atypical architecture

I could never design anything like this. Fortunately, Herzog and de Mueron can design stuff like this any day of the week. But will it set a precedent for parking garage design? I don't think so. Too risky, too expensive, too unconventional. It gets to stay special for a long time, but I wouldn't hold it against the architects if they re-use this design somewhere else.

a shifting baselines special edition

Okay, I was about to start some rambling screed about the death of character in American architecture. I googled images for "mcmansion" and came across a picture of the Biltmore Estate. Now, I'm not sure that I can mount an effective criticism of modern American dwellings. How can I judge taste? My clients pay me for my opinion--at times I have to go so far as to make something resembling an argument. Meanwhile, the deep yearnings of millions of citizens take form in tracts of subdivisions and a profusion of rooflines and cheap brick. Its not as if I can pass judgment on this when I ride past rotting, fire-trap triple deckers every morning in Boston. My home has vinyl siding, vinyl windows, suspect plumbing, and inadequate insulation. My landscaping is an ongoing study in neglect and futility. My driveway needs to be repaved.

We all strive to keep the great game going.

literature vs. architecture

Literature beats architecture any day of the week, provided we're making the comparison between two luxury services. Shelter can be almost devoid of architecture (lots of room for debate here, but bear with me). Architecture happens when a human embellishes shelter with something that conveys a meaning beyond the realm of function. Literature happens whenever someone opens his or her mouth. Even when we have a linguistic exchange that is oriented towards pure survival:

Caveman Thak: Oog was eaten by a lion.
Cavewoman Loona: Oh, that's too bad.

See what a world of possibility and interpretation is created by that story? How did Oog get himself in a spot where a lion could eat him? What kind of lion? What was the relationship of Thak, Oog, and Loona? Communication cannot be assigned boundaries, in contrast to architecture, which is exclusively about boundaries. The embellishment that defines architecture is open to interpretation, but the act of interpretation moves the architecture into a position that is subordinate to language.

the longest tomorrow

I realized that I actually don't know enough about anything, and as time passes, the self-awareness of my ignorance will diminish, until I reach that state where I will be uncertain about what I know, and confident in a great number of things that are wrong. This is unfortunate, but a good description of the modern human condition--which consists of confused people stumbling around accomplishing very little and just barely staying alive.

More specifically, I don't know enough about timberframing details to feel confident incorporating it into an architectural design. I can make presumptions about column placement, but the myriad ways to devise the lateral bracing elements has me thoroughly boggled. It is as this point that I should seek out someone who knows what is going on and has experience with the craft. I should not, and let me emphasize this, rely on my own research and intuition.

prediction markets edition #17

"Why this is hell, nor am I out of it"

I predict that Homs will be rebuilt someday, but under what political conditions, I can't begin to fathom. I also predict that the hurricane that devastates Boston within the next thirty years will catch us quite unprepared. The people who I will hold most responsible for whatever state of unpreparedness we happen to be will be the executives of the major utility companies. They will not have made the critical improvements and investments in redundancy that will enable a better recovery. The MBTA will be largely unoperational for over a month, with some subway lines closed even longer. Bus service will pick up much of the slack but the city will take about five years to recover. That's actually not too bad.

the suburban elysium

Human beings like to live in houses. I believe that the desire to have an individual nest, with a certain amount of distance to the nest of the next person, is a fundamental desire. As soon as economic conditions reach a certain level people build houses. Even if economic conditions aren't quite ideal, people build houses--and they build them out of the wrong materials, in the wrong place, and without all the features that would make their life comfortable. But, we're happier when we have our own space.

If you believe the claims I've just made, you're very gullible, but if you're living in a house and are happy, then you support my argument. If you're living in a more efficient dwelling system, which I will refer to in a very general way as "multi-family" then you will probably admit that you long for a house, particularly on those occasions when you are beginning to aspire to the murder of some particularly annoying neighbor.

In the end, it comes down to energy for transportation systems. A city is more efficient than a suburb, but without trucks or trains or cars, everyone would be dead in a week. (Well, not everyone; those who turned to cannibalism first would last longer.)

a qualification on the theme

Despite my ravings and ramblings of the past few days, I want to declare that I am not opposed to gestures of monumentality. I consider them to be an essential and worthwhile investment of resources, particularly in urban settings. This building, for instance, helps identify a city that has seen more than its share of hard times. Whether interpreted ironically or not, it serves to decorate a skyline in a manner that is far more effective than the generic, lumpy glass heap of the typical office high rise.

If a building can be economically viable, timelessly iconic, and relatively durable, then a success has been achieved. I classify the Chrysler Building in such a fashion. The World Trade Center--both the past and the present, do not seem to meet that criteria.