don't be afraid of transformation

The 7th "Re-Shaping Rochester" series is my first. I'm very interested in - and inspired by - the mission of the Rochester Regional Community Design Center. 

As part of the Emerging Rochester Architect's "ERA @" series, we've been participating together in some of the many wonderful things already going on around Rochester, in pursuit of our paired missions for Professional Development and Entertainment / Camaraderie. To that end, there were a handful of 'intern architects' from the Rochester Region generously added to the guest roster for Peter Park's inaugural session in the 2012 program, and I was among the very impressed.

His talk was entitled "Transformation: Don't be Afraid of it." I couldn't quite keep up with Peter in drawings or notes, but here were some of my efforts:

(I think they clarify why I hope you'll be seeing some Visual Notes & hand lettering work around these parts some day soon - my rapid work is often not as attractive or legible as the subjects warrant!)

The neighborhoods based removal of the Park East Freeway in Milwaukee and the transition to a form-based code in Denver were among the many city planning initiatives Park had lead and used, successfully, to elucidate his points.

My two favorite parts of Peter's talk were:

1. the fact that many of his initiatives have worked for us in local small cities, or were easily understood as replicable in other places, and
2. his great speaking presence - ice breakers & quotables were not only entertaining, but engaging: 

"I'm Peter Park. I'm a planner. And I think planning matters."
(so watch out for what I say! and yet, I'm here as an expert, and as a passionate individual who deeply believes in what I'm up to... )

If you're in Rochester, I hope to see you at the next talk!

sketching in January

January was so (typically?) intense that I honestly didn't expect to find much when I looked back at the 'daily' sketching series... fortunately, my memory was a bit inaccurate - it seems that I must have truly re-incorporated the sketching habit into my daily doings.

There were the regular arch daily, build blog and life-content sketches: 

quite a few, actually...

then there were a significant number of 'sketching to think' series, including those from my LEED studies:









some from reading "Norwegian Wood: the thoughtful architecture of Wenche Selmer"

still more from "Wood Houses"

and the thoughtful, enjoyable "Think Like an Architect" by Hal Box

Clearly, I'm going to sorely miss my (now expired) Inter Library Loan Services! Do you draw to document / interpret / extrapolate what you're reading? And by the way, what are you reading?!

unpredictable configurations

"several other objects make good subjects for contour drawings. The best are objects whose configurations are unpredictable... "

the next Contour Drawing exercise with Paul Laseau involved shoe laces:

vicarious travel sketches

Sometimes when following Urban Sketchers, I get a pang of wistful wanderlust looking at all these wonderful places folks live and explore...

It is, of course, also good to remember all the incredible places I've traveled to, and to see beauty in the details or abstractions of everyday things all around us, but. Sometimes, you really just need some inspiration.

These drawings are from my National Geographic and NG Traveler, generous gifts that I enjoy on a lot of levels.

 

Do you travel to draw? Draw to travel?

fraternity, anyone?

The Emerging Rochester Architects have really gained some momentum over the past few months. We started meeting again back in April of last year, trying to see if there was any demand to be had for gatherings, study groups and career advancement. This club has existed in various forms over the years and yet I hadn't participated heavily yet myself. The premise for me is that there's so much to gain from the folks who actually get what you're saying, but who haven't already had to spend 40+ hours with you this week! We're a sub-committee of the Rochester chapter of the AIA, so we're fortunate to have a great director and a budget.

We've since had 4 meetings, 4 socials / events, and formed a LEED study group as well as a mentoring program with RIT's new Masters in Sustainable Architecture students. We now have meetings on the 1st Thursday of each month and socials on the 3rd Thursday.

Toastmasters and Rochester Young Professionals may have their place, but I am always looking for ways to grow, specifically, as an architect. And after GHOST, I'm in particular looking for ways to engage in a dialogue that can expand my views and open me to those of others, where the business and joys of design are concerned.

Since April, 4 or 5 key folks (including myself) have become a bit of a planning committee. We've been pleased to find upwards of 10 people at meetings and 20 or more at socials, creating a real sense of critical mass and enjoyable conversations. 

This past Thursday, we threw a "Charrette Party," our attempt to respond to the folks who'd been asking for design competitions and opportunities to do more of the kind of sketching and making they did in school now that they also have technical and professional knowledge. With wine and subs, we gathered to discuss a series of competitions found at Bustler and Death by Architecture, a handful of which just sounded like a lot of fun.




We were hosted at the AIA office, which led to some of our best conversations - the book, 101 Things I learned in Architecture School, was on their library shelf and apparently everyone had read it or heard that they should. I recently skimmed a copy, borrowed from another library, and was pleasantly surprised. It's full of the kinds of zen statements that you may well be aware of, but have difficulty applying day to day... the application of which, we would all benefit from! So, maybe more on that later...

We were very lucky to be joined by a few individuals who wouldn't normally fit into the category of "emerging," but who understood that Architects are forever growing and felt that they could mentor us as well as gain from our energy. At one point early in our discussions of the "winning" competition, we were reminded to dial back and apply a broad, loose approach to programming before diving directly into design. This process of developing our own design methodologies and becoming skilled at remembering to apply them is what will aid us in doing great work even when efficiency may be the focus. 

We were reminded to take advantage of the freedom of no client, no budget, no time constraints... and that this should free us to do the best working process we can and see what kinds of better design result. For me, ERA is supposed to be about just this kind of (scary? but... ) fun personal growth, so that one can be expanded and engaged by comfortable fellowship - by fraternity.

We now have 'homework,' and a plan to meet again. If you're interested in joining us, take a look at the design competition website and mark your calendars for February 23, when we'll hold our Parti Party!

a long december

During the month of December, I became further addicted to Arch Daily, a part of most days thanks to my trusty google feed reader. I find that perhaps only ~30% of the entries are actually relevant for me, but those that are pack a serious punch.

Here's the strongest of my December sketches. Most were developed in a series, towards the end of the month. Most also used a newly formatted 'diary' page in my main notebook and came from projects showcased on Arch Daily. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find myself gaining a lot of momentum and a high level of comfort with the media - simple paper and a mechanical pencil.

I'd love to know how many other folks keep a daily drawing... and where they find inspiration!

another way to shop for architects

In the weeks leading up to the holidays (which I hope you all enjoyed!), there were many articles whizzing about the web on how to shop for an architect. Some were pithy, others poetic.

But, here's another way to shop for an architect:

I couldn't be more excited (or apparently more spoiled)! Especially considering that as many folks do this time of year, I'm looking ahead at what I'd like to accomplish in 2012. The mantra for this year (on the hopefully rare occasion I'll need it... ) will be "depth not breadth," as it seems I've finally crossed a threshold in my education / development. So part of the to-do list involves a deeper approach to reading, resulting in a different kind of book review, and perhaps, more of them?


While we were away from people, projects, and the internet from Christmas through New Years, I spent a lot of time (as well as book darts & note pages!) with this fine gentleman:

The book was one of the many recommendations made while at GHOST this past summer, and I'm looking forward to working through some of the many deep thoughts it provoked.


Here's to whatever *toys* you received and whatever missions you plan to achieve with them this year!