Adult Design, Child Experience

By Audrey Treece

This is the working abstract and my poster proposal for my design thesis. I am
focusing on early childhood environments and how architecture can play a role.

According to the U.S. Census conducted in 2008, there are nearly fifteen million children under the age of six that need child care as parents work. The need for enrollment in child care has
become customary due to the social and economic trends that have changed throughout the last several decades. Early childhood programs are slowly gaining recognition, but it is still not viewed as an imperative societal issue that it demands. Today, children under the age of six that are enrolled in child care spend an average of ten hours a day, five days a week, and fifty
weeks of the year in early childhood centers. The environment for raising children has shifted from the home to underdeveloped environments that are designed for adult productivity and are profit driven but do not address the needs of what is best for children. Neurological research proves that children are born to learn, while absorbing every aspect of their environment. The first three years of life are the most critical to the neurological development of a child. Child care in the United States has been viewed as a domestic responsibility rather than a basic component of a community’s infrastructure and there has been limited concern for the impact of
institutional settings on children’s development.

How can architecture play a role in child care development? Child care centers are a new building type in search of a model. As the demand for child care increases, there will be more exploration on the need for universal early childhood centers. Adult Design, Child Experience is a graduate design thesis that sets out to create an environment that addresses the relationship between children and architecture. The building model will foster experiential learning
while helping children learn, discover and use creative thinking to promote early childhood development. This project is an investigation into how early childhood design can be rethought, redefining a child care center as an education facility model in which children learn through interactions and experiences, stemming from the built environment.

Urban Sprawl

By Joel Wallace

Amazing, and hilarious, view and video on urban sprawl and how we as future designers need to think about fixing it.....some information on the speaker is below, enjoy.

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_howard_kunstler_dissects_suburbia.html

James Howard Kunstler calls suburban sprawl "the greatest misallocation of resources the world has ever known." His arguments bring a new lens to urban development, drawing clear connections between physical spaces and cultural vitality.Geography of Nowhere, published in 1993, presented a grim vision of America in decline -- a nation of cookie-cutter strip malls, vacuous city centers, and dead spaces wrought by what Kunstler calls the ethos of Happy Motoring: our society-wide dependence on the automobile. The Long Emergency (2005) takes a hard look at energy dependency, arguing that the end of the fossil fuels era will force a return to smaller-scale, agrarian-focused communities and an overhaul of many of the most prominent and destructive features of postwar society. His confrontational approach and propensity for doomsday scenarios make Kunstler a lightning rod for controversy and critics. But his magnificent rants are underscored with logic and his books are widely read, particularly by architectural critics and urban planners.

referenced from http://www.ted.com/speakers/james_howard_kunstler.html

Studio Update

By Sean Hartman

So midterms are passed and great ideas are still being generated on the East St. Louis project. We are down to the daily grind of working on our master site plan and detailing it out and figuring out how pedestrians will flow thorough our site. This is taking a little longer than I thought it would have taken to complete but have a team of 4 people working on this it has its challenge because everyone has their own idea of what they think should be placed where. Sometimes you have to come up with a compromise and take elements from each other's design and incorporate it into one finalized site plan that everyone agrees on that can be tweaked later if need be.

We are also finalizing our building layout so we can figure out our structural system that we are working on in our ARC 541 class. Also we have been working on figuring out our occupant loads, means of egress, and plumbing fixtures. We have done extensive code research to make sure our buildings met the IBC, NFPA, and East St. Louis Municipal code requirements. I thought doing code research would have been easy, but it is quite time consuming and can be very tricky if you do not read the code right or interoperate it wrong. We also have done extensive research on zoning, and site analysis for the area to help us figure out what kind of design issues we were going to have to design too.

The end is near and it seems like that we have more time than we actually do. Some of us have a lot of things to get accomplished between now and the end of the semester. With that said time flies when you are in a daily routine of working on a project and sometimes you get caught up and keep coming up with ideas for a project. As architecture students we tend to keep changing things up till the last minute, and when the time is up and we present, we wish we would have done something different. Now with that said I think it is time to get back to work on studio because there is a lot to get accomplished before Friday for our groups pin up of our master site plan and progress check.

Women in Architecture

By Debra Eilering

A 2009 AIA
survey showed that women make up about a quarter of the architecture
profession, but over 30 percent of that quarter are unlicensed. In the world of
"starchitects," the numbers shrink significantly — only 2 women have
ever received the Pritzker Prize in its 31-year history: Zaha Hadid in 2004 and
Kazuyo Sejima, who shared the prize with her male partner Ryue Nishizawa in
2010.
So, to give female architects a long overdue shout-out,
here's a starter list of 10 that deserve recognition. Add your favorites in the
comments below.
1.
Zaha Hadid: This British-Iraqi
architect is probably the most famous female working in her field today. She's
known for using complex technologies to create fluid, curvilinear forms.
Well-known projects include the MAXXI: National Museum of 21st Century Art in
Rome, BMW Central Building in Leipzig, and Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg.
2.
Kazuyo Sejima: This year's Pritzker
Prize winner, Kazuyo Sejima, is one half of Japanese firm Sanaa
Architecture. She creates subtle, minimal buildings with a strong focus on
museums and educational centers.
3.
Eileen Gray: Irish architect and
designer Eileen Gray was a key contributor to the modernist movement. Her adjustable-height
side table is an icon of 1920s design, and her later career produced a
small but beautiful collection of homes. She was overshadowed by Le Corbusier
and her male counterparts during her career, but she re-emerged in the 1970s
when Domus magazine published a retrospective of her career and Aram put some
of her best furniture designs back into production.
4.
Maya
Lin: Best
known as the designer of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington, DC, Maya
Lin is an American architect and artist whose work is minimal, but engages the
user (or viewer) in quiet ways. For instance, the names of fallen soldiers are
inscribed on the DC memorial in small type, so that viewers are encouraged to
get up close and experience the monument in an intimate, personal way.
5.
Jeanne
Gang:
This Chicago-based architect has produced a number of critically acclaimed
small projects (many of which Apartment Therapy has profiled)
but it's her recent green skyscraper, Aqua,
that's earned her international attention.
6.
Michelle
Kaufmann:
This California-based green prefab home designer started out working for Frank
Gehry, then set out on her own. Unfortunately, she closed up shop last year,
but maintains an active
site where you can read her blog posts and commentaries. You can see a tour
of her own home here,
and the Smart Home she designed for the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry here.
7.
Rocio
Romero:
This Missouri-based designer is well known for her minimalist prefab homes,
which arrive flat-packed and can go up in a few months' time. Apartment Therapy
toured one of her LVL homes — see the photos here.
8.
Zoka
Zola:
This Chicago-based architect owns her own firm and has created a number of
award-winning homes, including a zero-energy
house. Apartment Therapy toured
her personal home and studio way back in 2006.
9.
Winka
Dubbeldam:
She's the principal of New York-based Archi-Tectonics,
where she's been designing commercial and residential projects since 1994.
Dubbeldam is well-known for her contemporary loft renovations, and her work has
been exhibited at MOMA and the Venice Biennale.
10.
Yen Ha and
Michi Yanagishita:
Yen and Michi are the principals behind Front Studio, one of the only
Asian-women owned architectural partnerships in New York City. Fun fact — Michi
served as a judge

for Apartment Therapy's Small Cool Home Contest in 2008.
Source:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/architecture/10-talented-women-architects-126069

Networking (again...)

By Laura Thomas

On her September 14 blog, Audrey Treece was discussing networking and the value of it and she is right. This is a topic I had wanted to touch upon and since Audrey has gotten the ball rolling, I will continue this discussion.

For many, architectural networking will begin in school. Professors are a great place to start networking as they have many connections. A lot of students upon graduation keep in touch with professors for a variety of personal, professional and educational reasons. The professors can then contact prior students and ask about summer internships or current projects to apply to studio work. Fellow classmates are another great networking way to help each other out for a variety of reasons as is obvious just by how we interact with each other in studio.

What I want to warn or point out to everyone in case it isn't obvious is that in studio and your other classes, you are always presenting yourself, your abilities, your character, your ambition, your initiative, your integrity, and your work ethic to everyone. This is important as it can affect you more than most realize. If your a slacker who doesn't participate, who waits until the last minute, who has the I don't care attitude, I don't want to work with you in studio or in real life. Look at every person in your studio as someone you want to receive a letter of recommendation from. Think of your class and who you would write a good or bad recommendation for. What do you think your fellow classmates and professors would write about you for a recommendation?

Perfect example of bad recommendation is a girl that I went to undergrad with. I hated her and everything about her personally and professionally. One day years later, she walks in for an interview. After her interview I went to the partners and begged them not to hire her. Told them multiple reasons why they shouldn't hire her. Unfortunately, they did and soon realized that while her resume and stolen work from other people looked like the good choice, she wasn't and was soon let go.

As for good recommendations I have set people up with jobs and they are the ones who while working with them proved to me to be outstanding and worthy of me to put in my word that they are the best and that you'd be crazy not to have them as part of your team. My Aunt connected me with the director of Robert Morris University who was looking for instructors for some courses. I declined as I was coming to grad school but set them up with a former boss and a former coworker who are still both teaching a class there and loving the extra money. When I needed someone to replace me at Nestle I contacted everyone I knew but no one was interested due to having to relocate. I then contacted Jim, my favorite boss and asked him if he knew of anyone that would fit the bill. Jim contacted his brother in law (also an architect) who then contacted Stephanie, who he felt was perfect for the job. Turns out he was right and I was soon training her to be my replacement. She made such an impression on me that when Jim told me they had a position open at the firm I immediately thought of Stephanie and how perfect she would be for the job. Turns out I was right and she has been working there for the last month and her and the firm are all very happy.

It doesn't seem fair that people are getting the good jobs based upon who they know but why are firms or businesses going that route and not advertising when a position becomes available? The main reason is because the unemployment rate is ridiculously high and when a job is advertised the resumes start pouring in and trying to wade through them all to find the diamond in the rough is not an easy task. If they can avoid that by finding a person that is qualified and sent with high recommendations, they're going to take it.

What I want everyone to take from this is to always be mindful of your words and actions as they can open doors for you or cause them to be slammed shut in y our face.

Data Centers need a lot of cooling

By Jason Skidmore

Facebook is planning on building a data center near the arctic circle to take advantage of the cold temperatures throughout the year. Facebook plans to build three giant server halls covering an area the size of 11 football fields. Lulea is situated at the northern tip of the Baltic Sea, close to 62 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The servers rely on air cooling, yet in order to keep them running, it will require 120MW of power, that is roughly enough to supply 16,000 homes. The power needs of the server farm will be met be renewable electricity generated by dams on the Lulea river. Facebook is not the first to look to the near arctic for building server farms. Microsoft has also looked into building a server farm in Siberia. Google has also looked into building one in southern Finland. This seems to be a trend that will continue as more and more data centers are needed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8850575/Facebook-to-build-server-farm-on-edge-of-Arctic-Circle.html

Atmospheric Qualities of Tom Kundig

By Dempson Haney



A prime example of a present day architect practicing total design and the creation of atmosphere is Tom Kundig, “The project can be seen as a collaboration between Tom and the many craftsman he brought to the project to produce a total work of art.” (Kundig 49). His thesis through school was the use of artistic processes and techniques with building sciences to create livable art.

His use of light with the Studio House in Seattle, Washington becomes a focal point of attention. The concept behind the entry is a steel and glass lantern. Like a lantern the source of light isn’t clearly exposed. Instead the light emits from behind the existing brick wall into a corner. This approach creates an attraction not to the light itself but rather to the nook and then around the corner. Once inside the foyer, a long decreasing hall ends with a sliver of light. The occupant is unable to get to the light because of the width, so it leaves a sense of curiosity. In the master bed room, a sheet of translucent plexy is used over drywall to allow dispersed light into the loft. His placement of light other than from the typical recessed ceiling lighting evokes a mood directly connected to our sense of curiosity. Also he does not directly expose you to the source of light but rather its path. (pic p.16) (pic p.18)

Touch referring to texture does not have to have an interaction between object and person. The texture can be implied without the physical touch. Kundig composes various textures by layering them together. Brick and mortar, smooth cast-in-place concrete, concrete cast in wood slap forms, stucco, steel, and other various worked metals are what drive the touch aspect of the atmosphere. By combining various textures he is able to produce intricate spaces and keep one continuous texture from overwhelming the space and becoming bland. (pic p.23)
Kundig’s use of objects becomes the furnishings in his structures. In the Studio House, the crafted blackened steel fireplace contrasts with the bare off white wall to create a focal point.

The Brain studio also in Seattle, Washington uses form in the simplest manner. The artificial lighting within that form thought becomes a very dynamic element at the owner’s choosing. Lighting within the main studio space is rigged to an industrial pulley system that can be adjusted upon the film maker’s digression. Adjusting the lighting height manufactures and ominous effect. (pic p. 75) This interactive lighting system becomes the object within the space as well.
The cast-in-place panels compliment the coniferous trees by mimicking their color and texture variances. By using the buildings materials through texture and color, the site becomes part of the wholistic work of art without actually having to alter the sites context.

The object endowed, is one piece of continuous steel folded like origami and then casted into the concrete panels to form the stairs and balcony. The steel is left in its raw state and even with the carpenter’s marking still inscribed. Even though it is impossible to see the steel as a whole object, the idea of it still lingers in the space.(pic p. 67)

The Delta Shelter built in Mazama, Washington, is a weekend retreat located within the flood plain of eastern Washington by Mazama River. The core ten structures stands solo in the open valley surrounded by trees. This placement conceives the retreat as the object of atmosphere.

Kundig’s use of gizmos throughout his work involves the occupants to interact with the architecture. This interaction immerses the occupant into the atmosphere of the architecture. This emersion is the transduction of enlightenment from the architect during the conception of the idea to interaction of the idea with the occupant.

Ngo, Dung, and Tom Kundig. Tom Kundig: Houses. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. Print.