BIG

BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, based in Copenhagen, is one of my most favorite of all time architecture studios.

This is Bjarke Ingels giving a talk about some of their methods in creating their architecture. He talks about their studio's comic book, Yes Is More, the difference between revolution and evolution, and the idea of creating architecture that is not only strong in its program and eco-friendly, but also can sometimes actually help make the ecosystem around it even better.

The Power of Ten

Studio Problem 1: Computing Quality - The Number 8

Design an organizational logic from the study of your number's properties. How can a material/structural system be derived from this logic? Using only bass wood elements build this tectonic/structural condition within the boundaries of a virtual 18" cubic volume. To define your number, examine the transition between it and the two numbers with which it is immediately adjacent. How does this transition take place? What are the spatial and structural implications of your particular threshold? Use this along with research on the qualitative/symbolic aspects of your number to influence how you construct the model. How do you extract spatial quality from quantity?


The photos above are study models made throughout the research phase of the project. Below are images of the second phase of the project.

Drawing Dinosaurs

Our last assignment for Visual Studies was to examine a dinosaur skeleton and then draw sections of the bones. These photos are some of my observations.

Simone's Bar

On my trip to Chicago last month, while rambling around in the neighborhood of Pilsen with Julie, we stumbled upon Simone's Bar. Every single surface and material is crafted from vintage or remaindered from somewhere else, but in the most unique and beautiful way I have seen in a very long time. The food is great too, and reasonably priced. I had a chat with the owner while I was there, and tried to convince him to open up a place in New York....

"The interior of Simone's is undeniably unique. Crafted in many cases from remaindered building materials, decorative ephemera and bits and pieces of original architectural elements, the decor inside Simone's ranges from a bar top built from a bowling alley lane to graffiti-scarred high school chemistry table tops to booths and a DJ station built from old pinball machines. Using vintage and remaindered materials is part of Simone's environmentally friendly operations, something that includes a rooftop herb garden and banks of solar panels."

Imogen Heap: Ellipse

I got the new album...





Imogen Heap - Canvas

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

...Or PSC for short. Its the name of the liver disease that my friend was diagnosed with about a year ago. As a result, he decided to start a support group for people with the disease in association with Mount Sinai Hospital here in New York City. Coinciding with the launch of this support group, there is a conference at the hospital dealing with the treatment of the disease this evening. This is the image for the T-shirts we designed together in honor of the event.

Rhizomatic Maps

The first assignment for my first studio class is to create a Rhizomatic Map based on a given number's properties - in my case the number 8. Here are some nice things I found in my rhizome research.