To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

May 19, 2013

"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...

"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...

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...

May 18, 2013

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,...

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