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.

3D Prints - in Space

Another pioneering effort by NASA: a 3D printer has been installed and placed into operation aboard the International Space Station. The first object to be printed is a face plate for the 3D printer extruder. Great to keep up with the company, Made In Space, their activity (and more pics) on their blog. The zero-gravity printer uses ABS plastic, but a second generation printer, planned for delivery in 2015, will use other types of materials. Their stated plan is to print tools and parts, as well as 3D designs submitted by students, with the goal of establishing a manufacturing capability in space.

Pixar's Tony DeRose Explains 3D Surfaces

Math and Movies (Animation at Pixar) - Numberphile

An amazing explanation by one of the brainiacs at Pixar's Research group: how to mathematically determine a method for making smooth 3D surfaces. So while you're yelling at your screen because SketchUp is making you nuts, remember: at least you don't have to do the math.

More Architectural Tourism - A Field Trip

We were so fortunate to be able to take a trip to see works from two of the most significant american architects of the 20th century: Frank Lloyd Wright and I. M. Pei. I found it interesting that all the students recognized the buildings we visited - they had "seen" them, but few had visited or really delved into the heritage on their doorstep. Both the Civic Center and the Buck Institute are such visible parts of Marin's highway landscape. So it was a real treat to be able to enter, tour, and to really get acquainted with these two important architectural campuses. 

Our first stop was the Buck Institute for Aging; our guide was Ralph O'Rear (VP, Facilities and Planning). Pei had a hand several buildings that have played a part in my personal architectural experience: the Hancock Tower, and the Kennedy Library. The Tower was particularly familiar as I worked next door to it for many year, spent many a lunch hour in Copley Square absorbing the geometry and the reflections of Richardson's Trinity Church.

The Buck Institute had many familiar I. M. Pei design features: stark geometries, clean surfaces, and acute angles. Wandering around the lower passages, with long halls and 60-degree turns was a true mouse-in-maze experience - very disorienting, but saved by amazing, framed views out to the landscape.

I have an even more personal connection with Wright, having grown up in Madison (my parents were married in, and I attended school at the Unitarian Church), and visited several on more than one occasion: the Guggenheim, Falling Water, the Robie House, and the Unity Temple in Oak Park. I particularly recall seeing an exhibit called "Designs for an American Landscape", which showcased several intimate, unbuild projects that underscored his unconventional imagination and poetic vision.

The Civic Center was in amazingly good shape, and also had lots of familiar Wright design cues: dark passages and entries, taller and brighter public spaces, rhythmic details, and warm tones. The building was much longer that I had imagined, and balconies on the upper levels were surprisingly narrow.

Strange that when I was in architecture school, Wright had fallen out of fashion, and was derided for his "space ship architecture" by the faculty - who seemed to be more aligned with the post-modernist movement at that time.

In any case, I suppose you might think of these two facilities, or any remarkable piece of architecture as "being from another place". Or you can visit and reach into these places, and find the value that each designer can bring to a building.

More photos here: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A2G6XBubG6We8c

Tinkering with Tinkercad

When I first started out as an architect, personal computers were just hitting the practice; small offices were just starting to give CAD (computer aided drafting/design) a try. Now, we have 3D modeling in the cloud. It's rather astonishing.

Even more astonishing, modern CAD software now outputs to 3D printers. I made this little test house to see how to link and embed a model made from geometric primitives in Tinkercad. I then exported the model as an .stl file and printed it.

Jony Ive Talks About Care and Value in Design

A great interview, followed by an even better Q&A session with Jony Ive - a couple of highlights:

• I was struck by his explanation of Apple's design process, and how he said the process shifted gears when the design of a product got three-dimensional: "as soon as there's an object ... it really galvanizes and provides a focus to an entire team, and very often when they're struggling with these abstract, tentative ideas, suddenly you've got a flag";

• I enjoyed his description of a Braun food "mixer" (processor?) as "extraordinarily, achingly beautiful";

• I got a little rush, as did the audience, when he described copy-catting as theft, and copy-cats like Xiaomi as "lazy";

• I appreciated that Jony expressed his disdain for Augustus Pugin in the context of making products with care, and that that care can be made tangible within a product.

Here's a little bonus - also from Vanity Fair: