Burning Down the House - Radio Architecture

Rebuilding New Orleans - Curtis Wayne interviews Wayne Curtis

2010-09-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

Conversations about The Crescent City with N'Orleans' adopted son Wayne Curtis.

July 28th - Senior housing alternatives!

2010-07-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

With Jacob Alspector and Caroline Bailey.

I'm tempted to say, reminding myself of Elvis Costello "What's so bad about peace, love and understanding?" - when I say, "What's so wrong about the true SPIRIT of Collectivism?"

I think I'm becoming a real Yankee communalist.

No images to show for this program of 28th July 2010.

Ah, well.

Be speaking with you again soon.

Curtis

21 July 2010: What's happening - or not - in New York: With Julie Iovine, editor of Architect's Newspaper

2010-07-25T07:16:00.000-07:00

www.archpaper.com
http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/8312

Julie V Iovine is the executive editor of that preeminent source of news for the architectural community – The Architect’s Newspaper, and was key to its expansion from New York, now with West-Coast and Midwest editions.

Julie was a features reportor and editor at The New York Times and the New York Times Magazine. She is the author of Michael Graves: A Compact Design Portfolio, Modern Americana: From High Craft to High Glam, as well as several other tasty contributions to our understanding of the world of design. She has written for Architectural Digest (German edition), Art & Auction, Art Review and Architectural Record.

To put the melting building metaphor in context, we played Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" - so apt:

Apropos of this, the Beekman Street tower designed by Frank Gehry:

Alt.Job - What architects do when there's no work. 14 July 2010

2010-07-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

It may be an urban legend, but the way I heard it is that architect Robert ("Less is a bore") Venturi grew up over an Italian fruit stand. We might all benefit from having a grocery store to run these days. People still eat, 'though construction starts are moribund.

Architect Nick Agneta's career has taken him away from "straight" architecture into more construction-focused expertise. And then there's Nick's music - he has been composing and performing his own music for over 20 years, his musicianship largely self-taught. Talk about being an eclectic!

Listen as Nick and I talk about the connections, if any, between music and (as Goethe termed architecture) "frozen music."

And to our French friends: Happy Bastille Day.

July 7, 2010: The Institute for Public Architecture

2010-07-06T07:58:00.000-07:00

There are a few architects whose focus is not on profit, but rather on service to the public. To further this Social Contract architects Jonathan Kirschenfeld and Robert Marino have founded the Institute for Public Architecture (IPA)

http://instituteforpublicarchitecture.org/ - a think tank and residential compound to foster independent work by architects and designers.

Think of the American Academy in Rome for architects and artists,

or the MacDowell Colony
http://www.macdowellcolony.org/

- and you'll have a good idea of the precursor models for the IPA.

One of the IPA's first civic interventions will be the Portable Street Theater, shown installed at the site of the proposed Jean Nouvell tower next to MoMA on West 53rd Street in New York City:

In our July 7th conversation we will explore the future of civic works, the funding dynamics of public architecture, and the prospects for the location of the IPA campus.

Thanks for listening - speak with you again soon.

30th June 2010: The Dark Prince

2010-06-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

The extreme animosity held by the Prince of Wales against modern architecture, which he habitually calls "brutalist" is well known, well documented. From his pronouncement that the Sainsbury wing of the National Gallery was "as a carbuncle on the face of a beloved friend" in 1984 - through last year's interference in the private development of the Chelsea Barracks site in Chelsea, London, Charles Windsor has been a pushy, anti-progressive busy-body and nosy-parker of the highest rank.

He has abused his position. One might think him an Absolute Monarch.

In the case of the Chelsea Barracks, here is what we - the public - knew before this Thursday last, before 24th June 2010:

The Qatari ruling family's development company purchased a stake in the former military complex known as the Chelsea Barracks. They were joint-ventured with the Candy brothers, British real estate developers. Some time just before the site plan designed in part by Sir Richard Rogers - The Dark Prince's chief modernist foe and nemesis - was to be presented for planning approval, the Qataris withdrew their application. They sacked the Rogers team. They flirted with a pedestrian design by a certain architectural plagiarist by the name of Quinlan Terry.

The Candy brothers sued in High Court for damages owing to the Qataris' breach of contract.

The High Court found for the Candy side, but urged reconciliation between the parties - noting the "unwanted interference" of The Prince - and declining, for now, the assessment of monetary damages against the Qataris.

Here is the scheme prepared in part by Sir Richard:

Pretty typical Rogers stuff - articulation of an exoskeletal structure, articulation of facade. Not exactly bold and new, but not offensive - unless you are the Prince of Wales and must needs run your mouth.

WHAT THE PRINCE PREFERRED:

which is a pastiche of stylistic plagiarisms that does nothing whatsoever to move forward the heritage of architecture; it is Disney, writ large, and poorly.

But aha, and oh ho! - someone in the Qatari camp leaked the letter that the Prince sent to the Prime Minister of Qatar - just hours before the High Court was to issue its judgment! On today's program I have read that letter - shame O shame of abuse of high un-elected position.

Here's what a British paper had to say, in summary:

But what to me is more interesting is the penchant for the same original sources - Greco-Romano flourish on the one hand, and homely famer-ish (or as they would and did say in German: bauerische) stylistic content. In a word, the Prince shares with the German National Socialist Party circa 1934 - 45 (the Nazis) a nearly identical viewpoint. Shame.

But this is not to be a surprise, for his mother's uncle, King Edward VIII - you know, the one who abdicated for love to marry Wallace Simpson? - was very close with Lord Oswald Mosley, head of the British Union of Fascists! The same Lord Mosley who married Nancy Mitford - of the Mitford family, famously famous for simply being famous - in Dr Goebbels house. Herr Hitler was in attendance.

This is the symbol of the British Union of Fascists. Pretty chilling isn't it - one half of the lightning-bolt S's of the SS!

So now we know what a fascist Prince might do when displeased:
communicate directly, from one antique hereditary house of royalty to another.

That he Qataris acceded is no surprise, then.

And so my freedom-loving friends, here and abroad:

To conclude my foray into history, architectural taste and latent Fascism - I close with this watercolor, produced by the failed painter Herr Hitler:

And here are some views of the Prince's Poundbury:

I rest my case.

I wish you a Happy Independence Day! This is an example - exact and true and vivid - of what our ancestors (mine included: three men who served during our American Rebellion - all privates, let us not get too heady about it) fought for, succeeded in, and for which we should all be grateful. FOR HERE IN THIS LAND WE HAVE NO PRINCES.

God save the Queen - God knows she needs the help, what with a son like this.

Our music this evening has been:

Jerusalem - the anthem of England
Darth Vader's March - John Williams' Star Wars
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
Mad World - Tears for Fears

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.

PS: A few more of Charles' remarks. I have to say that I enjoy a good put-down. [sigh] - It is too bad that he truly does not understand modern architecture:

Royal disapproval
“The Reading Room looks like the assembly hall of an academy of secret police”

The British Library
“Why does it have to be so tall?”

Canary Wharf
“It would be a tragedy if the character and skyline of our capital city were to be further ruined and St Paul’s dwarfed by yet another giant glass stump”

Proposed tower at Mansion House, subsequently abandoned
“Like a 1930s wireless”

Its replacement
“[It] seems like a clever way of building a nuclear power station in the middle of London”

The National Theatre
“I have to say that I was deeply depressed that none of them had risen to the occasion"

A proposed extension to the National Gallery
“It would be a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”

Potential designers of the Paternoster Square precinct
“A place where books are incinerated, not kept”

A word from our sponsor

2010-06-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.vimeo.com/12825042

Just a little shameless self-promotion.

23rd June 2010: The Dire Condition of Architectural Education and Licensure

2010-06-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

Joining us are two thoughtful and inquisitive architects - Matthew Arnold, a graduate of the Cooper Union - who has been researching the time it takes for recent architectural graduates to become fully credentialed, licensed architects; and Professor Roderick L Knox, also a graduate of Cooper Union, professor of architecture at Cooper Union.

Mr Arnold is preparing a white paper for presentation at the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture convention showing the data in graphic representation. An example of one such stunning analysis shows the dramatic increase in time required to pass the Architectural Registration Examination (ARE) - a standardized set of tests administered in the United States and Canada:

As you can see, fewer than 10% of graduates complete their preparation within five years or less. The paradigm of our profession has always been that this period of preparation - now referred to as "internship" - should take three years. At a recent roundtable discussion held at the New York American Institute of Architects Center for Architecture, the NCARB's own project manager for Internship Development confided to the audience - without batting an eyelash, or any sense of irony - that his own period of internship "only" took ten years!

I - your host - was licensed in fewer than three years; but I am ambitious and the rules that applied during those times allowed summer internship served between semesters of college.

Remember - you can always listen to our podcasts on either iTunes or at HeritageRadioNetwork.com

Speak with you again soon!

Curtis B Wayne, Architect

magisterarch@gmail.com

The Radio Architecture Project

2010-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

The Radio Architecture Project

Dear friends and listeners, we're very pleased to announce the next phase in the evolution of
Burning Down the House –
- your weekly fix on design and architecture.

We will be producing
Burning Down The House
through the independent audio production auspices of
The Radio Architecture Project.

Steve Smith, of Steve Smith Consulting will produce our next several programs, which we will be recording in the field, in the studios and offices of architects and designers - even at construction sites here in the metropolitan New York region!

As before, we will be providing Burning Down the House for broadcast and podcast on the

Heritage Radio Network..

Check out all the other great programs of HRN at: www.heritageradionetwork.com

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.

Curtis

Three Kings of Design - Epiphany 2010

2010-01-10T11:42:00.000-08:00

On January 6th, the Feast of the the Three Kings, Manuel Saez, Pedro Reissig and Mathias Fernandoborg joined us to talk about their particularly unique attitudes towards design. Our Three Kings of Design, not approaching from the east but rather from the south, all hail from Argentina.

We spoke with Manuel about his CMYK folding electric bike, which won 2nd place in the Cooper Hewitt Museum's "Peoples' Choice" award program this last autumn.

Pedro and Mathias are principal in Vacavaliente (www.vacavaliente.com) - where they express their love for leather as the primary (and sometimes sole) working material for whimsical interior elements:

BREAKING NEWS!

This program marked the end of the studio-based format for Burning Down the House - because, dear listeners - we are taking the program

ON THE ROAD!

Yes!

2010 will be full of many exciting developments, as we take our recording gear into the field to talk with architects and designers in their studios, builders on their construction sites, and even - we do hope - with construction lenders and bankers in their offices.

STAY TUNED FOR MANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS.

Thanks for listening. Talk with you again soon.

Curtis

Images for December 16th: Omega Institute

2009-12-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

The Omega Institute's Center for Sustainable Living, the Living Building Challenge, and the Cascadia Region Green Building Council were discussed in a lively discussion among Skip Backus, CEO of Omega; Gennaro Brooks-Church, eco-friendly builder from Brooklyn; Jake Alspector, architect; and myself, your host, Curtis B Wayne, architect.

Site Plan of the center (in grey)

View of the Center, with PV arrays in the foreground

Interior view of the "lagoon" area, also showing the "skycatcher" skylights.

Thanks for listening!

Our next program will air live on 6 January 2010.

Talk with you next year.

Happy Solstice.

December 2nd: Trash talkin' about ----- trash

2009-12-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

On this segment of Burning Down the House we're talking trash: trash as a natural resource, trash architecture (all that glitters is NOT gold), and what to do with waste products of life in a sustainable way, with guest Jacob Alspector, Architect.

First up, some images from the Sustainable Lab at Cooper Union, which I visited recently:

Detailed view of a rope made by the students from plastic (polyethylene) grocery bags.

And a bowstring arch, constructed from vitamin water containers - presumably in compression, with polyethylene trash cable as thetension member:

Trashy architecture is a recurrent them througout history. Shanties and shacks in North America, favellas outside of Sao Paolo in Brasil - all constructed of garbage. But what to say when a high-rise residential building approximates the haphazard appearance of a garbage dump? Case in point - and worthy of indictment in Design Court is this recent Visual Crime, designed by the otherwise-acclaimed French architect Jean Nouvel:

Where is Venustas - or delight?

Where is elegance?

This random pile resembles nothing more, or less, than an accretion of discarded, mis-matched windows. A scavenger's paradise, writ large - and ugly - on the landscape.

For this excretion we summon the officers of the Visual Victims Unit.

But waste - real or imagined - need not be ugly. Case in point is the waste-processing features of this new building at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY:

Photo credit: Gregory Edwards, courtesy of the Omega Institute

More on the Omega Institute Center for Sustainable Living, the Cascadia Living Building Challenge to come in our program of December 16th!

Thanks for listening.

Speak with you again soon.

November 25th: Students speak out on Eloquence - Part II

2009-11-21T08:38:00.001-08:00

In this continuation of our conversations with students from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, our students spoke their minds on Eloquence in Architecture - Part II.

First up: a discussion of the Dr Farnsworth's house, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe:

Next up, we talk about the Schröder house, designed by Gerrit Rietveld for Mrs. Truus Schröder-Schräder in Utrecht, Netherlands. If you follow the link (just above) you'll learn that Mrs Schröder lived in the house through the 1980s, as did Rietveld - with whom she developed a relationship. This is somewhat surpressed information, 'though hardly surprising!

And then, for something completely different we spoke about the Temple of Dendur, now installed in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, here in New York.

And our conclusion was yet more discussion of 41 Cooper Square, designed by Thom Mayne of the architectural firm Morphosis, which I liken to rock & roll - rude, ostentatious, occasionally voluptuous, always self-referential, intended to shock and disturb:

I rest my case.

Our musical selections were:

Opening music - Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOsFoy6u1TA

Farnsworth House - Coldplay Clocks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbI1FpLd4Vk

Schroeder House - Igor Stravinsky Firebird
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk0I4XRc92k&feature=related

Temple of Dendur - The Bangles' Walk like an Egyptian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACiTz59w54

Thom Mayne's Cooper Building - T Rex Bang a gong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzvW0bZmTzM

Thanks for listening. Talk with you again soon.

November 18th: Students speak their minds about Eloquence - Part I

2009-11-20T09:20:00.000-08:00

This week and next we have a lively conversation with students, who give their takes on Architecture & Eloquence.

Here are our students, in the studio; a short video of us setting up:

This experiment in Radio Pedagogy was inspired in part by the this article in Harvard Magazine:

New media transform college classes

First up: the Frank Gehry-designed Beekman Towers, on Beekman Street in Lower Manhattan.

These are, of course, highly effective renderings of the design intent. You'll have to venture down to assess the results for yourself in person!

Second up, a conversation about Native peoples of the Southwestern plains, the Anasazi, at Mesa Verde:

And an Anasazi kiva - sacred place of purification and spiritual renewal:

We spoke about the entrance - from above - and the round shape of the kiva, as you can see in this photograph.

Next up: Juan Carlos Villanueva's ill-fated mega-block development in Caracas - 23 de Enero, which was occupied by squatters from the ranchos that it replaced - bringing with them the squalid style of living they had previously lead in those hovels, the ranchos.

Above, a scene showing how poorly used the "green" spaces between the buildings became.

And last up for our conversation of November 18th, Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan:

In our conversation both Professor Knox and I defended the well-planned landscaping as an example of the best of examples of the Tower In The Park concept,

Jane Jacobs' love of the typical Manhattan Street notwithstanding, Stuy Town is a truly successful alternative to the ruthless grid.

Next, on November 25th we will talk about the Farnsworth House designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe; the Shröder House in Utrecht, Netherlans designed by Gerrit Rietveld; the Roman-Eqyptian Temple of Dendur, now in the Sackler Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, NYC; and the rude thing that Morphosis and Thom Mayne have designed for Cooper Union at 41 Cooper Square, New York.

Our musical interludes were as follows:

Gehry's Beekman Tower

Flower duet from the opera Lakme'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qx2lMaMsl8

American Indian aesthetic sensibilites,

Chirpaq sacred music – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6Y4kpZ7xQk

23 de Enero by Juan Carlos Villanueva in Caracas

Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileras http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crL1H8INb8c

Stuyvesant Town & City Planning

Gerswhin – Rhapsody in Blue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQPDG-T7BVM

Outro theme
Velvet Underground: Sweet Jane (for Jane Jacobs & all things related to The Village)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgUs7yWnDJ8

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.

November 11th: Architecture & Eloquence - Part II

2009-11-12T11:00:00.001-08:00

Here we are, in a continuation of our conversation with Professor Roderick L Knox, architect on the vast topic of Architecture & Eloquence.

Rod declined to elaborate further on the Vesica Piscis, but noted the many uses of this mystical symbol in Glastonbury, which has a charming legend as being where the Holy Grail was hidden.

A Vesica Piscis design in a garden of Glastonbury. The intersection of spheres plays a thematic role in much of baroque architecture, which we discussed later in the program - see below.

Pozzolith, the Roman concrete, as used in the dome of the Pantheon:

The Carpenter Center - and its ramp, which links Quincy and Prescott Streets - just across from Harvard Yard, and the home of the department of Visual and Environmental Studies:

Le Corbusier's monastery at La Tourette:

The Templar fortress Convento de Cristo in Tomar, Portugal –

The Convento de Cristo was in use to well after Friday October the 13^th - 1307, when the Knights Templar in France were executed; in fact this fortress/monastery was in religious use until occupied by Napoleonic forces in 1810 for barracks.

Boston City Hall, by architects Kallman & McKinnell, completed in 1969 and despised ever afterwards:

and which certainly owes a lot to La Tourette, dontchathink?

Representative of Felix Candela's thin-shell structures are these hyperbolic paraboloid arches:

Eero Saarinen’s TWA terminal owes much to Candela's work, as you can see in these images:

- above, a cheery illustration from 1961, and below a recent photograph of the terminal's interior:

Saarinen's CBS headquarters, with its triangular piers and black granite cladding:

Whereas "Black Rock" is not as severe as the monoliths or stellae in Kubrick's 2001:

- certainly the entrance to the CBS building is much harder to identify than, for instance, the Chrysler Building's entrance:

We argued a bit over the notion that concrete should be expressed in progressively thinner profile as the structure rises and bears less weight. Here is a Mies van der Rohe building that Professor Knox uses to illustrate his point:

To which I retort that to step back a structure for structurally expressive purposes might lead one to something like Raymond Hood's Chicago Tribune Building:

We spoke in passing about another Mies project, 860 – 880 Lake Shore Drive towers:

- a pure expression of steel structure: all grid, all lattice. Completely unlike Saarinen's CBS building, which is a concrete structure.

Here is a closeup view of the plinth on which these Mies towers perch:

Another work that is representative of the worst of Brutalist architecture is Paul Rudolph's Lindeman Center, which happens to be a neighbor of Boston City Hall:

- which, now that I'm looking at these photographs, certainly seems to owe a debt to Corbu's buildings in Chandigarh:

The Jaoul Houses – Neuilly:

and the exposed concrete wall (to the right) that Madame Jaoul patted as I toured the house with her in June of 1974:

Note the flat Catalan arches.

Corbu's Modulor Man:

and his trademark open hand in this monument at Chandighar:

The famous Villa Savoye bathroom, with its somewhat ergonomic resting platform:

Rudolf Steiner's Goetheneaum:

and a marzipan cake:

Adolf Loos' – Müller House, Prague – 1928-30

Examples of unified art, or Gesamtkunstwerk - as practiced by Frank Lloyd Wright in his prairie school houses:

- in which the architecture, the furniture and the furnishings have all been designed or selected by the architect.

Borromini's San Carlo alle Quatro Fontana – Rome – 1646:

in plan

in elevation

and in reflected plan (ceiling view). Absolutely gorgeous.

Bernini's Sant' Andrea al Quirinale, of which we also spoke, in passing:

And - not to be overly self-serving - apropos of how collaboration can result in a work far better than what would result if the client gave us carte blanche, a few details from my own Bridgehampton National Bank, on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton, NY (1993 - 97):

A design sketch for the cupola (which the clients insisted upon, and which I insisted be useful to introduce daylight into the interior of the rather large volume of the building):

And how it turned out in the end:

Not at all what I would have designed for this bank, had I been left to my 'druthers, but certainly exactly what the bank wanted.

Well - here we are at the end of images for our conversation of November 11th.

Our musical breaks were:

Ludwig van Beethoven: Fifth Symphony - 4th movement

Richard Wagner: Die Meistersing von Nurnberg

Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo & Juliet (ballet) - Dance of the Knights

Philip Glass: Satyagraha - Act 3 Scene 3

Speak with soon, and thanks for listening.

Curtis B Wayne,

Architect

Images for November 4th: Architecture and Eloquence

2009-11-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

First, for the breaking news that Gropius is being actively dishonored in Chicago, my home town, in the demolition of one or more of his Bauhaus-style buildings on the South Side. O tempore o mores!

This is how the building appeared in its prime:

Also threatened is this elegant and spare power plant:

If you feel, as do I, that these demolitions are an atrocity, please feel free to contact Mayor Daley:

You are here: Home > Your Government > City Departments > Mayors Office > Contact Info

Mayor's Homepage

About the Mayor

Press Releases

Key Speeches

City Government

Issues & Initiatives

Mayoral Ordinances

Contact Info

	Office of the Mayor:
	Address:	Office of the Mayor City Hall - 121 N. LaSalle, Room 507 Chicago, IL 60602
	Facsimile:	312-744-8045

Now - back to Architecture and Eloquence.

The hand sink at Villa Savoye:

Gerrit Rietveld's Schröder house in Utrecht:

- and yes you can see the gambrel roof of the house's neighbor, right behind the flat roof.

Farnsworth:

Philip Johnson's Glass House:

The Sydney Opera House:

Gehry's building at MIT:

The Opera Garnier:

Scharoun's Berlin Opera:

And, lest we go forward without reminding ourselves what a horrible, tragic waste of a person's life it is to go leaping to one's death - this is NYU's Bobst Library, of which we spoke in passing:

- not an eloquent building, but sufficient unto its day. Or, as Professor Knox might deem it, adequate.

And last, the Vesica Piscis - mystical symbol used by the ancients, the Masons, and which appears in various forms throughout Medieval architecture:

Our music for this program included:

March from Love of Three Oranges, Sergei Prokofiev,
Musetta's Waltz from La Boheme,
Waltz from Der Rosenkavalier,
and as always
Burning Down the House - Talking Heads' Live Version from the Jonathan Demme film
and
Keith Jarrett - encore from The Koln Concert.

Thanks for listening.

Speak with you again soon.

November 4th: International Attention!

2009-11-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

RADIO ARCHITECTURE IS HEARD EVERYWHERE ON THE PLANET.

Dear friends of the program - especially our friends in the blogosphere - thank you for the mentions!

We learned this week that

Butterpaper.com - a blog from Australia - has learnt of our program:

http://www.butterpaper.com/cms/resources/?c=radio&country=United%20States

And we've also been noted in the blog of Architect Tarja Nurmi - ARKKIVAHTI!

http://tarjanurmi-arkkivahti.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

Thanks for listening - and we promise to cover more international topics.

Talk with you on WEDNESDAY November 4th.

Curtis B Wayne
MagisterArch@gmail.com

October 29th: The New Masters

2009-10-29T14:42:00.000-07:00

The Old Masters luxuriated in their pursuit of aesthetics, often to the detriment of the quality of their buildings.

Today there are New Masters of architecture, for whom the pursuit of an integrated practice, truly Master Builders in their own right, is the only legitimate pursuit.

In this episode of Burning Down the House I talk with Jacob Alspector, a New Master in his own right, and brother-in-arms at the crossroads of change in our profession.

Above - an Old Master (Tiziano) in another form of luxuriant expression. But, my my my, isn't life always offering up voluptuary experiences, if only we see what is before us?

email your comments to: MagisterArch@gmail.com

and check out my various other blogs:

http://totalquality4design.blogspot.com/
for more about Construction & Design Analytics, the constructibility and quality management services we provide

and
http://yankees-thebook.blogspot.com/
for some tasty chapters from my novel "Accidental Yankee" - a story about love, lust, politics, death, betrayal, politics, religion - amidst the making of our grand republic, in and around New-York during the Great American Rebellion.

Thanks for listening.

Talk with you again soon.

Breaking News: USGBC bows to Henry Gifford's criticism

2009-10-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

On October 1st, as you loyal listeners will recall, Henry Gifford opined that LEED certification plaques should be temporarily attached.

Thank you Henry. And thanks to you listeners. We have been a part of MAKING HISTORY.

This just in:

LEED Certification Can Now Be Revoked By USGBC

Daily Headlines
This story was not reported, edited or fact-checked by AR editors.View all news wire headlines »
LEED Certification Can Now Be Revoked By USGBC
10/19/2009
Idaho Business Review, The

By Grigg, Dani

In the newest version of the U.S. Green Building Council's green building standards, there's an element that has never before been hinted at in the LEED guidelines: A green building can now have its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and certification revoked.

That's got some industry professionals a little worried.

"I think it will discourage some owners," said Garett Chadwick, a LEED-Accredited Professional from Driggs-based Plan One/Architects. "We're already seeing some discouraged by the whole LEED process because of the submittal process. If they make the requirements a little more intense, ... that's certainly going to discourage some of them."

New rules require building owners to submit performance data on an ongoing basis for five years after certification. If they don't comply, their project's LEED status can be rescinded.

The USGBC has said this change was spurred by studies showing some LEED buildings were not performing up to expectations, casting a shadow on LEED's credibility.

"If you don't maintain and operate your building correctly, all the work to certify would be for naught," said Adam Richins, an attorney with Boise-based Stoel Rives. He specializes in issues related to construction and energy, and he's a member of the USGBC Idaho chapter's board.

He agreed that some developers might be a little worried about the new requirements - it's a financial investment to get a building to where it needs to be to qualify for LEED certification (especially at the higher levels), so to put that investment at risk could make some nervous.

But he thinks it's a good idea overall, part of the USGBC's effort to make their certification translate to something increasingly meaningful.

Architect Bruce Millard of Sandpoint's Studio of Sustainable Design said some kind of performance checkup is absolutely necessary. The Living Building Program, which is a sort of "super- green LEED" program designed by the Cascadia chapter of the USGBC, already requires buildings to wait a year after opening before earning certification. At that point, there's enough data on energy usage to make a determination about performance.

"Buildings do not always get built as designed; buildings do not always perform as they're supposed to within design criteria," Millard said, adding that checking up on buildings can give their certifications a credibility that can otherwise be lacking.

"If they're only doing this to be part of the chic thing, or be part of some PR reality of building so it makes your company looks green, I'm not impressed," he said.

"I'm happy they're doing it, I'm happy they're saving energy, I'm happy they're making statements," he said. "But if a big corporation really wanted to make a statement, why don't they take it all the way and test it a year later, and then tell everyone what's happening."

And he said it's important to keep raising the bar.

Steve Simmons, an architect at LCA Architects in Boise, said he disagreed with the concept of checking up on buildings.

"I think if you design a building efficiently for LEED, the owner pays for it," he said. "Whether it's LEED or not, it's in the owner's best interest to operate the building the best they can. To have somebody to try to watchdog over that, I don't think that's necessary."

He said the energy cost savings should be enough motivation.

Some owners are already deciding to build to LEED standards but not seek LEED certification, he said, and this move could push more developers in that direction.

Credit: Dani Grigg

(Copyright 2009 Dolan Media Newswires)

Images for October 15th: Ugly, Butt-Ugly, and Criminal Designs

2009-10-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

In the run-up to Hallowe'en it's not entirely inappropriate to review some designs from the recent past and wonder: what were they thinking?

And then, there are the classics of design that, nowadays, seem a little less than spectacular.

For example, the much-vaunted Tizio lamp designed by Richard Sapper, iconic in its day, that has become a token fixture, without which the house or office of a designer or architect (of a certain age) would not be complete:

While, admittedly, this lamp was pretty damned cool in 1972, today it looks - well - rather orthopaedic. A knee brace for your arthritic old uncle the architect. At $400 a pop from the MoMA store, really, ya gotta be kiddin' me, bro.

Then there's a certain odd Eames' chair - if this isn't a joke, then I don't get it:

As much as I adore everything else done by Ray and Charles Eames, Eames + Saarinen, the Eames Studio - I have to admit that the juxtaposition of the half-bathtub shell with the aeroplane struts atop the out-sized skids, er, I mean rockers is such a perverse statement of instability, of forcing the concept of the shell chair to such a purpose of the old-fashioned rocker, that I have to quibble.

A perfect case of too many ideas occupying one object.

Then, there's the bad design of early Frank Lloyd Wright's furniture. Yes - concepts taken to an extreme - but (even by The Master's own admission) guaranteed to skin your ankles every time you sit down or stand up:

And, beyond the lack of ergonomics, who wants to have to compete with a fqn light fixture for attention at the dinner table?

The Gerrit Rietveld Red-Blue Chair

- and the Wave Hill version - which, in comparing these two images I can see that the Wave Hill crew altered the proportions, making it a very comfortable sitting experience.

Manuel Saez deems this DiLonghi airconditioner that we have in HRN's Studio "butt-ugly". As we discussed, the controls are inscrutable; only the on/off button is clearly understandable.

The iPhone 3G, with its chromed case, which I felt to be less than satisfactory.

The Dieter Rams Braun travel clock (left)

And Braun radio designed by Rams (above).

A clam-style cellphone, which we all agree, is one of the ugliest things in everyday life.

A recruiting poster for THRUSH - the nemesis of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which we mentioned in passing:

The Stinger brand bug zapper, on which our guest Rich Thrush worked:

I have to say that this photograph is much better looking
than the thing in real life.

As for my Humanscale Freedom Chair, its list price is presently only $1,305.00.

But, dear Listener, know that the net price to designers - who may be purchasing such chairs on behalf of a corporate client, and marking up the cost of the chair to list or near list - is approximately 60% of list. So when you next want to buy a high-design product be sure to ask What's the trade price?

No one who's not in the trade would ask this.

The Phillipe Starck orange squeezer.

Views of the Starck lobby at 95 Wall Street, with the enormous chandeliers and Versailles Hall of Mirrors effect.

Stay tuned for further episodes of Visual Victims Unit: Criminal Design Intent.

Postscript:

The kind of IBM 16-color VGA laptop that so infuriated me.

"1992: IBM introduces the PS/2 Model CL57SX, IBM's first color laptop computer"

Thanks for listening! Talk with again next time.

Images for October 8th: Darwin Martin, Frank Lloyd Wright & early 20th century design

2009-10-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

A recent rendering of the Darwin Martin house complex, in Buffalo NY.

A view from the new visitor's pavilion, designed by Toshiko Mori, looking towards the Martin House.

Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect, at about the time of the Martin house, age 35.

Darwin Martin, the client.

One of the more lasting images from the Martin house is this design - the "Tree of Life" motif - rendered in leaded glass.

Compare this with the design work of the Wiener Werkstätte of about the same time:

Compare the Martin house facade with the Heurtley house, constructed a year earlier:

Martin house, Buffalo

Heurtley, Oak Park

Notwithstanding the Norman arch at the entrance to the Heurtley house, not so very radically different.

And, last, the Martin summer house, Graycliff - 1927 - where Wright "broke the box" with corners windows that defy the structural logic of corner support:

Although 20+ years after the height of the Prairie School houses, nevertheless, there is still a fair amount of Craftsman detail in the interior work:

Oliver Allen mentioned his friend John A. Kouwenhoven - you can read some more about the "Beer can by the side of the highway" here:

http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Can-Highway-American-America/dp/0801836530#reader

And I think it is worth a look, for it condenses many of the themes we often speak of here on Burning Down the House.

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.

Images for October 1st: The US Green Building Council, the LEED standards & Henry Gifford's War of Enlightenment

2009-10-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

Sustainability, energy efficiency, interior air quality, locally-sourced materials, renewal materials - these are all aspects of the US Green Building Council's attempt to codify environmentally-friendly practices in new and renovated construction through their LEED (tm) building standard checklists. But, according to Henry Gifford - mechanical engineer, inventor, environmentalist - the LEED standards do not guarantee lower energy consumption; in fact, his analysis of the data that the USGBC itself uses, suggests that LEED buildings are more energy consuming than an average building not conforming to LEED.

Mr Gifford's article analyzing and criticizing the USGBC can be accessed here:

http://www.energysavingscience.com/

The most recent LEED checklist for new construction, LEED v3 looks like this:
Page 1

Page 2 of the checklist

But what about giving LEED points for innovation? This is not currently included - a major point of contention shared by many architects.

Indeed, these questions have lead the USGBC to respond - just a week ago - with a new program to monitor energy consumption in LEED-certified projects.

Score: 1 for Henry Gifford, 0 for USGBC.

Join us for a spirited discussion of the USGBC, energy use, and ordinary measures that you can take to make your life less energy consumptive.

Images for September 24th: Transforming neighborhoods - Rails, development & economic conditions as preservation aids

2009-09-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

With Oliver Allen, Deborah Allen and Frederick Allen we discussed rail in Manhattan, the many transformations of landscape that transit and economic trends have brought about.

Here, some images of structures no longer extant in Manhattan, but which in their day were impressive testaments to the ever-evolving urban landscape.

Above, the 6th Avenue el station at 14th Street.

A view of an engine and cars on the 6th Avenue El, in the "Ladies Mile" portion of the avenue.

.

At left, the Fulton Ferry Terminal, with horse-drawn rail cars waiting to whisk passengers (at a spry 6 miles per hour) away to their destinations, after debarking from their brief ferry ride across the East River.

Washington Market in the mid-19th century, on a site later occupied by the World Trade Center.

Images for September 10th: Tales of Architecture in the Tradition of Vasari

2009-09-11T10:41:00.001-07:00

Late breaking update: no sooner had I spoken of Ray and Charles Eames, and their movie The Powers of Ten but that Alice Rawsthorn's article about the Eameses and this very movie appeared in the Sunday Times supplement!

Talk about having the pulse of that aspect of contemporaneous context - of being zeitgebundet - of which I also spoke~!

Here's the link to the Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/09/13/style/t/index.html#pageName=13rawsthorn

Back to the original thread of images to accompany the chat of September 10th:

Giorgio Vasari, architect, painter and author of "Lives of the Artists" circa 1550, in which he chronicled - and commented upon - the quirks and personalities of the Renaissance. In fact, it was Vasari who coined the term - "rinascita".

John Hejduk's favorite dismissal of poor student work - "it's a flat experience" and the story of marching with the penguins is one of my least opaque experiences of the long-time dean of Cooper Union.

Here's a fairly indicative snapshot of Hejduk, taken before his renovation of the Cooper Union Foundation Building - the gesturing, the sweater, the tie - all vintage Hejduk. Note the original wall decorations in the background, all of which were removed during that modernization:

The sort of presentation drawing so in vogue (and expected by Mr Graves when he visited our museum design class at Harvard Design School) at Cooper, Princeton and Cornell in the 1970s are best illustrated by these drawings, contemporaneous with Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit:

A Hejduk drawing - Half House

And as seen in an early Eisenman drawing.

And last, as a parting image - Ray and Charles Eames (for you cannot speak of one without the other.)

Thanks for listening. Remember that our programs are now available as podcasts on iTunes, and through the station website:

www.heritageradionetwork.com

But, as a footnote - Jerzy Soltan's limerick, to be used only at an Italian stone quarry:

Aqua fresca
Vino puro
Ficca stretta
Cazza duro.

Fresh water
Pure wine
Fuck straight
Shit hard.

I leave it to you, dear listener, to determine how best to use this limerick.

Your host,

Curtis B Wayne

Images for August 20th: Sports Architecture!

2009-08-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Joining us in studio is graduate architect Joe Le, who practices in the specialized world of Sports Architecture.

Of course, architectural works created specifically for communal sporting events are one of the most enduring of forms that have survived down through the years.

We spoke in passing of the Roman Arènes de Lutèce in Paris, which is now in this condition - an impressive artifact, even as a partial remnant:

Here, a maquette showing the original extents and arrangement of the Arènes, which permitted both combat sporting events and theatrical presentations.

Because it is August, and a hot one at that, our conversation drifted again and again towards baseball.

One of the grand-daddy ball fields we spoke about is Wrigley Field, in Chicago:

with its lovely ivy-covered outfield walls:

We also spoke of the old(er)-fashioned design of Camden Yards, in Baltimore:

And grand old Fenway Park, in Boston:

As compared and contrasted with the new Yankee Stadium, with seating for 74,000 (!) fans:

The "Bird's Nest" building by Herzog & De Meuron for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was discussed as a possible harbinger of the future of sports buildings, on account of its vast size, accomodating many different events.

We also discussed the possibilities for new sports buildings, perhaps even with new sports events - how fan spaces for witnessing, say, a lacrosse game with 1,000 players might comprise floating fan seating in blimps, or how the Quidditch pitch of Harry Potter lore, is a new sort of stadium design, never seen before. Here, a Quidditch stadium from one of the Potter films, with its high towers:

And, last, we spoke of the newly-proposed Brooklyn Velodrome - images of which will be forthcoming as soon as I - your host (and architect) - have completed the schematic design! Stay tuned!

Speak with you next time!

Best,

Curtis B Wayne

Images for August 13th: SHoP Architects - Integration of Design with Craft

2009-08-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

What makes a Master Architect? Is it total command of artistic effect, a thorough knowledge of construction, a deep appreciation and command of architectural history - all of the above - or none of the above?

Following up on our conversations of July 30th, in which we re-visited favorite aphorisms of certain well-known architects, here are some of the aphorisms of the New York City- based firm known as SHoP, with whom we will have a conversation with two principals of that firm:

>How it’s built doesn’t matter except when it’s the only thing that matters.

>Efficiency and great design are not mutually exclusive.

>Building buildings is better than talking about buildings.

>In the classroom be the builder; on the site be the teacher. Be a student in both.

>Make the office a lab, a boardroom, a theater, a classroom.

>Use technology to build practice, see practice as technology.

>Make concepts buildable. Make buildings conceptual.

>Push design, embrace responsibility.

>Virtually construct it twice, build it once.

>Cost is not a downstream design variable.

>To truly innovate, we integrate.

For reference, here are some images of recent buildings by SHoP:

120 Mulberry Street, with an intricate brick pattern, made possible by direct application of CAD-to-fabrication technologies.

"Porter House" - NYC

We also discussed the work of Louis Kahn, specifically the Yale Center for British Art:

and dormitories at Bryn Mawr College:

Images for August 6, 2009: Passing of a Modern Architect & Meditations on the future of Modernism

2009-08-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Conversations with Oliver E. Allen, Frederick E. Allen, and Deborah Allen, historians and writers all about their experiences of Modern - and not so modern - buildings in New York City and beyond.

First, some words in memory of the modernist Architect, Charles Gwathmey, who died earlier this week at the young age of 71. First, the iconic house he designed for his parents - the painter Robert Gwathmey and photographer mother Rosalie.

Next, the W Hotel and Condominiums, currently under construction, one block south of the World Trade Center site, designed for the real estate mogul Joseph Moinian:

Thoroughly modern, with minimalist detailing.

Perhaps the project Gwathmey will be most remembered for in New York City was his expansion and interior renovations of Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim Museum

We also spoke at length about Paul Rudolf, the Art & Architecture Building at Yale, of Rudolf's layers of interlocking geometries. Here is an historic photo of Rudolf, with the A & A Building in the background.

Also, views of the addition (right) designed by the late Charles Gwathmey, to the A & A Building (left) - himself a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture.

Thanks for listening - we'll see you next time on the radio at
http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/18-Burning-Down-The-House

Addendum: Names, facts & more images for July 30th

2009-08-03T10:12:00.000-07:00

Errata.

Ah, to have instant memory of every name, every arcane factoid.

The architect of the base of the Statue of Liberty, whose name I fumbled, is Richard Morris Hunt. He is also the author of the central portion of the Fifth Avenue facade of the Metropolitan Museum, in New York City.

His stately, magnificent buildings certainly do owe a great deal to the training he received at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/École_des_Beaux-Arts ); and what is even more interesting to me is that he is only one of two architects in honor of whom a monument has been erected (the other being Charles Garnier, architect of the old Paris Opera, which is now - aptly enough - called the Opera Garnier.)

Here's Hunt's monument, located along Fifth Avenue, in New York's Central Park.

And for good measure, Garnier's monument in Paris:

I think Architect Garnier received rather better homage, don't you agree?

But I digress. The California Case Study Architect whose name escaped me, and his iconic Case Study House #22 - built for owner Buck Stahl in 1959, perched high above Los Angeles, is Pierre Koenig.

Another interesting California Case Study House (#8) - perhaps the most famous of them all, in fact - is Charles and Ray Eames' own home in Santa Monica:

At left, the house and site - a lightly forested meadow near the beach; and below, an illustration of the working/living concept of the house:

Last, although Esther McCoy was indeed a party to the inception of the California Case Study House challenge - as I mentioned in the program, it was John Entenza who was the author of the idea. Here is what the Eames Foundation has had to say in their website:

"Entenza, publisher of Arts and Architecture . . . announced that [the magazine] would be the client for a series of architect-design homes to be built and furnished using materials and techniques derived from the experiences of the second World War and best suited to express man's life in the modern world. Each home built would be for a real or hypothetical client taking into considerations their particular housing needs."

As regards Entenza's house, I was wrong: Entenza was the client, not the architect of his house - Case Study #9 - which is the next door neighbor to Eames! -
it was designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen.

A view of the Entenza house:

Thanks for listening, and talk to you next time at:

http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/programs/18-Burning-Down-The-House

Images for July 30, 2009: Student Passions, The Future of Architecture, 30 years out.

2009-07-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

One aspect in a fully-formed architectural education is the collecting of aphorisms.

Why? - at the very least one must be prepared when, as inevitably happens, one's client digs out an old chestnut to test one's own architectural education.

On a positive note, aphorisms tell us much about the thinking of a designer.

Whose sayings are these?

A house is a machine for living in.

Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light

(Le Corbusier - Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris)

Corbu's Chapel at Ronchamp

Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.

God is in the details.

Mies' Barcelon Pavilion

I don't want to be interesting. I want to be good.

Less is more.

(Ludwig Mies van der Rohe)

The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.

(Frank Lloyd Wright)

I call architecture frozen music.

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Form follows function

(Louis Sullivan)

To me, the drawn language is a very revealing language; one can see in a few lines whether a man is really an architect.

Always design a thing by considering its next larger context- a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.

The world runs in rabbit time; architecture in elephant time.

(Eero Saarinen)

Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK International Airport

I hate vacations. If you can build buildings, why sit on the beach?

(Philip Johnson)

Johnson's New Canaan Glass House

Architecture begins where engineering ends

(Walter Gropius)

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty........ but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong

(R. Buckminster Fuller)

Architecture is inhabited sculpture.

(Constantin Brancusi)

But - enough of the past; here are some images of new student work by Eric Moed:

A project that shows definite hints of Constructivism, and Early 20th century Dutch deStijl

A study in sectional analysis? Wave forms?

Images for July 23, 2009: Recycled building materials: Bonus or Bogus?

2009-07-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

In this session, conversations with architects and designers involved in the evolving world of recycled, re-used, reclaimed and re-purposed building materials. Our first guest was Professor Michael Cockram, University of Oregon - a specialist in re-use of salvaged building materials. His experience includes involvement with the Associazione Canova, where American students help restore a medieval village, learning traditional stone masonry. At left, a view of Canova, located in Piemonte, north of Milan, Italy.

Professor Cockram's experience also includes having worked with Fay Jones, whose iconic chapel (left) recalls the Organic Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

The structure described by Professor Cockram, and which was constructed by his students uses salvaged electrical conduit as tension members.

Our next group of guests included Joe Pepe, of M Fine Lumber, located in Brooklyn. Here is a view of their yard, showing graded and stacked heritage timbers.

From sculptor Hector Ducci and
builder Gennaro Brooks-Church
(347 244 3016)
info@ecobrooklyn.com
we learned about the amazing rot-resistant qualities of the North American black locust tree as an alternative to using pressure-treated timbers.
An amazing material to avoid the use of toxic chemicals and creosote for timbers near or in contact with the ground.
Here's a view of black locust flowers!

Last, we touched briefly on the sustainability and future availability of quality historic timbers from demolished buildings - for the more older buildings are destroyed (albeit, with the potential to have their timbers, fittings and fixtures salvaged and lovingly re-purposed), the historic nature and scale of our neighborhoods is threatened. Case in point is this lovely circa 1906 farm house in coastal Connecticut that I renovated and enlarged that was bought by a tear-down specialist and replaced with a "Baby Hughie" monstrosity, simply because the property could bear a large footprint building.

Images for July 16, 2009: The Art and Science of Feng Shui

2009-07-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

As discussed in our conversations with Jennifer Ellen Frank - feng shui master - on July 16th, a special feng shui compass - or lo pan - is essential to establish the directions of your home, work place, or garden - as each has a specific characteristic and element, which should be enhanced so as to ensure harmony in the lives of all who inhabit the area.

There are 64 directions on a lo pan - each of which relates to a specific hexagram in the I Ching. Here are several models of lo pans:

The basic 8 directions and their characteristic energies are described in the bagua - an octagonal diagram, as shown below:

- where North represents the entrance to your house, your work cubicle, office building, or garden.

An informative article on the characteristics of the directions that I've enjoyed can be found at:

http://www.astralaspects.biz/shopscr648.html

I have abstracted some excellent commentary from the above URL for your convenience.

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to email me at:
MagisterArch@gmail.com

IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF YOUR HOME

SOUTH-EAST CORNER	SOUTH CORNER	SOUTH-WEST CORNER
EAST CORNER	CENTRE	WEST CORNER
NORTH-EAST CORNER	NORTH CORNER	NORTH-WEST CORNER

Firstly you need to make a nine square grid of the Pa Kua - known as the Lo Shu square (above). The ninth (additional) square represents the centre of your home. The squares should all be the same size.
Measure the overall size of your house and draw a plan, then from the centre of your home determine North using a good compass.
Finally, overlay the plan of your house with the Lo Shu square, ensuring that the North sector in the Lo Shu corresponds with the North area of your home. You will be able to see in which direction each room falls - some rooms will share compass directions. You will also be able to see if there are any missing or protruding corners. A bay window represents a protruding corner whilst an L-shaped house or room will have a missing corner and therefore direction. A missing corner detracts from the luck of the corner that is missing, while a protruding corner strengthens the luck of that corner.

Elements
There are five elements in Feng Shui - Wood, Water, Fire, Earth and Metal. Each element belongs to a compass direction and can be used to enrich particular areas of your life. An easy way of applying element therapy on your home is by using the correct colours and combinations of colours for the different corners and rooms. Energising the luck of the corner can also be achieved by placing objects that symbolise the correct elements.

Below we discuss the 8 compass points in the Pa Kua so you may learn more about those areas of your life, and how you can enhance and enrich them.

THE SOUTH ~ FAME AND REPUTATION
The South is symbolised by the Red Phoenix and it represents luck, the summer, fame and fortune, happiness, light, joy and hope. The ch'i that comes from the South is known as yang ch'i = vigorous ch'i. Vigorous ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into accelerating sha - which causes you to feel exhausted. The South's colour is red and its element is Fire.
Applying Element Therapy in your South sector
Red is the colour of the South so you should consider this colour in your furnishings in this area. However red is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. Green/Red combination is excellent in the South, yet Red/Blue and Red/Black are very bad combinations in the South.
Energising the luck of the South
Fire is the element of the South - so red candles, a fireplace, the oven/hob are all good energisers. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Wood is good for Fire - so a wooden surround to your fireplace, or wooden candlesticks for your red candles can also be used in the South. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Earth exhausts Fire so never use anything that represents Earth (such as ceramic pots) in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the South - remember the correct colours!
» Pictures or ornaments of a Phoenix
» Bamboo wind chimes with 7 hollow rods
» Wooden garden furniture
» Wooden or paper lanterns, lights and red candles
» Hang a faceted crystal from the window to refract the light
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE SOUTH-WEST ~ MARRIAGE AND ROMANTIC HAPPINESS
The South-West combines the vigorous ch'i of the South with the changeable ch'i of the West, producing soothing ch'i. Soothing ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into disruptive sha - causing you to feel angry. The South-West's colour is pink or green and its element is Wood.
Applying Element Therapy in your South-West sector
Pink is the primary colour of the South-West so you should consider this colour for furnishings in this area. However pink is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. Green/Pink combination is good in the South-West, while Green/Blue are excellent in this direction. Yet Green/metallic colours are very bad in the South-West and Red can lead to arguments with loved ones.
Energising the luck of the South-West
Earth is the element of the South-West - so pink ceramic pots and ornaments are particularly good energisers in this direction. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Fire is good for Earth - so a pair of pink candles are especially good in the South-West. In fact, symbolic pairs of anything will enhance your romance! In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Metal exhausts Earth so never keep any appliances, your TV, stereo or computer in this area. You should not have a TV in your bedroom. I know this sounds harsh, but if you insist, please cover it with a throw at night.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the South-West - remember the optimal colours!
» Ceramic wind chimes with 2 hollow rods
» Pairs of statues and ornaments - such as lovebirds, Mandarin Ducks, hearts, couples
» Ceramic candlesticks with pink candles - in pairs!
» Ceramic, stone or terracotta pots, ornaments and statues
» Love & Happiness Healing Crystals
» In the garden: Peonies, Gardenias, Begonias or Hibiscus - pink, not red!
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE WEST ~ CREATIVITY AND CHILDREN
The West is symbolised by the White Tiger. The West is an area of unpredictability, even danger. It contains warfare and strength, the autumn, anger, suddenness and potential violence. The ch'i that comes from the West is known as shan ch'i = changeable ch'i. Changeable ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into dangerous sha - causing you to act rashly. The West's colour is white and its element is Metal.
Applying Element Therapy in your West sector
White is the colour of the West so you should consider white in your furnishings in this area. However white is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. Yellow/ Metallic combination is excellent in the West. Yet Red/Metallic combinations are very bad in the West.
Energising the luck of the West
Metal is the element of the West - so metal appliances, televisions, stereos and computers are good in this area. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Earth is good for Metal - so ceramic pots can also be used in the West. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Water exhausts Metal so never place fountains, bird baths or fish tanks in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the West
» Metal wind chimes with 7 hollow rods
» Bells, windchimes, metal horseshoes, Chinese coins
» Metal or terracotta round or square plant pots and ornaments
» Any type of equipment
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE NORTH-WEST ~ NETWORKING AND HELPFUL PEOPLE
The North-West combines the nurturing ch'i of the North with the changeable ch'i of the West, producing expansive ch'i. Expansive ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into unpredictable sha - causing you to feel unsettled. North-West's colour is white and its element is Metal.
Applying Element Therapy in your North-West sector
White is the colour of the North-West so you should consider white in your furnishings in this area. However white is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. Yellow/ Metallic combination is excellent in the North-West. Yet Red/Metallic combinations are very bad in the North-West.
Energising the luck of the North-West
Metal is the element of the North-West - so metal appliances, televisions, stereos and computers are good in this area. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Earth is good for Metal - ceramics and terracotta in the right colours can also be used in the North-West. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Water exhausts Metal so never place fountains, bird baths or fish tanks in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the North-West - remember the correct colours!
» Metal or ceramic wind chimes with 6 hollow rods
» Bells/wind chimes
» Kuan Yin figurines
» Metal or stone orbs
» Metallic equipment of any kind
» Metal or stone bird tables, statues and ornaments
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE NORTH ~ CAREER
The North is symbolised by the Black Tortoise (it can be a turtle) and represents the hidden, the mysterious, winter, sleep, ritual, nurture and caring. The ch'i that comes from the North is known as ts'ang ch'i = nurturing ch'i. Nurturing ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into lingering sha - causing you to feel lethargic. The North's colour is black and its element is Water.
Applying Element Therapy in your North sector
Black is the colour of the North so you should consider furnishings in this colour here. However black is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. A Black/Blue combination is good in the North, while Metallic/Blue is excellent in this direction. Yet Yellow/Blue combinations are very bad in the North and Red/Black and Red/Blue combinations aren't that good either.
Energising the luck of the North
Water is the element of the North - so fountains, ponds and fish tanks are particularly good energisers in this direction. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Metal is good for Water - so a fountains made of metal is very auspicious in the North. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Wood exhausts Water so never use anything that represents Wood (such as pot plants) in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the North
» Metal wind chimes with 6 hollow rods
» Round metal bowls of the correct colour filled with water or lotus plants - but definitely not if your bedroom is in the North sector
» Round metal plant pots - check the colours!
» Dragon Headed Turtle ornament (Lo Shu) - but not in a bedroom
» Turtles, tortoises - real or ornaments; fountains and bird-baths
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE NORTH-EAST ~ EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE
The North-East combines the nurturing ch'i of the North with the growing ch'i of the East to produce flourishing ch'i. Flourishing ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into stagnating cha - causing you to feel ill. The North-East's colour Beige/Ochre and its element is Earth.
Applying Element Therapy in your North-East sector
Beige and ochre are the colours of the North-East so you should consider these for furnishings in this area. However these are not the only colours - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. Red/Yellow combination is excellent in the North-East, while Green/Yellow combinations are very bad in the North-East.
Energising the luck of the North-East
Earth is the element of the North-East - so ceramic pots and ornaments are particularly good energisers in this direction. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Fire is good for Earth - so table lamps and candles are also beneficial in the North-East. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Metal exhausts Earth so never keep any appliances, your TV, stereo or computer in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the North-East - remember the best colours though!
» Ceramic wind chimes with 8 hollow rods
» Pieces or ornaments in Quartz or Amethyst
» Ceramic or terracotta plant pots, ornaments, candlesticks and lampshades
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE EAST ~ HEALTH AND FAMILY
The East is symbolised by the Dragon and is protective, cultured, spring, kindness and learning. The ch'i that comes from the East is known as sheng ch'i = growing ch'i. Growing ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into overpowering sha - causing you to feel egotistical and vain. The East's colour is green and its element is Wood.
Applying Element Therapy in your East sector
Green is the colour of the East so you should consider green furnishings in this area. However green is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. A Green/Red combination is good in the East, while Green/Blue are excellent in this direction. Yet Green/metallic colours are very bad in the East and Green/ Yellow aren't that good either.
Energising the luck of the East
Wood is the element of the East - so green-leaved pot plants are particularly good energisers in this direction. Pots of herbs are particularly useful in energising the health and well-being of you and your loved ones. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Water is good for Wood - so fountains can also be used in the East. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Fire exhausts Wood so never use anything that represents Fire (such as candles, table lamps) in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the East
» Bamboo wind chimes with 3 hollow rods
» Herbs; bamboo plants
» Dragon ornaments
» Good Health & Well-Being Healing Crystals
» Round-leaved plants - especially if your living room is in the East
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements

THE SOUTH-EAST ~ WEALTH AND PROSPERITY
The South-East combines the vigorous ch'i of the South with the growing ch'i of the East, producing its own unique creativ ch'i. Creative ch'i, if allowed to stagnate, degenerates into provoking sha - causing you to feel irritable and headachey. The South-East's colour is Green and its element is Wood.
Applying Element Therapy in your South-East sector
Green is the colour of the South-East so you should consider green furnishings in this area. However green is not the only colour - as there are both auspicious and inauspicious colour combinations. A Green/Red combination is good in the South-East, while Green/Blue are excellent in this direction. Yet Green/metallic colours are very bad in the South-East and Green/Yellow aren't that good either.
Energising the luck of the South-East
Wood is the element of the South-East - so green-leaved pot plants are particularly good energisers in this direction. In the Productive Cycle of elements, Water is good for Wood - so fountains can also be used in the South-East. In the Destructive Cycle of elements, Fire exhausts Wood so never use anything that represents Fire (such as candles, table lamps) in this area.
Additional ways to energise the luck of the South-East - remember the correct colours!
» Bamboo wind chimes with 4 hollow rods, wooden 'Wind Spirals'
» Bamboo and round-leaved plants
» Hang faceted crystals in the windows
» Wealth & Prosperity Healing Crystals
» Pieces or ornaments in Citrine
» Dragon Headed Turtle ornament (Lo Shu) - but not in a bedroom
» Money Frog/Toad ornament (Chan Chu) - but not in a bedroom
» Wooden bowls filled with water, birds baths and fountains - but not in a bedroom
» Metal horseshoes, Chinese coins
Take a look at our Feng Shui Cures & Enhancements
- Curtis B Wayne, Architect

Images for July 9th: "Delight" - where has it gone?

2009-07-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

July 9th 2009: Firmitas, utilitas et venustas. Structural integrity, utility and delight.

In our conversation of July 9th, George Sawicki repeatedly refers to the condominium project designed by Swiss architects Herzon & De Meuron for the fabled entrepreneur Ian Shrager, located at 40 Bond Street in New York City as the "green vomit building." Here's that building. The "vomit" is a cast aluminum screen at street level that mimics the graphic style of 1970s-era graffiti taggers.

As you can see, and as George pointed out, the context of adjacent buildings on Bond Street is one of predominantly masonry facades.

The green glass of the ground floor level facade has a figured underlayment, which is especially evocative; here, a view at the entrance (left).

And . . . here's the new Cooper Union building by Thom Mayne of Morphosis. "A fat lady tryin' to squeeze herself into a dress that's five sizes too small." - Roderick L Knox, Architect

"A glass box wrapped in gigantic window screen --- with a rip down the middle. Where did delight go? How is this delightful?" - Curtis B Wayne, Architect

And last, as for the delight in an artful lie - Rod Knox's enthusiastic aphorism - here's an example of Art Deco in New York: the Irving Trust Building, at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway, which presents a very convincing illusion of masonry bearing wall, but is actually a steel structure with masonry curtainwall.