8.28.2008

Podcasts

Maybe I'm (really, really, really) late to podcasting (listening, not creating), but I've been quite content filling up the iPod with Architecture/Design related podcasts lately:

UNC Charlotte - Architecture on Air
Dwell
Metropolis

AIA
AIAS
KCRW DnA

I have subscribed to several of these through iTunes, as well as a few others...

Also, since I don't have the Sundance Channel, I have subscribed to the first season of the reality show, Architecture School. Read more on ArchRecord, Archinect, on Tulane's site...

8.06.2008

Program Status

It has been awhile since I've posted anything here, expecially directly related to the Architectural Technology program (which I am now 3/5ths through).

This summer's classes included a 3-D CAD class which focused on Revit, which is Autodesk's Building Information Modelling software. From Wikipedia:

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is the process of generating and managing building data during its life cycle[1] using three-dimensional, real-time, dynamic building modeling software to decrease wasted time and resources in building design and construction.[2] This process produces the building information model (also abbreviated BIM), which encompasses building geometry, spatial relationships, geographic information, and quantities and properties of building components.

I've got some rendering images from the project for that class on my flickr page in the Schoolwork set.



Over the summer I also had a class in Building Codes, which looked at the International Building Code, the Accessibility Code, as well as at Winston-Salem/Forsyth County's Unified Development Ordinances.

I had the same instructor for a class called Light Construction Technology, which was basically learning how to format basic construction drawings for smaller commercial buildings: stair plans and sections, bathroom plans, overall floorplans, elevations, wall sections... Might sound kind of dry, but it was my favorite class of the summer session.

Also had a class called Environmental Systems for which we made several field trips, most of which were photographed and are documented on my flickr page and have already been noted here on ARKTEK, including a trip to NC's greenest hotel, the Proximity.

Next week my family is on vacation, and the following week fall semester starts. It is my fourth semester of a five semester program, so I am about 60% finished with the "mid-thirties career redirection."

Olympic Architecture




I know, I know...there is lots of controversy surrounding the upcoming Olympics in Beijing, China which get underway two days from this posting...human rights abuses, government censorship...and China has already had its share of mishaps with tainted toys and food products...

Set all that aside for a moment and marvel at some of the most innovative architecture happening right now. It is happening in China, and it is being officially unveiled to the world in two days through some 200 + hours of programming per day on NBC and its siblings.

I'll be at the beach with my family, so hopefully there'll be some down-time during which we can tune in to see some of the coverage.

Here is a great article from ArchRecord about the Architectural Technology of the aquatics center, aka the Water Cube.

Article also from ArchRecord: Record Reveals: Beijing

ArchRecord's Project Portfolio for July 2008 features 15 new structures in China.

7.28.2008

Ray Kappe









"I've always sought out the edges, the views, and a feeling of expansiveness."

"I was once asked what I think are the ten most important principles that helped make me a successful architect, planner, and educator...

(1) Think positively, not negatively.
(2) Accept structure but know that it is to be questioned and broken when necessary.
(3) Always be willing to explore, experiment and invent. Do not accept the status quo.
(4) Know yourself and keep your work consistent with who you are and how you think.
(5) Maintain good moral and social values.
(6) Be humble, honest, compassionate, and egalitarian.
(7) Have conviction about your work.
(8) Be open and say yes to most ideas and requests. The good ones will be valuable, the bad ones will cease to exist.
(9) Allow employees and fellow workers freedom and the ability to work to their strengths. Avoid hierarchy.
(10) Money should be the residual of work, not the goal. But do not compromise your worth."

Ray Kappe website.

He's designed several houses for LivingHomes.

There is a new feature of his own house in the new issue of dwell magazine. Unfortunately it does not appear that the feature is available on the dwell site.

7.23.2008

More Photos...







...added to the sets: Downtown Winston-Salem, including West End Village, and Winston-Salem's Family Services Building.

7.16.2008

Proximity Hotel


My ARC 230 Environmental Systems class took a field trip over to Greensboro this week to visit the Proximity Hotel, which is expected to be the first LEED Platinum hotel in the country.

It is modelled after typical textile mills found in the area--straightforward rectangular grid with large windows--and named after a specific mill just a mile or two down the road from this site. The bistro nextdoor is named after the Print Works which was situated directly nextdoor to the mill.

Here is a link to the set of pics on my flickr page.

The official Proximity website.

7.01.2008

CU-ICAR






Visited the Clemson University-International Center for Automotive Research this past seekend while staying with friends in Greenville, SC. It is a complex developed recently for (as the title suggests) car-ology. Apparently Clemson has the only Doctorate in Automotive Engineering in the country.

I don't have all the details about the buildings and could not go inside any of them other than the parking garage (the place was oddly empty), but I do know that Greenville firm Pazdan-Smith worked on at least one of the buildings (the one for Timken). Also quickly visited another LEED-seeking building designed by Pazdan-Smith in Greenville.

I've got a set of pictures from Greenville/ICAR on my flickr page.

6.26.2008

Dubious Dubai's Rotating Tower


The 80-story Dynamic Tower, described as the "world's first building in motion," will also be the first skyscraper constructed from prefabricated units, according to a press statement released by New York-based architect David Fisher's Dynamic Group.

Each floor would be capable of rotating independently, powered by wind turbines fitted between each floor.

6.20.2008

BUILD IT LIKE ZAHA!


Last Sunday the Design Museum held a workshop, where kids between the ages of 5 and 11 could ‘Build it Like Zaha.’ To book for this Sunday’s Build it Like Zaha workshop, 29 July 2 - 5pm, phone 020 7940 8783, email tickets@designmuseum.org or book online.




read more about it here


6.18.2008

As Seen on ArchRecord

Piano’s Plans for Corbu Landmark Incite Fierce Debate

Construction plans for the site of Le Corbusier¹s chapel of Notre Dame du Haut (1954) in Ronchamp, France, have ignited a vigorous debate, pitting leading architects against each other, and sparking disagreement between organizations seeking to preserve Le Corbusier¹s legacy.



Designed by Renzo Piano, the project was commissioned by the Association Oeuvre Notre Dame du Haut, the same organization that commissioned the chapel by Le Corbusier, widely regarded as a 20th-century architectural masterpiece. The plan calls for the replacement of an existing visitor’s center...

(read the entire article and see slide show at ArchRecord)



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