Archinect - RISD (R. Andrew Highsmith)

post war(s) berlin

2007-10-22T00:29:33-04:00

photographs from a recent studio trip to berlin, city of my personal favorite. dunkel weisen.

yep.

robert

RISD Fall Lecture Series

2007-09-20T14:22:14-04:00

Many thanks to Gabriel Feld, Mikyong Kim, and Richard Hindle!

machines and books

2007-07-26T12:28:34-04:00

Looking back on a semester a few months later always brings unexpected things to the surface. Images and drawings I loved now seem less important, and vice versa. As I'm editing my work again for an upcoming portfolio, I'm realizing that excess is evil!

This back(b)log includes work from a Spring semester studio at RISD, entitled 'Times Square Doppelganger.' The project was a 130,000 sf library in Long Island City, and the site utilized both an existing building and the terrain above it's roof. The instructors were Philip Ryan of Tod Williams Billy Tsien, and RISD-ite Andy Tower. It's the first studio where I can honestly say I was completely engaged and excited by all methods of representation; virtual and physical.

Here's the project 'brief' (literally) :

A library is the intersection of old and new media. Both media require conditions that complement and contrast. A renovation provides an opportunity for architectural interventions that utilize both existing infras...

don't let them munch your lunch

2007-04-18T23:37:04-04:00

Today I'm posting a project I completed about 2.5 months ago now. Just to post something...I'm feeling a little slack regarding this site, I suppose, and wanting to begin a routine that will remind me that I should constantly be editing and documenting my work as I approach portfolio time(s)...

What I'm showing here, for now, is a studio project that represents about a week of studio time during Wintersession. The studio/seminar was taught by Peter Stempel, an adjunct professor at RISD and principal of Stempel Form, Inc. in Virgin, Utah (where I will spend some of my summer as an intern). Stempel's work focuses largely on 'Smart Growth,' for lack of a better blanket word. Working with local and state politicians and non-profits, he has positioned hiimself as a leader in Southern Utah's progress towards sustainable growth patterns.

For the project at hand, I chose a site adjacent to SR-9, the main corridor of growth between St. George / Hurricane and Springdale, Utah, which ...

dam[n] architecture

2007-01-20T20:30:56-05:00

self-explanatory

-robert

post holiday post

2007-01-06T22:32:53-05:00

Long time no post. The end of another term is gone, and so is Christmas!

I'm off to Utah at 5am for a six week wintersession studio with Peter Stempel. V. excited about returning to this part of the country. We will be situated just outside of Mt. Zion National Park. Suggestions for combatting mountain lions welcome.

Photographs:

country(side)
risd's books
westerly's books
dartmouth
housing studio
housing studio
will

I am going to be better. In the future.

eastern standard time

2006-09-11T11:35:27-04:00

spent past two weeks driving back across. 3600 miles later, not the most direct route, but stopped for good lengths in new orleans and alabama (to see the rural studio projects, of samuel mockbee)

the majority:

utah
arizona
silverlake
texas
santa monica
santa monica
venice
marfa
alpine
alpine
alpine
new orleans
greensboro
newbern
newbern
perry lakes
perry lakes
perry lakes
perry lakes
[hale county, alabama]

never seen such a fine outhouse...

off to risd on sunday!

four weeks worth

2006-07-23T04:19:35-04:00

in order of appearance [not importance, except for the first, or date, etc] :

Morphosis
Morphosis
Morphosis
Morphosis
LA Forum / Daly Genik
Materials and Applications Installation
”˜downtown'
Gehry
Gehry
Gehry
Richard
Obsolete
Obsolete
FLW
MOCA
Cigolle / Coleman TR-2
TR-2
TR-1
TR-2

A few weeks ago, I joined the LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design. This has been a good way to spend my Thursday evenings, and some interesting lectures / tours have been presented. Not pictured from that series is Joe Day of DDD llc who gave an informative lecture last week at his new office in Silverlake.

Now, Silverlake is a spot that I really like, and I somehow find myself there a few times each week. This week, it was for an installation sponsored by a friend at www.emanate.org also in Silverlake. Not sure how I felt about the haphazard-ness of the installation, but an interesting context. And actually, lucky to be coupled with the performance piece that accompanie...

ode to paul

2006-06-14T01:59:05-04:00

photos from the voyage.

inordinate thanks to companion, paul, pictured [that's crazy!]

other than that, there was that...and i enjoyed that. the tent held strong, even in the most ridiculous conditions [read : the perfect storm]. the firm i'm working for this summer is very busy, which means i got to experience the model deadline by my second day...they also have a very nice/new space so i am pumped.

culver city is wierd, but the drive from santa monica is actually much quicker than expected. i'm still getting used to those traffic lights at the ends of onramps. is that for real?

also, my bike.

in the mean time...

RI -> NC -> LA

2006-06-03T23:34:58-04:00

so, the first year is done.

over the past week, i've managed to leave my debit card at a restaurant in DC, develop a strong, strong desire to drive a golf cart into water, locate a 'non-descript grey car' in the woods of chapel hill, and evade a major repair bill for my car, which is about to make the cross-country trip.

some things i will miss, spurred by my week back in the south :

empty parking lots
the manuscript library at UNC [walker percy's notes = illegible]
invisible [to some] crosswalks...
bed / sleep
mosaics

now it's time for all you healthy LA archinectors to give me some wisdom since it will be my first time...or anyone who wants to offer some good diversions off I-40 [aside from the canyon]. friend paul will travel south tomorrow, by train, to join me for the drive out. i just bought 'tenting across america.' that's about as far as i've gotten...

[this post dedicated to j.atkins of LAB fame]

anxiously awaiting your suggestions...
rh

summer [yet]

2006-04-08T15:08:24-04:00

analagous modeling of exeter library

+

extended view shelter

The semester thus far consisted of entirely groupwork. This is a challenge, to say the best. I think I'm a bit stubborn [okay, more than a bit] and get a little lost in issues of tectonic clarity, especially building at full scale.

Needless to say, the results were better than expected, but compromises were made by everyone [in a group of 12] to come out with a final design. The extended view project was constructed at full scale in market square on the RISD campus. The premise of the project, I would say, and especially in retrospect, was to successfully design the structure with the logic of construction and program holding equal weight in the process. I don't know that any one project was completely successful at both, but that's the challenge of design/build.

some of the other projects

next up : trying to get a job in LA for the summer
currently listening to 'the books : thought for food' and sifting thr...

this is january / view 4

2006-01-21T19:34:23-05:00

Since it's been a while since my last post, I'll get you up to speed on what's going on these days at RISD. I've enrolled in a painting class for Wintersession - RISD's best kept luxury...Wintersession offers students the opportunity to participate in any department, or within their own discipline in a different way [an advanced studio, etc]. As this was my primary opportunity to take a short break from the Architecture department, I took it and enrolled in Ming Ren's 'Painting the Personal Creation.' Three things make this class so great :

the professor's insistence on clarity through brevity
the actual schedule itself [3 days a week of programmed time]
the upcoming residence of the Silk Road Project and Yo-Yo Ma, and his collaboration with Ming

So, all of that said, this term has basically offered me another opportunity to poke my head around a bit, which always proves worthwhile.

All of that said, I will, of course, be anxious to get back into another term of studio arch...

this is december / view 3

2005-12-05T00:17:47-05:00

what this means /needs [in some particular order] :

greenhouse structures
the cold [outside the lovely, ultra-close quarters of the architecture building]
materials and methods longspan research projects [dulles->raleigh]
chaos [not panic]
studio casualties [shout-outs to thomas and liz, self-explanatory]

[not shown : much-missed telephone conversations]

i'm not going to attempt any further commentary, other than to say i am entering the final few weeks of the term, so for now, and as usual, my photos will speak louder than my words.

cheers!

rh

thank[s]giving

2005-11-22T23:42:52-05:00

As a short break arrives, I find myself traveling south again to visit my family in North Carolina. I haven't been able to post much this term, as RISD + life has been all consuming.

I feel very pleased to have had Kyna Leski this term in my first RISD studio. To sum it up into a sentence, this studio deals with the development of a tectonic concept that serves as a thread throughout the term to inform and create problems and solutions for making, ultimately forming architecture. An introduction, initiation, to making, thinking, speaking, creating in the tradition of this school. We are currently beginning to finalize our semester-long concept / study which is leading to the design of a greenhouse. Below, I have included some of my process [photos only], and where I am at this point. During the weeks between this holiday and the next, I will hopefully be able to update again.

I'll [have] spare[d] you the verbage [mostly].

I haven't had the opportunity to scan in any drawing...

view 1

2005-10-09T16:39:54-04:00

Sorry for the false start last week. Some information, since this will be my first real post:

I arrived in Providence this summer equipped with my southern accent, [small] car. After a six week program in 'foundation studies,' I found myself even more pleased to be in this place than I had anticipated.

Skipping forward, losing sleep, but gaining clarity - studio has ramped up as we are looking at our first major presentations / crits this Thursday. I will post an overview of this project next time.

For now, I'd like to leave some photos from my summer travels south to north to my current place. The last photo is of my desk here in the architecture building, my new home.

rh