Archinect - A Wild Cadence

Finding the Other: Landscape Mindfulness pt.1

2013-04-04T15:18:00-04:00

The end of the ride. Hanoi, Vietnam

1200 miles. 2 months. 3 countries. 1 broken wheel. 1 broken rack. 1 broken fender. 5 or 6 broken spokes. 0 flats. Seriously, 0 flats. Our journey took us from Chiang Mai, Thailand, through Laos, and up to Hanoi, Vietnam. I’ve now parted with my riding partner and headed back to Thailand to chart a new velocity towards different challenges. My current adventure is at Din Dang Natural Building Center, where I’m learning clay brick making in the small Thai village of Paksong, Phato District.

Making clay bricks at Din Dang.

I’m still digesting so much of our adventure, it seemed to come and go so quickly, even through feeling every crank rotation and road undulation. That sense, feeling each contour and movement, is an inherent reality of the act of cycling. There’s something about the speed of a bicycle that’s like the tuning of an instrument. It’s just… right. It’s a fast enough speed to maximize your energy and fast enough to get...

The Architecture of Sociability: The Influence of Asian Courtyard Homes

2013-03-05T13:04:00-05:00

The tiled courtyard of the Vientiane Star Hotel, Laos

In Southeast Asia, many travelers choose to stay in guesthouses, a short-term housing solution somewhere between the shared rooms of a dorm-like hostel and the full-service expense of a hotel. Of course, all guest houses have their own vibe, some very nearly hotel-like and others much more personable, akin to booking a spot through Airbnb.

When I arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the first place I stayed was Aoi’s Garden Home, a moderately sized guesthouse serving approximately two dozen travelers distributed between five small two-story buildings centered around a garden courtyard. The design is strikingly reminiscent of the tradtional Chinese courtyard home, or Siheyuan. This historic housing typology was once home to a family and its extended members, though today it is more common to see multiple immigrant families living within the courtyard structures that remain.

Chinese Courtyard Home, or Siheyuan, in Beijing, Chin...

Being There

2013-02-12T11:10:00-05:00

I want to kick things off, not with a specific trip account, but with a question. The question of the value of experience vs the documentation of an experience. This is a perennial conundrum that’s increasingly puzzling as our capability to capture our experiences becomes more accessible, seamless, and of higher quality. With phones that have near-professional quality photo and video features on hand at all times, the capturing of the adventure is intertwining with the adventure itself. With the instant ability to share these documents via blogs, Instagram, Facebook, etc, it can feel like we are constantly curating an ongoing slideshow of our lives. Because, essentially, we are. I’m not so concerned with debating whether this is increasing the value of our experience or diminishing it (I think that argument is pretty well summarized here).

As designers we need to begin to consider thinking about the experience, the capturing, and the sharing as a seamless single activ...

Rolling Out

2013-02-05T08:51:41-05:00

Start of the First Day. Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Full posts coming soon...