Posts from the ‘Not As Fat’ Category
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Christopher Alexander’s New Architecture Program Offers an Alternative to Style and Orthodoxy
Architecture and the Illusive, Maddening and Thrilling Quest for Beauty
Swipe Left: How Technology Has Skewed Architectural Competitions
Does the New Traditionalism Have a Point?
What’s Happened to Architectural Record’s Record Houses Issue?
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Unorthodox Podcast: Birthright for Wasps?
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Whether it’s a new opening, room, wing, or a whole house, building a place manifests the most essential of human priorities – Pride of Place. This means creating beauty by building it. And then living in beauty, or simply letting the world see what the home builder believes is beauty.
But do we learn to design better if we actually build what we design?
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In 1942 my father, at 33, completely lost it. A civilian after a full 8 years in the Army Reserve Field Artillery Corps after participating in Reserved Officer Training Corps at Cornell, he was in a panic.
Pearl Harbor created a wartime frenzy – a record military sign-up and a huge draft was consuming America. Despite his honorable service, including playing polo, he was told he could not have his Army commission back – so being under 40, and not 4F, he would be drafted.
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10 years ago I rectified eating one extra Milano a day for 30 years (literal calorie count) and dropped 1/3 of myself. It took 8 months, but more it took irrational dedication. Ending a defendable lifestyle of eating no classic junk, but inhaling Triscuits, while working out 6 days a week required my inner Facist.
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In this chaotic period our country is vexed and inspired by the simple act of kneeling. This weekend many players on many NFL teams took up the physical commentary on the state of race relations in America by kneeling during the national anthem.
The scope and public presence of the furor was inflamed by a controversial president stating that if owned the teams he would fire the players who dissed the national anthem by kneeling..
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There are many reasons to use masonry in building. The single most commonly used reason not to use masonry is cost. Wood, steel, plastic, glass are all cheaper cladding. Even CMU’s and brick are pricier than most other options.
But cost is always relative in construction. What seemed cheap when installed can be pretty expensive if it needs replacement in the short term – and chronic maintenance of any building component is painful beyond the dollars and cents cost.
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I visited Grace Church in New Canaan. It was with AIA Connecticut. It was a celebration of architecture. It was disturbing because it was perfectly us: the noble, the hypocritical, the beautiful, the failed. It tries as hard as any building I have ever seen to be Universal. To embrace Connection, Spirituality, Hope, Openness. It was based on 5 Principals. It was designed by Asian Artist-Architects, it was built by a world class builder who owns Katharine Hepburn’s home, and the local architect is a huge NYC firm trying its best to make the construction disappear to let these abstractions be overwhelming.
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40 of 40
Some things are once in a life.
The last few years I have opted to write 40 times during Lent, everyday, in silence, on the bike for 90 minutes – ending at Holy Week.
It seemed right and a good thing to do as the season was focused to a better place, and I went with it. This year there has been over 2,000 visits to these writings: small by InterWebNet standards, but big for this.
- WHAT IS GONE IS BACK AGAIN Bruce Barber and I went to high school together 45 years ago: Over the last decade, Bruce has included me in his creative machinations, both of us trying to find connection to the world at a time of change and opportunity: This is a third iteration of a very human effort: (click here to read more)
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