Looks

Design should not be something that looks good for long enough, it should long to look good. Temporary and false facades and details will show poor craftsman ship quickly, architecture should yearn to be for future generations to enjoy.

Connectivity

Facebook might be one of the best ways to connect with distant and near friends and relatives. I do not fault the great idea of being able to catch up with old friends. I am disheartened when some people post questions or comments that are obvious attempts to find constant companionship, but are missing due to the haphazard nature of web browsing. We look for connectivity for our computers and on-line relationships with passion in our homes wirelessly or while at work or play updating our lives virtually to the web. In relation to architecture and what can be done to create real physical communities, we are ignoring our physically close neighbors due to the convenience of the web and the fear of losing old friends and the fear of having to meet and learn about new people. Developers and architects have helped us become more insular, telling us what we should like in the style of a house and spending money on the size of the dwelling unit, not the intangible price of a front porch and sidewalk to interact with our neighbors. We are connected and not connected. Walking around your neighborhood, interacting with others is vital to our sense of community. A group of houses is not a community just because a developer places those words on a sign. A community can arise from any physical or web-based connection, but our vehicle driven society is submerging the physical communities that exist in more active and well planned neighborhoods and cities. I believe that taking a hike is the best way to be connected, to our selves, our neighbors, our community, our planet.

Networking II

Someone asked what is the best way to get work for me. Well, really, just one project can launch three more, then those three can launch six or nine. Honestly, just get me to one new client that will spend time and appreciate architecture and the process can become downhill instead of an uphill battle. Geometrically would be nice, but more to the point, getting a marketing campaign organized and a uniform presence is my next step. That step continues tonight with more graphic design, then hopefully more evening networking events next week with the under 40 crowd in West Chester.

Where we live

Both of the books I have recently read have a quote from Winston Churchill; "There is no doubt whatever about the influence of architecture and structure upon human character and action. We make our buildings and afterwards they make us. They regulate the course of our lives." These words are so true and can be attributed to our lifestyle in America. We are consumers through and through, with developers breeding us to accept poor grade architecture as sufficient living quarters. Let's have more fun about architecture, not just the dollar signs, but how we interact and use our spaces, both public and private.

End of and Era

Watching the last Conan O'Brien show was difficult and awesome! I'm with Coco! His parting words were candid and inspirational. To have Tom Hanks, Neil Young, and Will Farrell say goodbye in that manner was just amazing. I have yearned to do the best in my life, and with his last statement, I apologize to anyone that has ever thought of me as cynical, (Mr. Lutz, my high school teacher), with a goal of building my own house and being involved locally, cynicism is the last thing on my list to enjoy.

Passion

There are so many architects, but I fear that many of them do not do it for the art, just a job. This belief is evident in the architecture that surrounds us. If you are not passionate about your job, let alone the art of architecture, please leave the field.

Done with one book

Finally, done with "House Thinking." Very good book, more people should read it to understand how and why we live the way we do. I slightly disagree with the last chapter about some of the benefits of sprawl-burbia, being able to get away from noise and neighbors, but poor construction and location doesn't help my situation. Porches are so necessary and the New Urbanists, I think I am one, agree that they help neighborhoods. Next is "Why Architecture Matters." It will be as thought provoking, I am sure.