the passages of power

The AIA has made critical comments about Wynn's proposed casino design in Everett. They specifically target its lack of contextuality, its poor use of public transit, and its low quality materials. They like the Mohegan proposal for the Suffolk Downs casino more.

This will all mean nothing when the Gaming Commission makes a pick for the operating license. The AIA, like any organization of architects, has very little political influence. Whenever architects talk or write, they're mostly blowing steam (wait a second, does that mean this blog is blowing steam?) and avoiding real work (yes, yes that's true here at towers of ilium). Something that the AIA finds frustrating is that Wynn has recycled this same design over and over with great success. Even though I was critical of this in a prior post, its important to note that large casinos have to function efficiently in order to extract the maximum amount of money from suckers. Wynn may very well have found the terminal design for the casino model. Like a modern supermarket, it works well for a wide variety of users, and makes the staff more effective at their jobs. And all by virtue of geometric layout. The aesthetic aspects of the design may be annoying, but you can be sure that Wynn has never value engineered the number of elevators in his buildings.

the persistence of appliances

Outside of Accessibility Laws, I don't put much stock in the idea that architecture can be a force for emancipation. Clients and designers are too focused on dramatic emotional effects, or worse, naked profit. Furniture and appliances, however, tend to have a positive impact on building users. The function of either is instantly realized, and when service lifespan is exhausted, it's replaced without any negative emotional impact. Few people miss an old dishwasher.

In other news, I had a dream last night that I went to a Taco Bell that was nearly totally automated. Robots made the sandwiches. There was no human interaction at the drive-up window, and there was only one employee inside the store. The selection was limited, but the food was remarkably cheap. Sanitation was monitored by a special computer program that recognized that my bread was stale.

It gave me extra lettuce.

a year from now and not much changed

I was going to feature some material from past blog posts, but realized that my audience is in constant demand of something new and fresh. Hence, a list of books and subjects I plan to read in the next year:

1. Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant

2. A recent biography of the Young Brothers (Australian folk musicians)

3. A book about Latin America

4. A book about the Cold War

5. Something by David Quammen

Here's what I don't plan on reading about:

1. Economics
2. Sports
3. Modern fiction (except for J.K. Rowling)
4. Politics

We'll see how this goes.

guardians of galactic architecture

Apparently, the art department of a recent Hollywood sci-fi movie concluded that a utopian city on a far-away planet should be designed by Norman Foster and Santiago Calatrava. I applaud this creativity, because after all, we all know that lots of glass and funky bridges are the most pure symbol of advanced civilizations. What could be the alternative? If you look closely, you'll see a lot of canals, so maybe the place looked liked Venice before an urban planning committee decided that a space-age society needed more European contemporary architecture.

universal designs

I didn't design this. I don't know who did. In some respects it's hard to say that a structure like this needs to be designed. Functional designs do require decision making on the part of humans, but it's reasonable to assume that similar people, in completely different places and at different periods in time, will arrive at similar design decisions. The main source of differences in design is the materials available, the tools to work the materials, and the dominant climate. In coastal climates nearly everywhere in the world you can find wooden houses built on stilts because it's a reasonable response to the environment.

If I was motivated, I could design a better shed than this. At the moment, I'm not motivated, so I'll take advantage of SketchUp warehouse for something this basic.

and watch your parking meter

The ongoing drama with Market Basket is still being played out. The Globe has done a pretty decent job of reporting the events of the past month, but since it is a family affair, I'm sure that there are things that will never come to light. I'm impressed that the ousted CEO has inspired such loyalty in his staff and customers and I think that the scorched earth policy being pursued is something that General Grant and Sherman would understand. The family members that fired Arthur Demoulas probably want to sell the business and sail off into the sunset even richer than before. The impact on workers and patrons would be negative because a larger company would not be as generous with wages and prices.

Supermarkets occupy a special place in architecture. I have trouble seeing how food could be distributed efficiently to the urban American population without them. In most respects, they are critical infrastructure rather than buildings. But, and this is a point not covered in depth by the public media, they have a large real estate footprint--both literally and symbolically. A good supermarket defines a good neighborhood, and lack of a supermarket represents a severe deficiency for a community.

world class city

The Rose Kennedy Greenway is doing just fine in my opinion. People who seek to compare it to great civic spaces like Central Park or the Public Garden aren't being fair. The Greenway represents leftover space, and the landscape design does an excellent job of creating a diversity of experiences within the confines of the surface artery roads. I hope that in the future, as transportation systems evolve, that the auto roads get smaller.

On a separate note, I'm somewhat worried about the state of things in this world of ours. My father remarked, with his characteristic black humor, that he was glad he was only a visitor to the 21st century. He came of age in the Cold War, when the only thing that separated us from Armageddon was a phone call and some well-trained men in bunkers with their fingers on nuclear triggers. Now, with climate change and constant political and economic crisis, it seems that Armageddon lurches forward with a momentum that cannot be curtailed by the prudent judgment of a few good men (or women).

I suppose Charles Dickens felt the same way at some points in his life.