it's not real

One purpose of the design process is create a sense of closure. Projects are never completed to everyone's satisfaction, although a great deal of lies are told in an effort to refute that. "I'm happy with the way it turned out" is one of the classic lines. Happiness being a poor criteria for success makes architecture full of happy people They turn out. They turn in.

So, here at towers of ilium, we preach the design process as a cathartic event. The importance of discarding bad ideas is the final lesson of the day. The image above represents a form of truth, a type of happiness. It may even be completed, if not realized.

As Hemingway noted, man can be destroyed but not defeated.

learning buildings

Towers of ilium can't draw any new conclusions from the blizzard yesterday. It bears repeating a few things, however. Watch out for the ocean, belong to a community, and accept that things will be challenging for a while.

The house pictured here is presented as a new product. Its quality, like the quality of all architecture, depends more on the people who build it than the intent of the designer. In thirty years it will be improved in a few respects, or at least towers of ilium chooses to hope for that. The landscaping will look more natural, the siding will be changed, something will be added, it will have new windows, a new roof. The interior will have been embellished and improved by a few generations of owners.  It will not lose value.

a bright, new dawn for halliburton

More posts should feature marine architecture. But, that's for another day, because at the moment, senior management at towers of ilium is considering the wisdom of investing in petroleum stocks. It is worth noting that this organization once held shares in Exxon/Mobil. It was a good decision at the time. Although share prices of many petro companies are depressed right now, there is a strong possibility that cost of oil will start to increase by the end of the year. Companies like Halliburton are well positioned for this event.

But what about the morality? That's a post for another day.

in favor of a Dr. Who movie

This house really needs nothing but maintenance. Towers of ilium respects tradition, up until the point when tradition becomes an enemy of improvement. The value of the old tends to have an emotional appeal, but only if people constantly refresh their perceptions of that value. An old house has "character" only in the sense that we apply a value to the accumulated decisions of past generations. As soon as the bad decisions overwhelm the good decisions, the character is gone. A more curious question to ask is whether we would automatically apply character to something if we could go back in time and see it when it was brand new? We would bring all our memories and biases with us and as a consequence, might view the original product with more skepticism.

political economy tuesday

A group of Boston taxi cab owners is suing the city over the proliferation of Uber and Lyft. After all, it is the purpose of a democratic republic to not only create oligopolies, but to protect them against competition.

The Globe ran an article on the mismatch between city issued parking permits and available on-street parking permits. Since towers of ilium has the luxury of off-street parking any solution offered here should be taken with a grain of salt. The city could install parking meters at all streetside parking spots in all neighborhoods. Or, people could start using ride share services like Uber and Lyft more.

the bright tomorrow

Today's post is about the utter futility of attempting to gain knowledge from graph of a corporation's share price. The picture happens to be a chart of Solar City. Please note that in addition to being idiotic, it is also out of date. However, towers of ilium respects the need for shiny graphics.

Today's post is about the utter futility of efforts to predict the future.

Today's post is about a recent article in The Economist about energy resources in the world. It is well researched and comprehensive. It cites Amory Lovins, which is a good thing. It doesn't cite Gail Tverberg or any of the other fossil fuel pessimists. Towers of Ilium did not make a prediction about energy prices (that needs confirmation--internal memo to research staff) because that is crazy. For the moment we will hang on the fact that the crash in oil prices amounts to a 4.5% pay raise for the average American family. The gas tax, unfortunately, will not be raised, even though that would be prudent.

Will Towers of Ilium considering investing in solar panels for its corporate headquarters? Maybe in a decade or so. The Economist regards solar power as an important thing, particularly in the developing world. They have a chance to do it right. Not that U.S. and Britain did it wrong--if there is a resource that appears cheap, it will be used, no matter the consequences. Just ask the single celled organisms that poisoned the earth's atmosphere with oxygen a few billion years ago.

no free ponies

Towers of Ilium is considering a thought experiment on the viability of a return to mill style construction. The problem isn't simply a matter of cost and codes, but a perception of authenticity. Would the exposed brick on the inside walls be a load bearing? Would it be the right texture? Would it have signs of past use? And how it would compete against the real thing?

A graphic exploration is called for.