A bit of writing...

This was an editorial I wrote for a school publication, 2131. It was published fall 2007.

"In early April 1897 a group of 19 artists defected from the Association of Austrian Artist. Known as the Austrian Secession, this movement was a reaction to the conservatism of the Vienna Kunstlerhaus, the authority of art in Austria. These 19 artists chose not to accept the old stagnant way of teaching and perceiving art. This group consisted of painters, sculptors, and architects. After their actions a wave of secessions occurred across Europe. Arguably one of the first organized shifts towards Modernism, this was the start of a movement.
That was 100 years ago.

Today we like to think, or at least hope, that our education is progressive. Many students complain about school, but it seems disturbingly rare that the system is questioned at its roots. Could our schooling broken, or simply antiquated? This is not a question of whether we have powerful computers or a rapid prototyping lab. It is a question of educational, and ultimately, architectural theory.
In our school this responsibility of education rests on everyone. It is not as simple as professors teaching and students working for a good grade. This is a scholastic institution. It should not simply be a high school of kids looking to get a well paying job (go across the street if that is what you are looking for). As one works from freshman to senior, and beyond, the hope is that we develop from simple students to scholars in the field of architecture. At an upper level we should be able to engage and question our professors in intellectual conversation. All too often students seem to fear truly open dialog with their professors. This seems to happen for two reasons. A number of professors seem to feel threatened by the inquisitive minds of students. It would seem they believe that education is a system of power over subordinates, instead of a community of shared ideas and intellectual enrichment. More disappointingly, many students are content with being silent when uncomfortable professors shoot them down. A culture of fear has developed within the student body. This is not a matter of confrontation as some students or professors seem to think. There is faculty as well as students that may find articles like this as personal attacks, or more likely will write this off as simply rant by an arrogant senior.
The purpose of this “rant” is not to complain about antiquated professors or disengaged students. More, it is a charge to those that read it, to stop excepting anything but an environment of high intellectual exchange. It is my belief that our very own SARUP has the foundation to become a great scholastic institution. Professors will not push students that are not pushing themselves, and students that do not push will never progress. If your professor is not open to conversation, they do not deserve your time. If you are not working to better yourself intellectually, then you do not deserve the time of your professors. If high school teachers spark the enthusiasm to learn, our professors stoke the flames in us to actually better ourselves.
There are many professors and students that are interested in the constant questioning of education, and more importantly, design. When you are here in studio you are surrounded by great minds. Remember that we have literally all been chosen to be here. Let us strive to live up to the ideas and ideals in our minds."

A broken Clutch

This is the kind of thing that is inhibiting the Paradigm shift that needs to happen.

Marker World!

Marker World ,Another Similar freeware with a twist. Still not sure how this will be applied to Architecture but there is something there. Any Ideas?

Crayon Physics

Crayon Physics This is pure awesomeness. Not sure about it's architectural implications yet, but i am going to play it until I figure it out. Here is a clip of the forthcoming deluxe edition.

Waterdrop

Finally I have a working animation for a project I did at UWM SARUP about 8 months ago. I may do another version altering the camera movements but this is good for right now. This was my first attempt at something like this. tell me what you think.

No Copyright? No Problem!

An amazing resource, the Internet Archive is a collection of digitized media that is no longer copyrighted. Besides Just general historical research this site is so fun just to bum around on. As far as a design aspect goes the site offers programs from world fairs, promotional videos from the last 100 years, and more. Here are some of my fav. short videos, the American Look and a great GM video showing the amazing Kitchen of the future. Watch them all and check the page as an research tool.

American Look I
American Look II
American Look III
Design For Dreaming

NeoCon

It has been a while since I last posted but here we go. I will try and post a great deal more as I just got internet again. I have recently moved to Chicago and am currently looking for Architectural/design work, more on that later.

Last we the annual interior design convention NeoCon was held here in Chicago at the Merchandise Mart. A small group of my design friends and I spent a day wondering the endless halls looking at, sitting on and, oogling this years latest and greatest in design. Here is a quick overview of some of my fav. stuff.

Probably my favorite exhibit was the of Steelcase. The entire theme and design of their space was so fluid and clear. this was one of the first exhibits that we looked at and it set us up for the slew of other designs that seem to be following some sort of classic 50's/60's motif. Bubbly pods, avacodo green upholstery and Jetson like workstations were all the rave. It seemed that the Modular office unite was in full force also. No longer content with simple cubicals it seems that every office design group was working out a new way to fit the wolf in sheep's clothing. this was all done with an flare for exagurating the sustainability of the products. This was the same with every company. I was floored by how many firms had chosen earthy coolers such as browns and of coarse greens. This was all good and well and the few that chose sexy reds and blues really popped. Most displays were very careful to annotate the sustainable properties of their designs. this meant recycled materials, recyclable materials, and low emission manufacturing to name a few. Whether this is something of just a gimmick or whether this is acctually the start of the needed paridigm shift in design is unclear at this point. more on that in later posts.

Some other firms that i was impressed with included the Heworth, AllSteel, and surprising to me KI, a Green Bay WI based company that is not always known for their "high" design. Slightly disappointing this year was Herman Miller. Though they took top honors at the convention i felt that their exhibit was a bit bland for such a perennial favorite.

Over all the Convention was a great look at some beautiful new designs and a chance to see the direction design is heading in as far as mass production goes.

My fav. things at NeoCon 08...

Steelcase's Graphics, and overall brand identity that carried through all of the designs.
Allsteel's Interactive touchscreen chair choosing desplays
KI's acrilic chaise lounge and supper easy hide a bed designs.