Module

Hey guys! Here are the notes i scribbled down during our discussion last Friday. Some of them make sense to me and some of them don't.. so i can only imagine what they will mean to you.

- articles based on buzz

-interventions

- reading

- quotes

-travel journals

- series of quick thoughts

- informal vs formal conversations

- basing off of a quote and then allowing web to form

- reviews of class readings with thoughts

- generating thought (and material) through architectural experiences

- experience vs inexperience

- extension of thought

- what do we get out of extension of experience

- breaking the rules = superfluous

- challenging environments

- what feels natural and right... why? self analyzing

- honesty- not overextending our intellectual means

- well informed, accessible

- disconnect and self contained

- perspective students- reveal

- subversion and removal

- education

- how to build on architectural knowledge

- disconnect between methodologies

- synthesize

- there is always more

- when do things really end?

- fundamentals of design

- times changes design

- insights within studio

- relevancy of.....

- force vs

- Liz Diller

- doesn't have to be a criticism, but just to be

- isolation vs connection

contact vs details

- don't get caught up

- ' let's just have something'

- date of April 14: have material

- before graduation: have product

- perception

- theme without authority

- restraint vs. editing

- module = free space

- edit grammar/spelling

- exquisite corps

- inviting

- accessibility

- images- same thought as articles: fun and free

- 'talking is poetry'

- blog-form generator

- refine the 'meat'

- limiting access to blog

- physical vs digital

- forum

- blog access

- developing confidence and understanding

- motivator

- viral and guerrilla advertising

- 'my life is a mess of majestic proportions'

- requirement: 'whoever can make it to beer and poetry night'

- attendance = influence

- walls are not the force which defines architecture or space

- definition, placing meaning

- cop out question vs cop out answer

- what do we get out of it

- designer's leading

- be mindful of egobation

- questions, concerns, fears?

- only do it when excited.

can't wait to see what comes from this......

First post: Studio

I guess I'll do the honors for the first post for the group.

I was clicking through the school blogs section of Archinect and I found an article that is eerily similar to what we are trying to do with module.

Here is the link for the article.

http://www.archinect.com/schoolblog/entry.php?id=87228_0_39_0_C

and

http://cornell-convivium.blogspot.com/

Basically, he and a group of students are analyzing the learning environment they are in. Pedagogy, time management, academic structure all come in to play. I know that Marisa has commented on the subject of re-thinking the academic structure for architecture. I think it is a valuable discussion, especially after reading the comments the blogger was suggestion.

Personally, I feel that the difficulties from studio are inevitable. Therefore, I need to adapt myself to the environment I'm rather than change the environment. However, that may not be the best approach. Maybe there does need to be a reassessment of our learning environment. I think it is safe to say that studio is not a healthy environment to grow in. The suggestions that Kyle, the blogger said, were directed towards the other classes we have to take. What if we removed those classes and could focus solely on studio? It might extend the schooling but may be their is worth to it.

I am starting to realize how important it is to be aware of the non-architecture related things we are learning from studio. What bad habits are we picking up that are worked so deeply in our subconscious that it may require another environment as intense as studio to work out? I fear sounding dramatic, however, I have concerns. Maybe this is a good place to get the dialogue flowing. I feel that I tend to repress my frustrations towards studio in order to not complain but maybe its time to cross the threshold, and take an objective stance on our learning environment and let it out.

Too High Tea with Terunobu Fujimori

image courtesy of dezeen.com

image courtesy of designcrack.com

a fruitful bit o' diggin' yielded this architectural gem today.

Terunobu Fujimori is a Japanese architectural historian and architect who, after a well-developed career as a researcher, decided to design buildings of his own. This tea house was for his own use and enjoyment. For more info check Fujimori's own site.

Just a quick, fo' fun post today!

good ol' boring architecture

New and exciting is great, and boring and old is bad. Right? maybe?

Let me preface this by saying that I haven't done much research on the subject, but I have made a lot of my own assumptions. Of course, this completely qualifies me to shoot my mouth off about it.
Some buildings are just good at doing what they do. The architect knew the job the building had to do, and desigined accordingly. Usually with these buildings, they have nice moments, and the inhabitants generally enjoy living/ working/ playing/ eating/ whatevering inside them without taking much notice of how their built environment is assisting their enjoyment. Is it such a terrible thing to strive for making these sort of buildings?

Sort of. An architect's primary responsibility should be to make space that considers its users and effectively engages its program and, if possible, future programs that may present themselves. If you're building achieves this through a standard procedure, in ways that have been done thousands of times, well then great. You still probably have an idea of why these methods work and why fix something that's not broken. Congratulations your building works.

Taking larger risks can mean larger rewards, sometimes. It's always interesting when architects question the fundamentals. Why do we have to do it this way? What does it mean to eat, or sleep or view, or rest? These questions can lead to some absolutely terrible buildings. They also can lead to buildings that are beautiful physical representations of an idea about living, but don't seem to work on a realistic, day-to-day basis. It seems like our history books are full of buildings like this.

The problem is that as an architect it's difficult enough to balance the clients needs and expectations, with your own ideas about architecture. Adding the risk of trying to answer too many questions and the job seems nearly impossible. Unless, of course, you've established yourself enough to gain rich clients that want you to make big clear moves in your architecture, even at the expense of smaller, basic details and programtic requirements. Starchitecture is often it's own worst enemy, ask Frank Gehry.

Maybe it's simply about finding a balance between fresh hot, and functional. The idea of building something that "looks nice" on the street and achieves success through the rigorous employment of standards and precedence set by others is somewhat dull. However, designing a flashy building that only works in one way isn't all that appealing either. Focused questioning can lead to some beautiful and unique solutions, and standard solutions can fill in the blanks. This allows a building to have an identity with out losing it's practicality.

project the first

So here it is, the first studio project of the semester and it's already winding down.

The Site: Santa Fe, New Orleans, Minneapolis, or Seattle (but the same site plan for each)

The Client: a pianist, sculpture or large canvas painter of your creation

The Program: A studio, an outdoor performance/gallery, living space (eating, sleeping, peeing...), a stargazing area, and a wine cellar.

Personally, I have a Pianist heading up a music collective, who's a bit of a rebel and a lot of a night owl. She chose Santa Fe as her geographic and climatic existence.
The concept I concocted for her home and studio in Santa Fe, is a lantern plugged in to the landscape, allowing her to enjoy her surroundings at night. The lantern will be contained/framed by shifting punctured planes of concrete.
The concrete planes and cubic shape of the studio lantern reflect the volumetric forms found in the area. Their punctured and shifting nature allows focus to be placed on the glass encased in them, promoting the idea of my client as a structured yet dynamic and creative individual. The shape and position of the concrete is in response to climatic variables such as the position of the sun and direction of the wind.

Here's the sketch up model. Real plans, sections and perspectives may find their way here as well.

And finally: MoMA

MoMA is sweet. We can all give Yoshio Taniguchi a large round of applause for desiging it's expansion and renovation. According to MoMA.org, Taniguchi's plan for the museum was to incorporate the original pieces of the museum into a unified whole. The renovation greatly increased MoMA's gallery space as well as added a research and education portion to the museum.

A bustling lobby reflects the busy street life of the NYC.

Visual and circulatory connections between the old and new.

Taniguchi punched out sections of wall to allow visitors to get glimpses into other parts of the museum. Not much of the galleries that the punch-outs lead to are revealed, and they all seem to be filled with the same quality of light. This makes the punch-outs feel like ambiguous lanterns cut in to the wall.

Taniguchi continues the idea of punch-outs in to exterior views as well.

roflcopters

The most exciting gallery space, in my not-so-professional opinion, was the industrial design and architecture portion of MoMA.

It incorporated installments from famous architects like Frank Gehry

and Phillip Johnson



to the likes of Evan Roth (UMD what?!) and the Graffiti Research Lab.






This is only a taste of MoMA. It's filled to the bursting point with amazing art and exhibits, but unfortunately that must be saved for some other blog.... well, o.k. here's this stuff...

Dear MoMA,

Thanks for that great night in NYC. We'll have to do it again some time. How does spring break sound?

Yours sincerely,

Me

CCTV tower may have been too fresh hot...

A rogue firecracker seems to have lit up the Beijing Mandarin Oriental Hotel, designed by Rem Koolhaas as part of the CCTV headquarters in Beijing. Tears.