00.007-05:00

An art gallery holds Mie Olise Kjaergaard's work:

"Penetrating Pores of Construction, her first solo exhibition in the United States, examines the "architecture of abandoned society" and discovers the misunderstood space between utopian ideas and their inevitable disassemly. The parts left behind, however, are fused with nature to ultimately become whole as it should be and not as it once was. Her paintings discuss the intimate and poetic experience of her installations, while her installations usually create a space that envelops and involves the viewer. Her spaces are reminiscent of rare monumental beauty but somehow harbor a feeling of familiarity and closeness. Kjaergaard's work communicates a true feeling of longing by only suggesting the possibility of past inhabitation."

More examples of her work:

Remind you of this, ironically?:

METRO: expected failure, or, 'get your act together, fool.'?

2008-08-08T01:48:00.004-05:00

In the Chron today: Commute takes minutes in car but hours on Metro

Who will bring the change? They've had millions, and millions of complaints. What an intimidating job: Here I am, I propose this and this route, that and that new route, but am I willing to risk it-- would I be able to endure all the stones casted upon me? But you know, there has to be some iron-gutted individual out there, who hears all these 200 + comments (look at the article!), and says, Here, these are the changes that must be made.

It's one of the reasons why I wouldn't mind staying in Houston (or at least, continue to ask of its wellbeing)-- to see how much change ten years, or twenty years will bring. Will city-flight be reversed, or strengthen? Will Downtown continue to be a ghost-town after 5 o'clock, Monday thru Friday, and all weekend, on that matter? Will METRO reestablish more time-efficient (and ultimately, fuel-efficient) bus and rail routes?

How nervous they must be...

I only hope they know what they are doing.

...what exactly decides, politics or efficiency?

2008-08-08T00:44:00.004-05:00

"The two bridges taking the Inner Ring Road across the Huanpu--- especially the great coiled access ramp for the Nanpu Bride in Puxi-- also required the removal of hundreds of families. The decision to go with bridges for the symbolic first linkage to Pudong is itself revealing. Feasibility studies had actually shown that a tunnel would be less expensive to build and more efficient, requiring minimal condemnation and demolition. But tunnels are not photogenic; they strike no heroic silhouette against the sky, despite whatever ingenious engineering might have gone into their construction. A bridge, on the other hand, is a proud and soaring thing that makes for great publicity shots and tourists brochures. It is a rare mayor or city official who can such down such eye candy, especially when competing for the good will and fiscal blessings of Beijing officialdom."

- excerpt from The Concrete Dragon: China's Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World by Thomas J. Campanella

...so I wonder, what's the ratio? How many political decisions are based on actual need, and how many are based on merely producing "eye-candy"? I don't disagree with the need of city markers: not only are they visually stimulating, but it definitely adds character to the city-- a persona that many of us city-dwellers definitely need, consciously or unconsciously. However, there should be a limit to pride, shouldn't there?

Then again, it's only 'natural' we feel an irrational need to subdue mountains, and make our own monsters.

As one classmate put it, when we were sitting in front of the Grande Arch in La Defense, watching the sunset wash the tall steel giants: "Man, it's a monster showdown."

Buildings cry out to each other, like all miserable humans: "I am smarter, more handsome, richer, more colorful, more popular than you!!!"

V-o-i-d : even with the plasticity of walls there exists a void between them. (Finally, I return to the internet.)

2008-08-02T21:55:00.007-05:00

Part of my lack of blogging was because my time & energy were drained by employment: at a small architecture firm in downtown Houston, CDG-TX. My internship ends next week, and I must say, I am thankful that these people took me in, the silly inexperienced architecture student, and taught me, without lectures or text, the inner-workings of an architecture firm. I am now more proficient in CAD, and have been annoyed at the inflexibility of cubicles, as well as seen coworkers pull their hair when a client changes their mind.

School starts in 22 days. Once again, I'll return to the desk that I'll end up loving and hating at the same time. And yeah, the classmates too. I am armed and ready. I'm itching for output, for progress/process, for new light on various subjects, for virtuous Creativity.

I've become very skeptical of the green revolution-- at least, in American culture, I feel it's more of a trendy fix than a growing lifestyle. "Green products are cool" is the message the media sends to me. People buy them and feel part of this "green" movement, yet they return to their old consumerist, wasteful habits. Don't get me wrong, I am not bitter, or angry: I understand that these movements take years, decades, to ossify. It's starting with new construction-- and hopefully, this will reach other levels, in companies and manufacturers. Who knows, maybe eventually the U.S. will follow China's lead in banning plastic bags (you have to pay a fee for them now), or perhaps, more importantly, more people will join the research bandwagon, and improve our dream technology-- photovoltaics, hydrogen cars, sustainable building materials, etc..... or, like Chris tells me, finally pay attention to the efficiency of fussion energy.

I'll pay more attention to this blog, as my time returns to me after a month + of working. Once again, I'm itching for the input of new ideas, more knowledge-- and the output of Creation itself, of design, and more sophisticated ideas.

045: Photography, textures, quick thoughts

2008-05-31T19:26:00.004-05:00

Photography:

Photography by :Sannah Kvist

Her photography I've particularly loved since I added her on flickr-- she had this account, then deleted all her pictures, then started again, with a fresh, non-frustrated attitude.

I picked this picture in particular to post in my blog because: What makes this picture interesting is its texture: bark, a building's bark, gravel, grass, person.

To think: When we are designing a building, people will find the art in the building int heir photographs: in how light touches on part of it, how it varies throughout the day, the many angles, the different companions they take, etc. etc.

So what if we are just designers? So what if it's "just an art" we are doing?: think of the photographers that will use these spaces to frame their thoughts, their subjects, their lovers, their family, their expressions-- or just their daily life.

Just a small thing. But I'm just pointing out: how the texture / wood slating / austere landscaping / the tree, and its tones at that moment-- that makes this picture gorgeous (in my opinion, of course.)

Umbrellas and temporary structures:

Kengo Kuma designs an umbrella house. Very creative :)

044: and from the ashes of inactivity:

2008-05-29T20:04:00.003-05:00

Finally a post:

Found here.

I do love Jun Igarashi's work.

Which makes me think: grad school. Is it something I want right now? Do I yearn to expand my knowledge on architecture? It's a question left open ended, and a question my mother often addresses. I don't need it, but does my heart need it?

I think, if I had to go anywhere-- I would like, at the moment, to study for my Masters in Japan.

043: Paris (part II)

2008-03-20T00:38:00.003-05:00

Continuing to...historical buildings, social housing types

Opera de Paris, Charles Garnier, architect
Recent mural by Marc Chagall on canvas.

Louvre.

Versailles, Hall of Mirrors
And all the rococo one can handle at one time.

Next: Pompidou + more

042: Paris, France (snapshot)/ Semester project (progress)

2008-03-17T15:36:00.004-05:00

Paris: dense & historical

Part I

Notre Dame:

Saint Chapelle:

Chartres:

(That heart was already there.)

More later.

The Parking Structure extends toward the station!

Because, that's what it is. The parking (on the left) extends (yet doesn't continue) to the station, lending its structure and ramping systems to create a sort of landscape-- for recreation/retail on top, and transit program/circulation underneath.

It continues, as always, to develop.

041: Eduardo Arroyo's pixelated landscape/ Sick days means all nighters.

2008-02-26T13:56:00.004-06:00

Plaza de Desierto, in Barakaldo...

I found his orthogonal organization intriguing, unnatural even, in the good sense. It adds to landscape-- it's blatantly man made but still beautiful. He breaks away from the orthogonal flatness here and there with forced topographies, but gracefully I think.

On the subject on topography, parking lots:

NL Architects, Parkhouse-- scan from The Architecture of Parking

Sick days means all nighters, just to make up for the work days lost.

040: Riken Yamamoto & Field Workshop, melting plastic/shaping chipboard/ process

2008-02-22T15:53:00.004-06:00

The day, in particles:

[Thinking While Creating/Creating by Writing]Riken Yamamoto & Field Workshop

Their thoughts on process:

Process プロセス

What we call 'process' cannot be illustrated by, for example, arranging a series of study models, side by side. Such an arrangement might demonstrate how the design changed from one model tot he next, but there is more to a 'process' than that. A 'process' is not something that can be broken down into clearcut stages. Many different things influence the design in an organic way between one study model and the next, for example, discussions with the client, local character,systems and ideas that Yamamoto and the staff come up with. Indeed, a workshop is held to investigate this very process.

We try to see things in a broader perspective from the point of view of agents such as local residents, users, and administrators. Architecture is an important part of that process bu not the end objective. In the case of an art museum, architecture is merely one of a number of elements or agents (such as the works in the collection, the administrative program and the social role and history of the museum) that interact and undergo change. The series of changes binds together the overall vision, but within the process the vision itself undergoes continual change. When architecture is not regarded as the end objective, that has an effect on everything: the boundaries between various agents are blurred.

Architecture is a catalyst accelerating change in agents. That is because the process of creating a tangible object called a building provides opportunities to do things such as solving problems of administrative programming and thinking about local society....

This blog was originally supposed to show my progress in all semester's projects: of course, because of other classes + studio time spent on the project itself, my updates are not immediate. I find this firm interesting not only because of their work, but some of their philosophy as well. They are very youthful, holding true to their mantra, "the process itself is architecture." I'm sure many would argue against it, for it, half-agree to it....Even I, myself, half-agree to it.

I checked out the book mainly for their work on the Saitama Prefectural University.

Melting Plastic/Shaping Chipboard

I continue the search for the convenient topographic solution. Give me another day.

Paris,France: Sophomore Trip

I can't wait for the catacombs, I can't wait for Peripherique's Atrium Building, I can't wait for La Defense, for the Louvre, for the cheap wine. I can't wait for Le Corbusier, the museums.

039: Sci-fi ooooh/ Tube hotel ooooh

2008-02-19T18:08:00.010-06:00

It's the "fun post."

1.

First, a sci-fi adventure houses Polish radio rmf fm.

2.

Second a hotel in Germany.

Yes, the rooms are concrete sewer tubes. How awesome is that (and claustrophobic...but, they must be very private, very dark, and very soundproof.)

Quota Warning:

2008-02-19T17:49:00.003-06:00

In the department of architecture listserv:

Can you please send this out to all faculty and students. We are 8 gbs away from maxing out our storage on the server. (252 out of 260 gb)

Subject: Rice University, RiceCluster-1, 2008-02-19 14:21:51 -06:00: Quota warning

Server Attributes:Server nameRiceCluster\RiceCluster-1CompanyRice UniversityDepartmentSAILocation11620 Main Street, Houston, TX, 77025, USADescriptionLoaner headSoftware version4.3.996h (Tue Dec 4 21:10:40 2007)Hardware versionTitan (TN1CHRS0705300)MAC ID79-5E-46-0C-39-DF

Quota warning threshold was reached.
Usage=252 GB (limit=280 GB).VolumeSA05ViVolArchitecture

Wow, we're almost at the limit!

038: Oh, hiatus, but "work" remains constant during the semester...

2008-02-19T13:36:00.004-06:00

Oh, Wheeler Station. The image of a grand transfer station on this piece of land!

The Assignment

Assignment 4. Building Design Program (2.5 weeks)

DUE: Wednesday, February 27

Wheeler Station Building Design Program

In Problem 2 (Design and Program Analysis) you established the parameters on which the program requirements for the final design stage of the project are based. The following list of requirements is based on your analysis. In addition we have added several small program elements not addressed in the analysis.

A. Metro Program Elements
1. Elevated University Line Station (alignment, size, and height as described in analysis)
2. Local Bus Stops (10 total, this includes 6 existing plus 4 new)
3. Information and Security office: 2000 SF (Information and Reception Desk, Security office,
Employee Rest Room, First Aid Room, Administrative Office)
4. Bicycle Storage Facility: 2000 SF (Bicycle Storage Area, Individual Restrooms with showers (4)
5. Public Restrooms: Women’s and Men’s (Total of 6 fixtures per sex, single or multiple sites)

B. Intercity Bus Program: Provide six spaces to be leased to intercity bus companies as
described in the analysis problem. No indoor waiting required; tickets provided by vending machines.

C. Commercial Program: 25,000 SF Gross as per analysis. Please note that 50 parking spaces should
be allocated to serve commercial (no permanent parking in these spaces)

D. Parking Program: 500- 550 Spaces (Includes 50 spaces dedicated to commercial)

F. Storm Water Detention: Provide .5 Acre Feet of Storm Water detention on Site as indicated in the
analysis

G. Urban Event Space: In keeping with Metro’s plan to develop functional urban landscape elements
wherever possible, develop a major public exterior space capable of supporting a weekend produce
market, public meeting, or performance.

H. Miscellaneous Requirements: Provide a protected or pull off waiting space for
6 vehicles (Taxicabs and auto drop off)

Adjacency requirements:

-Direct, accessible pedestrian movement must be accommodated between major metro movement systems (Metro Lines, Local Bus Lines). This would include ramps, stairs, or escalators and elevator(s). All stairs and ramps should be sized for a population of 150 persons (44” + 2 x 22”=88”).
- Information office should be centrally located for ease of use and efficient surveillance.

Additional Requirements:

-All bus and train stops should be provided with overhead covering so that it is possible to move between all modes of transportation (and major program elements) without getting wet.
-Retail space should be located to take advantage of movement between major program elements.

Schedule:

Documentation for this exercise will be due Wednesday, February 27 at 1 PM.
-Site Model: 1”=100’ (Concept Type Model similar to Assignment No. 3)
-Site/ Floor Plan(s): TBD
-Site Sections: TBD
-Digital Model: Ground level views, Major Interior/ Exterior Space

Topographic Interpretation:

Before this assignment, however, we were to vaguely assemble the program under one unifying topic: I picked Topography. Although my project was very literal, I feel that there is logic behind a literal topography, in which that slopes can equate themselves to ramps, making a more fluid traffic flow.

Thinking, thinking....

...and my thoughts ended up looking like a magnetic field: all pedestrians orbiting around the intersection of both lines. Of course, this isn't at all realistic (pedestrians will be thinking about their destinations.) Really, the 'magnetism' is behind the circulatory connection between three different zones: parking (cars), light rail (waiting, retail) and buses (inter/intracity) with transfers in between.

Thinking along the lines of form: I'm more of a functionalist, or, circulatorist (let's make up terms shall we?) but I have been thinking of form.

Topography + lamination + carve (light)= what my concept model looks at the moment.

Interpreting velocity with form, like the speed of cars, of pedestrians, of waiting pedestrians, of Greyhound buses, of METRO buses, of the light rail. Vehicles of different types, functions, and allowed speed.

Interpreting 'magnetic lines' with form: follow the line.

The Architecture of Parking by Simon Henley

There are the lines! Lines!

And this....

The above picture is not just for "inspiration," but I found it appealing (not only because it's a Japanese architect) because my professor previously mentioned that parking could indeed be seen as a form of topography. This takes that literally, of course, and I couldn't help but like the idea.

So far, what my project is looking like is like a repeating curve, a curve that was stolen from the flow of parking garages.

Houston is indeed a car city. Commuter haven. (or Hell.)

Wheeler Station does not call for a gargantuan structure. Drive by the site and you hear it call for what it already looks like. A megastructure would just be like a distraction from the city's core.

037: Glasarchitektur

2008-01-29T10:47:00.000-06:00

As method of organizing my thoughts on this excerpt manifesto (from Ulrich Conrad's Programs and Manifestoes on 20th-Century Architecture), I will quote some interesting things from this passage:

"We live for the most part within enclosed spaces. These form the environment from which our culture grows. Our culture is in a a sense a product of architecture."

"It was the railway station that produced the brick metropolis culture of today from which we all suffer. Glass architecture will come only when the metropolis in our sense of the word has been done away with."

(1): It's a strange thought, that culture is a product of man-made, unnatural things, that instead of culture shaping the architecture, it is the architecture (the environment) that shapes the culture. I would guess it makes sense after some x amount of years....maybe its in cycles: At first, culture creates the architecture, x years pass by, then the architecture-environment modifies the culture. Then new modified culture creates new architecture, etc.
(2): But then if we only build steel, glass structures, wouldn't we suffer from the glass metropolis in the future, when another form or material is introduced to replace steel, concrete and glass?

Paul Scheerbert's poetic obsession over glass.
He completely ignores the rules of the real environment: heat gain = a very, very hot, and energy inefficient metropolis.

036: Green beams

2008-01-29T01:32:00.000-06:00

Not related to my research at all, but I just love the idea of non-structural vegetation beams. As you can read in the short article (it was the issue of AR of "Emergent Architecture"), the architect meant it not to be practical, nor just aesthetic, but unnaturally filling up the void of urban space.

Fake nature. In this world, what do we appreciate more? The man-made landscape, or, the wilderness as terrific (_{old sense of the word}) and vast as it is...?

035: Topography.

2008-01-28T15:34:00.000-06:00

It is much harder than I thought it would be.

The Olympic Sculpture Park (Weiss Manfredi), suggested by my professor, to break down and analyze.

034: Plastic, Anderson Lounge competition, and topography.

2008-01-28T00:26:00.001-06:00

Go to archi-arts.

Please?

Anderson Lounge competition entries:

The first is a "joke:" It is my ridiculous idea (that I actually would love to be materialized): the giant squid, or, the XL SQUID. Remember what Rem says about Bigness-- a huge "fuck you!" to all other things-- it is such a large squid that it is valid as furniture. It transcends all other furniture. Or so, I jest.

The second seems a bit unconventional, but by nailing perpendicular book ends, the 60 degree angle won't be as tough to adjust to. It leaves place for everything in the "program"...that is sitting space, a pencil box, a library and magazine rack-- even space for a coffeemaker.

And its modular-- you can place them around the column, use them as seats. Etc.

Wheeler Station, a topographic knot.

This is what I am working on- conceptualizing the urban transit knot as a topography. I picked one of the harder solutions to it-- but I will try!

034: Plastic, the future, this semester's project starts....

2008-01-13T01:55:00.000-06:00

Plastic: archi-arts and the world's pollution.

Free plastic bags have been banned in China, a law which will take effect June 1st. In the United States, little of this has happened. Mostly, here, there is only the option (of paper or plastic) rather than having a law that embraces the environment.

"I think this really shows that China is being a responsible country," said the 21-year-old.

Plastic bags is just a minor pollutant when compared to everything else, the emissions, all the other waste. But, thinking in terms of plastic bags-- think of all the disposable items that are given/sold to us-- restaurants, groceries, packages, toys, electronics. Once they are thrown away, there they stay forever.

I used to applaud Mexico, for using/reusing glass bottles for soda and water. Yet in recent years (as in, the last 10 years I've gone to the country), plastic quickly replaces glass. And Mexico is already heavily littered in the first place-- and the plastic comes even more dangerously since Mexicans in rural areas burn their trash.

In the United States, which has less than one-quarter of China's 1.3 billion people, the Sierra Club's Sierra magazine estimates almost a hundred billion plastic bags are thrown out each year.

The Sierra Club estimated that if every one of New York City's eight million people used one less grocery bag per year, it would reduce waste by about 218,000 pounds.

With such numbers, I remain optimistic. Considering there's over a billion people living in China...the pounds of trash prevented will be much more than 218,000 lbs. The problem-- the hardest of all-- is making sure that many participate. But to eradicate the apathy, the lack of awareness...I would consider it pollution too.

Mass Transit in Houston,TX: the knots of transportation

This semester focuses on Wheeler Station. By 2012, the METROrail will have many additions, the first one being the University Line (blue) that connects UH to the Galleria Area, and crosses the existing Red Line.

At the moment, we are doing metric work: understanding the dimensions, movements, and scales of the light rail vehicle.

Then again, what more can we do? This is the first week of school...

033: Sustainable-ness

2008-01-09T12:45:00.000-06:00

The back of a notebook bought at the Target:

Our pages are made from 100% post-consumer waste with nontoxic soy-based ink.

The notebooks are called greenroom eco...very design orientated and markers (Prismacolor, Copic) do not bleed through. Which is very surprising, considering my main archisketchbook is a Moleskin Sketchbook, which costs a lot more, but all markers bleed through it.

032: Nature walk

2008-01-04T14:23:00.000-06:00

Some pictures I found while in blogs, or were in my computer.

The first, Koen Van Velsen, in Rotterdam:

The second, a work by Mass Studies, Korean firm:

031: House in Black, Manabu Chiba

2008-01-04T02:29:00.000-06:00

Like it said in Rem Koolhaas's little margin glossary in S,M,L,XL:
Avoid: I'm trying my best to avoid the Japanese word void

Simple. Beautiful. Voids.
Why I love Japanese architecture.

030: A long stretch of no-posts, and plastic.

2008-01-04T01:25:00.000-06:00

I've left my blog hanging.

I could recap everything that happened in a month, but charrette claimed all my time, leaving me with no time for logging what happened with my project.

So, for recap, pictures of the last project of the semester:

Quick Summary (in pictures) of 1st Semester Last Project: The Urban Movie Theatre

Simple renderings of one of the facades (suspended glass, cables, different opacities) during day and night.

The final 1/30" model, showing massing, facades, direction, and...well, scale.

The model, lighted. I find this the most attractive facade. My filter.

Final grade, A-
I'm excited for next year.

Plastic: the archi-arts party theme 2008
The addition of 2008 makes it sound so eventful, once-in-a-lifetime.

I know what I will wear. That is a matter of making.

What I am thinking of though, in this sleepless state, the theme itself. The fliers, the image, the representation, the essence-- the t-shirt design.

At the moment, only keywords:
plastic wrapper, bleach bottles, soda, Tupperware, vinyl (fetish), plastic surgery, bubble wrap, robots & electronics, outdoor decorations (plastic flamingos, gnomes, chairs), medical & military equipment, legos (toys), umbrellas, mannequins...

My submission: a creature, the bleach-bottle-head with assembled-appendages.
Well. Working on it.

029: Mid-review and the few days after...

2007-11-11T08:46:00.000-06:00

Overall: all the comments were positive. The critic Dallas (works in HOK) made many comparisons in ideas, not in what is made.

I presented (sloppily) my design as having two main focuses. The first being circulation, and the second opacity, (while, of course, safely and practically functioning as a movie theatre, without letting the design interrupt its function.)

Circulation has two distinct and independent systems: The exterior is a "filtering device," filtering those arriving at the parking lot and the pedestrians walking down Dallas St into the courtyard--- or, the filtering of those entering through the plaza, all which meet in the nexus-- the cafe, administration, ticket sales, social interactions, some good coffee. Inside, one travels through large escalators, taking one to the theatres starting on the first floor.

This circulation is shown with glass/material opacity. The escalators will be very clear glass- maybe waterwhite glass, known for its clarity-- while the circulation loops around the theaters will be opaque-- in which light shines through. The threaters will be exposed and will be solid-- heavy. The escalators will be a sort of connection to the city (they face the downtown lights) while the opaque glass circulation loop is a separation-- look for your movie showing! Don't stare at the lights!

The first thing they mentioned was: This is an excellent diagram.

They mentioned many architects after this...

First, massing. He said the spaces created are made out of "Loosian plastic solids and voids" while subtle, powerful moments are made in how these plastic spaces come together. Ever heard of Siza? he asks me, in which I shake my head. Look him up.

I slur, that the minimalism comes from my penchant for Japanese architecture.

He continues this slur; mentions Tadao Ando. There are similar moments in my design, only that mine is not an object, as Tadao makes his buildings.

Continuity is desired, don't break these moves!

They applaud- keep working at it, refine it. Keep thinking in terms of connection to city/separation from city. Think as the parking lot as a texture, reset the horizon to those entering.

028: Oh, late nght, some progress.

2007-10-30T03:16:00.000-05:00

I need to write some sentences to ease my mind.

Ground floor:

Lobby (first floor):

Orthogonal-- I feel boring.

The desk, presented to you:

On my desk:

Above my desk:

Underneath my desk:

Next to my desk:

And, my company:

Yes, graveyard shift-- deadtime hours. No one here. I should start to go...

027: Process means cold hands, coffee, endless cp, tr, ex, and erase.

2007-10-30T01:40:00.000-05:00

I am in the computer lab.

After a good weekend working on this scheme, a few suggestions from Doug:

Medium theatres should be narrower instead of 42 x 39.5'. I've edited them to 32'x 48' instead, and rearranged method of entry/arrangement of seats inside.

Escalators: I used some strange template that made them 21.9 degrees rather than 30. Like Jessy said, his Ching mantra, "1.732 times rise!" Instead, I used trigonometry and well, got the same. This changes a lot in my scheme, doubling the work.

Less elevators, one more emergency stair.

Main worries:

Cohesiveness of the scheme: will it stay intact after these changes? The escalators will change a lot of the plan, since initially, floors were planned according to the 21.9 degree template....

Materials: what exactly, and how? What size panels? What do I want to show?

And, combining the previous two: Will the experience I planned-- experiencing the city as one floats up the escalators-- be present in the product? Can there be a harmony between harmony and aesthetic intent?

Emergency stairs-- I might need more.

Least of my worries/Minor worries:

Parking spaces, need at least 5-10 more.

Open spaces that serve no particular function-- I should embrace this, no?

Materials:

Transparency

Links:

CAD BLOCK EXCHANGE

BLOCK CREATOR

CAD CORNER

026: Quick section...

2007-10-26T06:31:00.000-05:00

This is a maybe. Really, I'm thinking along the lines of just entering...instead of making mayhem of aisles, why not enter on flat ground, as it uniformly slopes downward? It'll just mean a much higher ceiling on ground level, but, I wouldn't be too worried about seats right?

025: Recycle, destroy, revamp, redo, edit, edit...

2007-10-26T05:53:00.000-05:00

That's what it has been. A stream of editing, frustration, wanting to destoy papers, then finding somewhat a solution, then fixing, fixing.

What happened was....dimensions were clogging up the entrance. It became a tight spot, lossing its defination as rectangular-prism foyer.

So, I inverted the circulation. Instead of making an inner-loop pattern to get to the theaters, I converted it to an outer-loop, creating an even larger couryard space, larger plaza, openning up the first-floor lobby to overloop three total sides: Austin St., Dallas St., and directly over the parking lot.

The front side, you can see how the front parking lot filters into the plaza, whch filters people through the foyer where the mouth of the escalators are......

The parking lot....circulation overlooks this, plus the outdoor theatre. One major change was height, which increased to +22'. I hope height isn't a fear, nor a problem. It only competes with what's around it?

The restaurant would be over on the left mass, which I left out at the moment because I refining what I already have.

024: Excerpt, a look at FOA's Yokohama Port Terminal....

2007-10-14T22:03:00.000-05:00

"Our proposal for the project start by declaring the site as an open public space and proposes to have the roof of the building as an open plaza, continuous with the surface of Yamashita Park as well as Akaranega Park.
The project is then generated from a circulation diagram that aspires to eliminate the linear structure characteristic of piers, and the directionality of the circulation."

"We wanted to make a pier where you can walk in on a certain path and walk out on a different path. We developed this looped diagram, in which we were chaining all the parts of the program. Then we assigned to every line of the diagram a surface. We were interested in playing with the ground."

"We started with certain principles and later combined and changed them. The changes are never visual or aesthetic; they are always technical or practical. We do not believe in the origin or in the end of a project. We believe in the medium of the process. We are totally opportunistic. The end is determined only by external forces, like deadlines of the contractors or the client."
FOA

So, outside...

Inside..

The program.

I'm amazed by this building as I read about it....the quoted paragraphs, I think, relates to the project we are doing now...pedestrians and the urban environment are essential driving forces here. The art of picking up people from the street, sending them through another path, returning them through another, presenting the city differently, then spiting them out through the front door to mingle with the city lights....

One of the focuses of FOA's Yokohama Port Terminal is allowing the locals to walk out onto the extremities of the pier and to "look back at their city." (I read this in Architectural Review, while doing homework.)

...It's one thing I want to achieve with my movie theatre...as movie-goers ride the escalators to their destinations, I want them to look outside and see the city lights passing them by...

"A poor man's New York..." as Doug says, our professor, when commenting on Houston's night-time skyline...

023: Somethings in the way...

2007-10-14T01:38:00.000-05:00

That which is: how do I encase this with glass?

I want to make a sort of glass cave, a rectangular instead of triangular federation square:

Or maybe, just bring in the triangles from my previous project?

Who knows at this stage...

022: Edit, Edit!

2007-10-13T02:45:00.000-05:00

Of course, this is among the million edits a project must go through.

Last Wednesday, I talked to Blair for five minutes, and refocused my lobby on the second floor, where both rectangular prisms of theatres meet.

Today, I talked to Doug, whom agrees with this shift.

Then I realized I completely misinterpreted his interpretation of my original conceptual rendering. He said "open," not exterior, not "open to the sky!"

I proposed a shading device. A translucent, triangular shade which blocks the sun by day, and "becomes the sun" at night...becoming this glowing light above the giant space my building creates.

Although it is probably highly unlikely I will use this idea, I still like it. Not only does it have a resemblance to my earlier project (Project 2, the concession stand), but it has two (or three-- if decoration counts) functions: shade, artificial light.

Either way, the next step is to understand further the circulation of the theatre, and enclose it in glass.

Doug also suggested it could be a sorts of Guggenheim museum narrative: starting from the top to circulate back down. I don't like the idea at all, nor am I going to purpue it. I feel a movie theatre should be easy to read and not a nuissance. For godsakes, people just want to go to the movies, not manuever through an entire building! That's not the feature!

...even though the idea sounds romantic, flowing through a large, 70' space radiating, glowing with light. Romantic, but not entirely practical.

021: Excerpts & images from Colours...

2007-10-12T10:35:00.000-05:00

Progress has been slow, somewhat thoughtful. And now, I am getting ahead of myself, needing to research many things:

Open spaces, public spaces. How does an architect handle a roofless, open space yet still have proper shading + a overall "closed" look from the outside?

Lighting & colour-- What is appropriate for a movie theatre? What type of lighting is available to use and exploit? What surfaces reflect the most light?

Circulation and convenience-- in other words, does the circulation effect the placement of objects, or does the placement affect the circulation? How do people want to move in a movie theatre?

Lastly, what's in the code? What can't I design, what are the measured limits embedded in a theatre?

I will partially address #2 with images:

The first, addressed colour and light directly-- how do you attract the attention from the outside to the inside?

^ Kunsthal (museum), Rotterdam/Netherlands, 1992 >> OMA

Then, the idea of threshold, through colour-- colour-coding the differences of spaces:

^ Second Stage Theatre, NY, 1999 >> OMA

^ Centre for the Visual Arts, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK >> Norman Foster

Lastly, there is art in covering the sun:

^ Third London Airport, Stansted, UK >> Norman Foster

Norman Foster describes this airport as through he is looking through a shoji screen!:

"...a radical reinvention of the terminal as a building type, which has since become the model for future airports world-wide. One consequence is the opportunity to harness the benefits of natural light- both spiritually and technically. There are an infinite number of greys to choose from- and infinite variations on each one according to changes of light- both natural and artificial."

These pictures are mainly for inspiration, for vague direction, for thinking in matter of lighting, colour for threshold, greys for shading.

020: Quick link....

2007-10-10T03:59:00.000-05:00

Generating to correct-rise escalators into .dwg files: this

Good.

019: ...maybe not so ruin?

2007-10-10T01:05:00.000-05:00

The progress after so many hours?

This is the outdoor screen.

The right side of the overall theatre, you can see the elevators, the restaurant, the walkways/skywalks and the escalators.

A little more complete. Everything is fitting.

More to come...

018: "does that spell ruin?"

2007-10-09T19:28:00.001-05:00

So was what our professor, Doug, said, when I laughed nervously as they picked the second vague scheme, the one I did not like as much as the first.

They always tell us, "don't ruin it", don't kill the idea before it reaches its potential.

But the more and more I work with this scheme, the more I realize that is it the more sound one....

Nobody is sleeping tonight.

017: two vague schemes

2007-10-08T03:04:00.000-05:00

This is what I call, the "highway scheme," connecting Austin and Dallas St....

Then, the "transparent circulation," showing to Austin and Dallas, how people move inside as they use the escalators/walk to their theatre showing.

I am not thinking in terms of form.... function, I think, goes before form. I have to make sure it vaguely works...

016: Completion of the Site Model

2007-10-06T20:33:00.000-05:00

I'm behind in blogging. Quick 15 seconds yes?
Site model in a week.
The GRB!:

Our laser cut to perfection truss:

And the site model, as a whole:

A job well done.

015: Final Project, thinking, thinking....

2007-10-04T02:40:00.000-05:00

The professors stressed, "section, section, section.... the section is important."

But I don't know where to start. A movie theatre sounds difficult, so complex, in such a small site.

Disfigure this cube!

It feels difficult, tastes difficult, with little sleep, little experience with the big, the bigger, rather than a smaller task; pieces one can directly relate to.... Maybe it's just hard for me to relate to something 30' high, or, 70' wide.

I have one thing clear: focus on circulation. How will people walk around (outside & inside) this space? Is the parking garage situated somewhere accessible?

I'm focusing on a nexus, the lobby. The lobby is where, after you park, you go to it. The lobby is where you buy tickets, where you will find direction for the rest of the night.... Which wing is your movie in?

thinking, thinking, thinking...

014: Site Model

2007-09-29T14:04:00.000-05:00

My partner (Michael) and I are in charge of reproducing the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston. We are CADing everything.... in which the model will be in 1"= 30'.

The last project of the semester was issued out yesterday, two pages of terse information handed out to our "deer in the headlights"faces. It is a movie theatre on a small lot; a theatre that will have many floors, in other words.

The program looks "fun," but tedious. Our professors laugh mirthfully, but we know the hard work that is on the way...

013: [Intermission]

2007-09-26T01:30:00.001-05:00

It is the calm before the storm.

It's all about diagraming, understanding, and seeing the site with our eyes closed before the project is disclosed.

012: Night time studies

2007-09-25T02:22:00.000-05:00

^ View of Site 4, notice, how unlighted the convention center is....the Hilton (right) rests there luxuriously

^ View of downtown, from Site 4

^ Oh, the lights! Site 2 lies behind this fence.

Downtown lights shine emptiness, as the businessmen are 40 minutes away, in their suburban homes. The homeless wander around like ghosts, in concrete paradise, the sea of parking lots silent as the street lights blinking.

click!

011: (pending) New sites diagrams/studies

2007-09-24T20:36:00.000-05:00

It starts.

010: Rhino homework = Concrete fascination

2007-09-24T17:35:00.000-05:00

Rhino homework due tomorrow: This is a concrete shell structure designed by Felix Candela, the Manatiales Restaurant, 1957. This is by far, my favorite so far.......

009: New project, visiting the site:

2007-09-23T02:46:00.000-05:00

It is a movie theatre.

On the dead side of downtown.

Let's start with, what I call, Site 3.

It is surrounded by: Parking lot, Parking lot, Four Seasons Hotel, Houston Center (mall), Apartments (under construction) and Parking lot.

The Four Seasons Hotel, Houston Center, busines towers block all view of downtown lights, but, the theatre would catch attention of four streets.....four streets that are not highly transitted. Damn.

Next, Site 2, Site 3, and Site 4.

Site 2

It gets a clearer view of downtown city lights, is visibly between the George R. Brown Convention Center, Toyota Center, right in front of the Center Point Energy plant (which has interesting vertical strips of lighting at night). A parking lot faces it. It is not next to any other building at all.

Site 1 is right in front of it:

This gives a good view of what these sites are surrounded by.

And finally, Site 4 is right next to the power plant, and diagonal to the Hilton, visible from the George R. Brown:

(You can see the convention center in the background.)

I'm not too sure about this one, especially with that curved shape: would it determine the shape of the actual plan? Either way, the theatre would be disconnected from downtown as well....it would be targetted more for those staying at the Hilton, rather than try to fill up that Sea of Parking Lots.

But it all depends on what the project specifies. After reading that, I will come to a conclusion on what site I feel is better....

008: Completion of Project 2 with the closure of review....

2007-09-23T02:13:00.000-05:00

All eyes open after review.

I brushed my teeth, sort-of dressed up, and smiled like a nervous student, in the face of a jury. See, the Jury Room is white white, and our projects adorn it with the smell of judgement and twitching minds.

I explained what It was.

Uniform triangles, welded steel frames, all white attach to each other with bolts and customized angles to form the "tent structure." This creates two different spaces: One space, which is closed off to all outsiders and just forms a narrow openning for a ticket booth. The other, is open and almost transparent, which allows employees to walk through, and costumers to buy their food (it is a concession stand.) They can see them on the display shelves.

My Rhino renderings because this long scroll of vague directions. Vague because of time constrictions and my little experience with the program. Still, I produced, in my opinion, a beautiful wall display:

A pause, and they say very helpful things.

(1) The ramp, could be extended. There is a problem in scale. One would have to see the produces on display under the counter, then have to walk around to the ramp. Luckily, this is simple to fix, and just make the ramp accessable from two opposite sides. This doesn't kill the design at all.

(2) They appreciate my drawings, and the detail put into them, but thought that additional diagrams were needed in how exactly, more by steps, in how it all comes together. It does explain a lot about the structure, but not how to put it together.

(3) "Triangular-themed shelves" are out. I nodded with agreement. Blair said that an extention of the structure down to the base would add a good shelving-display area.

(4) They appreciated my detailing.

(5) Most importantly, I focused too much on detailing. They suggested I take a step back, after designing and reinforcing my structure, I should draw a few sketches, diagrams of the circulation, of the overall program, and try to fit everything else around it. Of course, they understood that we only had a week to design, build, and diagram these portable, modular concession stands, thus, it isn't a failure at all. Just a shortage of time (and sleep!)

I focused so much on making the structure work that I didn't put enough effort in combining the two systems: The structure-skin, and the ticket/concession counters-display. The outside and the in. They are not refined for unity.

They were also interested in how the frosted material connected to the frame. They said it would be interesting to see how the frosted panels would overlap or connect when assembled.

Overall, I'm content.

There I am, at my desk.
My archidesk.
It will increase in messiness exponentially.

007: Completion, prior before revew

2007-09-21T09:32:00.000-05:00

Not knowing at all, whether this design is good or not, I like it thus so far. Possibly because I haven't seen all its flaws yet....

^ A view from the ramp side, seeing straight "through." The counter (with shelving underneath it) is on the right, while the rest of the display shelving is underneath the structure at the left.

^ The counter + display shelving

^ The opposite side of the counter. This is the ticket booth.

^ Detail of the connections (custom angles + bolts)

^ Top view

The project spanned for 10 days. About half of it was spent in the conceptual idea: of origami and the hidges of screens. At the end, it is a structure inspired by origami, that took a liking to rigidty rather than folds & creases, and that found itself having a semblence to a spider web crossed with a shoji screen.

Let's just see what the critics will say/hate/rebuke/praise/laugh about later today....

006: Review tomorror: Drawings tonight:

2007-09-20T23:41:00.000-05:00

And it is taking forever...

005: After the long, long weekend:

2007-09-19T04:21:00.001-05:00

Without signage, I know. More to follow...

004: Project 2: "Flat pack concession stand."

2007-09-16T13:40:00.000-05:00

individual, origami like pieces

+

which equals, this triangular-canopy

=

Like Doug says, "air plane wing frame."

003: Project 1, The resulting model....

2007-09-16T13:38:00.000-05:00

002: 1st project: A building's skin

2007-09-04T00:04:00.001-05:00

>> Jussieu l'Atrium, Peripheriques Architects, Paris, France.

The first project of the year is a study of a building's skin. How is the skin related to its structure, its program?

My partner and I got the atrium building, the addition to the austere, geometrical Universite Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. We are emphasizing its perforated texture: the interior, concrete "skin" and the exterior, aluminum "sunvisor."

The process is interesting and rather, holy.

001: New

2007-09-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

The desk starts to fill.