The Great Restoration on the 99 Percent Invisible Podcast

Just a fascinating story about the restoration of Stirling Castle in Scotland, and why it's a bright, happy yellow (99 Percent Invisible, first 14 minutes of the podcast). The author and some of the folks interviewed don't sound too thrilled with the Castle's "new" appearance, but it sure takes an amazing picture.

Also tells a great story thought the drawings in the attached article - and why the restoration team made the decision they made. The interior with the hammer beam roof truss is just beautiful.

Drawing - a Practical Art Form

A fun little video about drawing - thanks Katharine! Of course we start with the Renaissance - but in Las Vegas, where fantasy and reality come together. Drawing is how we get from something we imagine to something we build.

British TV is awesome.

I love the idea in this video (jump to about 18:30) that because paper became plentiful in 15th century Tuscany, Leonardo's imagination is one of the first to have been consistently captured because he took the time to sketch out all his ideas

We also pickup the story of Brunelleschi (jump to 22:00), whose contribution of perspective drawing is was famously presented in a public demonstration in front the Duomo in Florence; and also of Palladio (jump to 25:30), whose drawings and books helped spread Renaissance classicism around the world.

Architecture, Language, and the Grand Tour

We join Kevin McCloud, as he follows in the footsteps of 17th century British architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren, taking the "grand tour" through Italy. We line up the following important contributors, whose active professional lives were basically in succession:

• Brunelleschi (early-mid 1400's)
• Bramante (mid-late 1400's)
• Michelangelo (late 1400's to early 1500's)
• Palladio (early-late 1500's)
• Jones (late 1500's to early 1600's)
• Wren (mid 1600's to 1700)

After Jones and Wren brought Renaissance and Mannerist classicism back to Britain, the British would then spread it all over the world during their age of empire. The episode embedded above follows the development of the dome, from Florence (Duomo) to Rome (Tempieto, St. Peter's), and back to Britain (St. Paul's). From there we can infer the spread to North America: U. S. Capitol, state houses all over the U. S., and even San Francisco's City Hall.

A few things to note

We start with Brunelleschi's dome at Santa Maria del Fiore - here is a screen shot that may give you a sense of the scale of the building: the cathedral placed on MA's campus.

Of course, all of these architects also knew and studied the Pantheon. The Greeks and Romans, were the source the classical "language" or architecture that Palladio codified and cataloged in his Four Books. This volume served as an architectural sourcebook or sampler from which subsequent designers could pick and choose, arrange and re-arrange.

These ideas form the general basis for the Mannerist style of architecture that was typified by Palladio, but had it's start in the late Renaissance with people like Michelangelo. Here is a picture of the Laurentian Library at San Lorenzo in Florence - stairs flow like rushing liquid, the columns are pushed in niches in the walls, columns float on brackets, pilasters taper to the bottom. Rules are established and broken. A new language and a new way of thinking is being invented.

For more, and for your summer reading pleasure:

 How Architecture Works
 by Witold Rybczynski

 For an Architecture of Reality
 by Michael Benedikt

 Inferno
 by Dan Brown

How to Sketch with a 3D Printer

How cool is this? An iPad app that takes your scribbles and print them in 3 dimensions? Can't wait to try this with some interior floor plan sketches and see how the models turn out.

Step 1:  Find and take a snapshot of a cool building floor plan:

Step 2:  Use the slider to match the image:

Step 3:  Use the buttons to select whether you want a base plate or not:

Step 4:  Adjust the height of the model:

Step 5:  Send the model to the printer:

Step 6:  Enjoy your 3D printed model.

Why the buildings of the future will be shaped by ... you

A fun and approachable talk on architectural design by Marc Kushner, who is creating an online catalog of architecture here: http://architizer.com

Binge-watching Grand Designs and Ending Up in a Slum

During the Winter Break I got hooked on Grand Designs, a British TV show hosted by Kevin McCloud, now in it's 14th season on Channel 4. We were having work done on the house - lighting, landscaping, and some plumbing, and I somehow stumbled upon a bunch of "tiny house" videos, that then lead me to the video above - a house built in the Irish countryside made from shipping containers. The shows are addictive for anyone, but to someone who left architecture behind to work in tech, it's like re-discovering a lost dream or ambition.

The show is a great way to learn about the design process. Unlike This Old House or any show hosted by Bob Vila, shows that I've never really liked, Kevin McCloud encourages folks who want to build to talk to architects and planners: you could do it yourself, but you could do it better with professional help. He's also a great story-teller, and human drama amplifier.

I guess the really compelling part for me is the faith and total commitment of the people in the stories. They believe that these home projects will be life-changing - and they are of course, but not always for the reasons that the people expect. I'm re-connected to a conviction I once had that architecture is the ultimate human expression.

While watching a few of the shows on YouTube, I stumbled across a special he made called Slumming It, which documented his travels in the Mumbai slum of Dharavi. It is one of the most eye-opening looks at design that I've ever seen. The conditions in the slums are, of course, stunning and depressing, but when the cameras look at the community and the people, they are also amazingly re-affirming and hopeful (but, not for the feint of heart).

Hats off to Kevin McCloud. He is fearless.