According to the Washington Post (click here for the article) Jean Nouvel has been awarded the Pritzker Prize. A more fully illustrated blog post can be found at Gizmodo (click here for the post). This intrigues me because Jean Nouvel is one of the contemporary architects whose buildings were used quite often as precedent studies in school. He joins other distinguished contemporary precedent study architects like Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, and Herzog and de Mueron. I have only seen one of his buildings in person, the institute of the Arab World in Paris. I was only able to see it from the outside, but that is where most of the design concept lies. The skin, which is patterned off of an Islamic geometric progression and screening methods, is made of a geometric/fractal-like pattern of operable irises that adjust to limit the solar gain. When I visited the building, it appeared to have some issues with the operation of these irises. Some of them were stuck in the open and others in the closed position.
The Washington Post has an article (click here for the article) in this Sunday’s “Style” section about two different urban landscape projects in DC. This article is an intersting analysis of two urban landscapes on the boards for DC. The author examines these landscapes in two dimensions: first to see if they fit with the DC status quo and second to explore whether they would be welcome and beneficial explorations of urban space. The thing about this article that strikes me is that since moving here 3 years ago, DC has always seemed to be a city out of scale. The monumental city is so large and the same rules of planning and vistas have been applied to the commercial districts to create a city which – to the pedestrian – rarely feels crowded. I compare this with Manhattan and Paris and immediately see where they differ (succeed if you will). Both of these cites have broad monumental axis where it is appropriate, yet in the pedestrian commercial corridors space is a commodity. This allows the individual to feel the herd-like nature of the crowd and truly understand the modern city and its perpetual quixotic noise, motion, sights & smells. [...]
So I’ve been reading a bunch of management and business books lately at the urging of my boss. Specifically they’ve been Good to Great by Jim Collins, Mindset by Carol Dweck and Results by Gary Nielson. All of these have a similar idea in them: Don’t be afraid to look in the mirror and see what is wrong with your company/person. Once you identify what your non-successes are, then you can decide to either focus on them, or let it go. It is only through continued analysis and correction will you be able to excel and succeed. Taking this to heart I’ve been analyzing the failures of all the firms I’ve worked for and I feel that they are all the same. The symptoms are different; but in the end, it comes down to employment policies. The common symptoms are a problem with diligence in regards to projects. Important things like making sure opening measurements are to standard masonry sizes and skew angles are whole numbers seem to get lost between design and construction drawings. This problem is like an onion, the ultimate cause is only revealed by peeling away symptom by symptom until we find the core issue at [...]
One of the biggest challenges I face as a young Architect is learning my worth, both to clients and to employers. In my professional career I have yet to really get much experience knowing what my hourly rate is and how much to charge clients if I was to work freelance. This is a real weak part of my development and I feel that since it is not a part of our IDP training I might not learn it while working for someone else. On the other hand, I have no idea how to teach myself this information. Employers are a different boat. As an intern architect it is hard to balance commitment to an employer and the job at hand and the pressures of your own personal finances. This is compounded by the drastic spike in pay rates that can be observed through a salary analysis website like salary.com, this pay jump is due in part to the lack of education in office standards most architects receive in school. As an intern fresh from college your practical knowledge base is close to nil. A first year intern on the other hand has a much broader working knowledge, and likewise [...]
So I was at a dinner party tonight put on by some friends of mine; it was an easter/spring/purim party.While there I got into a discussion with two other friends who are in the process of renovating/constructing a home. In the course of discussion I was reminded fully just how little most homeowners know about the construction of their dwelling. I made sure that they had contracted for CA services from the architecture firm who is doing the work for them and assuaged their fears of rampant contractor poor behavior (I reminded them that if they have CA services stipulated it becomes the architect’s responsibility to make sure the contractor does the job right otherwise they can make the contractor re-do the work and that they as home owners would not be liable.)It just made me think, banks impose classes on some homebuyers on mortgages and finances, I wonder if architects should have courses for clients/owners about moisture protection and insulation – the two areas of construction contractors mess up on the most frequently – before the owner awards a contract and construction starts. The reason I say this is that the major problem with CA is that the architect [...]
This journal is going to focus on the architecture/design world. I plan on blogging about things past, upcoming and current; e.g. anything that crosses my mind. Welcome and lets discuss.