Why Mies really left Germany From The Guardian, "Mies and the Nazis" by Tom Dyckhoff: "It was hard for someone to ignore politics in 1930s Germany, but Mies did his best... Starved of work, Mies tried to ingratiate himself with this new, powerful and rich state patron, signing a motion of support for Hitler in... Continue Reading →
52. Big Brother
Where the CCTV cameras are The CCTV Map project is an attempt to map out the location of all the security cameras in London (though it seemed to start and end in 2012). In 2013 Fast.Co wrote an article about a proposed app SURV which would show users their location vis-a-vis nearby security cameras (spoiler... Continue Reading →
38. Color Wheel
The color wheel Light uses color in an additive process to combine red, blue and green to make white. Pigment uses subtractive color to combine cyan, magenta and yellow to make black. I've had a few teachers and colleagues make a point to view images on a computer screen using CMYK, rather than RBG, because... Continue Reading →
37. Elementary Ergonomics
Elementary ergonomics The blog/podcast (now magazine) Funambulist focuses on the 'politics of space and bodies' and has looked often oat the interface of the human body and the built environment. The article "Patterns of Life" by Gregoire Chamayou surveyed many examples of mapping the movement of people (or just their limbs). The image above shows... Continue Reading →
36. Vastu Shilpa
Something about Vastu Shilpa Vastu Shilpa is an architecture firm (VSC) focusing architectural practice, and a foundation (VSF) focusing on research linking the profession and academy. Their firm website (Vastu Shilpa Consultants) shows an entry for the Guggenheim Helsinki competition, and Youtube shows their entry for a new government city in Amaravati, India. The scale... Continue Reading →
35. Feng Shui
Something about feng shui Feng Shui has gone from orthodox principles, with holistic philosophy and worldview to a plural marketplace of ideas as many different schools coexist, to be interpreted by the individual student. This has some parallels to contemporary design schools, two generations removed from the orthodoxy of Modernism and one generation removed from... Continue Reading →
17. BIM
Building information modeling (BIM) For this post, delayed and swapped out with Jane Jacobs due to her centennial two weeks ago, I defer to my friend Alec and his blog The Architect's Companion. Note articles such as "The Benefits of BIM" and "The Personification of Revit".
33. Hydrology is destiny
Hydrology is destiny I've written before about topography, but without expanding on the fact that all topography is shaped by plate tectonics and water. Every ridge and valley was carved by rain. Settlement patterns, cultural links, trade have all been shaped by hydrology. Sorkin already mentioned "the rate at which the seas are rising" (#16),... Continue Reading →
32. Prevailing Winds
The direction of prevailing winds Prevailing winds play an important role in siting/orienting a building, as part of a larger effort towards passive cooling. (Taliesin West, in dry hot Scottsdale Arizona, is laid out to catch prevailing wind in an effort at passive cooling. The devoted and zealous disciples/tour guides made many a mention of... Continue Reading →
31 Mud Construction
The basics of mud construction Not rammed earth, but mud construction. With all the concern about maintenance and US infrastructure (see John Oliver clip) mud construction offers an interesting solution: make maintenance so involved that it becomes a communal activity (Youtube clip of the film Powaqqatsi). Or, like the Djinbuereber Mosque in Timbuktu, make the... Continue Reading →
Adam Achrati 