"The Former Project Manager Turned Sand Castle Builder" by Eric Spitznagel

During the late 1990s, Kirk Rademaker felt like his life was falling apart. He was a project manager for Mueller Nicholls, a construction company in West Oakland, Calif. The stresses of his job, which involved coordinating between architects, contractors, and clients, were proving too much for him. “You’re like an hourglass, and all the information goes through your head,” he remembers. “Everybody’s looking at you for answers.” On top of that, he was going through a divorce, which made him less focused at work. “I was spending $90 an hour to see a therapist,” he says. “And all he told me was that I had textbook depression.”

Rademaker began taking regular trips to nearby Stinson Beach to gaze at the ocean and build sand castles. “It was very healing and therapeutic,” he says. “I didn’t have to think about all the responsibilities that felt like they were crashing down on me. I was just being creative.” He soon discovered he had a talent for it—learning how to create extravagant sand sculptures that could tower as high as 10 feet—and began competing in sand castle competitions across the Bay Area. His new hobby didn’t always sit well with his employers. “When a contractor calls up and wants to talk to me because there’s a problem on the job,” Rademaker says, “they don’t want to hear, ‘Oh, he’s off building sand castles.’ It didn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

Then his girlfriend at the time, a fellow sand sculptor who goes by the professional name Sandy Feet, called and invited him to a sand castle competition in Italy. “I was juggling four projects at Mueller Nicholls, and people were already upset with me for taking too much time off,” he says. “So I told her no, I couldn’t join her. I hung up the phone and looked out the windows in my office, at the oil-stained asphalt streets of Oakland. And I thought, My god, what did I just do?” It was at that moment, he says, when he decided he would quit his job and devote himself full-time to building sand castles.

It took almost a decade before Rademaker, now 61, started earning an income comparable to his tenure as a project manager. Today he lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., and runs Sand Guys International, a professional sand sculpture company he co-founded in 2009 with Rusty Croft. 

His sand art doesn’t come cheap. Typical costs are “$100 an hour or $1,000 a day,” he says. “It really depends on who the client is.” His clients, hard-won after years of proving himself on the sand castle circuit, include Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), Facebook (FB), and George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic, which has hired him for everything from corporate theme parties to promotional events. He travels regularly across the globe, creating sand sculptures in such places as Turkey, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, and New Zealand. He and Croft recently signed an endorsement deal with Ocean Potion sunscreen. “We’re going on the road for them,” he says. “I’m pretty sure we’re the first sand carvers to ever get a product endorsement.”

Although he’s busier than ever, Rademaker insists that stress is now a distant memory for him. He loves everything about his job, including the disposability of his creations. “People ask me all the time, ‘Don’t you want to do something permanent?’” Rademaker bursts into laughter. “Now why would I want to do that?”

for more of Kirk's works visit http://www.kirkrademaker.com

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"Can Technology Save the World?" by David Olson

Can technology save the world? 

In short: No, not by itself. A sweeping set of changes in the way we interact with the planet is needed to stabilize our rapidly deteriorating biosphere and avert a bleak future. Technology is simply a tool to help us achieve these changes. A dangerous argument, however, is when decision-makers and influencers say our impact on the planet is not a concern, and changes in our behavior are not needed in the near future, or ever, because technology will save us. Sounds ridiculous, but various forms of this argument are commonly invoked in government and international forums, particularly when profits and votes come into play.

planetary boundries

Environmental denialists and conservative think tanks parrot several pollyannic arguments that humans are too clever to fail. And they argue what we need is more unregulated economies to foster technological advances. The media oftentimes reinforces this same attitude by headlining how that ‘this’ or ‘that’ new advance will help save the world without placing its potential contribution in the proper context. The danger in this is that real conversations and substantive actions to improve the situation, now, when it is most needed, fall to the wayside.

World-Saving Technologies

So, what kind of technological advances can really help save the world? In short, they are technologies that will enable humans to back away from the “planetary boundaries” essential to a habitable Earth. Johan Rockström and others propose nine planetary boundaries needed to maintain favorable, livable conditions on our planet: global freshwater use; land system change (ex. loss of natural habitat and agricultural lands); climate change (increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and its subsequent warming); ocean acidification; stratospheric ozone that protects us from intense radiation; the biogeochemical nitrogen (N) cycle and phosphorus (P) cycle; the rate at which biological diversity is lost; chemical pollution; and atmospheric aerosol loading. A measure of terrestrial primary (plant) production (TPP) has also been recommended by Steven Running as an important planetary boundary.

For a technological advance to really help us, it must be able to diminish the impact of our destructive behaviors, reduce harmful waste products, or enhance economic and social conditions at global scales in a way that planetary conditions and processes can be pushed towards a more favorable, sustainable state. In other words, while a new technology may be very clever and useful for a portion of society, if it does not efficiently reach enough people at a reasonable cost, and does not drive significant, positive changes in our planet’s vital signs, then its contribution is wholly limited.

Energy Needs & Climate Change
So what are examples of technologies that can help save the planet? If scientists figure out how to utilize energy from controlled fusion reactions, then world-changing shifts in our current energy use (fossil fuels, hydropower, nuclear, biofuels) and a reduction in harmful by-products will occur. Fusion drives our sun, but safely replicating that process on Earth to create a sustainable energy source has eluded us so far. Improved solar, wind, and tidal energy technologies will help, but they will have to replace a significant percentage of fossil fuel to really slow global warming and acidifying oceans. However, technologies do not have to be complex or expensive to make a real difference. The GravityLight, an electricity source generated by the slow fall of a lifted weight, can bring power to billions around the world and, consequently, reduce the need for fuel wood, coal plants, and hydroelectric dams, resulting in less deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions, and fewer aerosols in the atmosphere.

Agriculture
Technological advances in agriculture that might greatly increase productivity on less land and with less need for poisons (ex. herbicides, pesticides, fungicides) can increase food security, reduce the need for conversion of natural lands, and improve the quality of life for humans. Fewer pesticides will also help pollination systems rebound and natural ecosystems be more resilient. Agricultural advances have the potential to benefit many farmers on the frontiers of biodiversity loss if employed correctly. Moreover, we are increasingly seeing the genetic modification of crops and cultivars, which has many controversial benefits and drawbacks. Cell phones, money transfer apps, micro-financing services, and accessible weather forecasting are other technology-based tools that are helping millions of farmers and marketers in developing countries; the more efficient and fair their farming is, the less natural habitat will be lost. We will also see greater food security and social stability as a result.

Environmental Justice & Well-Being
The emergence of rapid, real-time global communication and networking at all levels of society will make innovative technologies more accessible and should act as a vigilant watchdog on those who commit crimes against the Earth in the future. Technologies that help ensure that most people are well-fed, healthy, and enjoying democracy and justice will all contribute to a more stable social and political environment  Simple technological advances, such as needleless vaccinations and innovative designs for outhouses, may help bring a major reduction in disease in many parts of the world, making for a better quality of life and enhanced stability.

Saving Biodiversity
New tools for those trying to stem the hemorrhaging of biodiversity offer an important contribution. Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) are currently counting elephants, rhinos, whales, and orangutans, mapping forest loss and fire damage, and tracking poachers, whalers, and loggers around the world. GPS, remote camera technologies, portable solar panels, bar-coding to control the wildlife and tropical timber trade, inexpensive ultralight aircraft, and comprehensive online databases of invasive species have all helped customs agents, protected area managers, and conservationists maximize limited resources and manpower.

Waste Management
Technology that can better reduce the most harmful waste products―like greenhouse gases, chlorofluorocarbons that destroy stratospheric ozone, radioactive waste, and toxins and other harmful compounds like endocrine-disruptors―are certainly useful if significant volumes can be cleaned up to markedly improve conditions for the entire biosphere, in general. For example, nanoparticles are being tested for their ability to absorb pharmaceutical compounds in drinking water and carbon dioxide at power plants— a trick gleaned from sea urchins that use nickel to turn a seawater’s carbon dioxide into shell. Recent proposals to build enormous arrays to trap waste plastic in ocean gyres have also garnered much attention and represent a concept advocating action at an appropriate global scale.

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David J. Olson has 25+ years of global development management and communications experience on five continents and in four languages. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching agriculture in Togo, he founded a grass-roots network in Mali and managed health social marketing programs in Paraguay, Bangladesh and Zambia for PSI, founding non-profits in Zambia and Paraguay that have become leading NGOs. The five programs he started or helped start accounted for 17.3% of PSI's health impact worldwide in 2012. At PSI in Washington, David managed external relations, pioneered advocacy with the U.S. government, developed the external relations capacity of African, Asian and Russian affiliates and managed relations with major U.S. and European media. He served as director of Policy Communications at the Global Health Council from 2009-2011. He now runs his own global development communications firm, Olson Global Communications.
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House of Mr.R, Moscow

 House for Mr.R' by Za bor Architects, Moscow, Russia

Design intentions

The building is located in a historic village not far from the center of Moscow. The work was hampered by a small plot and a large number of old trees that had to be maintained. In the village, houses are fairly close, so the entrance facade has virtually no windows – the main rooms are facing the interior of the site where the two wings of the building form a cozy courtyard. The premises, are located along the southern facade for maximum direct sunlight. Above a double height living room, there´s a roof garden. In this garden there is an exit connecting to the corridor on the second floor (bedrooms). Below, on the first floor we find the public areas (living room, dining room, ancillary buildings), and on the second floor the master’s and children’s bedrooms, and an office. Skylights on the roof bring natural daylight to the interiors.

the home's plan skirts around and incorporates the existing trees on the site

Technical data

Construction The house has solid-cast reinforced concrete frame with piers and bridging and walls made of brick. One wall is sloped (hacking brickwork). There are two apartment floors and a basement storey deepened to 1,20 meters below ground level (the only thing deeper is a wine cellar). The services: water pumps, blowing wells, an emergency diesel-generator and a fuel storage tank are located in the basement storey. A sanitary piping, gas and electricity supply are also arranged in the basement. The rooftop is made of one-piece and has the maximum slope of 12 angle degrees. It is provided with clerestories to lighten a stair shaft and a dormer. There is an accessible roof area for sunbathing or picnic located between the house wings. There are two balconies and one recessed balcony on the second apartment floor. The recessed balcony adjoins a closet and is sheltered from rainfall by glass shed with a metal frame. Outflows made of thin stainless pipes are being raised above the rooftop level and sloped against the house space to intensify an aesthetic impression. Built area: 300 square meters (560 sq m floor area) Location: Moscow, Russia Finish material Walls outsidec plaster and exterior house paint, paving tiles Walls inside: gres, wooden panels (wenge, oak), paint Flooring: gres, marble, river pebbles (decorative covering), glass, wooden floor (oak) Ceiling: paint

slopes and recesses create a dynamic exterior

Despite its deconstructivist sensibility, the imposing faceted gray structure 'house of mr. r' in moscow draws its forms from a deep sensitivity to the greenery of site. za bor architects were given carte blanche to design the single-family home, albeit with the stipulation that the architecture respect the existing trees on the 1800 square meter plot. The plan skirts around and incorporates birches, oaks and pines and the design team even went so far as to create and embed a special concrete pipe into the foundation to preserve a tree root.

pipes and pragmatic building systems are worked into the design 

While the volumes grew from the layout of the foundation, the home is carefully composed into public and private areas, emphasized by way of material and color. The monochromatic reinforced concrete exterior counters white marble interiors dotted with channels of pebbles and black built-in furniture. A wine cellar is expanded with tinted glass mirrors and wrapped in a pattern of corian and dark wood. contrastingly, the more private areas are swathed in warmer materials-- oak paneling and cream-colored textiles work in conjunction with band skylight to create airy bedrooms and bathrooms. The sloped roof is actually a single faceted piece, accessible for sunbathing and or picnicking while providing choice apertures to bathe the home with interior light.

austere exteriors meet materially keen interiors

white marble and black built-in furniture characterize the ground level 

view into the living space

the main stair to the second floor has a wraparound bar

vertical circulation also acts as a material transition 

views of the main stair and bar

the dining area highlights its floating planes with diffused light

choice glazing allows plenty of interior light in the more private spaces 

views of the space-conscious bathroom 

interior views of the bathroom

bedrooms are clad in oak and enjoy views of the sky 

a wine cellar is expanded by tinted glass

a corian and wood pattern delineate the wine cellar

plan level 1

plan level 2 

sections

Elevations

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Tchoban Foundation – Museum for Architectural Drawing, Berlin

In its 1970s heyday, interest in architectural drawing revolved around the twin poles of conceptually critical grids and the ruination of Piranesi. While the first category resulted in plenty of buildings—some of the work of the New York Five comes to mind—the impact of the latter was seldom direct. The new Museum for Architectural Drawing in Berlin picks up the slack, both with its form and with its first exhibition, “Piranesi’s Paestum: Master Drawings Uncovered,” drawn from the collection of the Sir John Soane Museum in London.

Situated on the site of a former factory in Prenzlauer Berg, the museum, by SPEECH Tchoban and Kuznetsov, is composed of stacked volumes forming a man-made cliff on the edge of an open space. The architects take this fake ruination further by what appear to be either formwork lines or quarrying marks; a closer look reveals they are drawings carved into the façade.

The Museum will house rotating exhibitions from the Tchoban Foundation’s collection, collaborating with other museums to bring a wider appreciation of architectural drawing to Berlin and beyond.

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The Location

The Museum for Architectural Drawing at Pfefferberg takes its place alongside the rich array of important cultural institutions in the capital. The museum’s new building is located at the western entrance to Pfefferberg from Christinenstraße, the site of the former brewery between Schönhauser Allee and Teutoburger Platz in Prenzlauer Berg. This area has developed since the 1990s from a non-profit organization to become a centre for Berlin’s cultural scene. Today numerous studios, workshops, agencies, galleries and event-spaces are gathered within the listed industrial buildings and vaults around the renowned Architecture Forum Aedes, with its research and convention centre, Aedes Network Campus Berlin.

Sketch

Architectural Design

The striking construction is extended from a fire-wall and latches onto a row of typical old Berlin houses. The Museum for Architectural Drawing is a four-storey solid corpus with a glass floor stacked on top. The profile of the four floors is reminiscent of casually piled up blocks. The building’s silhouette is created by a regression and progression of façade elements, and demonstrates a freedom of form that relates to the conventions of the neighbouring historic Berlin buildings and yet is unorthodox and minimalist in its gesture.

The Museum for Architectural Drawing is an exceptional example of contemporary architecture in its construction, design and choice of materials. The powerful expression of its formal language cannot be overlooked though it still responds sensitively to its surroundings. The coloured concrete and glass façades of the building are rich in contrast and layers. Its closed surface is detailed with strong magnified fragments of architectural sketches in relief form. The museum has a floor area of approximately 490 square metres, and contains an entrance area, two exhibition rooms, the museum depository and a conference room.

The Collector and the Collection

Sergei Tchoban, born in 1962 in Saint Petersburg, developed a passion for architectural drawing during his student years at the Russian Academy of Arts in his home city. Here he discovered his love for the old Masters and began himself to draw. In 2001, the purchase of a drawing by Pietro di Gottardo Gonzaga was the foundation stone for his collection. Since then, the collection has grown to include several hundred sheets from different periods: from architects of the 16th century to the present day, from Cerceau to Gehry.

The Tchoban Foundation was founded at the end of 2009 with the aim of keeping the interest in architectural representation through drawing alive and to support young talent in this field. Together with the founder Sergei Tchoban, Dr. h. c. Kristin Feireiss, founder of the Aedes Architectural Forum and Dr. Eva-Maria Barkhofen, director of the Architectural Archive at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, two experts highly esteemed in and beyond their specialized fields, form the foundation’s board of trustees.

Concept and Users

The Museum for Architectural Drawing will show three exhibitions annually. These will comprise exhibits from its own collection as well as loans from international cooperation partners such as the John Soane‘s Museum, the Hermitage and the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which in turn will present exhibitions from the Tchoban Foundation in their galleries.

The private Museum for Architectural Drawing will open its doors for the first time on the 4th June, 2013 at Pfefferberg in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

Berlin and Moscow based renowned architect Sergei Tchoban, has joined with Sergey Kuznetsov of SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov, to create a space for architectural drawings. The new museum will provide a home for the internationally renowned Tchoban Foundation collection as well as for temporary exhibits from leading cultural institutions around the world. Architect and passionate collector Tchoban has finally realized his dream to create the ideal setting for architectural drawings.

The Tchoban Foundation. Museum for Architectural Drawing opens its programme with ‘Piranesi’s Paestum: Master Drawings Uncovered’. In presenting this singular collection from the Sir John Soane‘s Museum in London, one of the oldest architectural museums in the world, the Museum for Architectural Drawing marks its intention to continue this tradition.

Architects: SPEECH Tchoban & Kuznetsov
Location: Christinenstraße 18a, 10119 Berlin, Germany
Architects In Charge: Sergei Tchoban and Sergey Kuznetsov
Planning, Project Management: nps tchoban voss GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin
Project Team: Philipp Bauer, Nadja Fedorova, Katja Fuks, Ulrike Graefenhain, Dirk Kollendt

Structural Engineering: PPW Dipl.-Ing- D. Paulisch, Berlin
Façade: MBM Konstruktionen GmbH, Möckmühl
Façade Graphics: Heimann und Schwantes, Berlin
Façade Consultants: Priedemann Fassadenberatung GmbH, Berlin

Area: 498.0 sqm

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