why people move to colorado

And other places in the American West.

Since we moved to a new office I've discovered how my morning commute has shifted in subtle ways. Although we are only two city blocks away from the old location I find that I know longer take the same walking routes to and from the train stations I use. If I want, I can walk through Chinatown without feeling like I'm going out of my way. When good weather comes again I may switch back to my old route because it brings me through more green spaces.

functional and attractive

Wood shutters are an interesting architectural product. In contemporary houses they are value engineered into oblivion in some circumstances. If used, they are installed incorrectly. They are actually solar shading devices--not something that helps protect windows during storms (usually).

Closed shutters make a house look a bit foreboding.

A new year is coming. I should be working on my prediction list. Or decorating my office. I don't have any of my work pinned up anywhere.

large building syndrome

I'm reading a book about Comic Con right now and it has me thinking about convention center design. I don't think I've ever been inside the main hall of any modern convention center building. I attended a seminar at the Boston Convention Center, but not in the main hall. Architects refer to them as "black boxes" because they create a complete sensory experience that makes the outside world seem like a distant memory. This psychological independence is an illusion that becomes all the more ironic when we consider the massive support infrastructure needed for a Convention Center. We call this support system a "city."

Incidentally, the Boston Convention Center is smaller.

The movie "Elysium" makes list of architectural movies

Okay, I had trouble finding images of the urban landscapes used in the film. I guess Google images is more interested in the prettier images of the space station than the misery of Earth.

In any event, the movie isn't very good as a story, but its visual imagery puts it on my list of films where the architecture plays a primary character role. I couldn't help but notice that the preferred architecture of Elysium seems to be Southern California/Eastern Florida resort style. Spanish revival/eclectic with large yards and palm trees.

No one considers New England to be paradise.

2013 predictions revisited

Okay, here's what I said about a year ago:

1. The American economy will muddle along, despite any idiocy in Washington, Europe, or Asia. The Massachusetts economy will do slightly better than expected (this is a high risk prediction...I may eat crow by the end of the year, or sooner).

2. Things will get worse in Egypt, Syria, and Israel. Worse how? does it matter? worse always for ordinary people.

3. Things will get worse in some parts of Europe--Spain, Greece, Italy, Britain.

4. Energy prices will increase slightly, but not enough to really impact economic growth trends. The shale gas and oil boom will fade a bit. I should insulate my attic.

5. No meaningful action will occur on gun control.

6. Architecture will get more conservative. We've entered an age of maturity and relative sobriety in design. No major revolutions in building technology will occur. The "wired" (or wireless) building will not gain traction. If we're smart, energy efficiency performance of enclosures will improve, at least in the U.S. We might start to catch up to Europe.

And, my analysis:

#1. Mostly right. Massachusetts isn't is doing as well as it should be doing. So it goes.

#2. Mostly right.

#3. Mostly wrong. Things are still flatlined, but not that worse from what I've been reading.

#4. Mostly wrong.  Energy costs are flat. I got my attic insulated, but I won't know the effects until the end of the heating season.

#5. That was an easy one. If anything, we've slid backwards.

#6. Too soon to tell.

very late in the day monday blogging

Some buildings. Some lawn. A hedge-row. A sidewalk. A street. All the elements of urban landscaping are shown here. Is it helpful to know that this is in the Northeast? New York City specifically? I'm still trying to figure out if there's something noteworthy here. Towers of Ilium always has a comment, but maybe this sublime image of the built environment is beyond criticism.

Or, maybe I'm being lazy. What I should do is go back to the predictions I made for 2013 and come up with some sort of spin that makes it seem like I knew what I was talking and writing about.

heat

I predict that the current Ikea business model will fail in the next 4 decades. I present the following argument:

-A Chinese competitor will engage them in a price war and poach  market share in emerging markets
-People will get sick of the lousy quality of most of their products (but won't mind the lower prices of the competition for the same junk)
-Their physical plant, particularly stores, will deteriorate and will not be refurbished aggressively enough to attract new customers
-Their products will become stylistically obsolete
-Their management will become complacent, corrupt, and useless

In other words, Ikea will end up like Sears, Bradlee's, Howard Johnson's, Packard, etc....

p.s.

My post title has absolutely nothing to do with the post topic. Towers of Ilium apologizes for the lack of consistency.