#63: SOME KIND OF BEAUTIFUL
May 26, 2017
What is beauty? How is it defined, described, discussed, deconstructed?
Looking at personal favorites, I ponder four themes of beauty: 1) man-made, 2) God-made, the 3) Grotesque, and 4) the ethereal.
#62: PARAMEDICS IN ATTENDANCE
May 12, 2017
My business partner, David E. Martin, points out that we all say, “We are practicing architects,” and “We are running a practice of architecture.” Then he winks, “We say this because we are practicing, and still can’t get it right!”
To have a practice as an architect, to legally call yourself an architect, you must be licensed by your state. When I received my license to be a real and true architect, not merely an intern or designer, it was after an excruciating lengthy road of testing—one that involved day-long tests, hotel room interrogation, and paramedics.
#61: ARCHITECTURE AS THE LEAD CHARACTER
April 28, 2017
In film and literature, architecture is typically the backdrop, the atmosphere, the mood. But for some inventive works, architecture is prominent, and can be a supporting or even lead character in the cast. You don’t have to be a design expert to remember powerful uses of architecture, not just as an emotional or psychological setting, but as a protagonist.
Did anyone see the independent drama film Room?
#60: AND MORE AGONY, ANGUISH AND DEALINGS WITH THE CITY, PART 2
April 14, 2017
(Continuing on my rant from a previous post.)
In the not-so-far past, city approvals for a project were provided by a small handful of departments. Today, even for the tiniest of projects, approvals are necessary from over a dozen different agencies like Bureau of Sanitation, Green Building, Community Plan Injunction Compliance, and WTF Department.
With the ever-changing and self-contradictory city requirements, even the most experienced architect has trouble getting his client’s project approved for construction. Additionally, if the city employees don’t know what they themselves are doing, how can any architect? Maybe intentionally created to torment, getting a permit is an inexplicable mishmash of unfathomable cruelty and perversion.
#59: THE BUSINESS WORLD WANTS TO THINK LIKE DESIGNERS
March 31, 2017
When The New York Times published an article about seeking “Fulfillment,” the headline declared, “Think Like a Designer.”
“Design Thinking” (“DT”) is impacting universities, companies and entrepreneurs. Thought leaders have applied the mindset of an architect to address challenges in our world.
#58: TRIBUTE: HUGH HARDY EXCLAIMS “HAPPY DAY! ONWARD!” (1932-2017)
March 20, 2017
I arrived at Hugh Hardy’s New York office in the Flatiron District. Mr. Hardy bellowed, “Anthony! How are you, my fine fellow?”—with a resonance of incredible welcome coupled with the thespianism of a Broadway musical. I visited Hugh’s architecture company only a dozen times, and each time, he greeted me with such sonority that his studio of young architects beamed with joy.