Let's talk Architecture

(I tend to read the magazine in one long session as soon as I get the paper, and then its on to the front page and week in review over dinner)

The New Yorker has an article this week ripping the new Times Square Westin- there's a nice photo with it in the magazine, but the article's text is online this week:
http://www.newyorker.com/critics/skyline/

___________O_______>_

''''''O||_\_\_/_-------------||||||||||

I'm not an architect, but I am an architectural historian. Does that count?

"Zoomorphic presents a startling new trend in architecture - buildings that look like animals."

Τ,¤Î

i tried taking architecture classes this year, but i quit.

or ever, actually.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0500202575.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I'm not licensed and I started my own firm with a partner who is! Really people make a big deal out of licensure but in an actual practice usually only one person is insured to sign the drawings anyway. I haven't seen much bias toward licensed people in the firms I've worked at - people just want to know that you know your shit and can perform. Firms do push people to get licensed but I think it's more lip service than anything else.

That said, both architecture school and practice are pretty brutal and I put up with a lot of shit when I was young just because I didn't know any better, but at the same time there's always going to be someone around the corner willing to work harder than you. The pay sucks and the hours are long and you may go for years without seeing a single thing you put a pen to get built. In the US, architecture has the highest out of school unemployment rate of any industry and has shed something like 60,000 jobs since 2008. Even in good times, architecture is notorious for project hiring and letting people go when the project is over, or when the plug gets pulled. I hate to sound all doom and gloom here but a lot of talented and driven people I know have left the profession entirely or bounced from firm to firm with long periods of unemployment in between.

Great answers, thanks!

Yeah, I DIED's second paragraph really hits it on the head. I'm actually currently thinking about making a career change myself OUT of architecture. I'm still really interested it and I love the idea of being involved in architecture, but the day-to-day reality isn't panning out as I'd hoped. Right now I have a job and, most of the time I enjoy it, but all I'm really involved with is updating hotel room bathrooms for accessibility. I realize it does serve a purpose and its fulfilling on some level, but I also can't picture myself doing this in five years. But, hey, its better than being unemployed. I'd love to go into teaching architecture at some level, really thats kind of me dream job right now, but given that we just had a kid, I don't think going for a PhD is really do-able at this point in time. And, from everything I've seen and heard, SO many people want to teach these days that you almost HAVE to have a PhD to teach these days.

Yeah, I think that last is sort of true - - - PhD or tons of practical experience, one or the other. You can moonlight for crappy adjunct salaries but this seems only feasible as a supplement income to something else, unless you are unmarried, childless, without debt, don't want health insurance, and lead a starving-artist lifestyle. Half the reason I'm going for my PhD is that while I've enjoyed all of that for the last few years, it's really not where I want to be in another decade.

This is all a pretty bleak picture for us to paint of our discipline, FAWA, but them's the facts I think...

You've all confirmed much of what I'd been lead to believe already but it's good to get the lowdown from insiders. Very helpful. I'm thinking that pursuing some related engineering discipline would suit me better and be more practical by the sounds of it.

I hate to be so doom and gloom too, but, man, this profession is hard to really recommend right now.

xp to jon and the Doctor: I'm teaching full time with nothing but a first professional master's right now - in landscape, admittedly, which might be easier - but yeah, being unmarried/childless/frugal by nature definitely helps. From what I've seen, it's still perfectly possible to get a tenure-track job with a master's (having a pretty distinct angle, a publication record, and a willingness/ability to move to out-of-the-way places help there), but degree inflation is definitely on the way.

I've thought about the PhD for added stability, although I have to say I know a lot of recent PhDs in arch. and related fields who are barely scraping by. At least the duration of the program gives you some breathing room and a chance to strategize/position yourself a little better.

fit and working: I had always hated math/science growing up and had never considered doing anything that wasn't explicitly "artistic," but I realized early on in design school that engineering-related problems were often my favorite part of what we were studying. I don't know if STEM is quite the education magic bullet it's been made out to be, but I do wish I had realized earlier how fascinating they can be.

Yeah, my attitude with the PhD is honestly "this may or may not help but in the meantime my full-time job will be learning stuff so even if this doesn't go anywhere that'll be a leg of my life that i don't really regret living" y'know?

I dunno, I've just found myself surrounded by really talented, hardworking people who all know they will be adjuncts forever if they don't do something else. Schools seem to be really counting on the adjunct pool to cover classes that historically would have been part of the courseload of tenured faculty. It's a strange time to be at the entry level in this whole shebang.

The Dynagraphics building (and logotype) in Portland: what style of design/architecture would you call this? It was built in 1945 but it looks very, very early-90s-video-game-developer or something. Was it possibly redone at some point, or could it be the original 40's-style architecture w/ a very 90's color palette?

http://www.loopnet.com/Attachments/3/A/D/xy_3AD0B702-4311-458F-A496-DBBE61246073__.JPG

http://djcoregon.com/files/2011/05/0601_Dynagraphics_Building.jpg

http://www.neighborhoodnotes.com/uploads/images/2011-09-06-dynagraphics-006-photo.jpg

You can get a better feel for it in street view:

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=dynagraphics+portland&sll=45.525143,-122.685000&cid=9542372587660032174&hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=dynagraphics+portland&hnear=&ll=45.525247,-122.68526&spn=0.005104,0.013078&t=m&z=17&vpsrc=0&iwloc=A

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gNTuL7u0LpM/SoAlqykREtI/AAAAAAAAALo/GJPlBp7Zmi8/s720/IMG_0627.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-lruiVLcqjt8/SoAlqbRYjwI/AAAAAAAAALk/_zsUZTMGLxQ/s720/IMG_0626.jpg

I can visualize '40s art-deco glass blocks in the curved walls surrounding the front door before a later renovation

The building is a chunky version of moderne, which came out of late deco. Textbook rounded corners, but the vertical mullions are thicker than typical. And yeah, guessing that's not the original color scheme, but it might not be that far off either.

Logotype is clearly much more recent... and unfortunate.

widely spaced extended sorta-heavy all-caps sans serif w/ a letter replaced by a graphic paired w/ dark cobalt/indigo + a dusty crimson is like my favorite design aesthetic.

So I suppose this is a super-dated (and perhaps questionable) modernization of an old design and not so much its own aesthetic in and of itself, apart from early-90s-video-game-developer which I am firmly clinging to.

also this is where Myst was developed (Cyan Worlds):

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs51/f/2009/306/9/e/Cyan_Worlds_by_riumplus.jpg

lol

ugh god software companies and design

It looks like that BEST store except it's more, like, sad in its attempt to be *cutting edge* and *think outside the box* and etc

it's like the WORST store if you know what I mean

ooohhhh shit girl!!

but no really while I'm here can just
http://architectureandbranding.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/best-cutler-ridge-site.jpg
http://architectureandbranding.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/best-indeterminate-facade-site.jpg
http://architectureandbranding.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/best-peeling-site.jpg
http://architectureandbranding.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/best-inside-outside-site.jpg

the *best* part abt those IMO is that they were just, like, avg dept store showrooms!! Like, there was nothing notable about what was going on inside!! It's like having, I don't know, a bunch of Sears be designed that way for no real reason other than, idk, postmodernism was in and we want ppl to come to our store bcz it is wacky-looking

I still can't believe they're real. I love them so, so much

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxPuM4w3c2g

O ya, I watched that a couple months ago. I love how confused and scowly everyone seems to be. There are maybe 2 ppl that actually enjoy it in the whole film.

ah, Best. I remember going to their store in Rockville, MD (which was utterly normal looking) to buy records and stereo components when I was a teen. It was a "catalog showroom" - an entire species of retail store that is now completely extinct. There was Best, W. Bell, Evans, and Service Merchandise - those four were where I bought most of my stuff when I was growing up. They're all long gone.

(xpost) I love it too, architecture that becomes part of critical thinking now seems so much further removed from 98% of building practice and typical user experience.

Worry not, Best fans, they remain super-hip - when I was finishing my M.Arch in 2009 we played Bingo with the final student think-piece presentations and the Best showrooms were definitely on some of those cards...

Man, how did I never hear about these BEST stores before now? I find them pretty fascinating, compared to what we have around here with Venture and Service Merchandise stores. Looks like these were primarily an East Coast thing, is that correct?

fyi, this is what the Houston store looks like now, or in 2003 anyway (the second one down in Stevie D's post):

http://www.texaschapbookpress.com/magellanslog54/indeterminateaugust242003milburnamed.jpg

this was featured on The Shock Of The New repeat that i saw this morning. is Nanterre in france. he was very critical but look at the colours...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.html?ref=magazine

Émile Aillaud! I don't know much about him...his other big complex is a lower-rise, long-and-winding kind of thing:

http://www.atlas-patrimoine93.fr/images/pantin/sites/055inv063_courtillieres/11603_pleinecran.jpg

...which looks pretty bleak close up. I was never able to convince my boss that it would be a worthy stop on our archi-tours though. For some reason.

more here.
http://www.citechaillot.fr/ressources/expositions_virtuelles/vegetal/03-theme04-sstheme03-doc21bis.html

does look like a university halls of residence.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/history-of-architecture-i/id570008367?ls=1

^^^ slide-show and voiceover version of the "intro to architectural history" for sophomores and new-to-the-field grad students at OSU. How I learned almost everything I know! The instructor was my friend/mentor for years following, so I forgive any occasional lapses or tangents, but actually I think these are pretty good. Some jokes, some anecdotes, but largely a high-density barrage of information. LOT of material but if anybody wanted to set themselves a personal goal of Learning About Architecture, just do these over breakfast for a month. Curious to see how she tackles the modern/contemporary stuff this year - OSU just switched to semesters, changing the number of class-hours dramatically.

Last year I taught the "postwar" class, which was a real eye-opener in just how much work it is to do this kind of thing! Kinda wish I'd stuck around long enough to get them into a format like this, it seems super useful. Anyway, just wanted to plug this for the amateur archi-fans in the room.

(caveats - obviously this is pretty western-centric; in fact, her wheelhouse really is the Renaissance forward, so i suspect it probably gets a boost of energy right around that point although the Gothic stuff is pretty good IIRC)

I'm watching a dry documentary about the Medici while working from home (advantage, me!) and learning about Brunellesci. Curious about that course, Dr.

Michael Kimmelman
‏@kimmelman: Deeply sorry to have just heard that Lebbeus Woods, a true visionary architect and astonishing draftsman, died this morning. A great loss.

:(

London-wise, what are places to see buildings/landscapes laced with great (surprising, say) religious imagery?

Tell me about great churches around London that are awesome that few know about, i.e. not St Pauls?

Ok, found churches:

Churches in London

Which leaves...basically I want to talk about great cemeteries in London :)

Kensal Green and West Brompton both huge and fabulous, Bunhill Fields is disappointingly small and inaccessible, free public part of Highgate is a bit meh - although Patrick Caulfield's memorial is noteworthy:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5229/5674565187_3e5588a5a4_z.jpg

Just Brompton, not west. New resolution: visit all the 'magnificent seven' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Seven,_London

> London-wise, what are places to see buildings/landscapes laced with great (surprising, say) religious imagery?

i've always liked the stained glass window in st martin in the fields church

http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/wp-content/uploads/East-Window-e1357227310224.jpg

steel and glass is out, plain flat featureless brick is in. is it just london or do all new residential buildings all over the world look like this now:

http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/imageuploads/1521906607_81.86.205.153.jpg

https://lqpricedin.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2135_02_Rodney_Road_HalfRes_0190615-e1483966210206.jpg

http://media.rightmove.co.uk/dir/69k/68626/64472497/68626_ISN180078_IMG_01_0000_max_656x437.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RYHgm_ybxhLvCdF_b4wQZ1uQ1P8-6f-pKOg4l46dpFiVTMvnGIl9XbnKHMTCNcT2EoE4oVnPsEuYCD8drvvjCLqVjB4F=w1200-h800-fcrop64=1,0000137FFFFFF70C-l80-n

obv there is a lack of ornamentation going on but i think the principal common factor is simply large, recessed windows.

no idea where to post this, but let's give it a shot anyway. i remember reading a story some time ago about this really beautiful and bizarre building.

it must have been modernist, and it was possibly built for a media company (newspaper? radio? advertising?) that no longer owns it/possibly doesn't evne exist anymore, and the building has been turned into a kind of "museum" for whoever designed it.

i can't remember much of anything about the outside, but the inside looked like some mix of the TARDIS from the 60's doctor who mixed with some kind of wes anderson wet dream. the colours were astounding, reds and oranges and greens in different rooms, and a LOT of circles -- this is unfortunately very vague but i remember a lot of circles on walls and maybe ceilings. this might be a false hint, but i remember something about it being a place that needed a lot of upkeep?

i wish i could even remember where it is. i don't think it's in america, though. (but it could be.)

https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2024/07/09/runcorn-new-town-part-ii-a-fresh-look-on-life/

I wonder whether the answer to Will’s 2018 question was the Casa Vicens (a Gaudi place) in Barcelona? It’s the reds and oranges and greens that made me think of that one in particular

geez i am reading my message back and i can't even 100% picture what i was thinking of. i know around that time i had been looking at pictures/reading about wright et al. in retrospect there's a decent chance that i was thinking of the johnson wax building, and maybe conflating it w/ some other places.

Fair enough! Johnsons building not so colourful as I recall…