The Operable Window

new location

2010-01-30T02:27:00.001-06:00

meet me at my new blog. All this great stuff is still there and moooore....

The Operable Window (NEW)

Afghanistan

2009-09-21T12:20:00.001-05:00

not that anyone reads this, but i will be back, i am in afghanistan right now. Four more months. I will be back

2008-12-09T16:25:00.003-06:00

It seems like I have been writing a lot about graffiti as of late. This is taking it to a completely different level. From the minds at Blu

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

ahh Venice

2008-12-09T14:08:00.002-06:00

Interesting reuse of an very wonderful famous architectural Space...

One Line is All you need...

2008-12-06T17:30:00.002-06:00

this should make you smile from the mind of Dave the Chimp.

Black Thin King

2008-12-03T15:58:00.001-06:00

YES!

Black Thin King from combustion on Vimeo.

2008-11-12T09:22:00.001-06:00

When in denver go to the main RTD station and request a system map. It is a free map of the city!

Test of mobolgging with email

2008-10-28T18:52:00.001-05:00

Hopefully I can blog from this phone with this email now. Now more 160 letter post limits.

2008-10-28T18:45:00.001-05:00

The rythem of the engine and wheels of a train are one thing but there is a more interesting scale of beats out the window. Near fast-far slow

2008-10-16T11:31:00.001-05:00

There is nothing quit like the fall colors of northern wisconsin seen from the machine gun touret of an armored HMMV.

2008-10-04T22:43:00.000-05:00

Military 550 cord stretched along the floor between barracks pillers makes for a "handpong" court. A soldier contrived sport defining space.

A walk in the park.

2008-09-07T15:39:00.000-05:00

I just love this.

Little Girl Giant Plays in the Park from XINERGY on Vimeo.

Our Place in the City

2008-08-25T13:49:00.002-05:00

This is an article i wrote for my schools bi-annual periodical. This was written my last semester of school before graduation. It is the bases for another article i hope to write in the near future to try and get published in a Chicago weekly.

I live in the city.

I was raised in rural south central Wisconsin.

I consider myself a “city person”.

As we move about our environment, as architects we have a far different perspective then many of the other inhabitants of our neighborhoods. As architects though, we are asked, and it is our joy to provide, and define, the spaces for others that know no more then what they like. Some do not even know what it is that they like. In the case of the city we are often charged with developing one small piece of a larger whole. Physically this space may be extremely insignificant in the scope of the size of a metropolitan area. Spatially though, that structure or intervention in the fabric of the city has a much more reaching effect. A bus stop effects everyone in the area that uses it, and those on the busses that stop at it. A tower effects all in it, all at its base, and all that are a part of the views it creates or destroys.

So what exactly does this mean for us? It seems that this comes down to a question of ethics. Not just building within code so it is ADA compliant or that it is LEED certified. A project can easily be both of those and still have an extremely negative influence on the area around it, and the city that it floats in. By ethics I am referring to the need for all architects to design with the intent of producing something that will serve those that will experience it.

This involves an intense level of integrity on the part of the designer. And in design integrity involves the attention to detail. We are in the business, whether we like it or not, of fortune telling. We most predict how every detail of a building will work not just at the moment of construction, but even more so at the moment many years from now that a detail will be experienced by someone. To clarify, detail is not meant to imply small pieces of structures as much as individual designed parts of defined spaces. Every moment, every turn, every view.

I am deeply saddened and often extremely inspired by the built world around me. When asked why I chose to become a designer I rarely have a coherent answer, but I believe it has something to do with that. I have been moved by the world around me and have chosen to express that through my life’s work. Remember that at any and all moments the decisions of designers will knowingly and unknowingly change the lives of all that experience them.

MO bile

2008-08-10T12:04:00.002-05:00

The few proceeding posts to this that look a little short (roughly 160 characters) are all mobile posts I wrote while internetless in Kentucky on military service. They were quick thoughts I had and are meant to remind be about the few things there that I found interesting. maybe i should have written more? maybe Kentucky should try to be more interesting?

Light!... with some strings attatched

2008-08-10T11:51:00.001-05:00

there are some very clear implications for architecture in this art. I wish I had the money to explore them...

Sine wave program on Wiremap from Albert Hwang on Vimeo.

2008-08-01T05:32:00.001-05:00

Crossing the Mississippi in the early morning light, I am reminded that beauty is in the simple things, and we must always be looking for it.

2008-07-28T11:37:00.001-05:00

We can learn from spaces like Mammoth Cave. We hear how the cave is always changing, yet it changes much less then our built enviroment.

2008-07-23T06:30:00.001-05:00

walking through seemingly endless stacks of ammo in a dark warehouse, I can't help but be reminded of Indiana Jones. (sorry no pics allowed here)

existence of space

2008-07-17T09:10:00.001-05:00

as I sit in an office on an ammunition depot I reflect on the thought that this place is not a part of the normal conciousness of the world. it is a small non descript metal building that looks nearly exactly the same as every other building on this base. the only incling of what its perpose is comes from asking its workers what they do. what they do do is manage the shipment off ammunition around the world. a very necissary job and yet one that one could almost ever imagin having. more to the point... this office like so many others is, as it could be said, a dime a dozon. places like this make up a seemingly good majority of the office work space in america. it boggles my mind to think about this office space and its part in supporting the country. the building I sit in and so many others, civilian and military, are not speciel they are the opposite of speciel... but they are spaciel, and they are occupied by everyone you know.

2008-07-16T06:37:00.001-05:00

On an army base somewhere in middle america I reflect on the spaces soldiers occupy, as sleep in a windowless corrigated steel building.

The sound of Silence

2008-07-08T19:39:00.003-05:00

an interesting take on designing memorials

Extremely interesting installation piece in Dresden Germany. It emulates the sound of the WWII bombing of Dresden by transmitting sound through the listeners arm bones straight to the ears. Very eary(pun intended)

touched echo - intervention in public space from MaUdK on Vimeo.

Why can't we be friends?

2008-07-02T13:02:00.005-05:00

This is a collective of artist i came upon a long time ago and am just getting around to writing about. the Graffiti Research Lab is a group that promotes that very special type of art that is so often considered evil, especially to those of us that in the business of building their canvases. I personally have extremely mixed feelings about the graffiti subject as i find a good deal of it very beautiful. In any case this group has developed a new form of graffiti that may have some staggering implications for the built environment. Take a look at the videos, first a news story from Nuovo.ch and then some examples including a time when they where invited to MoMA. The last video shows how to make this technology at home!

other fun things to build! more on some of this later...
http://www.makezine.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/makemagazine

Thank about the facades possible that are simply light, or wanting to remodel and just ending up sketching on a building REAL TIME!

A bit of writing...

2008-06-30T18:00:00.002-05:00

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

2008-06-25T13:23:00.000-05:00

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

Marker World!

2008-06-23T17:08:00.000-05:00

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

2008-06-23T16:30:00.001-05:00

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

2008-06-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-06-22T17:44:00.000-05:00

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

2008-06-18T17:36:00.000-05:00

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.

Sum of the Parts

2008-04-11T13:57:00.001-05:00

Phil Hanson is an artist based in the Twin Cities and has an interesting take on composition. He has been on many news reports across the country for his unique style and sometimes controversial topics. For the Most part his work is a lot of fun. Here are a sampling of some of the work he does. In his Goodbye Art series he makes and destroys every work while on a web cam.... enjoy.

a very powerful piece...

some goodbyeart

The Davis Experience

2008-03-26T21:01:00.001-05:00

Recently my father directed me to the website of the firm of a friend of his down in Phoenix. It is not unusual that he would show me architectural pages but he told me to show some friends and tell him what I thought. So I checked it out and it was apparent why he wanted my opinion. This site is not exactly like any other firms page I have been too. Check it out yourself.

The Davis Experience

BIG lecture

2008-03-11T12:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay...

Two weeks ago I attended a lecture at UIC by the Principal of the Danish design group BIG, Bjarke Ingal. He went through a few projects almost word for word off of the site and also explained what is called the Copenhagen Experiment. A series of housing projects attempting to change the face of the Danish capital. This group of projects is also a resipient of a Graham Foundation Grant and the models and presentation videos are all on desplay at the Graham Foundation gallery until March 22nd located at The Madlener House, 4 West Burton Place, on the northside of Chicago. Everyone should check out there site and just kind of meander around. It is all a ton of fun and very refreshing. I will try and right a little more about this in the near future.

ps. They worked to gether with lego to make one of their huge models, this needs to be seen in person!

I didn't include any pictures as i am not sure about the copyright issues. All other images on the blog are with full consent.

The Past Honoring the Present

2008-02-25T19:15:00.000-06:00

In an interesting project is being conducted by the Friends of the Laurel Hill Cemetary in Philadelphia. The historic Cemetery is Part of a program in responce to Philadelphia residence changing their urban environment in a very personal way. Here is the write up from the Laurel Hill Cemetary.

"Urban Mourning: An Important and Timely Project

The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery is thrilled to annouce the receipt of a $99,900 Planning Grant, awarded by the Heritage Philadelphia Program for the development of the Urban Mourning Project.

The Urban Mourning Project has evolved in response to the rising levels of violence throughout the city of Philadelphia and, correspondingly, to the increasing appearance of spontaneous urban memorials, spray-painted RIP murals, commemorative t-shirts, car decals and tattoos. Laurel Hill Cemetery has over 170 years of experience in dealing with mourning rituals and, although the memorials have changed over time, the impetus behind them remains the same and continues to connect human beings across time and cultures. The rich historical and aesthetic resources at Laurel Hill place us in a unique position to help children better understand the history, meaning and necessity of healthy mourning rituals.

The Urban Mourning Project will combine art, education and psychological support to help youth: 1) better understand their personal grief and loss so that they might channel this pain into productive, creative and healing outlets of self and community expression; and 2) raise awareness of the mourning process as a conscious demonstration of cultural, historical and humanistic necessity. The program will not only introduce children to the historic mourning rituals that have been lost over time, but also discover the new rituals emerging in themselves, their families and their communities. Ultimately, this program has the potential to be transformative for participants, enabling them to move away from the pain and anger so often resultant of violent crime, and toward a greater respect and value for life. By offering a powerful, nonviolent outlet in the form of artistic expression, we will help children realize alternative means for channeling their grief, thus steering them away from reacting violently in the future.

The Friends of Laurel Hill Cemetery is now in the process of developing the program, guided by our new Project Director and experienced educator, Antonia Bonds, and supported by a broad and impressive committee of stakeholders that includes experts from a range of disciplines in the arts, history, healthcare and community service. The enthusiasm and support with which the Urban Mourning Project has been met are testament to the significance of and need for such a program in Philadelphia. The Friends are eager to open up honest, constructive and long-overdue discussions about the real causes of and meanings behind such violence.

This planning project is supported by a grant from the Heritage Philadelphia Program, a program of the Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the University of the Arts."

Even those untrained in the classical arts still express themselves in a timeless way. I apploud this orginization of realizing how this can be a very healing process.

Flow

2008-02-25T10:19:00.000-06:00

the long awaited Flow by Ian Thomas. this comes from a studio project at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning.

2008-02-14T11:52:00.000-06:00

Here are some works by Vitaly S. Alexius AKA Alexiuss. His images show an intense idea of what the future may hold for us. Please check out his entire gallery and check it often he is always adding new things.

Non-Architecture Architectural Videos II

2008-02-11T15:01:00.000-06:00

Here are some Videos from Royksopp and an unofficial Prefuse 73 Song.

Non-Architectural Architecture Videos

2008-02-08T18:11:00.000-06:00

Here are a sampling of some shorts by the design firm MK12. Their sence of space, sequence and Scale is amazing. I didn't know that something like this could come out of Kansas City MO. who would have thought?

Flow by Ian Thomas- an Architectural Video

2008-02-06T19:31:00.000-06:00

a very impressive Project by my good friend Ian Thomas for a studio at UWMilwuakee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. I will try and get the actual Video up as soon as i can but for now fallow the link!

Facebook | Ian Thomas's Videos: flow

2008-02-06T16:24:00.000-06:00

This is a test of my mobile bloging abilities

Photography of the Abandoned Spaces of the Midwest

2008-02-06T14:48:00.001-06:00

the beauty of abandoned spaces is in the fact that they were not designed to be as they are. They are in the state they are because of the time it took them to get there. Though they are often seen as forgotten spaces this i believe is quit the contrary, many of them hold in the memories of those that worked in them in the past. When in these spaces there is always a sense that it is completely alive with everything that has happened there.

a start

2008-02-06T14:44:00.001-06:00

I will try and up date this page as often as possible with general musings and the such. Architecture, Photography and everything else that interests me.