It's Been Fun

You can now find me at two new spots on the web:

BKingsley - a personal weblog

Finding Form - weekly posting on ideas, design, and creative culture

I think the two formats will work better for my two different groups of readership and will allow me to tailor more specifically to what you all want to read. So, whether you come to Studio109 for photography and anecdotal stories, or posts on architecture and design there is still something for you either here or there.

Goodbye Blogger

Dear Blogger,

I am sorry. I had to leave you. Honestly, it's not you...it's me. I have a problem. I get stir crazy and need change. You were faithful to me for two and a half years. In the beginning it was exciting, you and me...boy this is hard. I loved discovering all of your new features, but after a while the newness wore off. You became bland and clumsy. I was disappointed with your layout. I know, that was a jerk thing to say. So today I have to tell you that I've found another, younger, cleaner, and easier platform. Don't worry, I'm not taking Studio109 with me. I have instead made a clean brake, it's easier that way, for both of us. I'll miss you Blogger.

Sincerely,

Brad

Make Me Sustainable

The folks over at Make Me Sustainable are making it easy to track your personal carbon emissions. The site collects information from users about there carbon emissions in the form of easy to answer questions about your lifestyle. After you create your carbon profile you can choose for a small list of energy saving tasks and track how those tasks are effecting your overall output. I have registered with the site and created a profile, but haven't dug much deeper. The site couples as social networking along the lines of MySpace or Facebook, allowing you to create contacts and see what they are doing to reduce their carbon emissions. At first glance I think they will have to offer more comprehensive and in depth energy saving tasks for this to be an effective tool. For example, they give you the option to select "substituted driving for walking or public transportation" but they leave it up to the user to calculate how many miles they are saving in doing this. Rebekah and I can walk to a grocery store in our neighborhood that is only .7 miles from our house. Let's say we go every week, that's .7 miles a week or 3.5 miles per month. However, what it doesn't account for is that if we weren't walking we'd be going to a grocery store that is much further away (because it is cheaper). All in all I think the site is a great idea, especially because it gives the user cost savings analysis for their various tasks. If I could discover that walking to the local drug store and the local grocery store (which is why we moved to the neighborhood in the first place) vs. driving to Target or Price Chopper (because they offer less expensive products) was actually saving me money in the long run I'd be much more motivated to make that lifestyle change. Anyway, give a whirl and see for yourself...Oh yeah, I've also added their blog, Carbon Crusaders, to my blog roll.

Scenes From Abroad

When I studied in Europe a few years back I shot a few rolls of film on my 35mm, you know, for nostalgia's sake. Since then the images have been tucked away in a photo album somewhere. That is until last weekend when I ran across the negatives and had them scanned to digital files. These photos mark some of my favorite, not only from the film rolls, but from the trip in general. There's really nothing like finding a photograph you'd nearly forgoten about.


Basilica Sacre Coupe. Paris, France


Centre Pompidou. Paris France


Weathered Apartment Building, Basel Switzerland


Trail Marker, End of Day. Cinque Terra, Italy


Striated Tide. Cinque Terra, Italy


Curvilinear Formation. Cinque Terra, Italy


Shipwrecked. Cinque Terra, Italy

"A Post About Originality" or "Insert Witty Title Here"

In my previous post I suggested that "originality is typically our downfall." A good friend over at Werlew wondered why I would say such a thing. First off Danny, Happy Birthday and second, cool dog. As far as originality is concerned? Is it really our downfall? Perhaps not. Danny is a terribly original guy, so this will be a hard statement to back up.I gotta tell ya, that last post happened in a matter of minutes, not something I poured over, rather, something that poured out. But never the less I stand behind it.

I didn't have anything too specific in mind concerning originality and downfalls, aside for an aggregation of indiscriminate thoughts collected haphazardly over the last several months. Perhaps what I was really getting at was the veil that originality carries with it, making it all to easy to overlook a simple design problem, let alone an original and simple solution.

I think the whole notion that originality could be our downfall simply goes back to two ideas, 1.) Reinventing the wheel, or as Meis would say, creating a new architecture every Monday morning and 2.) Being different for the sake of being different. I wonder how many wonderful and beautiful design solutions have been overlooked because the designer was first and foremost aimed at originality? I think truly original solutions are cross fertilized and developed intuitively after one is fully ingrained in the design problem. A simple concept from one trade, applied to another. But rarely do I think great ideas are born out of thin air or in isolation. I won't go on, in fear of saying something I regret. I consider myself a champion of creative thought and unique approaches...as long as they are rooted and have actual meaning.

Not a great explanation, but an attempt. I'll try again later.

These Shoes Belong to Her

The frequency of posting has dwindled as the daily to-do lists get longer and longer. After vacations and swanky parties the day to day comings and goings just don't seem that interesting. What have I been doing? I ask myself this without expecting an answer, or fearing one, I'm not quite sure yet. I'd say there's been some realization, but then again there is always a realization. At least on the good days. The bad days? Well they are the days that teeter on the verge of accepting the onset of mediocrity. An interesting post over here at Western Assimilation on God knows what. I'll spare you the details, and Corbin I'll spare you the virtual chastising (I'll spare you because more often than not I am the sole proprietor of the jaded outlook), but in the end it's strange how coincidences work. One minute you're thinking something, the next minute your reading it on a blog published somewhere between a stage and the mountains in rainy, rainy state. Are we all that unoriginal? I hope so, maybe there's hope if that's the case. Originality is typically our downfall.

Regardless, a word I find myself saying nowadays. I think we all go through the same thought process. We hang our hats on this thing or that and one day wake up and realize, we never even had a hat, let alone anything to hang it on. But the thing that surprises me the most is the notion of success that five years of academic indoctrination leaves us with.

I am reading a little book, the best kind of book mind you. One that can fit in your back pocket, or my back pocket depending on who's reading the book, you or I? Regardless, it's called The Dip and it speaks to this notion of success and the path to reach it. Pretty common sense stuff when it gets right down to it and the best part, the whole notion can be explained in one little graph. I like graphs. There are decisions to be made, so decide where you want to go, it's not going to be easy every day. It's not going to make sense every day. But decide non the less, and stick to it. Stick to it through the dip and the pay off will be great. I don't want to call this little pocket size book a motivational book, because I don't think it is. But if it motivates you, then so be it. If it makes you want to quit something, well maybe that's the best thing that could ever happen.

The truth is, some days you don't know. But I have a secret my friends, I know. I know every day. Without question I know what is best for me. I know what is true and right and authentic. I know what brings a smile to my face and makes me feel at peace in a world of cynical in-decision...

...and these shoes belong to her.

An Asymmetrical Evening

Rebekah and I were super lucky and scored two tickets to last night's Grand Opening of the Bloch Building for Benefactors and Patrons of the Nelson-Atkins. The event kicked off around seven o'clock and ran well into the evening. The following are just a few of the pictures I took as the evening went on. Click on the images, or here, for the full photo set.

The main entrance from the pedestrian level, just before sunset. It is simply a magnificent space. The lobby is just a precursor to the dramatic story that Holl tells as you move throughout the galleries. I immediately took my camera from my pocket and went into attack mode, but then reminded myself that this world class building is right in my backyard. I can come and take pictures whenever I want. Tonight was a night for mingling among the tuxes and ball gowns worn by the elite of Kansas City, a crowd that Rebekah and I have no real business matriculating with. Non-the-less, it was a night to remember and we meet some great people.

This crowd had gathered outside of the Noguchi Sculpture gallery. The man with his back to the camera, hands in his back pockets, and sliver hair is non other that Steven Holl. This was the only time I saw him all evening, just for a moment before he wandered back inside his creation and disappeared for ever. I imagine the majority of the people there had no idea who he was, or why what he had done was so spectacular. At least the engineer we ran into in the line for the bar wouldn't have known. He didn't seem to impressed with the space. He just didn't understand what all the hub-bub was about. "I had a friend in New York tell me this building was written about in the New York Times, can you believe that?!?" He exclaimed with a ghastly look on his face. I wanted so bad to reply, "Yes, well, that and every other architecture publication in the free world." Another couple told us that before tonight they had thought the new addition was a Butler Building constructed out of metal.

I had to pull out the old tux I purchased for choir in high school. Luckily the pants were adjustable and I was able to squeeze into it, rather generously might I add. Anyway, I decided to go with a bit more modern look and drop the bow-tie in exchange for a simple black neck tie and loose the vest all together. None of this matters of course, because with a lady like that on my arm, no one noticed my tux!

As the sun went down the building began to take on new character. Almost an inverse of the atmospheric light it became illuminated from the ground up before transforming into the glowing lenses that spot the landscape.

As the majority of the crowd began to thin out we basically had the place all to ourselves.

Bekka took a moment to rest and looked perfectly at home against the polished plaster, glass and light.

These art installations marked the exit for the evening as the remaining guests waited for their cars.

I'm sure I'll post more on the building soon. It was, in all reality, one of the most breathtaking museums I've seen anywhere in the world. And that's saying a lot considering not more that three weeks ago I was walking through Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin, a spatial experience that pales in comparison to Holl's masterpiece. More on the comparison later, that's a different post for a different day...

TED | Ideas Worth Spreading

I've recently made a new friend, his name is TED. His passion? Spreading ideas stemming from Technology, Entertainment, and Design. TED is an annual conference, began in 1984, where the most influential, experimental, and progressive thinkers and doers from around the globe come together to present ideas in their respective areas of expertise. The presentations are typically between 10-20 minutes, offering the audience bite-size chunks of big-time ideas. User's of the TED website can set up profiles, share their favorite lectures, and interact with other members. It's YouTube for adults.



Today's featured video, Joshua Prince-Ramus of OMA on the Seattle Public Library. I'm working on embedding these videos into this page, it's messing with my layout though so a hyper link will have to do for now.

Microsoft Surface Computing

Anyone out there need a new coffee table?

Q&A with Hank Dittmar

Hank Dittmar is chief executive of the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment, the London-based educational charity established by the Prince of Wales to teach and demonstrate the principles of traditional architecture and urban design. Before taking that post in 2005, he was president and CEO of Reconnecting America, which seeks to develop communities around transit and walking, not automobiles. Dittmar is a board member of the Congress for the New Urbanism and is currently its chairman. He is the author of the 2003 book The New Transit Town: Best Practices in Transit-Oriented Development.

Are Green Buildings Here to Stay?
While there is a substantial amount of faddism to the green buildings movement, the need for greener buildings and greener neighborhoods is compelling and vital to the planet, and the movement will not go away.

Too much of green building is about technological fixes. At least here in the U.K., many “green” buildings are normal buildings with green gizmos tacked on. Little attention seems to be paid to the question of whether steel-and-glass-curtain-wall buildings can ever truly be sustainable no matter how many CHP [combined heat and power] plants or wind turbines are stuck on them.

While it is certainly a step in the right direction for Wal-Mart, for example, to “green” one of its stores by incorporating environmental features, the question is: if it is located by itself in a sea of parking on an arterial roadway not served by transit, and its customers all must drive from a 30- or 40-mile radius to shop there, is it truly green? It is the need to go deeper that has led the Congress for the New Urbanism, the U.S. Green Building Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council [NRDC] to work together to create the LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] standard for neighborhood development [LEED-ND].

Read more...

Meers Marketing - Construction Update

After one and a half months of design and one month of documentation, we are ten working days away from completing construction for Meers Marketing. After coming back from Berlin I was glad to find the project closer to completion than when I left. Amazingly, it's starting to look just like the renderings we made just a few months ago. The one thing the renderings didn't allude to was the the quality of light that would result from the three five foot by eight foot skylights, and 23 foot by nine and a half foot storefront. Even the construction workers are commenting.


Storage bar with wet bar pass through, awaiting counter top.

Loading Dock storage bar, awaiting casework and flooring.

Entrance wall, awaiting graphic and sealed concrete

Conference room, with acrylic panel mock up.

Conference room, awaiting acrylic panel

Berlin Photos - Round One

By Sunday night, just before the day rolled over to Monday, we were back in our own bed. The clocks in our house proclaimed midnight, but our bodies new they were seven hours off. It had been a long day. We had been traveling for over 24hrs and we were exhausted. You can imagine my pleasure then when Rebekah and I both awoke at five thirty sharp the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning. Oh well, I can't complain. I've been getting a lot done the last three mornings and, although I don't see myself waking up at six for much longer, it has been nice.

The trip was wonderful, although the weather was not. We arrived on Sunday, the sixth of May, after loosing seven hours and a night of sleep as we crossed the Atlantic. The sun was out and the temperature was close to 25 degrees (Celsius). That was the last we'd see of that. For the next seven days it would rain with temperatures continually dropping. However each day there were brief moments of brilliant sunshine in which the camera came out.

IMG_6795, originally uploaded by reverb2005.

Postdamer Platz on our last evening in Berlin. The rain stopped just long enough to snap this photo. In a strange way it reminded me of Luis Baraggan's towers in Mexico city.

IMG_6405, originally uploaded by reverb2005.

Travertine Waves. We found this building on our way to the Bauhaus Archives, which coincidently was closed when we got there. I can't remember the architect, which was posted on a plaque on the front of the building. I thought it looked nice against the sky.

IMG_6742, originally uploaded by reverb2005.

Dutch Embassy. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. After a day of visiting closed museums and not being able to find Gehry's bank, this was our first successful venture. The site planning here was very nice, it sits right on the Spree river, and the building unfolds to open up to the water. Formally it is very interesting, but I thought the proportions were strange, and the materials cold, however on the ground level at the service entrance Koolhaas introduces an isolated incident of wood siding. It's a brief moment, but the best part of the exterior of the building.

IMG_6333, originally uploaded by reverb2005.

Checkpoint Charlie. Not real sure what the allure of this site is, maybe it's just a little before my time. The actual checkpoint outhouse that sits on the site is a replication, but the photo opp of the Russian portrait couldn't be passed up.

IMG_6207, originally uploaded by reverb2005.

German Parliment. The Reichstag building designed by British architect and Lord, Norman Foster. Before visiting I thought the glass cupola atop the historic building was a bit of a gimmick. However, it offers stunning views of Berlin and is quite the experience moving up the helical ramp to the top of the observation deck, all the while looking down into the actual parliament house. We experienced the glass and mirrors on a rainy day, and for the first time I realized the importance of reflections. Some of the greatest architects of all times have spent there lifetime mastering day lighting techniques, which seems daunting in itself. However, in the event of a rainy day the experience must still be spectacular. Even though the sun was hiding, the overall experience of this glass dome and central spire of mirrored panels was absolutely dramatic.

Wann Fahrt das Boot ab?

Well, the constant to-do list's have hindered my urge to post the last week. But tomorrow marks the first day of our much needed vacation to Berlin. I'm hoping to have internet access so I can post some photos from the trip along the way, so stay tuned. Otherwise, auf wiedersehen for now.

Room With a View via NYT

Click here for Meier retrospective of models from his 40 year career.

The Construction Worker and Poetic-ness

This post was going to be all dramatic, talking about the amazing metaphysical properties of natural light. You know, some real architectury stuff. Something all you designer types could totally get off on. But when push comes to shove, I'm just not in a poetic mood today. Wish I was.

Something about running CA (construction administration for you non architectury folks out there) on two projects takes the poetic-ness right out of me. The mechanical sub doesn't care about poetic-ness, nor does the electrician. The roofer certainly doesn't care about poetic-ness...and the plumber? Forget about it.

During construction the poetic-ness is hard to come by. You're running around all day, between job sites, being asked question that you have no answers to. My favorite phrase this week? "I'll have to get back to you."

Yes, it is easy to forget all about the poetic-ness of architecture, opting instead for the "just get it done" mentality. It is easy to forget, until you see a picture like this, and it makes it all worth it. It makes the steel detail suddenly important again. It makes me insist to the electrician that the lights that were supposed to line up with the main entrance is a big deal. And that yes, "some one will notice." It makes me thankful that we rearranged the budget and reconfigured the skylights multiple times to ensure that they had a place in the project. *This picture - to me - is what architecture is about, making a place for people.

*this image was taken by an associate of Meers Marketing and originally posted, here at Smoke and Meers.

The In-Crowd Environmentalist

Head over to Greenpeace for this campaign riddled with hipster bait. Below are some of my favorite one line hipster attractors:

Apple fans need to demand a new, cool product: a greener Apple.
Remember folks, it has to be cool. If it's not cool then there's no use in saving the planet.

Apple knows more about "clean" design than anybody, right?
Yes this is true, they know more about design than anybody on earth. Actually, Apple invented the entire design profession.

Want to wear the hip new GreenMyApple T-shirts?
Well, only if they're hip. I wouldn't want some one thinking I'm an uncool tree hugger.

And my all time favorite...

If you've got a Mac you've got some creative talent.
Is that all it takes? Then someone please tell me why I wasted all of that time and money on an architecture degree? Next time I'll head down to my uber fashionable Mac mecca (you know, the one with the filthy, cracked, and chipped all glass staircase's that hasn't looked it's best since opening day) and pick up the latest iProduct.

Sorry for the cynical spin folks. I'm just wondering when environmentalism became a fashion statement. I remember the environmentalists in my high school, they weren't cool. Why weren't they cool? Because they were environmentalists. Now these folks don't have a chance at being in-crowd environmentalists, they're just not cool enough.

Surely this can't be a bad thing. We want environmental issues to be at the forefront of corporate culture...right? Not exactly. Being "green" can only be effective when it makes it past a marketing campaign. For related rants see, The Art of Where.

Upcoming Event: Five Great Ideas the World Needs

Guest Speaker:
Jerry Allan, professor of design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design

WHEN:
Thursday, April 19
5:30 Reception
6:00-8:00 Green Salon/Lecture

WHERE:
Encompas
1512 Grand Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64108

If problems are the catalyst for creativity, what are the 5 great problems we all need to address? Jerry Allan, professor of design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design gives his interactive presentation the "5 Great Ideas the World Needs." This interdisciplinary design problem invites designers of all backgrounds to think, work and act globally.

More on Ties at Work

Someone give me the name and number of the folks over at Pintday, for the cartoon series Intern Architects In Hell. I'd block out some time for visiting this site, also don't be afraid to think to yourself, finally, someone who cares. This is really someone who I can relate to...of course between the sobs of realization that this to is your harsh reality. (click on the image for the whole cartoon)

*I stumbled upon these fabulous cartoons over at The Art of Where.

Modus Operandi

I picked up the latest issue of Record this afternoon to check out the 2007 Record Houses. However on the way to the money shots I became fixated on this image instead. Not to sure what the article is about but I love the picture that accompanies it.

I was never around when this scene was the modus operandi, but something draws me too it and makes me wish I was sitting right in the middle of the whole lot, hunched over a drafting table. Who knows, maybe I would hate it.

p.s. What ever happened to wearing ties to work? I would surely get made fun of for wearing a tie to work.

It happened two hours ago but is already old news now for the Kstate fans out there...read about Bob Huggins departure from Manhattan, and the renaming of Huggieville here, here, and here.

Kstate gambled big time to bring Huggins into the program. He is what you would call a high risk investment dangling the potential of large returns in front of Wildcat fans everywhere. Or, the potential to be a complete flop.

Chalk this one up in the flop column...good thing I didn't have any Huggins in my IRA.

Killer of Sheep

Charles Brunette's long awaited film, Killer of Sheep, shot while he was in film school at UCLA, will now be available on DVD. Killer of Sheep was declared a national treasure by the Library of Congress in 1990 and has been named one of the 100 essential films of all time by the National Society of Film Critics.

Ploy Synopsis from allmovie.com:

The first feature film from acclaimed independent African American filmmaker Charles Burnett, this intensely emotional drama concerns a man who makes his living at a slaughterhouse as he struggles for economic and emotional survival and tries to patch up his often strained relationship with his family. Shot on weekends over a period of several years and first shown publicly in 1977, Killer of Sheep slowly but surely began to develop a potent reputation among film enthusiasts; in 1981, it won honors at the Berlin International Film Festival and an enthusiastic reception at the Sundance Film Festival. It was added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry in 1990.

Read more from the New York Times and Slate Magazine.

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Kansas City Live from the Empire Theater

My view this morning from the top of the Empire Theater. Am I loosing my mind or was it eighty degrees on Monday? Three days later I'm and freezing my ass off at eighty feet, standing on rickety scaffolding trying to sketch a terra cotta detail, meanwhile I can't feel my fingers.

The morning panned out to be a blur. With two projects under construction I am between sites for a good part of the day. You have to be careful at the job site, you'll get sucked in. All the different trades have been saving up their impossible questions, making notes of things you've missed in the drawings. They all want answers, they want them now.

C'était un rendez vous

This short film by seminal French director Claude Lelouch presents a unique experience of the urban environment. A nine minute tour of 1970's Paris from a moving vehicle. There are some pretty tense moments as the driver speeds through the cobblestone streets. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the nuts and bolts of the film. Who was driving? What type of car? Was it staged? Has it been altered to make the cars speed appear faster? But the overwhelming consensus is that Lelouch himself was driving, the roads were not block off, and he reached top speeds between 90-140 mph in a Ferrari 275 GTB before ending his voyage at the Basilica Sacre Coeur.

Centre Pompidou and the Nike Air Max

In light of Richard Rogers winning the Pritzker, let's see how far his influence has reached. Maybe some of you have seen this before.

This Just In: Masonry Tuck Pointing, General Public Not Interested

We're in the thick of masonry restoration at the theater, but as it turns out masonry restoration doesn't make for powerful prose. If you are dying to read about the process I will redirect you here.

I did however want to share these images, which I didn't take, but I think they are pretty...and yes, I said pretty.