details #4

ok architecture fans, this is the penultimate entry for this series.  get your guesses in soon...final post will be on Christmas.

details #3

come sail away ...

details #2

symbiotic union of steel, concrete, & plaster... an architectural trifecta

God is in the details

this post begins begins a new series.  we are constantly surrounded by architectural details, but given our frenetic lives, most of us never give pause to their existence, let alone their impact on our daily routines.  some of these details are tactile and obvious, such as a custom door handle or stair rail, while others can only be visually experienced.  still others details are visceral; neither touched nor seen, only experienced subconsciously.

regardless, it is the details that add ... well .... the detail to our lives.

over the next few weeks, we'll be posting a series of architectural photographs, detailing a variety of locally completed projects here on the central coast.  they will include buildings that are publicly accessible and visible, most of which you've probably been in or at least driven by.  the first offering is shown above...

the savvy reader who can correctly name the buildings featured will win a special, exclusive prize.  good luck and happy detailing.

white men can't jump

When white people envision their dream home, a key part of the fantasy involves a least one piece of furniture designed by a famous architect from the 1930s.

Architects like Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier designed iconic modern furniture that has inspired virtually everything made by Ikea and Design Within Reach, both of which are key suppliers of furniture to white people.

But as with all things, white people will do whatever it takes to secure authenticity including paying thousands of dollars for a small piece of furniture.

If they are able to acquire this prized furniture, they will forever refer to it only by the designers name. “I spend hours in the van der Rohe, just looking through these beautiful books of his work.”

Referring to a white person’s expensive chair as a ‘chair’ is considered poor form and will likely result in a loss of trust and/or respect.

The best strategy for avoiding this faux pas is to look for the most uncomfortable chair in a white person’s home and ask “who designed that?” If they say “Ikea” or “Design within Reach” you can call it a chair, otherwise refer to it only by the name they give you.

It should also be noted that many white people are unable to acquire this furniture, but that does not mean you cannot use this information to your advantage.

In situations where you need to improve your connection with a white person, just mention how you hope to be successful enough to one day afford an original piece of furniture by  {insert obscurely named architect}. If they have heard of the designer they will nod in agreement, if they have not, they will also nod in agreement and make a note to look it up later.

In either case, your status will rise.

(This article courtesy of a white architect who actually can jump, but ironically also owns a Calligaris)

mojo rising

In an age of $120 per barrel oil prices, the Mix @ Monterey represents a 21st century solution to architecture + sustainable development. This eco friendly, in-fill project will showcase environmentally responsible mixed-use development that reflects our current global economic and climatic condition.

The Mix @ Monterey will set the local pace of energy efficient design by incorporating a host of sustainable features, including natural day-lighting, passive solar heating, cool roof technology, as well as SLO's first architecturally-integrated photovoltaic solar panel system, which celebrates sustainable design technology as an integral component of the building's exterior architecture.

Tree-hugging capitalism....can it be?  Interested in more?  Then visit www.1308monterey.com and give us a shout-out.  BTW, free prize to the first savvy blogger who deciphers the mojo acronym.

the verdict is in...

back on track

We've been getting trainloads of inquiries as to what's happening with the old Railroad Square building on santa barbara street. 

Originally built in 1912, this three-story brick warehouse structure has been the subject of decades of additions, alterations, and more recently, fire and earthquake damage.

But all that is history.

Unreinforced brick and mortar will be gloriously re-birthed, and complemented with clean, modern additions which will respectfully flank the restored centerpiece.

And since a picture is always worth a thousand words, here you go. More eye-candy can be found at www.railroadsquare.info

back in black

Good morning. First off, sincere apologies for my lack of recent postings. The blog-police sent me a 2nd notice of non-compliance due to insufficient posting, and have threatened to revoke my cyber-license.... Booyah!

For those loyal and devoted ga+d followees (our '1000 fans'), you know that the original Mission Statement of this blog was to promote a higher awareness of the importance of architecture in our everyday lives, as well as evoke spontaneous social commentary on architecture + design in general. Obviously we have strayed from that mission and failed miserably.

But fear not, we are back, and are 'harder, better, stronger, faster' than ever (well, at least 3 out of 4). The iphone is fully loaded with Daft Punk and Rage, and we are here to stir the design community and rock your architectural world.

The project referenced above recently pulled in a prestigious design "Award of Honor" from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). We, as well as the awards jury, felt it worthy of recognition. Any comments out there...?

irresponsible parenting

call me old fashioned, but when young parents give their nap-deprived kids copious amounts of caffeine, and then encourage them to engage in extreme toddler wrestling.........well, i'm sorry.....that's just wrong.....

....................and speaking of things that are just wrong......

awesome week

it's been a super awesome week since our last post.  on wednesday, it was discovered that we've been living with our own personal version of the bubonic plague for almost 4 years.  after having our custom birds-eye maple cabinets heartlessly ripped out of our music room, we uncovered our own personal petrie dish festering on the drywall beneath. not to be outdone by no less than 5 different kinds of the nastiest mold you'd ever care to see (or breathe), removal of the bottom cabinets revealed an equally nauseating array of bugs, spiders, and otherwise indescribably invasive organisms that were beyond belief.  suffice to say that what we found would make a rotting corpse look like a gourmet dinner.

so, here's where things take a turn for the worse.  turns out that our cabinet installer managed to put a screw thru the only piece of plastic drain pipe in the entire wall (builder's note: most vertical drain pipe is typically cast iron, which is impenetrable by the accidental nail or screw). it was a one-in-a-million shot, and he nailed it (pun intended).  no worries, stuff like this happens, and we have good insurance.....

alas, we're just getting warmed up.  over the course of the next few days, at least twenty-thousand construction guys show up, along with an insurance adjuster and cabinet maker (guess the butcher and the baker were on holiday). thursday rolls around, and our once peaceful domicile more closely resembles a shelled-out structure from Bosnia or Baghdad, complete with the sweet fragrant smells of leaking sewer pipes, soggy lumber and mold-killing chemicals, all combining to form an aromatic symphony for the entire sensory palette.  and the phrase "Uh...sir, you may want to take a look at this" still resonates in my lower bowels, like a relentless case of dysentery and diarrhea while on your period (just guessing about that last analogy).

anyways, it's all good.  even as i arrived to work early friday morning to make-up for lost hours, i was undaunted by the scene that awaited me at the office parking lot......

no drunken sign-destroying vandal was going to ruin an otherwise bucolic week.  oh no, that honor would instead go to our totally awesome insurance company Insur-a-care, whom after condescendingly acknowledged all the preceding grief, pain and strife, left a final, impersonal voice mail stating that our claim had been "denied" because the "cause of damage had been deemed not accidental".

ah yes, an awesome week indeed.................bring it on.

the first 24 hours

well, it has been a rip-roaring 24 hours since we launched, and so much has happened, i just don't know where to begin. let's start with the facts first:

1) since launch, we've managed to offend no less than 2 wives, 1 actress, and the entire engineering profession

2) since launch, we've been in the newspaper

3) since launch, we've seen a decline in billable hours

4) since launch, we've used the term "launch" more times than nasa

stay tuned for our next posting, which will involve reader participation and feats of strength, with cash and prizes for the winners

Genesis

We are proud to announce the arrival of our bouncing baby blog.  Born this afternoon at 12:35pm at Uptown Espresso in downtown San Luis Obispo, California, our baby weighed in at 6 Gigs, 14 bits, and was 21Msec long. Mom and baby blog are doing just fine, but daddy g2 passed out when asked to cut the (power) cord.

A BIG shout out to Heavy T for originally inseminating me with blog-itis, and for being there from conception, gestation, and birth, which took a total of about 50 minutes.  But more on that later...

This blog is initially dedicated my alter-ego Howard Roark.  As such, it is our intention that this site will become a public forum to engaging meaningful dialog and honest discussions for all things relating to architecture, design, and the enlightenment of the built environment.