all of a sudden i feel light years behind. i prefer his classical work, but he also can deliver barragan level if thats what the clients want. he can make strawbeary's developer bunch inhale designer dust and think twice about design decisions. i am seriously impressed by his flexibility and reach of his palette.

*my accountant scolded me the other day. i am fucked.

From abra's link: The firm’s commissions include work for such notable clients as Eddie Murphy, Rod Stewart, Kenny G, Wayne Gretzky, Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Bolton, and Keyshawn Johnson.



I like the in-between-ers the best.

that's 'except'ance for ya...

I bet he gets real upset every year that he gets passed up for FAIA.

myriam:
I have more books than I should (don't we all) including the Frampton one mentioned that you're more than welcome to borrow from at any time. Just lemme know and you can come see what interests you.

Speaking of brawls... (sorry to chime in so late)

I missed this one entitled "Should Architects Project Manage?" that debates the role and significance of a PM/CM.

anybody know what's up with quondam?

Did I miss lb's b-day?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIBERTY BELL!!!

garpike, it's nice to see you, and thank you. I should have added to my b-day post that I miss garpike, Pixelwhore, and quondam, who haven't been around much lately. But now garpike and Pixel showed up in the last few posts, yay! Now we need to see quondam.

Maybe this will bring him out of the woodwork: I had some yummy Vietnamese food for my birthday dinner, a new place we had not tried yet. Very good, but not even close to the amazing food we used to get at Vietnam in Philly's Chinatown. On 11th Street, I think, right across the street from another Vietnamese restaurant called Vietnam Palace. Used to confuse people when we'd try to arrange to meet up there. Amazing raw beef with lime appetizer, crispy salty squid, rainbow ice (aka gelatin strings and black beans in coconut milk with ice). Plus, jarringly given that it's a Vietnamese restaurant, frufru rum drinks in Tiki cups! Man, I miss Philly.

Oh man! I am so hungry. I think I may settle for Thai.

my guess, our erstwhile friend is writing...

thats a big possibility. he is very disciplined and uncompromising. if he doesn't show up in a week, i'll telegraph him.
'quondam how are you...stop...did you hear about the pritzker...stop...abra'
and he'll turn around and post a picture of a formed in place pretzel or something.

Pixel, that is a very heartening offer on a very disheartening day. Thank you! I think I'm going to buy the Frampton and Curtis to start with because I think I'll want to write in them. But, I actually intensely hate owning books and like to borrow whenever possible, so I might take you up on that offer at some point. ...Got any good fiction?

I wish I could link directly to my favorite Landry photo.

That guy is now reason #34295 that I don't send my money to the AIA.

Oh wait, I can!!!!!



Hey guys! Let's play spot-the-elements-of-bad-design!

Also, this guy reminds me of my rule to never work at a firm whose name includes the word "group" or "inc."

its perfect.

Columns with matching base/capital - deduct 20 points.

Floor pattern not symmetrical with column opening or fireplace beyond jeeeeeeezus deduct 50 points.

Skirted sofas deduct 10.

Beams "require" enormous column supports at one end and... die into regular 2x4 stud wall at other end? Something's fishy!

I don't even know what to call those projecting pseudo-corbel things that look like an elephant spaceship is charging toward you uuuuggghhhhhh deduct 100 points.

Trapezoidal niche above fireplaces plays wonderfully with... two offset grids and both rectangular AND arched window openings. HMM.

Sorry for the mulptiple posts but I can't bear to look at that picture long enough to compile a list, hurts my eyes.

ha ha ha ha ha! lb, totally.

Everything has trim everywhere and excessive fake beams etc--and yet all of this is framed in a flat, blank wall with a flat, blank untrimmed opening.

Houseplants deduct 10.

Wierd shiny gloosy finish on "beams" deduct 20

Contemporary base profile in "traditional beamed" room deduct 30.

I also do NOT understand what is going on with the dramatic lighting withIN the opening but ABOVE the beam and only on the right side. Was that a photoshop fuckup???! Please tell me there isn't some kind of recessed can up in that ceiling to "highlight" the "architectural feature" of the beam

Yeah I was wondering about that base profile. Is that supposed to be "Spanish Colonial"?!

Recessed cans with yellow incandescent bulbs and black insides : deduct one gazilllliiion

Haven't these people ever heard of microgems?! There is a BETTER WAY than ceiling acne!

Yeah that blank opening with the projections is just bizarre. I'm guessing the photographer ran out of supplemental lighting so it's lit assymetrically, hate to imagine uplights in the place though I wouldn't be surprised...

I don't know where to begin with the wall sconces, they look puny but I think that's because the "beams" are so freakin' massive! But they also look builder-quality.

Also please don't park your piano next to a window. Though no doubt the thing is an ornament only and never gets played so who cares if humidity fluctuations knock it out of tune!

soaring ceilings at 35 feet in three places- 35 x 3 = 105, deduct.

And god the scale of the whole thing is just so wrong: is it supposed to be a cozy traditional living room? In a gymnasium-sized space?

Those projecting corbels are probably supposed to invite you into the cozy living room but instead they look like daggers. Yikers.

And you called it myriam the thinness of the exterior wall apparent through the "arched" windows makes the whole thing read: cheap.

Well that was fun and upped my post count, now it's off to bed. Night all.

chinese planters and plants on either side of hollow columns asymetrical, a design statement for the trained eye.
well fuck that, deduct a few...

I'd like to get drunk on a nice bottle of pinot noir in that room with all that dramatic lighting, and then deduct my dinner all over those f*cken couches.

a confused architect indeed !! ... it's all mixed up ...

say all you want, it's still perfect...




;-)

myriam:
My anything-but-architecture section is somewhat lacking. My favorite piece of contemporary fiction (Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy) was loaned to my grandfather a couple years back and I don't have the heart to nagg him for a $7 book. I do, however, have the biographies of Allen Ginsburg and Johnny Cash, both of which I highly recommend. Like I said, you can look through them sometime and borrow whatever grabs your fancy.

lb:
yeah, I haven't been around much. I can't really dig into any of the forum topics and then this one bounces around so much I'm typically outside of the loop and not commenting. also, I might as well come clean on something else: I've been using another forum to pass time at work. <gasp>

diabase your comment has me percolating with laughter in the cafe chair. Oh my god, I'll use "deduct my dinner" next time I walk into an ugly decorator room.

Man two threads talking about cool things in Philly: developer culture (the Onion Flats company) and Talk20.

And Steven over on derby time pimping Kentucky which has impressed the hell out of me the two times I've been.

The best thing in Indianapolis is vado and as fun as he is I think I'm ready to move.

ya, diabase, your comment wins.

Pixelwhore, gasp indeed. ;)

pixelwhore !!!! :O !!


p.s.(mail me the link .... lol )

...and of course I should have added to my list of people who I miss lately:
stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie stephanie

At least I see she's on flickr so I know she's still alive but damn I miss yer sassy comments girlfriend! And she'd rock the cd swap.

starchitect = wikipedia sums it up pretty good.
via mason white

John Burgee is a starchitect?

that's a very pretty orange.