Ideas in Things

This past June, I attended the architectural symposium hosted by Brian Mackay-Lyons at his farm in Nova Scotia, entitled GHOST 13: Ideas in Things. Each time I’ve tried to write about it or do something with it, or even tell someone what it was like, I’ve struggled and writhed and decided to take a break.

A major factor in my attendance at GHOST was actually Rick Hauser, partner at In. Site: Architecture, where I’ve enjoyed working for the past nearly 3 years. Here are some great posts on other people’s blogs and articles, shared by Rick, that aim to give a taste:Architectural Record, Ned Forrest Architects and

Design Build Bluff.

A new friend from the conference who returned home to Scotland even mentioned it – “The experience has been pretty much impossible to describe to anyone back here and do it justice!”

Ghost was a study in optimism, and a gathering of like-minded souls pursuing great architecture through a few very specific lenses: Craft, Place, Community. We all flew to Halifax, bounced through the beautiful country-side to Lunenberg and stayed in picturesque B & B's so typical of this harbor town. The next morning, we bounced through the country-side further, to the coast, to Brian’s family farm. We were greeted by mud and rain and farm animals and incredibly beautiful structures floating through the epic landscape like ghosts.

We attended lectures that should have been typical – they were professors, designers, firm principals, sharing slides of built work and sketches and photographs of things their teams had labored over for years, things they had already written about and spoken about before. And we’d all been to architectural lectures throughout our education, and if we’re fortunate or determined, since we’ve been practicing. But something in the air was different. I was hard pressed to find the person who didn’t appear fully involved. Most of the stereotypical fiddling with iphones and sketchbooks was actually an ardent attempt to record every word, every image, every notion. Also, it wasn’t one lecture, one passionate speaker, but more than twenty over the course of days and nights of full-body immersion. We were immersed in the love for quality design and the positive impact it can have on lives, but also in the immeasurable, unspeakable ways that the planet and the people and the structures we try to build are all beautiful and valuable…
[this waxing eloquent and yet saying nothing is specifically why I’ve avoided writing for so long… at least I’ve spared you most of it!]

We were greeted by the giants, people who I never thought I’d do more than read about. And we not only heard Juhanni Pallasmaa and Kenneth Frampton and Glenn Murcutt speak. We spoke to them, after their lectures, in line for coffee and over sketches and questions at lunch. Patricia Patkau and Tom Kundig and Marlon Blackwell didn’t just show slides, they showed great architecture and the deep personal involvement required to participate in its creation.

In the end, I think all we were trying to do was to understand:

-          How to do work that matters,

-          And that we are not alone in doing so,

-          And that it is a lifelong pursuit,

-          But that there are ways to improve your approach, and almost… to perfect it.

-          That we all have taken up the mantle of commitment to ourselves, our clients, the planet, to create passionately and responsibly so that our buildings may be compassionate and compelling.

Well, apparently I'm now an 'official' blogger. With anyone I've followed, I notice that somewhere along the lines, life interferes with their ability to blog on the appointed day, week or month. They feel terribly guilty for not meeting the commitment and write a long post about why they weren't around... but they also wonder why no one noticed and can end up choosing not to keep up with the blog...

So, April and May have been a wonderful whirlwind, and if I really am going to do this for personal accountability, then I'm back!

I took the advice I received from the YAF webinar about getting involved very seriously, amping up on past projects and finding gobs of new ones. It's a pleasure to see that we have such an active regional community available.

In a single week, I:

- attended another 'CDA' team meeting: this committee meets at the Geneva Business Improvement District to offer perspective on signage proposals, from whether they meet code to how successfully they seem to be marketing the entity in question. I've been on this committee for a year now, but not taking as active a role as possible. Since then, I've stepped up to help develop a brochure for marketing - and explaining - the process to prospective businesses. An exciting opportunity to 'do it right by doing it myself' and help produce positive change in a vibrant community that I.S:A calls home!

-  sat on a panel with four other professionals, hosted by the Emerging Rochester Architects of the Rochester AIA. We had all taken the ARE's at one point or another and answered questions, as well as shared our point of view, with more than twenty folks. It was a pleasure to help people better understand the process, and I only wish this had been available when I was taking the exams concurrently!

- toured the new Vignelli Center at RIT. This was so intensely rewarding and inspiring that I still haven't completely processed it - or the extensive notes & sketches I scribbled feverishly. The Vignellis have really had a profound impact on design culture and they reminded me that design really can permeate everything.

- toured the Artisan Works gallery with my husband, Chris, at our first Rochester Young Professionals social. What interested me most was that it had such a turn out, and that even in the crowd, with no plans to meet anyone and only knowing a few folks in all of Rochester - we met up with people I've spent time with before. This encouraged me to give RYP a chance!

- attended a gallery opening at the Wyoming County Arts Council on fiber arts, specifically to see an incredible fiber sculpture that had been advertised. I enjoyed the energy in the room, and was reminded how productive I can be towards my own projects when exposed to the art of others.

After that intensive week, I also:

- saw a presentation on how to maximize your use of  linked-in,
- attended my first Toastmasters event and decided that I should join,
- went to my first Small Business Council networking event and had a great time despite not knowing anyone,
- joined a committee to start a new Toastmasters club and took the marketing position,
- attended an RYP presentation called 'leveraging the entrepreneurial spirit,'


and that excludes the birthday, graduation, and mothers' day celebrations, and efforts to move!

So needless to say, I'm maxxed out on getting involved and need to decide where I can find the most joy, have the most impact and develop my personal goals through the organization.


Next month I'll be attending GHOST, and couldn't be more excited. After that, I should be able to reflect on all the direct and indirect ways I can grow as an Architect and as a member of the community and keep moving forward!

Young Architect's Forum

The College of Fellows and the Young Architect's Forum recently started a quarterly webinar series. I 'attended' the first session, entitled "Getting Work" on March 17th.

I found the session to be... not at all what I expected. It was, however, very interesting and fulfilling. I look forward to 'attending' the remaining three in the series.

The premise of the series, that our development as professionals is equally as important as our development as designers and theorists, was very compelling. I have always held a deep interest in the workings of a profitable, successful firm. I got into architecture strictly because of my passion for it, but I never want to be so incapable of turning a profit that I have to make the platitude "well, I didn't get into architecture for the money" work.

At I.S:A, I'm fortunate to have a very strong advocate for my personal and professional growth. And of course, being in a small firm, you have much more access to the consequences of your daily actions.

I think the thing I took away most from this webinar was that I should pursue my extracurricular interests, such as Toastmasters, Literacy Volunteers and Rochester Young Professionals. I had been writing them down on my to-do list but never getting to them, because they weren't as 'architectural' as studying for the ARE's (all passed! saying that will never get old!) or the LEED exam. But the point that was made in this webinar is that they are not only indirectly architectural, it is their non-standardization that is valuable. You'll develop skills you wouldn't in a firm setting, and have access to non-architects. Who, while inspiring and eye-opening in their own right, might eventually become clients. The point was, these non-architectural extra-curriculars are win-win-win for the intern, their community, and their firm.

Now, I just have to get out there more!

a four day Lunch N Learn

Last week, I went on a four day tour with Marvin Windows. Ten of us met at the Rochester airport and headed to Minneapolis. We then drove over the border to Wisconsin, where we went on a tour of the Cardinal Glass Factory 

(click here for additional photos)

took a walking tour of Minneapolis architecture, 

(click here for additional photos)

and then headed up to Warroad Minnesota to spend a few days touring the Marvin Factory, 

(click here for additional photos)

learning more about their company and products. 

I really enjoyed meeting others from my profession, who live and work in the same region. This was very different from my usual AIA-type activities, where I do meet plenty of people, but they're largely already acquaintances, and they're almost entirely associates or very young professionals. On this trip, I had access to firm leaders and principals with 20+ years of experience, and the difference in perspective, conversational focus and project knowledge was exhilerating.

We had a local AIA volunteer take us on the Architectural Tour of Minneapolis, and that was just a really great time. I enjoyed the variety of architectural styles, scales, materials... we saw humble buildings and ones I'd studied in school or for the AREs. My friends and family definitely humor me when I'm turning our trip into an architectural adventure, but it was a whole different experience to be surrounded by others who took at least as much interest in the details, shadows and material terminations as I did.

Overall, the trip was surprisingly exhausting, but very fulfilling. I was able to reflect on the people I have access to and on personal goals about where to go in my career, all while being very generously hosted.

reading frenzy

February was the month of books. Or atleast, the month of stories.

I gobbled up everything I could get my hands on, from Jack Kerouac's On the Road and Peter Heller's Kook, and the Zappos book, Delivering Happiness; all read in book format, to an audio version of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Woodshed Films' 180 degrees South.

Kerouac:
This is the kind of book I will need to read many more times, but for now I'll share something I wrote while reading: [We're all looking for a tool... something we can use to interpret the uninterpretable world, to imbue meaningless life with meaning. I've called it my lens onto the world, but it's also the means by which I interact with - and exist within - the world. Which is gratifying, because sometimes I worry that the reason I became an architect is that I am forever designing my own "dream house" - constructing the spaces in my head which would 'allow' for the narrative I'm trying to construct.]

Kook:
This was a beautifully written story, imbued with a sense of peacefulness, reflection or patience. Some of my favorite tidbits included: "There is nothing you can say about a surfboard that you cannot say about a sailboat, an airplane, a ski. The artistry follows the function and the beauty is in the marriage." and "...everything doubled itself, had two uses at least... what is so appealing about this kind of efficiency? I think people spaz out and buy RV's and yachts just because they see all the cabinetry, the ingenious tucking away of every day life, the whole thing fitting together like a puzzle, compact and hidden."

Delivering Happiness:
The most valuable thing I took away from this book was the notion of having an articulated set of 'core values.' I'm currently working to develop a list of my own core values.

I didn't notice the theme at first, but in retrospective, these were all stories of the epic journey. Namely, the epic journey and its role in an individual's development. It seems only men take epic journeys, but I can look into that more later. The Epic Journey is supposed to leave you forever changed for the better, more in tune with - aware of - yourself. You are supposed to realize your role in life or your place in the world, and come to peace with it.

As a designer, the questions are:
- Do Architectural Spaces play an integral role in anyone's epic journey? (Beyond the fact that we all must have shelter... )
- Can Architectural Spaces provide the opportunity for an internal reflection of similar quality?

A Passion for Nature

One of my Christmas gifts this year was Daniel Worster’s biography of John Muir, A Passion for Nature. It was amazing to read about the life of one of my idols, and how original and pioneering he was. It was also interesting to see yet again how connected to my architectural viewpoint my naturalist / outdoor adventurist leanings are. As always, I filled my sketchbook with journal entries about my responses, and would like to share two here, as they relate to my ever-evolving architect’s mindset. 

1.) There was a quote early in the book about how Muir struggled to reconcile his ‘career’ with his nature – his ‘religion;’ it was interesting to me, because of course, my ideal architecture is that which is respectful of people and planet, which creates a container in which & upon which to reflect, that offers you someplace compelling and positive to return ‘home’ to… a container for and advancement of your reflections on nature. But this goes back to the W.G. Clark concern – if I so love nature, how do I reconcile abusing it and using it for my own gains? That’s an oversimplification, but it does sit heavily on my mind.

One way to look at it, Daniel Worster wrote of Muir’s viewpoint: “People needed the orchard apple to feed their bodies, but they needed the wild apple to feed their spirits.” This simple acceptance of both sides of the coin is beautiful, and I would love to cleave to it, but I have been interested the whole book over by the notion that we’ve been grappling with the same problems for 200 or 300 years, at least. And I can’t help but wonder, then, if a supposed beautiful harmony and acceptance is far too simplistic to truly help us better balance our relations with one another, with industry, with the planet?

2.) One of the things about reading that has always resonated for me… the way authors describe a place. It starts a chain reaction in my head. First I’m picturing it based specifically on their words. Then I’m filling it with the characters. And before I know it, I’m there instead, and the next thing you see, I’m whipping out my sketchbook to better develop some of the details and really make the place amazing! This definitely happened for me with John Muir’s ‘scribble den.’

A place to think. To just be. Somewhere like going into the woods, only its accessible to you on a daily basis. Would this be better than the woods? Would it still call to you in the same way? Or is it a farce? Can you not truly bottle that up and bring it home? Does the place become one of those unused rooms cluttering up the plans of homes around the world?

Whether or not I truly believe you need this room in order to be able to create and reflect, I’d certainly like to have one myself!

ARCH405 Final Exhibit

http://picasaweb.google.com/NMartin426/OurStudentsFinalExhibit#

So the big event this month was our students' final exhibit for their Portfolio Design Studio. Teaching this course was a pleasure, from my co-instructor Gabriella D'Angelo - a longtime classmate & colleague - to the content students brought from their past courses.

A portfolio must be more than simply a 'who's who' of one's work. It must be a reinterpretation, even an expansion of the work. It must explain not only that one designs, but how and why.