Wut
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Lou Kahn + Some Thoughts on Drawing
Architecture. Making buildings. Hopefully, with enough effort, the building will be worthwhile in the end. I'll stand there and admire it, and hopefully get to take a few photos of it, before turning it over to the owner. Maybe I will get to return and visit from time to time. Sometimes projects are far away, and you may not get the opportunity to go back, ever.
When you look at a particular building, all you can see is the finished product. There are no semi-erased lines on the floor showing where the walls would have been, before the architect revised the plans. Architecture is a process that leads to a product. To the viewing public, there is only the product. But to the architect, it is all about the process, and once the process is complete, the architect moves on.
One of the things I enjoy most about teaching drawing to young architects is that the process of creating architecture is fundamentally based on drawing. It's what we do. Novelists write, painters paint, architects draw.
We also draw to study the world around us. This type of investigative drawing is similar to, but distinct from, design drawing. There is an exhibition running through July 1 at Lori Brookstein Fine Art, in New York, of some drawings by the great architect Lou Kahn. The drawings on exhibit are sketches from his travels, of the 'investigative' type. They strike me as being much more about the process of investigation and discovery, than about having anything to do with making a picture to be framed and hung on a gallery wall. The gallery has the exhibit available online; I encourage you to click through the link and check it out. Better yet, go see it for yourself if you can.
I think if more people saw drawing as a process of investigation and discovery, and less about trying to make a particularly nice looking picture (and by whose standard, anyway?) you would see more people out and about with their sketch pads and pencils in hand. Drawing is a language of communication -- whether you are projecting your own fantasies to show others, or privately exploring the world around you. Each of us has a unique, individual voice, which can only be discovered by taking pencil or pen in hand and doing the work.
Imagine how the world opens up to an adult who is illiterate and then learns to read and write. I would argue that there is a similar expansion of one's life available to the person who is willing to make the effort to discover his own visual voice, and learn to use it to express himself.
When you look at a particular building, all you can see is the finished product. There are no semi-erased lines on the floor showing where the walls would have been, before the architect revised the plans. Architecture is a process that leads to a product. To the viewing public, there is only the product. But to the architect, it is all about the process, and once the process is complete, the architect moves on.
One of the things I enjoy most about teaching drawing to young architects is that the process of creating architecture is fundamentally based on drawing. It's what we do. Novelists write, painters paint, architects draw.
Drawing is the primary means by which we communicate our ideas. When the students pin up their final designs for critique at the end of the semester, I think it's important to point out the examples of students who have design concepts that are beyond their ability to depict via their drawings. This gives me the opportunity to give one of my favorite mini-lectures: That your ideas are only as good as your ability to communicate them. It doesn't matter, in the end, how brilliant your ideas are, or how brilliant you think they are. If you can't communicate them with the world in an intelligible way, you fail.
We also draw to study the world around us. This type of investigative drawing is similar to, but distinct from, design drawing. There is an exhibition running through July 1 at Lori Brookstein Fine Art, in New York, of some drawings by the great architect Lou Kahn. The drawings on exhibit are sketches from his travels, of the 'investigative' type. They strike me as being much more about the process of investigation and discovery, than about having anything to do with making a picture to be framed and hung on a gallery wall. The gallery has the exhibit available online; I encourage you to click through the link and check it out. Better yet, go see it for yourself if you can.
I think if more people saw drawing as a process of investigation and discovery, and less about trying to make a particularly nice looking picture (and by whose standard, anyway?) you would see more people out and about with their sketch pads and pencils in hand. Drawing is a language of communication -- whether you are projecting your own fantasies to show others, or privately exploring the world around you. Each of us has a unique, individual voice, which can only be discovered by taking pencil or pen in hand and doing the work.
Imagine how the world opens up to an adult who is illiterate and then learns to read and write. I would argue that there is a similar expansion of one's life available to the person who is willing to make the effort to discover his own visual voice, and learn to use it to express himself.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Summer of Bikes, 2011
Among the things I'm most excited about right now is my Summer Bike Project.
Years ago, I built a bike, when I was in architecture school. It was for a summer object making class, and it was the first time I made anything substantive out of steel. They picked my bike for the postcard advertising the exhibition. (I hasten to point out whenever I show it that I did not design the postcard itself, just the bike.)
Here are some closeup details. I was especially happy with how the chain-drive steering turned out.
The steering wheel:
The seat itself came from a kid's trike:
We did a lot of scavenging that summer. Most of the bearings and other components were cut off of junk bikes we found or bought cheap from thrift stores.
For my bike(s) this summer, I have found some good resources online for bearings and other components, and I don't plan on doing any bike-part-scavenging. The website I'm looking at the most, as I work through my designs, is BicycleDesigner.com. They seem to have just about everything in the way of bike parts, and lots of helpful diagrams. I'll also hit up some local bike shops once I'm closer to starting, and see what they have in stock for components. It's always good to have relationships with helpful local experts when you have technical questions about a project. Also, returning/exchanging parts that don't turn out to be quite the right thing is waaaay easier when you're dealing locally.
The new designs I'm working on have a pretty clear relationship to my original bike: I'm keeping the smaller rear wheel and chain-drive steering concepts for now (although for one of the bikes I'm sketching, I'm attempting to simplify things by using conventional steering.) Things are still developing, but I should have some pics to show in the next few days.
Also, I'm in talks with a couple of friends in an attempt to persuade them to make bikes along with me, and then put together some kind of exhibition at the end of the summer.
Stay tuned!
Years ago, I built a bike, when I was in architecture school. It was for a summer object making class, and it was the first time I made anything substantive out of steel. They picked my bike for the postcard advertising the exhibition. (I hasten to point out whenever I show it that I did not design the postcard itself, just the bike.)
Here are some closeup details. I was especially happy with how the chain-drive steering turned out.
The steering wheel:
The seat itself came from a kid's trike:
We did a lot of scavenging that summer. Most of the bearings and other components were cut off of junk bikes we found or bought cheap from thrift stores.
For my bike(s) this summer, I have found some good resources online for bearings and other components, and I don't plan on doing any bike-part-scavenging. The website I'm looking at the most, as I work through my designs, is BicycleDesigner.com. They seem to have just about everything in the way of bike parts, and lots of helpful diagrams. I'll also hit up some local bike shops once I'm closer to starting, and see what they have in stock for components. It's always good to have relationships with helpful local experts when you have technical questions about a project. Also, returning/exchanging parts that don't turn out to be quite the right thing is waaaay easier when you're dealing locally.
The new designs I'm working on have a pretty clear relationship to my original bike: I'm keeping the smaller rear wheel and chain-drive steering concepts for now (although for one of the bikes I'm sketching, I'm attempting to simplify things by using conventional steering.) Things are still developing, but I should have some pics to show in the next few days.
Also, I'm in talks with a couple of friends in an attempt to persuade them to make bikes along with me, and then put together some kind of exhibition at the end of the summer.
Stay tuned!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Tuesday Night OList Happy Hour: Projects, Planning, and Productiveness
It's been a while since I've blogged about an OList Happy Hour topic.
Being in a big planning push this week to get a start on my summer projects, it got me wondering what the other OList folk have planned, project-wise, for their summers.
This line of thinking then had me wondering what others were doing to plan out and organize their work. At the moment, I'm in the process of charting out the coming months, setting milestones, and conducting research. I'm determined to get as much as I can out of the long days and nice weather.
What projects are you planning for the coming months? Can you think of actions you could take to give your productiveness a boost? Join us for Happy Hour tonight and let's discuss!
Being in a big planning push this week to get a start on my summer projects, it got me wondering what the other OList folk have planned, project-wise, for their summers.
This line of thinking then had me wondering what others were doing to plan out and organize their work. At the moment, I'm in the process of charting out the coming months, setting milestones, and conducting research. I'm determined to get as much as I can out of the long days and nice weather.
What projects are you planning for the coming months? Can you think of actions you could take to give your productiveness a boost? Join us for Happy Hour tonight and let's discuss!
Happy Hour Mechanics:
Happy Hour takes place in the OList Chatroom, every Tuesday night, from 9-10 p.m. Eastern and 6-7 p.m. Pacific.
Point your browser to www.olist.com/chat. You will be asked for a login and password - check your OList email for these.
You will see the chat window that looks like this:
On the right is the list of users participating; on the left is the chat itself. At the bottom, you have the option of logging in through your facebook account, or as a guest. If you log in through facebook, it will pull your profile picture into the list next to your name, which is a nice feature.
Your hosts for the OList Socials are @DianaHsieh, @laforgetm (aka William Green) and myself, @Earl3d
Monday, June 13, 2011
Summer Welding Projects
This week is our finals week at school, which means Summer is finally upon me! I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time in the shop this summer, and have been excitedly prioritizing my welding projects.
The list* looks something like this, thus far:
1. Finish the glider I started last summer. It was well underway when the Tennessee House completely took over my life for pretty much the rest of the year.
2. Handrail for my cousin Ed's stairs. He asked me to put something together for him a while ago. This will be relatively simple and quick once I have my shop back up and running.
3. Rack for my dumbbell set. Another easy, utilitarian project. It's good to have a few simple things to work on in between, and along with, the complicated ones.
4. New bicycle. Yes! A new bike for summer. I'm already sketching and researching parts for this, and getting very very excited about it. Watch for a whole post on this topic.
5. Experiment with making metal bowls on my lathe. If this sounds complicated and weird, well... I saw a video online ages ago where someone had put a metal plate on their lathe and was using their welder to build up metal bowls. Think of a potter with a wheel, only instead of starting with a lump of clay, you start with a flat metal plate and build up the thickness as it spins. This will be extremely experimental, and I'm not sure how it will go. I've been wanting to try it for a long time.
In addition to these, I have one special commission already in the works, and am talking to a potential new client this Friday about some welding she needs done.
It's going to be a busy, fun summer!
*Subject to change, of course!
The list* looks something like this, thus far:
1. Finish the glider I started last summer. It was well underway when the Tennessee House completely took over my life for pretty much the rest of the year.
2. Handrail for my cousin Ed's stairs. He asked me to put something together for him a while ago. This will be relatively simple and quick once I have my shop back up and running.
3. Rack for my dumbbell set. Another easy, utilitarian project. It's good to have a few simple things to work on in between, and along with, the complicated ones.
4. New bicycle. Yes! A new bike for summer. I'm already sketching and researching parts for this, and getting very very excited about it. Watch for a whole post on this topic.
5. Experiment with making metal bowls on my lathe. If this sounds complicated and weird, well... I saw a video online ages ago where someone had put a metal plate on their lathe and was using their welder to build up metal bowls. Think of a potter with a wheel, only instead of starting with a lump of clay, you start with a flat metal plate and build up the thickness as it spins. This will be extremely experimental, and I'm not sure how it will go. I've been wanting to try it for a long time.
In addition to these, I have one special commission already in the works, and am talking to a potential new client this Friday about some welding she needs done.
It's going to be a busy, fun summer!
*Subject to change, of course!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Strange Architectural Dream #541
Last night I dreamt I was touring around in, and investigating, a small Gothic cathedral. In the dream, I was disappointed to discover, upon careful examination from all angles, that it was not Notre Dame de Paris.
The cathedral portion of the dream was depicted entirely in sepia tones.
Also, there were hot tubs and bad guys involved at some point.
That's all I can remember.
The cathedral portion of the dream was depicted entirely in sepia tones.
Also, there were hot tubs and bad guys involved at some point.
That's all I can remember.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Frank Lloyd Wright on What's My Line
As we continue our celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday: Here is a clip of Wright that I found on YouTube. Wright appeared on the game show What's My Line on June 3, 1956.
It's a little long but very fun to watch. I love how he signs his name on the chalkboard at the beginning.
Enjoy!
It's a little long but very fun to watch. I love how he signs his name on the chalkboard at the beginning.
Enjoy!
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