Tweediness

Possibly my favorite group in Chicago held it's first inaugural ride this past weekend, the British Bicycling Club of Chicago, the BBC (if that's not a clever name, I don't know what is). Dressed only in extreme class, about thirty of us mounted our noble steeds in search of history, knowledge, fun, and of course cold beers. Led by a member of Big Shoulders Reality, we rode our way through about 12 miles of Chicago city streets, stopping at various speakeasies, gangster hangouts, and murder sites throughout the city to learn about Chicago's long history of booze and bloodshed. The weather was perfect and the riders outstanding...we turned heads at every stop. Riders of all ages and backgrounds converged together for a common mission...to admire each others bikes and enjoy a day outdoors. I am truly impressed with my companions dedication to everything British and classy. It was a ride to envy and one of those days that reminds me how much random adventures Chicago has to offer.

Here are a few of my pictures, again I need to work on my photography skills, but nevertheless...power to the tweed!















Man on Stilts! Also a bike trick master, hope to see him on the next ride...


















Joan leads the pack!


















Learning about the history of Twin Anchors














The group listening intently













A couple of classy gentleladies

Rebuild Together.

I've fallen behind in postings yet again. However, this time it is because I have been so busy doing amazing things that I can now write about. As the weather warms our frozen bones, the people of Chicago begin to emerge and I am reminded again what a truly awesome city I am currently living in. One of my adventures as of late was the nationwide Rebuild Together event on April 25th. This event takes place every spring in cities all around the country. It serves as a national day of rebuilding lower income, elderly, and disabled households and focuses on specific neighborhoods in order to promote community interaction and enhancement. Chicago draws a huge supply of volunteers, I heard rumor that there were over 3,000 of us this year working to repair over 80 houses! As a member of the AIA Chicago team, I am very proud of our accomplishments!

The house we rebuilt was owned by a 75 year old women living with seven adopted grandchildren. Let me tell you, if you ever have a desire to face claustrophobia head on, gather a huge household, 30 architects, and a stray dog together in a small house on a rainy day and rip out all the furniture piece by piece. Although the house was bursting at the seams with eager helpers, we worked quickly and efficiently and were able to replace the entire kitchen, both bathrooms, every carpet, repaint all the rooms, and I wish I could say install new doors, but due to technical glitches...those are probably still waiting patiently in the garage for installation.

It was a really fun, and really tiring day. I had so much fun meeting fellow architects interested in community involvement, and taking part in the excitement of a new home and the great achievements made in a single day. Here are some unartful pictures I was able to snap in between jobs....

So, I need to work on my blogging picture skills....
Regardless, what an incredibly satisfying Saturday...
Check it out. http://www.rebuildingtogether.org/

Flavor of the Week

I am sure it is normal that I obsess over singular artists, one at a time, methodically combing my way through a city's art scene. I can't seem to help myself, once I find something I like, I just can't get enough. Well my (and I think half of Chicago's) artist de jour is the hot new talent of Angel Otero. If you've picked up the art section of any paper in the last few weeks, you will instantly recognize this young man and his vibrant works.

Angel grew up modestly in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, without access to either books or art. I believe I read that his first art lesson as a young boy involved a friend sharing with him the ever popular works of Hello Kitty.

When he was offered a scholarship to SAIC, jumped at the opportunity and has since skyrocketed to 'hot new artist' acclaim. I find his art unique, inspirational, and indicitive of his past; but most importantly, fun. He combines whimsy and feeling with a unique three dimensional painting quality. He draws on inspiration from his home and family as well as other artists. He paints for fun, and loves what he does, and these facts most certainly shine through in his work. He stands out from the crowd in my mind through his use of texture and color in new and freespirited ways. He walks the fine line between harnessing his knowledge of shape and form and freeing himself from this rigidity to allow experimentation and growth.

Be sure to keep an eye out for more from Angel. He is about to finish his MFA at the School of the Art Institute, and although I can't say where this free spirit will continue from here, I am sure he will remain a strong staple in the art community, and my flavor of the week for quite some time.

Check out more at his website, www.angelotero.com

~above image, Pretty Crowded, oil on canvas, 60” x 72”, 2008~

Eat Shit.....and Sustain?

Unfortunately, this is not a post venting my feelings about those who have scorned me in the past. I've always cringed at the phrase, 'eat shit and die', and besides, I am a lady. One must be truly fuming to throw out such a vulgar and drastic insult. Those are probably two of the last things I would want demanded of me. This, my friends, is a post in honor of the quickly approaching Earth Day, and a segue into my fascination with the numerous amount of inspirational people Chicago has to offer.

In my never ending quest for knowledge, I have stumbled across a true champion of mother nature's natural processes. On the off chance that someone out there reads this blog, I feel no need to name names, but I have recently come across the story of an urban ecologist with a mission to educate Chicagoans about their surroundings and reconnect city dwellers to the natural environment. I think to myself, this lady is fascinating, the other side to my coin, a lover of the paradoxical relationship between man and nature, a proponent of harmony. She has worked many fascinating jobs, followed her passions, and made great impacts in her field. One of her hobbies is leading two hour walks through city streets, educating city dwellers about edible plants growing all around us, which I will probably sign up for after finishing this post.

Then I get to the meat of why she has earned a full page rap in this paper...she has set out on a long and extensive project to collect 22 of her closest friends human waste, compost it, and return it to them for use in their vegetable gardens. Of course, such an endeavor takes a lot of knowledge, dedication, and hard work. I am truly fascinated by this project and its possible repercussions. I don't think its far fetched to believe that sometime far, far down the road, we will all learn to hold more respect for our bodies and their natural processes and the true cycle of life. As she says, one can take something almost all of us are uncomfortable with, make friends with it, transform it, and use it to grow flowers. Although I cringe at the idea of eating food grown in part by human excrement, I challenge us all to sit down and think about where the food we ingested today came from, I am willing to bet that most all Americans have eaten something with more foul origins than our own composted waste.

While this sad truth is sobering, I don't see large scale human waste composition in our immediate future. The article could not disclose the location of her composting collection, as it is illegal to contain such a large amount of human waste in an urban environment. I suppose we can hold on to the sophomoric and threatening demand I opened with for just a bit longer....perhaps I should vent some of those hostilities before it's too late...

A Series of Pretentious Questions

I've decided that since I can never find a significant amount of time to make a worthwhile blog post, I have conceded to short spurts of thought at increasingly frequent intervals. Some of these may be bad, and that scares me a little, many will digress from topic, but hopefully more will be radical and worthwile.

Lately I have grown inexplicably obsessed with questions. Perhaps because I am stuck in a perpetual, year long, difficult, drastic turning point of life, perhaps because I spend too much time alone in my car, or maybe because I'm an architect and we are bred to question everything. Regardless, I find myself rapid firing questions in my head, or often aloud, with no desire for an answer or resolution, but for the sole purpose of wonderment. So here goes.....

Why are humans so drawn to beautiful, sunny days outdoors? Does everyone think this way? Are there people out there who wouldn't jump at the chance to spend time in nature? Why am I so drawn to dive bars, hole in the walls, derelict buildings, etc. but cringe at the thought of living in a cluttered environment? Do I thrive on a state of oxymoron? Why do people move away from dense urbanity to 'get away from the stress' when I find it so stressful to be forced to drive to a destination? What inspires creativity and human thought? Are people drawn to those inspired by similar muses or is this a case of do opposites attract? Can one thrive on the interaction of people while being herself/himself an incredibly introverted personality? Can the interaction of others be an inspiration to an outside observer? Can one achieve this outside observation if they themselves are in the midst of such interaction?

I tend to have love affairs of sorts with punctuations....perhaps this symbolizes my life track. There was a long period of obsession with the period. I refused to use other means of punctuation. The period was so simple, so easy, so bold. As I plan a next phase of life, my penchant has shifted to the precarious question mark... sensuous, non-conformative, and funky, it brings a new vision and a hint at the unknown.

Perhaps I ask too many questions, but when you stop wondering, what does your life become?

Like Barack Obama Said, 'Now it's Time for a Change'

Like many out there, the last few months have been a whirlwind for me. I have fallen into a bit of a slump you may say. Having finally having secured a coveted job in these tough times, I was ecstatic and motivated to push forward with my career and dare I say....have a little hope. I found myself doing quite well, while the world around me floundered and seemed set on a never ending downward spiral.

By the time January 20th rolled around, I like the rest, hm perhaps a majority, of America was salivating for some sign of this a fore promised change. When Barack took the podium, my mind was racing. What reforms will end up on top? How quickly will they start to happen? How will they affect America? and perhaps most importantly... What does this mean for the future of architecture?

Many things have been promised to the American people. Green jobs, new infrastructure, increased sustainability are all high on the new government's priority list. Many of the positions Obama supports have been issues I, as well as many of my collegues, have been pushing for quite some time. Now America will have a chance to see that without government on our side, change is nearly impossible. With the new administration comes a renewed hope in the field of design. Finally, we can feel that those with power can hear us, they understand what must be done, and that it must be done now. No one has time to waste in the fight for a more sustainable future, because every day that goes by without change is a step in the wrong direction.

I came across an article over the weekend praising Obama's urban sensibilities and desire to transform America into an efficient and ecological urban centered country. Could this possibly mean a stop, even and end, to my personally dreaded suburban sprawl? One thing this article did point out is that this recession, along with a new and forward thinking administration, means a definite and profound shift in the architectural proffession. Gone, it proclaimed, is the age of the 'starchitect'. It has for some time been my belief that the Gehry's, Calatrava's, Fosters, etc. of the world, while certainly talented, are not the end-all of architectural design.

As we enter a new age, a more urban, infrastructurally driven age, those of use out there with a drive and passion for sustainability, simplicity, and functionality find ourself in a position to take the reigns of design into our own hands. So, the resurrection of this blog comes with more than just the promise that I have found myself with some spare time these days, but also with a renewed sense of hope. I am ready and waiting to get behind this almost life-like vision of change Obama has created. However, I am also here to prove that we are teetering on the edge of a new era, architecture as we know it in America will change, it has to. But it is not up to a new, and reletively inexperienced, president to drive this change. It is up to us in the profession to realize what must be done and take it upon ourselves to make that change. Obama's hope may be an inspiration to us all, but it our actions that will truely speak and drive American cities into a more positive and prosperous time. Welcome back all.

METADESIGN

If you are wondering what metadesign might mean, you can find all the answers you need in bestselling author Richard Farson's new book, The Power of Design: A Force for Transforming Everything. In this provacative new book, Farson describes metadesign as a new level of design that can 'rectify fundamental public ills by addressing the needs of all people'. He credits architects as the gatekeepers of change, with designs holding the power to positively affect and transform the ravages of poverty, the faltering American education system, and the failing criminal justice system. That's a lot of weight for architects to shoulder, but really isn't that what design is all about? Which brings me to a question I have been grappling with lately, what is the motivation of great architects?

It seems like in today's world, often the firms and designers given the most applause and publicity are the ones pushing the envelope of possibility. The more daring the design, the taller the building, the more innovative the project, the more praise, the more success. Of course, it is vital that the profession advance, and that new and innovative buildings are created. As societal and technical advances are made, architecture too must adapt and change. However, as buildings are pushing their vertical limit in Dubai and high end designs are becoming more and more ecologically friendly and technically advanced, what happens to the large portion of our society not only financially unable to reap the benefits of this new wave of innovation, but at the same time seemingly pushed aside in favor of designs that will draw attention and prove economically successful?

How does one determine a successful design, when those measures span in range from the digital morphology of form concocted by architects like Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava to new ways to encourage a successful merging of incomes, races, genders, and lifestyles in the multi-family living environment. Could it be argued that a design is actually more societally effective if it is not a multi-million dollar, eye-catching project, but rather a cost-effective complement to the historical fabric of an environment? I make no attempt to answer that question (although I often find myself leaning towards one direction) for both of these components of design are important to progression of the architectural field. The underlying point remains, that although architects are agents of design and artistry, they are also dictators of societal patterns. The successes and failures of institution, housing development, governmental regulations, etc. can often be linked to the surrounding built environment.

One easy example of this is the astounding failure of the American housing projects of the 1900's. Whoever thought it a wise design decision to gather a city's poor population into cumbersome buildings lacking identity, amenities, convenience, or any sort of redeeming factor was soon proven desperately wrong. We now face a possibly endless and difficult process of repairing this damage and creating an integrated societal structure. It is now important for architects to realize their dramatic impact upon these structures and systems. Whatever the motivation behind design, the result directly impacts society and the way people live. It is vital that as society grows and changes, that architecture advances as well; however, it is also important that we realize that a constant pushing of this envelope must strive to encompass all of society and not just stand out from the rest. Buildings and surroundings dictate the way people think, work, and react to the world around them. As architects, we hold the power to influence and enhance the path of society. As Farson points out in his new book, as architects realize their full potential, there is no limit to the role we can play in future societies.

Critics have said that no one in the architecture field can afford not to read The Power of Design. In my opinion, societies and urban structures can't afford for us not to read this book, absorb it's wisdom, and buckle down to make a change.