Antique Shop, Louis Sullivan, Merz Apothecary & the Soapy Fountain

Julie Meckler and I took a little stop to go to one of her favorite antique shops  in Lincoln Park (near the Merz Apothecary which was closed), to get a break from the hot sun while at the Chicago Folk and Roots Festival.  Inside, there is floor after floor of .... so much stuff!

Across the street, someone had poured soap into the fountain.

Down the street from that there was the landmarked Krause Music Store designed by William Presto and Louis Sullivan in 1922.

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale

On our class trip to New Haven last week, we stopped by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.  Its a building I have known for a while and studied in school, but this was my first time seeing it in person.  Seeing a building like this is a reminder to me of how important it is to actually go and visit these buildings we spend so much time talking about.  Looking at photos of a building versus walking around it, in it, getting a sense of the scale, smell, sound and temperature...there's no comparison.  I'm always interested in the fact that some buildings look OK in photos but amazing in person, and then there are some buildings that are really photogenic, but in person aren't that interesting.  (Other examples here and here.)  I was completely taken by surprise upon visiting the Beinecke Library.  Its simply beautiful.  The photos will never capture its full magical properties.   

It was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM, and was a gift of the Beinecke family to Yale in 1963.  The large slices of marble you see in the photo above are actually so thin that they allow a small amount of light to pass through them, providing some natural illumination to the library and still protecting the ancient books inside.

See the light coming through the marble?

New Perspective: Flatiron Building

The great thing about New York is that you can always get a fresh perspective.  With our constant running around and moving up and down, you never know where its going to be.  A little while ago at the end of August I went with some friends to the new rooftop beer garden at Eataly, where you get a great view of the Flatiron Building and the Empire State Building.

Let's Go Peru!

Its official, I'm going to Peru in January!  Just booked a ticket with An American Girl In Transit.  We're going to hike the Inca Trail, wander around Machu Picchu, and party in Lima for New Year's!  

Tension, Compression, and Friction

These are a continuation of the Knot Studies I've been doing for a digital fabrication/parametric modeling class at school. I'm exploring tension, compression, and friction, how they interact with each other, and how they can be balanced in perfect harmony to suspend an object, deform and object, or move and object.

The following images are things I have found that have served to inspire my research.  To see more research and inspiration, click here and here.