That's how we currently begin the class, under the heading of Multimedia, but due to required class credits, and the school district getting money for students in certain classes, the kids get resorted on paper into their actual class, and Multimedia goes away.
Husband has suggested I read through House Bill 5, which is pushing most of the changes. He says to become better educated than the enemy. And a mentor, outside of teaching, who ALWAYS gets what he wants without fighting, says to get the principal on my side first, because I have no pull at district.
I've never been able to figure out the difference between the Miss U.S.A. pageant and the Miss America pageant, held tonight, and why there's a need for two similar pageants. The winners were girls from the Northeastern U.S. for both of these recent pageants.
Which is why I use Yahoo. Actually, I've just had the same email since I was 14, and I don't see a need to change it.
Ok, every time I see the floods in CO on the news, I wonder about our resident archinector, but I can't remember whom it was. Strawbeary, There is No There, somebody else completely? Whom ever you are, let me know you're ok.
I have a house in Denver and a business in Boulder, and am ok. I wasn't there, but the street at the office in Boulder was a river. I couldn't get into town until Saturday morning and was worried but it is ok and isn't in the areas with the worst part of the damage. It is really bad in many areas. Boulder got 12" of rain. If that had been snow, it could have been 12 feet.
I was in Aurora on Thursday morning when it really started to come down. Streets were closing as I was trying to drive home and it was kinda scary as I kept having to reroute. There were stranded vehicles everywhere.
I always thought the metro Denver area was dry in the summer, much like California. I found out differently. A dry sunny day can get humid in the afternoon, which then turns into a thunderstorm. This is anomalous. A huge airlift is under way, per the news.
whelp - one of the leading Boston mayoral candidates is proposing to tear down an important brutalist building (sorry for the herald link). This is going to get ugly.
As for Boston's current government center, it may be brutalist, but has enough variety in the patterns and articulation, and is nicely scaled, as is the open space around it. The only reason to do something else with it is if the needed room has outgrown that space, by adding an annex, as was done in Los Angeles and many other cities' civic centers.
So in other words, toast, the mayor is suggesting that a private for-profit developer be the landlord to the entire City government. Well sure, what could possibly go wrong?
Miles, 12" came over a course of maybe 12+ hours for the most intense part. The 5 day total (Wed-Sun) was 17", which is about the annual rainfall in this area. Boulder sits at the base of a canyon, which is where much of the flooding comes from. Aurora is out on the eastern plains, they got about 15" overall. Those were the two hardest hit areas in metro Denver. Other locations with smaller population centers were hit hard too. The Big Thompson River from Estes Park flooded in 1976 killing over 100 people. Houses that survived that were taken out by this flood.
Obs, Denver is an arid climate, mostly sunny throughout the year (more sunny days in Denver than San Diego). In the summer there is usually an afternoon shower, but those showers are far less frequent than when I was a kid. A few summers ago it didn't rain AT ALL from Easter to Labor Day.
@donna: a front-running candidate - not mayor... plus, this guy is a former president of some building trade union and is buddies with a bunch of local developers. He's also proposed disbanding the redevelopment authority (city's planning and development agency) and only relying on the inspectional services department and "neighborhood committees" for the approval of all building projects. ISD only does code, and neighborhood groups are full of uneducated NIMBYs and can be bought.
I first knew he was bad news because he is affiliated with this group of local curmudgeons who wants to rebuild this awful 1950s overpass that was originally meant to span a highway that never happened, The surrounding neighborhood wants an at-grade road with dutch-style intersections (complete with bike signals - it sits at the intersection of two of the most bike-centric neighborhoods in the city). The commonwealth would also prefer the at-grade because it costs half as much, the overpass isn't needed since existing traffic volume is so low, and they can spend the extra money on bike infrastructure and public transit, which I think is already something like 70% of the transportation use in the area. anyway - he's managed to piss off a lot of people, and I am really perplexed as to why he continues to get as much support.
Anyway - "tear down city hall" really resonates with the people who are still upset over the destruction of the old west end - but the irony is that he's proposing selling the land off to the highest bidder to build luxury housing - which is what happened to half the neighborhood after it was demolished.
Boston City Hall is a masterpiece and it's loss would be a disaster. Except of course for rapacious developers and their political concubines.
I love the way the plaza is like a desert and the entrance to the building is only signified by the movement of people. That and the repetitive facade and brutalist style are a *perfect* metaphor for bureaucracy.
When - and why - did they fill in the amphitheater?
Some of the city agencies are also in other buildings in the area - but government center (area surrounding the plaza) also has federal and municipal courthouses, and an entire government services and legal ecosystem that has developed around it. plus the state house is a couple blocks away. The plaza is actually good for large events, but it's pretty awful when it's not fully used (mostly it's really windy). City hall itself needs some serious updating, but it's not in terrible shape.
Anyway - all the other candidates smacked that idea down. I was worried it would gain some traction.
Boston City Hall is a masterpiece and it's loss would be a disaster. Except of course for rapacious developers and their political concubines.
As much as I don't like many brutalist works, chiefly Wurster Hall (arch. et. al.) at UC Berkeley, Boston City Hall is great. Walking around it and the plaza, the first thing I thought was that it was goof thing Philip Johnson didn't get his hands on the commission during the post-modern movement and give the city, and the world, something that "matched" his hotel with the repetitive round-headed windows near Rowe's Wharf .
While not prominent in the morning paper, in a not so lengthy article, the Costa Concordia has successfully been put upright. I thought this would have been something like a lengthy beauty contest where we all could have watched the event unfold. It looks like it terminated during the night. While it's upright, none of the hull appears to be above water. If you've got a minute to spare (time lapse):
Here is my frustration of the day, though it's actually a deep part of my architectural philosophy so I suppose it's not really of the day as much as it's at the forefront today and will recede into background again (hopefully) soon.
Complex shapes pretty much *always* require complex structure which means more material, more labor, more potential for poor joint construction, and obviously more cost. What is the point of fancy shapes that *look* sleek and modern if they end up masking a shitshow of structural gymnastics underneath to make them stand up?! That's not Modern, that's excessive. And the excess makes architects look dumb and makes contractors and clients despise us all the more.
If parametric design ever does actually reach its potential of creating shapes that can be easily built with buildingbots and future materials then bring on the complex forms. But at the moment we're trying to make things *look* advanced when they're actually just a backward application of technology that still depends on a carpenter to work 2x as hard to make them stand up not to mention age well.
i think you've hit the future of parametricism donna. they make a program that creates and tests numerous random permutations based on whatever 'parameters' they enter, such as occupancy, sun, wind, etc. the program analyzes the form to decide what works best based on the parameters entered. once those people get out of school and add constructability and budget, as well as perhaps parameters that would make the building less likely to leak, and maybe doors that can swing open, all parametric design will look like something corbu or mies designed.
There is a lot of potential in parametric design - but I think it's too easy to get lost in the tools and novel form-making (which is why we see a lot of hideous wet turds coming out of schools like sci-arc). I think it can be used to make special moments in otherwise conventional buildings, or create interesting repetitive components (i.e. economy of scale). What bothers me is whenever someone uses it as an argument that there is no more (or to hide their own) authorship in design - and then use this same argument to apply to megalomaniac urban form-making. This is complete bullshit - you have certain forms you're interested in, and you use these tools to explore these forms. To deny one's own authorship is either delusional or lazy.
I think the difference today is to recognize that there are many authors - not that there is "no authorship."
Donna's point hits home, on how messy the actual structure of sleek forms often is.
I remember driving by Gehry's Disney Hall during construction, and seeing the tangle of steel beams and columns looking like a bomb had gone off. And I thought, "what's the point?" As beautiful as the exterior is, I can't shake the view its messy guts in my mind.
That Novartis building relies on that fishnet pattern to make it interesting. It looks like something the captured women in "Planet of the Apes" would have covered themselves with. So that's what Maya Lin is doing? It looks like a rehash of the '60s, except those kinds of L.A.-ish appendages to buildings of the '60s seemed more honest and less gratuitous.
gravity still goes down in a straight line. doesn't matter how many curves or angled columns you put in, gravity will continue to pull stuff down in a straight line.
chasing thoughts about apartment designs....wondering how important storage is in one bedroom apartments? If you young how much shit do you have? Thinking ya bikes, skate boards, yaks ect... Help me out folks...how much space do you need and what is the most important space in a one bedroom apartment?
Tumbleweed? As in Tumbles? She's back?! ......or are you someone else?
As for one-bedroom apartments, I think you should have lots of storage. Who's to say it's a young kid living there? What if it's a couple, or worse, a couple with a baby? I live in a three bedroom house, and I wish I had more storage some times. I really wish I had a bigger closet. Texas doesn't allow you to switch out your winter and summer wardrobes.
how's this for news of the weird; my modest home will be the site for entertaining the COO of one of the most powerful internet companies on the planet, and yet, aside from actually saying that out loud and giggling, there's no tangible benefit to me - and i'm okay with that. weird, huh?
i made goat cheese enchiladas the other night and thought of you tumbles! everytime i use goat cheese or see a goat or a picture of a goat or someone with a goatee i think of you!
Thread Central
Husband has suggested I read through House Bill 5, which is pushing most of the changes. He says to become better educated than the enemy. And a mentor, outside of teaching, who ALWAYS gets what he wants without fighting, says to get the principal on my side first, because I have no pull at district.
Snook, thanks for the cricket refference!!
I think I've been doing gifs on TC on Friday lately. I'll make it a trend.
it's friday the 13th. i shudder to think what's going to happen to that dog and cat when the lights go out.
Only 246 posts to go before 50,000 on Thread Central. Who's going to get it and what's the prize for doing so?
The look on that cat's face at the very end of the gif is how I feel about this.
I think post 50K should be a short story from abracadabra.
So, curt, do you like cats? I know you're a dog owner.
Ideas for remediation at Fukushima.
I've never been able to figure out the difference between the Miss U.S.A. pageant and the Miss America pageant, held tonight, and why there's a need for two similar pageants. The winners were girls from the Northeastern U.S. for both of these recent pageants.
Merry Monday all!
Had a great time celebrating a great friend's wedding this weekend.
Miles thanks for that link.
Also, now that that is settled...
Ok, every time I see the floods in CO on the news, I wonder about our resident archinector, but I can't remember whom it was. Strawbeary, There is No There, somebody else completely? Whom ever you are, let me know you're ok.
I have a house in Denver and a business in Boulder, and am ok. I wasn't there, but the street at the office in Boulder was a river. I couldn't get into town until Saturday morning and was worried but it is ok and isn't in the areas with the worst part of the damage. It is really bad in many areas. Boulder got 12" of rain. If that had been snow, it could have been 12 feet.
I was in Aurora on Thursday morning when it really started to come down. Streets were closing as I was trying to drive home and it was kinda scary as I kept having to reroute. There were stranded vehicles everywhere.
12" of rain - in what time period?
I always thought the metro Denver area was dry in the summer, much like California. I found out differently. A dry sunny day can get humid in the afternoon, which then turns into a thunderstorm. This is anomalous. A huge airlift is under way, per the news.
Kyoto got over 500mm (19.68") in typhoon Man-yi. At one point it was falling at 74mm (3") an hour.
Flooding forced the evacuation of > 250,000 in Kyoto and TEPCO dumped large volumes of contaminated water at Fukushima.
whelp - one of the leading Boston mayoral candidates is proposing to tear down an important brutalist building (sorry for the herald link). This is going to get ugly.
^^
As for Boston's current government center, it may be brutalist, but has enough variety in the patterns and articulation, and is nicely scaled, as is the open space around it. The only reason to do something else with it is if the needed room has outgrown that space, by adding an annex, as was done in Los Angeles and many other cities' civic centers.
^
Congrats, Brian. It must be a good feeling.
So in other words, toast, the mayor is suggesting that a private for-profit developer be the landlord to the entire City government. Well sure, what could possibly go wrong?
Congrats Brian! Morning TC, I am soooper tired this AM.
Miles, 12" came over a course of maybe 12+ hours for the most intense part. The 5 day total (Wed-Sun) was 17", which is about the annual rainfall in this area. Boulder sits at the base of a canyon, which is where much of the flooding comes from. Aurora is out on the eastern plains, they got about 15" overall. Those were the two hardest hit areas in metro Denver. Other locations with smaller population centers were hit hard too. The Big Thompson River from Estes Park flooded in 1976 killing over 100 people. Houses that survived that were taken out by this flood.
Obs, Denver is an arid climate, mostly sunny throughout the year (more sunny days in Denver than San Diego). In the summer there is usually an afternoon shower, but those showers are far less frequent than when I was a kid. A few summers ago it didn't rain AT ALL from Easter to Labor Day.
@donna: a front-running candidate - not mayor... plus, this guy is a former president of some building trade union and is buddies with a bunch of local developers. He's also proposed disbanding the redevelopment authority (city's planning and development agency) and only relying on the inspectional services department and "neighborhood committees" for the approval of all building projects. ISD only does code, and neighborhood groups are full of uneducated NIMBYs and can be bought.
I first knew he was bad news because he is affiliated with this group of local curmudgeons who wants to rebuild this awful 1950s overpass that was originally meant to span a highway that never happened, The surrounding neighborhood wants an at-grade road with dutch-style intersections (complete with bike signals - it sits at the intersection of two of the most bike-centric neighborhoods in the city). The commonwealth would also prefer the at-grade because it costs half as much, the overpass isn't needed since existing traffic volume is so low, and they can spend the extra money on bike infrastructure and public transit, which I think is already something like 70% of the transportation use in the area. anyway - he's managed to piss off a lot of people, and I am really perplexed as to why he continues to get as much support.
Anyway - "tear down city hall" really resonates with the people who are still upset over the destruction of the old west end - but the irony is that he's proposing selling the land off to the highest bidder to build luxury housing - which is what happened to half the neighborhood after it was demolished.
Boston City Hall is a masterpiece and it's loss would be a disaster. Except of course for rapacious developers and their political concubines.
I love the way the plaza is like a desert and the entrance to the building is only signified by the movement of people. That and the repetitive facade and brutalist style are a *perfect* metaphor for bureaucracy.
When - and why - did they fill in the amphitheater?
BTW congrats on the new job, Brian, I hope it goes well.
I could seriously spend a whole day dreaming over the Simpson Strong-Tie catalog. I love when things fit together.
oh - congrats, brian!
@observant - they're moving the schools dept HQ to another neighborhood - and it's mecanoo's first north american project. (as an aside - here's another recent proposal for that same neighborhood).
Some of the city agencies are also in other buildings in the area - but government center (area surrounding the plaza) also has federal and municipal courthouses, and an entire government services and legal ecosystem that has developed around it. plus the state house is a couple blocks away. The plaza is actually good for large events, but it's pretty awful when it's not fully used (mostly it's really windy). City hall itself needs some serious updating, but it's not in terrible shape.
Anyway - all the other candidates smacked that idea down. I was worried it would gain some traction.
Boston City Hall is a masterpiece and it's loss would be a disaster. Except of course for rapacious developers and their political concubines.
As much as I don't like many brutalist works, chiefly Wurster Hall (arch. et. al.) at UC Berkeley, Boston City Hall is great. Walking around it and the plaza, the first thing I thought was that it was goof thing Philip Johnson didn't get his hands on the commission during the post-modern movement and give the city, and the world, something that "matched" his hotel with the repetitive round-headed windows near Rowe's Wharf .
While not prominent in the morning paper, in a not so lengthy article, the Costa Concordia has successfully been put upright. I thought this would have been something like a lengthy beauty contest where we all could have watched the event unfold. It looks like it terminated during the night. While it's upright, none of the hull appears to be above water. If you've got a minute to spare (time lapse):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_91A9FzxQ78
Wow, I really like that Mecanoo project. And this image is awesome:
Man I love construction!
if you love construction - there's a ton of it going on in Boston/Cambridge right now:
Novartis designed by Maya Lin, Toshiko Mori, MVVA, plus others...
(this is a pretty awesome site )
Here is my frustration of the day, though it's actually a deep part of my architectural philosophy so I suppose it's not really of the day as much as it's at the forefront today and will recede into background again (hopefully) soon.
Complex shapes pretty much *always* require complex structure which means more material, more labor, more potential for poor joint construction, and obviously more cost. What is the point of fancy shapes that *look* sleek and modern if they end up masking a shitshow of structural gymnastics underneath to make them stand up?! That's not Modern, that's excessive. And the excess makes architects look dumb and makes contractors and clients despise us all the more.
If parametric design ever does actually reach its potential of creating shapes that can be easily built with buildingbots and future materials then bring on the complex forms. But at the moment we're trying to make things *look* advanced when they're actually just a backward application of technology that still depends on a carpenter to work 2x as hard to make them stand up not to mention age well.
Rant over. Get off my lawn.
You might be interested in Farshid Moussavi's work.
i think you've hit the future of parametricism donna. they make a program that creates and tests numerous random permutations based on whatever 'parameters' they enter, such as occupancy, sun, wind, etc. the program analyzes the form to decide what works best based on the parameters entered. once those people get out of school and add constructability and budget, as well as perhaps parameters that would make the building less likely to leak, and maybe doors that can swing open, all parametric design will look like something corbu or mies designed.
++ Donna, except for the parametric crap.
Add that to the list of things not taught in architecture school.
There is a lot of potential in parametric design - but I think it's too easy to get lost in the tools and novel form-making (which is why we see a lot of hideous wet turds coming out of schools like sci-arc). I think it can be used to make special moments in otherwise conventional buildings, or create interesting repetitive components (i.e. economy of scale). What bothers me is whenever someone uses it as an argument that there is no more (or to hide their own) authorship in design - and then use this same argument to apply to megalomaniac urban form-making. This is complete bullshit - you have certain forms you're interested in, and you use these tools to explore these forms. To deny one's own authorship is either delusional or lazy.
I think the difference today is to recognize that there are many authors - not that there is "no authorship."
remember that villa savoye was meant to be cast-in-place concrete but had to be realized in concrete masonry. corb couldn't build as intended either.
that said, i agree with donna.
and i'm going to make shitshow my word of the day.
and i get to see donna tomorrow!
Donna's point hits home, on how messy the actual structure of sleek forms often is.
I remember driving by Gehry's Disney Hall during construction, and seeing the tangle of steel beams and columns looking like a bomb had gone off. And I thought, "what's the point?" As beautiful as the exterior is, I can't shake the view its messy guts in my mind.
That Novartis building relies on that fishnet pattern to make it interesting. It looks like something the captured women in "Planet of the Apes" would have covered themselves with. So that's what Maya Lin is doing? It looks like a rehash of the '60s, except those kinds of L.A.-ish appendages to buildings of the '60s seemed more honest and less gratuitous.
gravity still goes down in a straight line. doesn't matter how many curves or angled columns you put in, gravity will continue to pull stuff down in a straight line.
That's right, curt. And I find gravity beautiful. I know architects have this reputation for always wanting to "defy gravity" but I like gravity.
I didn't know that about Savoye. Steven, we will use the term "shitshow" to describe everything at the convention that we do not like.
Though I imagine most of it will be good. Can't wait to see you, just finished packing!
chasing thoughts about apartment designs....wondering how important storage is in one bedroom apartments? If you young how much shit do you have? Thinking ya bikes, skate boards, yaks ect... Help me out folks...how much space do you need and what is the most important space in a one bedroom apartment?
Tumbleweed? As in Tumbles? She's back?! ......or are you someone else?
As for one-bedroom apartments, I think you should have lots of storage. Who's to say it's a young kid living there? What if it's a couple, or worse, a couple with a baby? I live in a three bedroom house, and I wish I had more storage some times. I really wish I had a bigger closet. Texas doesn't allow you to switch out your winter and summer wardrobes.
Hi tumbles!
snooker: stuff
tumbles!
night, night all.
how's this for news of the weird; my modest home will be the site for entertaining the COO of one of the most powerful internet companies on the planet, and yet, aside from actually saying that out loud and giggling, there's no tangible benefit to me - and i'm okay with that. weird, huh?
Has the NSA bugged your house yet?
they were there last night, we watched Bosom Buddies together, duh.
@ tumbleweed
Hail, fellow former wait staff. I'd guess the clientele was as odd as the circulation...?
i made goat cheese enchiladas the other night and thought of you tumbles! everytime i use goat cheese or see a goat or a picture of a goat or someone with a goatee i think of you!
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