It's been a long two days, so here are some photos of school work. First one is about trying to make a game with rules (like the Game of Life) out of the simple task of cutting across a city grid. Next up is a preliminary look at the macroeconomics of Bangladesh. I tried... Continue Reading →
Before my studio began the Co-Lab in Old City Philadelphia we were asked to spend a week designing a food truck garage and food truck service to be housed on our eventual studio site at the base of the Franklin Bridge. I focused on minimizing embodied energy, from construction material to truck fuel, seeking to... Continue Reading →
"What is a diagram?" is a deceptively difficult question to answer in a satisfying way. Diagrams are abstract, not necessarily representational. They should suggest potential, identify relationships, and be able to generate and stimulate new ideas. A diagram is an incomplete reduction of thoughts and ideas which allow for new connections and relationships to be... Continue Reading →
The project mentioned yesterday involved the design of a co-lab or co-working space in Old City, Philadelphia. We were introduced to Alex Hillman of Indy Hall (read a good interview with him here courtesy of Philadelphia Magazine), and were told of spaces like 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. These organizations work off of two principles, firstly that independent... Continue Reading →
At PennDesign they make an effort to introduce architecture first at the scale of object, furniture then space, with the second studio starting with the scale of the city and working down to the scale of a building. Half a semester is dedicated to studying site analysis and the neighborhood context of the site. ... Continue Reading →
A brief note on a project with plenty of potential but one which did not materialize by the time the semester ended. http://cargocollective.com/studio501/Adam-B-Achrati Achrati Exercise 3 2 Achrati Exercise 3 1 I had wanted to mix part of the movie 2046 (even after watching it 6 times I am not sure what exactly is going on)... Continue Reading →
As my schedule settles down I hope to put more time into these posts. For now I am running through grad school, starting with a small project intended to analyze a habit or routine. I chose to document the way I read a book, the way I turned a page. This led, though some arbitrary... Continue Reading →
Chefchaouen is a small city in northern Morocco with a breathtakingly beautiful old city, where whitewashed walls are covered with indigo dyes to create a blue labyrinth. The history of the city includes a sizable Jewish and Morisco quarter during the 15th century, and Spanish occupation in the 20th century. This history created an urban... Continue Reading →
Enric Miralles was a Catalan architect whose projects were defined by (I would argue, perhaps wrongly) a deconstructivist style greatly influenced by an intricate sense of whimsy and whose work spanned many continents and many scales. Arguably best known for the Scottish Parliament Building in Edinburgh and the Mercat Santa Caterina in Barcelona (both with partner Benedetta... Continue Reading →
Adam Achrati 