madeline gins and the architecture of eternity

Madeline Gins died recently. I had never heard of her, and I don't regard that ignorance as a notable deficiency in my education as a designer. From what I can see, she practiced a rather silly type of architecture--more Dr. Seuss than I think is appropriate for the forces real buildings have to cope with. On the other hand, if I were a child who grew up in one of the dwellings she designed I might have a more sophisticated outlook on the world due to the wonderful geometry that surrounded me.

I recently returned from a trip to Louisiana. Some of the old row houses in New Orleans adopt the same flamboyant colors that you see in the picture above. It's a rebuke to the threat of destruction that persists in that place. Go to it, and let architecture thrive, for we all dwell in Arcadia.

inside outside up and down

What should an architect really know? Here's a short list off the top of my head:

-Client personality and goals
-Construction materials
-Methods and process of construction delivery
-Ability to convey the major ideas of a building or space before it is built
-Relative time required for design and construction tasks
-Relative cost of design and construction tasks
-Impact of design and construction decisions on the environment

How much of that is taught in design schools?

what lies beneath

Compared to underground construction, architecture is easy. People are doing work on the Callahan tunnel in Boston right now, and according to statements recorded in the Globe, things are going smoothly. Some public officials made the smart decision of closing the roadway to traffic to shorten the construction schedule.
In twenty or thirty years we will have to do major renovation work to the Big Dig tunnels. That will present quite a challenge of construction sequencing. Hopefully, our robot cars will adapt to such a situation without too much inconvenience.

It is difficult, maybe impossible, to make an underground transit tunnel into a compelling and inviting architectural space. Maybe someday in the future, if we much wealthier, we will devote more resources to making undergound infrastructure look pretty. For now, let us walk in the sunlight.

After some research on the internet yesterday, I have come to the tentative conclusion that sub-slab ductwork is not the best idea. Gravity causes trouble.

the happiness of plants

I need to do some research on sub-slab ductwork.

In other news, it's quite cold here in Boston, but by the standards of many places on earth, it's really not as cold as it could be. People in Norway would laugh at this weather, but I don't think they would wear a t-shirt.

I like to think that the buildings I design or work on will help keep people warm. And their plants. Plants like the warmth. I'm wondering if indoor plants are a good idea. They symbolize an effort on the part of modern humans to demonstrate absolute control over indoor environments. "See, I have a tropical plant next to my desk. I keep it alive because I think it looks pretty and it makes me feel strong."

In the move to the new office I had to give up a few plants. So it goes.

where they lived

This is a picture of some public housing in England that was demolished. The U.K. has some housing problems that makes the ones in the U.S. pale in comparison. By most accounts, they still have a bubble. We know what happens next, and we know who will get hurt the most.

The Globe did something of a follow-up article on Menino's built legacy that was more positive and objective than the piece by Robert Campbell. Development seems concentrated in core areas of the city, which is to be expected. They cited one statistic that gave me pause: Housing stock increased by 8.6% in the twenty years that Menino was in office. That amounts to about 1,000 units a year, which towers of ilium does not find to be that impressive, and points to the great difficulties associated with getting things built in the city despite the more aggressive approach taken by the former mayor. Also, I agree with Campbell that the housing that was built was primarily luxury class and thoroughly unaffordable by the average city dweller.

When the population of the city was much higher--i.e. in the immediate post-war era--where did all those people live? I suspect that families were larger and density per unit was consequently higher. Now, with more luxury style dwellings, density is lower and the inhabitants are likely to be itinerant.

critique of robert campbell's critique of menino

Before I get into my long winded screed against the front page article by Robert Campbell in yesterday's Globe I need to set out some things I don't know: I don't know exactly what impact Mayor Menino had on development patterns in Boston over the past twenty years. His administration existed during a period of national prosperity but increasing inequality and the current makeup of the city is evidence of that. From what I read in the papers over the years I got the impression that he had a motivation to make things happen--even if it was a bit rough at times. I don't know how different things would have turned out if the city had had a different type of mayor--would there have been more development or less?

Robert Campbell implies that there would have been less development, and he teases us with the notion that had more deliberate methods been employed in the permitting and design process then the city would have ended up with "better architecture." He also states that the planning of the future of the city should have been entrusted to a more diverse group of people (i.e. more intellectuals). He claims that Menino was not a visionary and that Boston did not get "great architecture" under his tenure. By way of comparison, he cites recent project in New York City, and the memorable architecture of the past--specifically Boston City Hall, The Christian Science Center, and the Hancock Tower. I suppose my view of the great architecture of the city does not include all of those structures, but then, I am old-fashioned and probably not enough of an "expert" to be included in the planning process.

Campbell sets up conditions of idealism that could not have been realized by the city that Menino was a part of. The for-profit developers who put up buildings like the one pictured above had to answer to the forces of the market. They were not in a position to create civic monuments like the property next door, nor could the afford their architects the time to meet the nebulous standards of some design priesthood. Menino, for all his lack of "vision" recognized this reality, and he also recognized that investment dollars would flow to parts unknown if he did not do what was within his power to streamline certain projects.

More fundamentally, the ability of a city to plan its future is limited and deeply flawed. Although business school aphorisms like "fail to plan, plan to fail" sound convincing, the complex, evolutionary reality of the urban condition cannot be understood by the individual or the group. We all muddle along, and seizing on some "great idea" to inform the next fifty years of existence for something like a city is complete act of hubris. Because architects, urban planners, and art critics possess this hubris we are the last people who should be left to contemplate some unknowable future state.

Menino recognized that Boston is not New York City. Nor is it Dubai. His administration made an effort to get things done. Other people just write about things that could get done.

predictions for 2014

Okay, time to make towers of ilium look like an idiot again.

1. The Architecture/Engineering/Construction industry will have an okay year. Things in China might start to slow down a bit--or get more sophisticated. African nations (the peaceful ones) may lead in percentage growth. In the coming decades that continent might become the "place" for new architecture and engineering.

2. The composition of Congress will not change dramatically in the 2014 midterm elections. I'm going to end up stepping this one somehow.

3. Mayor Walsh will reveal that he is just as pro-development as Menino was.

4. However, growth in Boston suburbs will continue to be restrained by the usual bevy of regulations and poor population growth.

5. The health care cost curve will bend a bit more.

6. Unrest and repression will continue at the same rates as in 2013. A long, horrible stalemate in Syria, Egypt, Israel, Palestine. Possible liberalization in Qatar and Saudi Arabia will be offset by crackdowns in Russia and North Korea.

7. NSA activity will continue unabated in the U.S. Restrictions on media content, patents, copyrights, etc.. will be maintained. Spurious blogs like this one will be ignored.