Slept better last night. I think that, except for those affected and who we should keep in our thoughts and prayers, Boston, America, and the world slept a little easier knowing that the perpetrators of Monday's heinous event in Boston were identified and have been captured. The various branches of law enforcement acted very swiftly and competently. What a crappy week, though.
Copley Square/ Boylston Street was my hood back in the day. Worked went to school and lived in the area for a number of years.The office I worked in was less than 200 yards from where the first bomb went off. We occupied the second floor of the building and the fourth floor. I didn't own a car did a lot of walking and must have walked by the bomb site at least a couple thousand times. I watched the end of the Marathon on more than one occasion. I also spent a lot of time in Central Square in Cambridge. Still have connections in Bean Town and Cambridge, so I was also felt relief when this portion of the event was concluded. Bean Town is a Stand Up Town! My heart goes out to all the victims.
I've only been to Boston once. Very nice town. It had a very distinct feel - big, but not too big, its geographical outline was fascinating, and you could almost feel the history. I had just come in from one of my wanderlust trips to Europe and was staying at a relative's house in the tri-state area. I had a rental car. I typically went to Philly or DC. That time, I decided to head north and I got to see Boston, the southern parts of coastal Maine, and Newport RI (including "the Breakers" by some name architect I forgot). Still, what a thing for the people to endure, and so many people will be healing from this for a long time, both physically and emotionally. Some have been hurt so bad that they are still in hospitals and may have to deal with the physical impact of that day for the rest of their lives. I hope people having been keeping these folks in their prayers.
yeah - last week sucked. My office spent part of this morning more or less processing last week's events - We're all still a bit shaken (since everyone had been affected directly in some way) - but it's nice to feel like things are starting to return to "normal" - whatever that is.
for those of you who aren't from or have lived for a while in the Boston area - attacking the finish line of the Marathon is almost as awful as attacking the Ka'abah in Mecca during Laylat al-Qadr. It's the holiest event on our holiest of days. This is why we knew that it had to be a local because someone not from here would not understand just how important the Marathon is to the city - and how such an attack would cut right to the heart of what unites us.
There is a tremendous amount of symbolism that this race on this particular day holds for us - the marathon represents the long hard road toward democracy - that some of us (the most capable among us) are competing and the rest of us are supporting their efforts - that often the only thing we can do is simply cheer them on - and the fact that we do it year after year means that this struggle is essentially never ending.
How this plays out I think will be a test of just where we are in this project.
toaster thanks for that explanation. Not being sporty or really familiar with Boston (I've only been there once, for the AIAS conference(!) in 1987(!!)) I didn't really understand the significance of the day/event.
oh - I forgot to mention - Patriot's Day (the day of the marathon) is to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord (the first battle of the american revolution).... and the race ends at the main public library: "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." - Jefferson
Awesome, Orhan. I'm still looking forward to the day I can meet abracadabra live in the flesh. I will personally tell him how much I loved his persian rug story, and how I did the same thing growing up. I used to stare at our rug so long parts of it started to actually move in front of my eyes. I saw whole worlds in that rug.
So tired. So overextended this week, and last week, and probably every week until my cruise to Alaska in June (my mom's birthday celebration). Doing more with less is definitely the contemporary mantra.
I'm working this week with an artist from Cambodia. His life there seems awfully idyllic.
I thought of starting a new thread for this, but nah, I'lll put it here instead. Anyone else find crop circles to be among the most utterly fascinating things ever?
I can't seem to get the esplode command to work in CAD.
[edit] - never mind - I figured it out - I had to go to the command shortcut file and change "x" to "esplode." I went and did this to the file on the server so now it should work for everyone. "x" now runs a lisp routine that launches sheet set manager and automatically prints 10 copies of extremely low-quality jpg files directly to the main project drive and then deletes everything in the drawing files when finished.
now I just need to write a python version for revit. I'm being so productive today!
This is interesting - a vacant lot is up for sale in my neighborhood. It's 350SF and 4 feet wide. Anything that would be built would require a zoning variance... But could someone build a habital house in that space?
I'm having a hell of a time finding a group of people to play in a cricket match against my students. They've been playing each other in pick-up style games since October, and are begging me to play someone else. It's beginning to take up all my time!
44" clear for exit egress, plus let's say 5" for walls. over 4' wide.
there could be an occupant load exception that allows less than 44", so 36" clear for ADA travel plus 6" walls. absolutely workable. can't include a door frame, but plenty of room for the door.
i don't think you'll be building a 4' wide habitable structure. at least not in the US. we're big people and required big spaces.
of course, just because it can't happen doesn't mean it hasn't happened. also, i really only have experience with commercial construction.
There are a few examples like that around the world. A bit extreme even for Tokyo but it sounds like a regular sort of challenge, not anything too strange. Can't imagine many Americans in such a place though :-)
@toasteroven, apologies for my gibberenglish. I usually look at archinect while commuting to and from work by train. Just had holidays here which is usually the time I get caught up on work so no chance to surf the web.
I wonder if you could get air rights from adjacent properties? A 4' wide stair that also served as structure could support a wider structure above. Even 3' either side could be reasonable enough to be habitable.
Does egress have to be 44" for residential? I'd think you could do narrower, but haven't done single-family in a long time.
Turns out it's actually 6 feet wide and 375 SF lot (which I guess is a little easier to work with). it's directly across the street from a park with a community garden, and abuts a rather lovely private garden on one side and a 3' wide linear garden + parking space on the other. the rear of the lot is a few feet from an apartment building. there are trees on both sides, and it appears that there is a curb cut.
It's public bid and I have another month and a half (there are a few other odd sliver lots as part of this sale - one is actually 4 feet wide, but has no access to a public way - the others are small, but large enough to build something on) - so I could come up with a plan and put in a low-ball offer. kind of a fun exercise.
@will: I was mostly just bumping TC - no need to apologize (you canadian, you) - just felt like playing word games with your post.
That's the one I was thinking of, Miles! I love it in section, how the space feels expansive because you're only occupying a small bit of it while it opens out to a sort of atrium/breathing space.
well then i take back my apology for gibberenglish. damn you toasteroven! damn you!
6' is more than enough. you can make a dispersed house if the lots are close enough. then get famous for being cutting edge and have dinner with frank gehry and compare notes. either that or do some guerilla landscape architecture. in which case you get to have dinner with adriaan geuze....both good options really. can't fail.
if you were a REAL canadian you'd apologize for taking away your apology.
we'd have dinner at ikea! - which would end abruptly after I attempt to nudge a swedish meatball toward him with my nose through a pool of lingonberry sauce. Then I'd tearfully eat that princess cake I was saving for the both of us - alone. all alone.
To hot for me to block hop in August but will point you to 2 destinations.
Walk the High Line to the south end, you'll go under the Standard High Line Hotel. Then walk back up to 13th to the hotel. The lobby is nightclub cool, the top floor restaurant a cross between Steamboat and French Bordello but has magnificent views and gorgeous waitresses. Be prepared to drop a bundle to watch overpaid film and TV people and all kinds of upper crusties and wannabes making the scene. Last time I was there drinks and hors d'ouvres for three was $175.
Second is Decibel, an underground saki bar on East 9th Street. Very hip. Six page menu, 5-1/2 pages of saki and a half page of food. Afterwards go across the street to Soba-Ya for some great Japanese noodles.
just read this article by guy horton about the death of cooper union. it is an op-ed but feels misleading, not sure why. maybe just because i like the building by mayne and have heard the current crisis is nothing to do with the building. or maybe its the gratuitous white guys and money-makers on the board comments...anyone know what really happened? I thought it was simply caught in the economic townturn (which could be the fault of the board) and not so much a matter of incompetence. how far off am i?
In my opinion, Will, that's a really good article. Strongly opinionated, obviously. But it expresses a trend I think is coming more into focus:
".. started making decisions that, while they seemed to make sense in the world of finance, would baffle people who actually work for a living, people who make things."
The World of Finance is paper and illusion. But it runs the world. As we've seen, if it collapses it brings everything down with it.
My naive optimism says that the rise of small boutique industry is leading us away from Big Finance and towards a better economic world, more fair to all, less destructive to the planet, based in talent and hard work not chicanery. But it's an awfully tiny David fighting an impossibly large and powerful Goliath.
sounds possible donna, but is that what happened? the board sold their land in favour of bits of paper in poorly managed hedge funds? Am more curious, when it comes to finance, real estate bubbles are ok, but hedge funds are evil? That seems to be part of the message.Maybe it is the reason i find the whole argument contrived.
It would be great if economic world changed a bit at least. Seems like we are returning to business as usual in Tokyo already. Which way will architecture go I wonder once things stabilize again.
Re: Cooper union I thought this quote "We don’t have a global brand. We’ve got to build that global brand" (from the transcript of a Cooper Union president/board meeting) via the Felix Salmon The tragedy of Cooper Union article Mr. Horton referenced was more revealing, if accurate...
5 years ago, I painted a painting on a 4'x6' canvas using house paint. I have since taken the painting down, but it's too big to store. Do you think it would hurt it to take the canvas off the wood frame? I'm terrified to damage it, but I can't keep moving the painting around everytime I need to use my guestroom.
Thread Central
Slept better last night. I think that, except for those affected and who we should keep in our thoughts and prayers, Boston, America, and the world slept a little easier knowing that the perpetrators of Monday's heinous event in Boston were identified and have been captured. The various branches of law enforcement acted very swiftly and competently. What a crappy week, though.
Observant,
Copley Square/ Boylston Street was my hood back in the day. Worked went to school and lived in the area for a number of years.The office I worked in was less than 200 yards from where the first bomb went off. We occupied the second floor of the building and the fourth floor. I didn't own a car did a lot of walking and must have walked by the bomb site at least a couple thousand times. I watched the end of the Marathon on more than one occasion. I also spent a lot of time in Central Square in Cambridge. Still have connections in Bean Town and Cambridge, so I was also felt relief when this portion of the event was concluded. Bean Town is a Stand Up Town! My heart goes out to all the victims.
s-d-d:
I've only been to Boston once. Very nice town. It had a very distinct feel - big, but not too big, its geographical outline was fascinating, and you could almost feel the history. I had just come in from one of my wanderlust trips to Europe and was staying at a relative's house in the tri-state area. I had a rental car. I typically went to Philly or DC. That time, I decided to head north and I got to see Boston, the southern parts of coastal Maine, and Newport RI (including "the Breakers" by some name architect I forgot). Still, what a thing for the people to endure, and so many people will be healing from this for a long time, both physically and emotionally. Some have been hurt so bad that they are still in hospitals and may have to deal with the physical impact of that day for the rest of their lives. I hope people having been keeping these folks in their prayers.
yeah - last week sucked. My office spent part of this morning more or less processing last week's events - We're all still a bit shaken (since everyone had been affected directly in some way) - but it's nice to feel like things are starting to return to "normal" - whatever that is.
for those of you who aren't from or have lived for a while in the Boston area - attacking the finish line of the Marathon is almost as awful as attacking the Ka'abah in Mecca during Laylat al-Qadr. It's the holiest event on our holiest of days. This is why we knew that it had to be a local because someone not from here would not understand just how important the Marathon is to the city - and how such an attack would cut right to the heart of what unites us.
There is a tremendous amount of symbolism that this race on this particular day holds for us - the marathon represents the long hard road toward democracy - that some of us (the most capable among us) are competing and the rest of us are supporting their efforts - that often the only thing we can do is simply cheer them on - and the fact that we do it year after year means that this struggle is essentially never ending.
How this plays out I think will be a test of just where we are in this project.
toaster thanks for that explanation. Not being sporty or really familiar with Boston (I've only been there once, for the AIAS conference(!) in 1987(!!)) I didn't really understand the significance of the day/event.
Glad you are getting back into a routine.
oh - I forgot to mention - Patriot's Day (the day of the marathon) is to commemorate the battle of Lexington and Concord (the first battle of the american revolution).... and the race ends at the main public library: "An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people." - Jefferson
toasteroven, i always wondered what "Patriot Day" memorialized... Glad to hear you and yous are safe and things returning to normal.
I have been super busy, even working weekends :p last few weeks.
On another note I got to speak to Orhan yesterday!
And I got to speak to Nam!
I shot this picture of Ray and Shelly Kappe at Sci Arc's 40th. anniversary. We go long way back.
Ray got a standing ovation for starting the institute.
!!!
Awesome, Orhan. I'm still looking forward to the day I can meet abracadabra live in the flesh. I will personally tell him how much I loved his persian rug story, and how I did the same thing growing up. I used to stare at our rug so long parts of it started to actually move in front of my eyes. I saw whole worlds in that rug.
I'm working this week with an artist from Cambodia. His life there seems awfully idyllic.
I thought of starting a new thread for this, but nah, I'lll put it here instead. Anyone else find crop circles to be among the most utterly fascinating things ever?
Not me, but sinkholes haunt my every waking moment.
I can't seem to get the esplode command to work in CAD.
[edit] - never mind - I figured it out - I had to go to the command shortcut file and change "x" to "esplode." I went and did this to the file on the server so now it should work for everyone. "x" now runs a lisp routine that launches sheet set manager and automatically prints 10 copies of extremely low-quality jpg files directly to the main project drive and then deletes everything in the drawing files when finished.
now I just need to write a python version for revit. I'm being so productive today!
thanks for your help toaster. works great here.
ouch! Three days and no post...just everyone is working on their suntans...
overworked on a holiday is my excuse. no free time on the trains.
@will - I had to use an online translator for what you posted:
a no on the overworked trains. is on my free holiday excuse time.
ah - this makes more sense.
This is interesting - a vacant lot is up for sale in my neighborhood. It's 350SF and 4 feet wide. Anything that would be built would require a zoning variance... But could someone build a habital house in that space?
Lemonade stand?
I'm having a hell of a time finding a group of people to play in a cricket match against my students. They've been playing each other in pick-up style games since October, and are begging me to play someone else. It's beginning to take up all my time!
is there sun? community garden?
toasteroven, FOUR feet? So it's 4' wide by 87' long?
There's a house in the Netherlands or somewhere that's about 2 meters wide, I think?
44" clear for exit egress, plus let's say 5" for walls. over 4' wide.
there could be an occupant load exception that allows less than 44", so 36" clear for ADA travel plus 6" walls. absolutely workable. can't include a door frame, but plenty of room for the door.
i don't think you'll be building a 4' wide habitable structure. at least not in the US. we're big people and required big spaces.
of course, just because it can't happen doesn't mean it hasn't happened. also, i really only have experience with commercial construction.
http://freshome.com/2007/11/06/narrowest-house-in-the-world-just-1-meter-wide/
@toasteroven, apologies for my gibberenglish. I usually look at archinect while commuting to and from work by train. Just had holidays here which is usually the time I get caught up on work so no chance to surf the web.
Does egress have to be 44" for residential? I'd think you could do narrower, but haven't done single-family in a long time.
Turns out it's actually 6 feet wide and 375 SF lot (which I guess is a little easier to work with). it's directly across the street from a park with a community garden, and abuts a rather lovely private garden on one side and a 3' wide linear garden + parking space on the other. the rear of the lot is a few feet from an apartment building. there are trees on both sides, and it appears that there is a curb cut.
It's public bid and I have another month and a half (there are a few other odd sliver lots as part of this sale - one is actually 4 feet wide, but has no access to a public way - the others are small, but large enough to build something on) - so I could come up with a plan and put in a low-ball offer. kind of a fun exercise.
@will: I was mostly just bumping TC - no need to apologize (you canadian, you) - just felt like playing word games with your post.
Maybe it's just a climbing wall. with a toilet on one level, a bed on another.
Here's one on a lot that goes from 3' to 5' in width:
http://kerethouse.com/
Good luck meeting code.
That's the one I was thinking of, Miles! I love it in section, how the space feels expansive because you're only occupying a small bit of it while it opens out to a sort of atrium/breathing space.
...but bean bags are sooo passe.
well then i take back my apology for gibberenglish. damn you toasteroven! damn you!
6' is more than enough. you can make a dispersed house if the lots are close enough. then get famous for being cutting edge and have dinner with frank gehry and compare notes. either that or do some guerilla landscape architecture. in which case you get to have dinner with adriaan geuze....both good options really. can't fail.
if you were a REAL canadian you'd apologize for taking away your apology.
we'd have dinner at ikea! - which would end abruptly after I attempt to nudge a swedish meatball toward him with my nose through a pool of lingonberry sauce. Then I'd tearfully eat that princess cake I was saving for the both of us - alone. all alone.
ha!
good morning all. not much to say lately, been too busy to even keep up with most things... even been finishing my analog sunday NYT 3-5 days late
how can it be May already? also planning an overnight trip to Charleston end of May. anyone have any recommended sites/food etc?
it can't be may. it's going to snow here. that means is still winter. i assume there is a calendar error.
had an attempted murder two doors down the other night. so much for my truman show lifestyle.
It's going to be in the 30s here today, as well.
And Vado, I thought you said it was just some guy knockin' around his old lady..... Don't be so dramatic.
going to be in nyc mai 8-11, anyone interested in walking, drinking, or pointing at all the funny looking people? oh, i want to bang my head too.
To hot for me to block hop in August but will point you to 2 destinations.
Walk the High Line to the south end, you'll go under the Standard High Line Hotel. Then walk back up to 13th to the hotel. The lobby is nightclub cool, the top floor restaurant a cross between Steamboat and French Bordello but has magnificent views and gorgeous waitresses. Be prepared to drop a bundle to watch overpaid film and TV people and all kinds of upper crusties and wannabes making the scene. Last time I was there drinks and hors d'ouvres for three was $175.
Second is Decibel, an underground saki bar on East 9th Street. Very hip. Six page menu, 5-1/2 pages of saki and a half page of food. Afterwards go across the street to Soba-Ya for some great Japanese noodles.
Whatever you do, don't miss the High Line.
love the high line, love it.
so i just upgraded to OS X 6.8 (from OS X 5...) after being out of version for most applications (safari, Firefox, itunes) for like 6 months or so
didn't think that would affect performance and computer enjoyment as much but man it has...
also the new magic mouse with finger actions is sweet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxopViU98Xo
Hi TC!
it is Sat, overcast, drizzly and i am at work listening to Black Milk - Synth Or Soul
Also, donna I just read this piece by Saltz about how Venice will be "loosing" / removing Charles Ray's Boy With a Frog and thought of you.
That's sad, Nam. I love that sculpture, and it is perfect there.
Jerry Saltz is sure whiny, though.
poor froggy. silly is as silly does.
just read this article by guy horton about the death of cooper union. it is an op-ed but feels misleading, not sure why. maybe just because i like the building by mayne and have heard the current crisis is nothing to do with the building. or maybe its the gratuitous white guys and money-makers on the board comments...anyone know what really happened? I thought it was simply caught in the economic townturn (which could be the fault of the board) and not so much a matter of incompetence. how far off am i?
".. started making decisions that, while they seemed to make sense in the world of finance, would baffle people who actually work for a living, people who make things."
The World of Finance is paper and illusion. But it runs the world. As we've seen, if it collapses it brings everything down with it.
My naive optimism says that the rise of small boutique industry is leading us away from Big Finance and towards a better economic world, more fair to all, less destructive to the planet, based in talent and hard work not chicanery. But it's an awfully tiny David fighting an impossibly large and powerful Goliath.
Well, back to vacuuming.
read the article....now back to cleaning the toilet!
sounds possible donna, but is that what happened? the board sold their land in favour of bits of paper in poorly managed hedge funds? Am more curious, when it comes to finance, real estate bubbles are ok, but hedge funds are evil? That seems to be part of the message.Maybe it is the reason i find the whole argument contrived.
It would be great if economic world changed a bit at least. Seems like we are returning to business as usual in Tokyo already. Which way will architecture go I wonder once things stabilize again.
Re: Cooper union I thought this quote "We don’t have a global brand. We’ve got to build that global brand" (from the transcript of a Cooper Union president/board meeting) via the Felix Salmon The tragedy of Cooper Union article Mr. Horton referenced was more revealing, if accurate...
No comment about Cooper.
Instead, I have an art question:
5 years ago, I painted a painting on a 4'x6' canvas using house paint. I have since taken the painting down, but it's too big to store. Do you think it would hurt it to take the canvas off the wood frame? I'm terrified to damage it, but I can't keep moving the painting around everytime I need to use my guestroom.
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