tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65455071593870118412024-02-21T02:53:30.432-08:00Spatial ConditionsTJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-64077742549334646862012-05-23T18:21:00.001-07:002012-05-23T18:21:17.417-07:00Meditations from Maya couple quotes:<br />
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"Sophistry demands a space-time of speech and society, notably political, where there is no room for the terror of the true or false, where there is no need for these criteria to justify what one says and what one does, where one judges only on the effects."<br />
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- Jean-Francois Lyotard<br />
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<br />
"Once things competed for my glance, and anchored in one of them, I felt in the solicitation of the others which made them co-exist with the first...the demands of a horizon and its claim to exist."<br />
<br />
- Merleau-Ponty<br />
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"By its focusing presence, its mass, architecture has the possibility to hold fast, to anchor, to give measure to the surrounding flux... at the level of detail and on the level of phenomenological experience the perseverance of mass, the haptics of material, is today a necessary counterpoint to dematerialized media."<br />
<br />
- Bolles + Wilson<br />
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and a dematerialized medium (a render) so that it can be kept on record to one day materialize...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0fXPtvoOQnzBziGKvIKRs85_EAB7RR1xRMhITjSW-uPhik3aUdFdjHPjdjP69L09wtmGsqMUIjIt1gD7m0gOxErrEjIMsEqwqxoNwi6H5v6v8fEXrfgOmOl7bTiCUeUb5OwnzrGHOQI/s1600/BOTEL_3.3.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ0fXPtvoOQnzBziGKvIKRs85_EAB7RR1xRMhITjSW-uPhik3aUdFdjHPjdjP69L09wtmGsqMUIjIt1gD7m0gOxErrEjIMsEqwqxoNwi6H5v6v8fEXrfgOmOl7bTiCUeUb5OwnzrGHOQI/s320/BOTEL_3.3.1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-64764839767090116872012-04-13T14:47:00.000-07:002012-04-13T14:47:51.788-07:00If "architecture is the poetizition of the pragmatic," what is building when you are writing a prescription?TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-70678232889204823722012-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:002012-03-06T16:05:20.552-08:00It's been a while, but it's nice to get back to leisure writing. Finally a moment to reflect on what we've done the past three months. Some lessons from Los Angeles:<div><br />
</div><div>1) Making <i>architecture </i>is expensive! Due to a tight budget and a tight schedule, large sweeping architectural gestures became impossible really fast. What we were left with was an opportunistic outlook in which we had to jump on every possible design outlet when we got into a more detailed scale of the project. A major goal and tenant of the Lusona design philosophy that emerged from the whole process has been architecture for cheap - democratic architecture. </div><div><br />
</div><div>2) Coordination with manufacturers, consultants, planning board, and contractor is paramount. As the building is still in the design phase and more characters are playing roles in the floor plan, the coordination between all forces shaping the design is crucial; and there are many <i>characters</i>. </div><div><br />
</div><div>3) How to deal with signage and scale? The back of the building faces the highway and acts as a giant billboard. The scale of the facade suggests placing a giant super graphic - billboard scale; meanwhile local building code limits the height of the text to 24 inches. This leaves us with a giant blank wall - One idea would be to use the blank wall as a canvas for local muralists. The role of the architecture is then to act as a support system.</div><div><br />
</div><div>... </div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-85089759221978754402011-09-29T18:10:00.000-07:002011-09-29T18:10:30.609-07:00complex vs. complicated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjETEE10OV_h3s7ps6YyyV1cRM7O3Ce7CYKP6olrXO1rk8ARBb834ljVMYo5ioQDI_ebX1G_h18QZh40DzYIQqfA9-QQjcd1-ISkOMiCoB_BrEOGcxUNtLYub-_C83HoMakx6XjNpZXZg/s1600/complexiity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjETEE10OV_h3s7ps6YyyV1cRM7O3Ce7CYKP6olrXO1rk8ARBb834ljVMYo5ioQDI_ebX1G_h18QZh40DzYIQqfA9-QQjcd1-ISkOMiCoB_BrEOGcxUNtLYub-_C83HoMakx6XjNpZXZg/s320/complexiity.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-74622476252460761062011-09-20T13:54:00.000-07:002011-09-20T13:54:25.465-07:00A Call to Action?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="a"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -.65pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">HIDDEN CITIES 5</span></span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> <span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="a"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -.65pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></span></span></div>(from <i>Invisible Cities</i> by Italo Calvino)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><span class="a"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -.65pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">I should not tell you of Berenice, the unjust city, which crowns with triglyphs, </span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;">abaci, metopes the gears of its meat-grinding machines (the men assigned to</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;">polishing, when they raise their chins over the balustrades and contemplate the</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> atria, stairways, porticos, feel even more imprisoned and short of stature).</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">Instead, I should tell you of the hidden Berenice, the city of the just, handling</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> makeshift materials in the shadowy rooms behind the shops and beneath the stairs,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> linking a network of wires and pipes and pulleys and pistons and counterweights</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> that infiltrates like a climbing plant among the great cogged wheels (when they</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> jam, a subdued ticking gives warning that a new precision mechanism is governing</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> the city). Instead of describing to you the perfumed pools of the baths where the</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> unjust of Berenice recline and weave their intrigues with rotund eloquence and</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> observe with a proprietary eye the rotund flesh of the bathing odalisques, I</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> should say to you how the just, always cautious to evade the spying sycophants and</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> the Janizaries' mass arrests, recognize one another by their way of speaking,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> especially their pronunciation of commas and parentheses; from their habits which</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> remain austere and innocent, avoiding complicated and nervous moods; from their</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> sober but tasty cuisine, which evokes an ancient golden age: rice and celery soup,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 3px;"> boiled beans, fried squash flowers.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From these data it is possible to deduce an image of the future Berenice,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> which will bring you closer to knowing the truth than any other information about</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> the city as it is seen today. You must nevertheless bear in mind what I am about</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> to say to you: in the seed of the city of the just, a malignant seed is hidden, in</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> its turn: the certainty and pride of being in the right--and of being more just</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> than many others who call themselves more just than the just. This seed ferments</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> in bitterness, rivalry, resentment; and the natural desire of revenge on the</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> unjust is coloured by a yearning to be in their place and to act as they do.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another unjust city, though different from the first, is digging out its space</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> within the double sheath of the unjust and just Berenices.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having said this, I do not wish your eyes to catch a distorted image, so I</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> must draw your attention to an intrinsic quality of this unjust city germinating</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> secretly inside the secret just city: and this is the possible awakening--as if in</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> an excited opening of windows--of a later love for justice, not yet subjected to</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> rules, capable of reassembling a city still more just than it was before it became</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> the vessel of injustice. But if you peer deeper into this new germ of justice you</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> can discern a tiny spot that is spreading like the mounting tendency to impose</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> what is just through what is unjust, and perhaps this is the germ of an immense</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 5px;"> metropolis ...</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">From my words you will have reached the conclusion that the real Berenice is</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> a temporal succession of different cities, alternately just and unjust. But what I</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> wanted to warn you about is something else: all the future Berenices are already</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> present in this instant, wrapped one within the other, confined, crammed,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial;"> inextricable.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-line-height-alt: 10.5pt;"><i><span class="a"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -.65pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">The Great Khan's atlas contains also the maps of the promised lands visited in</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> thought but not yet discovered or founded: New Atlantis, Utopia, the City of the </span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;">Sun, Oceana, Tamoe, New Harmony, New Lanark, <st1:place w:st="on">Icaria</st1:place>.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> Kublai asked Marco: 'You, who go about exploring and who see signs, can tell</span> me towards which of these futures the favouring winds are driving us.'</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">'<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these ports I could not draw a route on the map or set a date for the</span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="a"><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; color: black; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -.75pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;"><i><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">landing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At times all I need is a brief glimpse, an opening in the midst of an</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;">incongruous landscape, a glint of lights in the fog, the dialogue of two passersby</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> meeting in the crowd, and I think that, setting out from there, I will put</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> together, piece by piece, the perfect city, made of fragments mixed with the rest,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> of instants separated by intervals, of signals one sends out, not knowing who</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> receives them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I tell you that the city towards which my journey tends is</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> discontinuous in space and time, now scattered, now more condensed, you must not</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> believe the search for it can stop. Perhaps while we speak, it is rising,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> scattered, within the confines of your empire; you can hunt for it, but only in</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> the way I have said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">Already the Great Khan was leafing through his atlas, over the maps of the</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> cities that menace in nightmares and maledictions: Enoch, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Babylon</st1:city></st1:place>, Yahooland,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> Butua, Brave New World.</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said: 'It is all useless, if the last landing-place can only be the</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> infernal city, and it is there that, in ever-narrowing circles, the current is</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 4px;"> drawing us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;">And Polo said: 'The inferno of the living is not something that will be; if</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> there is one, it is what is already here, the inferno where we live every day,</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> that we form by being together. There are two ways to escape suffering it. The</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 1px;"> first is easy for many: accept the inferno and become such a part of it that you</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> can no longer see it. The second is risky and demands constant vigilance and</span><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"> apprehension: seek and learn to recognize who and what, in the midst of the</span></i><span style="border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-width: initial; border-width: initial; word-spacing: 2px;"><i> inferno, are not inferno, then make them endure, give them space.</i>'</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div></span></span>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-47823201392391904272011-09-19T13:19:00.000-07:002011-09-19T13:19:47.786-07:00Music and Architecture<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-o5TRmiDIo">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-o5TRmiDIo</a><br />
<br />
great example of music and architecture enhancing one another. Versailles is a great venue for Battles! Both are very ornate and in a strange way, kind of terrifying. Voila comment la musique est censee etre realisee!TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-37919684491462059652011-09-16T13:33:00.001-07:002011-09-16T18:31:04.856-07:00Darwinian Theory of Beauty<a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html">http://www.ted.com/talks/denis_dutton_a_darwinian_theory_of_beauty.html</a><br />
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"beauty comes from doing something well."TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-18278179777398183502011-08-18T06:14:00.000-07:002011-08-18T19:09:26.653-07:00Art Loeb Trail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjqWbFVDeHsGAV_oGw_ZgYCk8mtiJEhV71JyyWRU_MmPJptfXPqUQ6h39iaoulgwtzqNNGhyphenhyphenZWgGDGm4fgXPBzJd29HwoaNQGzhrnqG24DTd3ZxE9cz7INGHaKcfU93hbTU-R7aPNjsY/s1600/artloeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjqWbFVDeHsGAV_oGw_ZgYCk8mtiJEhV71JyyWRU_MmPJptfXPqUQ6h39iaoulgwtzqNNGhyphenhyphenZWgGDGm4fgXPBzJd29HwoaNQGzhrnqG24DTd3ZxE9cz7INGHaKcfU93hbTU-R7aPNjsY/s320/artloeb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-17606005875418231752011-08-16T13:12:00.000-07:002011-08-16T13:12:57.374-07:00concept collage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QpnaTigEQpoeE_FDH0q3ON14hLP60l6_ezT1g-gu0zRGBHowT4hi78EklKUFCX3IpdlLxCCi8FDr4blwx0atjJm9x0UX2TLrq_5hQ5EoXohfteV7dzeTpfGPmiUnN7XGbOMZ-fZIPj0/s1600/collage1-mini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QpnaTigEQpoeE_FDH0q3ON14hLP60l6_ezT1g-gu0zRGBHowT4hi78EklKUFCX3IpdlLxCCi8FDr4blwx0atjJm9x0UX2TLrq_5hQ5EoXohfteV7dzeTpfGPmiUnN7XGbOMZ-fZIPj0/s320/collage1-mini.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">typical nebraska farmland collaged over brooklyn rooftops</div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-17457055392167332142011-08-15T07:24:00.000-07:002011-08-15T07:24:54.340-07:00Rooftop Agriculture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-UmDcIlCSsShbSeajCeL4Bs0OtZTG4Su6nm4PqOSI8yeNhSEMVGsw3pGEHiCIEU0gqhaHKF__Xa_7MPxg3RnUnO5CHE02u3j4jR_wCmlApQmzOuXdtPoTeSwyi3B4h7ALAKMfdN8VY4/s1600/Nyc-travails-5119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX-UmDcIlCSsShbSeajCeL4Bs0OtZTG4Su6nm4PqOSI8yeNhSEMVGsw3pGEHiCIEU0gqhaHKF__Xa_7MPxg3RnUnO5CHE02u3j4jR_wCmlApQmzOuXdtPoTeSwyi3B4h7ALAKMfdN8VY4/s320/Nyc-travails-5119.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-5854412258455093272011-08-13T12:33:00.000-07:002011-08-14T20:14:47.700-07:00Urban Farming Manifesto (to Adam in response to your message)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4PZbRtwKvHr8a9t3CsmSGuZFajpBjWCuGTmQb0wk5sVMkHF9L9cxcIgsxtIvVvynnQbWIheDSw4hfERK9JA9N8hThxuAYLRnmOuHGgrlf9azUJGXKDPAxYjL9pvHDJEEPT2uPRbR9e8/s1600/aerial.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4PZbRtwKvHr8a9t3CsmSGuZFajpBjWCuGTmQb0wk5sVMkHF9L9cxcIgsxtIvVvynnQbWIheDSw4hfERK9JA9N8hThxuAYLRnmOuHGgrlf9azUJGXKDPAxYjL9pvHDJEEPT2uPRbR9e8/s320/aerial.jpg" width="320" /></a>site: Brooklyn Navy Yard</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>1. Substrate: Rather than rely on new technologies such as hydro and aeroponic, soil is our substrate. Fertile earth is treated as a sacred resource and a necessity for sustainable farming practices.<br />
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2. Replace the ground you build / built on: Rooftops of the existing surrounding urban fabric are to be used for farming practices. Roof = new horizon for agriculture. Collectively, this will create a carpet of soil draped over the city - "the flying carpet?" This is another layer to the urban fabric - a new public domain in the sky.<br />
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3. Horizontality: We are drawn to the idea that monumentality can be achieved horizontally through the flying carpet effect. <br />
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4. Reconnection of Food and Consumer: Urban farming presents a unique opportunity for consumers to have a better idea of where their food is actually coming from. The public-private organization of urban farming must be used to push this connection and can be aided by integrating eduction and public programs into the flying carpet.<br />
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5. Close the Loop - "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">While I like the idea of humanure, I greatly prefer the pastoral image of legumes naturally fixing nitrogen in symbiotic relationships with soil-dwelling bacteria, then decomposing (either in ruminant guts or the ground), while cover crops and crop rotation provide additional soil mass and all of the nutrient cycling and soil life required to make a farm as permanent as a forest. I don't believe there's any way to remove these processes from the soil without seriously compromising their synergy.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> "</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;">6. Permaculture - "</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;">Permaculturists maintain that, where vastly differing systems meet, there is an intense area of productivity and useful connections." Permaculture derives methods of farming modeled after relationships found in natural ecologies. Permaculture sets a model for truly sustainable and permanent land use design. </span><br />
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</span></span>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-72994165055606556562011-08-08T19:49:00.000-07:002011-08-08T19:49:07.437-07:00urban farmingUrban agriculture presents an interesting trade between two groups: city dwellers and farmers. The urban farm places practices of the rural farmer into the collage of the city. The dichotomy of city and country is one that has existed since America's founding in the debates between Alexander Hamilton (city) and Thomas Jefferson (country). The debate has continued throughout our history of settlement as we tried to find the happy balance between rural and urban. Thus, came the rise of the suburbs. The debate over finding the right balance between city and country continues today. The urban farm will inevitably be the next stone cast in this dialog. <br />
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What could result is a rural acupuncture on the urban landscape. It also raises the question: how much space is needed to sustain the city? or if we were to build vertical: how much FAR? This also raises the question of verticality versus horizontality. What is the relationship of farm to the ground? Does farming take place on the ground, indoor, outdoor, up in the sky, on the roof, along facade, in the park? <br />
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How much soil is needed?<br />
How do you maintain nutrients in the soil?<br />
livestock is a whole other issue. <br />
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Just thinking out loud at this point...TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-75176425814832700772011-08-02T21:26:00.000-07:002011-08-02T21:26:58.130-07:00MassCan we build with mass anymore? <div><br />
</div><div>Have you ever thought about what a building's weight means? Or average density (lbs per cu. ft.) of a building? How much matter exists in a building. Throughout history our buildings have been getting lighter and lighter. Think of the weight/density of the pyramids as opposed to the Eiffel Tower. </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7RcNLMcafvzvrBtu4zAR-VU3RyOX7e3JkHAoRtgTbwQ3Tg6Hs-kXMwAIYTiF1Bq9zDr9Kv3qZ8iD3Tjq9yBg1ga5XTfBFAvu9cPFr4GWIBILuhAFMMBfOjUXhZXjglhWMk5FTApBpAs/s1600/Pyramids-of-giza-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY7RcNLMcafvzvrBtu4zAR-VU3RyOX7e3JkHAoRtgTbwQ3Tg6Hs-kXMwAIYTiF1Bq9zDr9Kv3qZ8iD3Tjq9yBg1ga5XTfBFAvu9cPFr4GWIBILuhAFMMBfOjUXhZXjglhWMk5FTApBpAs/s320/Pyramids-of-giza-1024x768.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM80AOrcovyaLPwLhkKq_L4xv7R83Op1kq9mGFMJBaN9eatLY0LpdIATvec2y1iAoVOlRxPuMXUAbCW3X6yXYxAxRLxH7aWNn_UWA6-dNeRR2EE66Ddeo64E6rKuX0zFGsPI9ff9uWrY/s1600/eiffel-tower1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiM80AOrcovyaLPwLhkKq_L4xv7R83Op1kq9mGFMJBaN9eatLY0LpdIATvec2y1iAoVOlRxPuMXUAbCW3X6yXYxAxRLxH7aWNn_UWA6-dNeRR2EE66Ddeo64E6rKuX0zFGsPI9ff9uWrY/s320/eiffel-tower1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div></div><div><br />
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</div><div>What does mass / density mean for architecture? For me, mass means longevity, stability, and fortitude. Mass is epic. I mean, the eiffel tower is epic, but the pyramids are EPIC. They are indestructible. Mass is meaningful. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Today, a building's weight means how much of the material world it has consumed. How much of the earth has been mined, how many forests were cut down, how much energy it consumes. Mass today is an extravagance. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxik4oogUeI-rSybL8cH_Tl7qazTEHUmGt1zz792FS2qnocmJPonFOmX0BuQU9I8F6tmXLL7hER0V_LpNL6oo04mznyS3sMonnFJKVxGfoc_8pXK11PBsW2B3IWGhdkhc9Afxj3MdXoPo/s1600/kahn5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxik4oogUeI-rSybL8cH_Tl7qazTEHUmGt1zz792FS2qnocmJPonFOmX0BuQU9I8F6tmXLL7hER0V_LpNL6oo04mznyS3sMonnFJKVxGfoc_8pXK11PBsW2B3IWGhdkhc9Afxj3MdXoPo/s320/kahn5.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Mass is also an opportunity. Louis Kahn used mass (and light) brilliantly. The weight of the building elicits the <i>weight</i> of the building. Kahn uses mass as a means to achieve monumentality.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Mass is especially important today in sustainability. It can serve as thermal mass. It can provide insulation. And it can make us think more critically about what we are building. When we build heavier buildings, we are held to a higher level of responsibility in that it will inherently last longer. </div><div><br />
</div><div>So why not take on mass? Architecture could stand to make a push for smarter and heavier buildings; Particularly in today's age when thermal mass and <i>weight</i> are at a premium. </div><div><br />
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</div><div>images (top to bottom): Pyramids of Giza, Eiffel Tower, Parliament of Bangladesh (Louis Kahn), Chaco Canyon.</div><div><br />
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</div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6545507159387011841.post-34316795172411654692011-07-27T09:59:00.000-07:002011-07-27T12:27:44.161-07:00Function Follows FormWhich one is it: form follows function or vice versa? As an architect, one designs spaces to suit a specific need, program, or function. But to assume that this is the only use that can be ascribed to a space is very limiting. In reality, spaces and their supposed function are constantly up for interpretation by the user and are in a constant state of flux. Consider the popular trend today of converting warehouses and factories into apartments. Or the vacant swimming pool that functions as a skate park. Indeed, the act of cross-programming (or re-programming) is what enriches these spatial conditions. Perhaps it should be the aspiration of architects not to find the perfect form for a specific function, but to seek the form that enables a multitude of functions, interpretations, and contradictions; to allow function(s) to follow form.<br />
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</div><div>While the fixed, formal gestures of architecture can inspire us, it is the events (the day to day occupancy) they hold that bring space to life and endow it with meaning. Space not only serves as a mnemonic for the meaningful moments in our lives, but also as a blank canvas for us to write out the events WE want it to house. If architects were to embrace this phenomenon (agency), think of the possibilities. Space is no longer the medium, as Foucault argues, to regulate the masses, but is the medium to enable them.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Pantheon would be a great place to play racquetball</div></div>TJ Reeveshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02783615099511368299noreply@blogger.com1