"My contact is actually an ex-friend's husband,"

Fixed that for ya :)

sqrt(cos(x))*cos(300x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7) *(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(6-x^2), -sqrt(6-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

nice orhan

Wow, somebody is really nerdy, and way too good at math.  Does seem like a good, fun joke to play on H.S. students, though.

Husband got me an orchid yesterday.  God, I hope I don't kill it.

I should be clear that my rant above was for a job my husband was trying for, not me.  The fact that he's a man is still - STILL! - a problem, apparently. I mean sexism is in no way over but I think women have had enough access to the arts education world at this point that it really should be a level playing field, no?

I brought the crazy to my class yesterday - carrying on about how our bodies read materials and the Frampton Tectonics article.  It's good for students to think their teacher is passionate, even a bit overly so, IMO.  Barry I was thinking of you and hoping you keep bringing the crazy/passion as I know you have in the past!

Another day of meetings and no actual time to get work done, which is why I got up a 5am to work for two hours.  Modern life is killing me!

think I will dump it into a Maya .mel script and see what happens or Grasshoper or Revit 

Rusty, I'm trying not to let that happen actually. Even *if* she knows what's going on, which I'm not sure of, she has no control over it. I'm still trying to figure out whether the company is trying to stiff me on purpose, and if so whether my contact is or is not in on it. His wife is even a step removed from that, so I'm trying not to let it affect things.

the geography of entitlements

I seem to have sparked a reaction from spaceman... maybe being snarky about the death of firefighter wasn't the most tasteful thing, but lighten up!

I know Barry - you supposed journalist you ;-)

My interest in anything video game related is pretty much non-existent. I've never been captivated by a video game for more then a few minutes, and the social network games seem ridiculous - I just tried to read an article about how important they are and I glazed over five sentences in.  However, as a mid-40s person who may be back in the job pool at same point, I'm again facing the same problem I faced coming out of Cranbrook, where I played with clay and wood and charcoal all day: I have no computer skills related to my profession, and absolutely no native interest in learning them!  

So just how screwed am I?!

Oh, this too: Stephanie is on Radio Boise right now, you should all go listen to it!  It's really great music, consistently.

Donna, at least you have age and experience.  I have no job-related computer skills, and no experience.  I pretty much have given up on the Architecture thing.  Although, I did have a dream that I ran into my old boss/firm owner, and he said I could come back anytime because he appreciates loyalty,and I haven't been employed since.  Odd.  I remember thinking in the dream that I don't think I even want to go back to that life, even if, in the long run, the money is better than teaching.  What's that they say about dreams?

house xs in the projects is lovely.  I'm wondering about the gravel around the foundation - is it because the site is flat and they can't adequately slope away from the house - so they do a french drain?  I'm trying to remember if I've worked on a flat non-urban site, but I guess I haven't.

good question. it must have to do with managing poor site drainage because they've got the roof drainage going to subsurface storm drain. 

Or just because it looks good.  It makes a clean connection of vertical to horizontal - I'm a huge fan of gravel maintenance strips, just because.

some architect/developer asked if i send them the digital files of the project i did next to an almost identical lot they are 'considering' of buying so they can look up "feasibility to see what issues we may face in designing our home"  as a matter of factly and asking as if it is my duty to supply this information to him since they might be buying it from my old client (not addressing me with my name even though he knows my name and address.)

designing and getting it permitted on hillside lots in los angeles requires a lot of experience, research and interfacing with soils, structural, city grading dept., and what not. my digital files reflect and contain all this know how and i was so surprised another architect asking all this information, basically, my drawings sent to him in digital files even using my old client and real estate broker send me letters to ask me as well.

i just politely said i am not sure and comfortable about giving away that information just like that but i'll be glad to answer any questions they might have about the hillside building. and since i told to agent to pass this info to them stating there were no super unusual retaining wall requirements but very time consuming process with grading department filings etc.., which is a good information and people never built on hillsides in la don't know.

a lot of this information you find by getting rejected at the permitting process or sent to other departments to clear things up.

would you give your full set of digital files (including structural, grading plans, height and set back calcs, and other details of a ground up hillside house to some architect/developer 'considering' of buying the lot next door? what nerve... i can understand client and real estate agent looking at the value and ownership (as was written on the contract) of these files casually but another architect??

btw, it took me two-three years to get that project permitted and countless trips to building department and other agencies to find out and resolve "issues i faced" in few projects i designed on hillsides which are difficult to build urban sites.

the title of the architect in the e-mail is so tacky with titles and credentials listed under his name (half page long with links and followed with another paragraph of threatening disclaimer written to unintended recipient and distributor) listing every award and nomination and local publicity... yack! yeah, i am so impressed and at your service!

hell no. perhaps to be polite, you could send him a pdf of the floor plan and a street side elevation, but electronic files? no. even with that, i'd still get a signature releasing you of any liability, and prescribed penalties if your design somehow becomes theirs.

on another note, i like the Central Library in Seattle.

What beta said.  Also, you have two lawyer-like ways to state this:

1. The terms of my liability insurance do not allow me to release electronic documents to anyone.  Period.

2. My contract with my client does not allow me to release my drawings to any other party.  Period.

This is a polite way of saying "I know what you're up to and piss off".

I'm more curious why this guy didn't just walk over to the building department and ask to see the documents on file for the neighboring property.  not sure how it is in LA, but some cities even let you copy things.

although, calling you up asking for electronic files is pretty ballsy.

too true toaster. 

i wouldn't give drawings either orhan.  not sure if need to be polite even.

donna, you have experience, which counts for a lot.  my biz partner is not cad professional either.  he does some dwgs but mostly he directs staff.  knowing what to do is more important than knowing how to do it. 

Orhan that's a fun one to handle. You could be a prat and send him a quotation for the release of drawings and a release form for liability with the lawyers submission charge attached. Oddlly we have to send a letter copied to the Institute of Architects saying that we intend to work with a former client... not even to mention the release of drawings. 

But he really does have some nerve

Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that this competition winning project by BudCud, which is posted on the front page and on Bustler, borrows projects by several other architects?

There is the Wave Deck from West 8's Toronto Waterfront. There is the silhouette of Marks Barfields's London Eye. There is Bucky Fuller's Montreal Biosphere. And there was PLOT's Copenhagen Harbor Bath, but that image has been removed since it was first posted.

For the PLOT and West 8 projects, it took me all of 2 minutes to find the actual images that were used.

it is funny phillip, but the sampling is pretty obvious.  so i guess the judges don't care.  architects always borrow and copy, maybe better to think of it as something in the air and forget about it...

speaking of winning, by friends at 5468796 won the p/a award again.  they also are designing the canadian entry at venice bienale this year and totally on a roll.  not bad for a group of canadian upstarts, eh

So, I designed a website for someone I do business with and it's gone over so well I have two, maybe three, more websites lined up to do in the next two weeks. And given how much a decent website should bill for, I only need maybe 4 more websites to either buy a decent used car or move the hell out of here.

And two weeks ago, I didn't even know much about making websites!

Braggart.  

phillip, borrows? holy shite, photoshop to the rescue it looks like. this is one of the reasons why i hate polished images, where is the process? show the work, and not just icing.

cynical me says it's irrelevant since it's not likely to get built. and *if* it gets built, by the *time* it gets built, it will look a whole lot different... 

this project and this team were invented as a flash-in-the-pan, imho. they're not furthering architectural dialogue, just collecting what's in the air, re-presenting it for our facebook feeds, and reinforcing these things as the memes for winter '12.  

and, i mean, really: "budcud"?!

moving on.

morning all,

Steven summarizes the situation quite nicely i think....

well put SW... i would love to know if BIG/JDS complained about the image with the copenhagen harbor baths in it... there has to be a reason why it was taken down, not only from the bustler post, but also from the budcud website... big green head, what say you?

i was starting to think Phillip Johnson had risen from his grave...and was giving new meaning to Architecture via the budcud site.

Ugh, I have an entire day of back to back meetings even though I NEED an entire day of uninterrupted work!

And yes, Steven summed it up perfectly: and, i mean, really: "budcud"?!

@will - those stepped decks on the bond tower are a nice idea, but you're in a bit of a fish bowl if you're sitting out on them - plus they will complicate the owner's ability to lease space around them (and restricts what kind of spaces you can put next to them).  other than that it's a nice looking building - I have a thing for tall buildings on narrow sites...

This week is all about wrapping up major projects and moving onto the next ones. I so happy that my chapter for Sustainable Energy Landscapes is DONE! (expected to be out in September).

Can't discuss the other projects that I'm just starting - gotta keep mum till funding shows up or we're ready to make them public. All I can say is that I have too many ideas to pursue if they all come to fruition - so waiting to see what comes through first or with the most $$$.

@ toaster, yeah i can see that too.  some issues to think about no doubt. i think is still more concept than reality.  for winnipeg is amazing, and hell winning a p/a award 2 years in a row is quite an accomplishment.  even more cool that they were my classmates just 10 years ago.

good luck with money barry.  just had news we got funding for fairly large project at uni.  looking forward to learning a whole bunch about designing eco cities in the next year!

goodness, it's so black. distracts from what might otherwise be a nice and effective design. can't imagine it will stay that way and get approved by whatever powers-that-be will have to approve it. i can already imagine the dismissive nick-names from the locals that it would attract. 

yeah - winnepeg isn't exactly the first place you think of for groundbreaking architecture...

have I ever mentioned my love of vertical razor-thin structures?  they're kind of impractical after a certain height because they eventually become all core, but there's something very seductive about those flying wedges - I blame barragan:

I imagine, these days, that I am the only architect in the entire state of Indiana who is on Archinect.

proof of good taste donna.

@ steven, hm am curious how that goes.  they have already built a fair amount of stuff that is not exactly normal for the area so perhaps they can do it...

here in japanland it wouldn't matter cuz there are no powers that be.  as long as safe structure and doesn't cast shadow nobody has a bloody say about what we build.  which is the way it is supposed to be!  libertarian nation is kinda cool sometimes.  messy, but interesting.

hi all. took day off to go to hand specialist and paint my bathroom. finally, like 6 month later than intended and 2 months after buying materials...

will, i never before thought of Japan as a libertarian country. do you think that is really true?

@nam

it is pretty libertarian in lots of ways, certainly with its building code. 

laws are performance-based rather than prescriptive, so personal choice creates city and community directly - mixed use and mixed income is normal, no planners required. actually more truthful to say planners have not so much power, cuz its in the hands of  individuals - for better and for worse.

much of  rest of society is similar - at least from where i sit.  kind of ironic...

does anyone else watch "up with chris hayes"? if you don't know, it is a saturday/sunday morning politics/news show on msnbc... this morning they had a long segment with architect michael bell talking about the "foreclosed" exhibition at MoMA... it was pretty cool to see architecture being discussed on a mainstream news show... i'll post a link to the clip once they post it later today...

phillip....hope to catch the interview when you post it.

here's the link... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46523147#46523147

Oh I'm so glad I randomly read this thread! Thanks for posting that link. I went to the forum last Saturday and to the MoMA exhibition, as the issues that inspired Foreclosed are relevant to my thesis and those of about 10 of my classmates. We are either very topical or too late to the game. I think the suburbs are one of architecture's ones that got away; we just can't let them go.

My sister is in town, and last night husband had to work, so sis and I shared a bottle of wine while watching the red carpet shows, then ate roasted okra and popcorn for dinner, with dessert of "milk punch" (Eagle Brand, bourbon, and cinnamon on ice) while watching the awards.  So, so yummy, and a perfect girl's night in.

That thread about architecture being a bad profession is so depressing.  Because it's true.

I dunno donna - architecture is a tough profession, but I'm wondering why someone his age hasn't developed relationships with people who could potentially feed him work - and if he's been working this long, there are definitely skills that are far more valuable to a firm than advanced computer skills.  I work in one of the most competitive markets for architecture in the US and not a single one of my bosses could even use CAD aside from maybe drawing a couple lines and printing things - project architects around here just need to know enough software so that they could pitch in with production when needed, but someone who is experienced in the field and knows the right people is worth way more than a room full of revit hotshots.

re: toasteroven's question on gravel @ foundation/wall one page back - this is a pretty standard detail in europe. helps w/ drainage at stemwall. keeps the stucco a little cleaner. keeps things from growing up/on the facade. i also think it looks a lot cleaner, as it provides a nice separation between house and land. a few of the projects i worked on didn't incorporate gutters, so it also allowed for rain shedding w/ out washing out the garden.

holz - you'd need a drain in there, right?  otherwise you'd have water sitting at the foundation.

naturlich. perf footing drain, same as we do here in the u.s., usually.