Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with architecture

"Straitjackets help me think"?

suedehead — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 02:54:35 -0800

Is there a quote by an architect or designer about how the constraints make the project? I'm looking for a quote by an architect or designer about how the constraints are helpful, rather than harmful, to the creative process. I know it's a common thought, but I'm looking for an actual quote by an actual person. Thanks!

Help me find this cartoon about Renaissance architecture!

Ms. Informed — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:56:53 -0800

Help me find this cartoon: Disappointed medieval guys standing in front of a half-built gothic building, reading a scroll that says: "Beginning tomorrow, the Renaissance will be mandatory." Ring any bells? My sister-in-law has been trying for months to find this cartoon, which she saw while taking an art history class at the Cleveland Museum of Art in about 1993-94. She's googled, checked the most likely sources (New Yorker, etc.), and even written to the directors of the course, but to no avail. Although she IS creative, this cartoon seems too clever to have been imagined--has anyone seen this before? Any sources--online or print--would be greatly appreciated!

What is the technical term for these Pompeiian columns?

manos_frias — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:30:54 -0800

Can anyone tell me what the architectural or sculptural term is for these low, narrow columns with busts of deities or heroes on the tops of them? (Or tell me a good source for finding such a term when you have a picture, like this one, which was taken in Pompeii?)

In the round.

fearfulsymmetry — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:58:10 -0800

What's the story behind this strange circular building in the middle of nowhere in Scotland This was passed on from a friend who was intrigued and it got me scratching my head too. I've got an idea that I've seen something similar on television that was basically a work of art, but I'm not sure in this case. Google fails me. Anyone know?

More Foucault, heterotopias

bode well carapace — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:46:54 -0800

Does Foucault, or do any other another philosophers, expand upon what is said in "Des espaces autres" in any other publication? Obviously, I'm looking for more academic reading on heterotopian concepts and definitions of other space.

The decline of architecture?

dydecker — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:49:44 -0800

Why is it that I seem to instinctively prefer houses from the late-19th or early 20th century to post-war architecture? I'm a architectural dilettante. I like what I like, but I don't know too much about houses or architecture so I can't explain why I like what I like. I need a bit of help. Can someone much more knowledgable than me about the subject explain why I--and many other people it seems--seem to prefer houses build during the Edwardian or Georgian period than the modern or post-modern stuff? I do like the occasional modern thing, especially when the design specs are really really high, but it seems to me that this contrasts with my feeling about most all pre-modern architecture, which I like as a rule and it would be the rare exceptional bad building which rubs me up the wrong way. OTOH, MOST of the stuff from the second half of the 20th century rubs me up the wrong way. It just seems so bland.

I have a suspicion that this instinctive dislike is based on some kind of building technique which changed in the 20s or 30s. Maybe your average suburban building started being mass-produced at this time? Or is it because the older buildings are often in the more desireable neighborhoods? Was it due to the invention of the car?

I'm mostly drawing from architecture in New Zealand, but then also some stuff I've seen in Europe and elsewhere. What is the reason for this? In other fields such as painting or music, I'd say I can appreciate modern styles and idioms much more than the older stuff...but I'd like to know what happened to architecture in the 30s or 40s and thereafter which made it change so.

A splinter for my mind's eye

a non e mouse — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:29:27 -0800

Looking for some architecture/3D modelling tools to help visualise a home/internal renovation. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to imagine all the variables, functions and flows for designing our new kitchen - ideally something that is free (or at least cheap), but as featured as possible for a reasonably adept graphics oriented person to use.

Want to take some online architecture courses. Where is a good place? Willing to pay.

willy_dilly — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 01:03:34 -0800

Want to take some online architecture courses. Where is a good place? Willing to pay. I have another 9 months or so before I start an intensive graduate architecture masters program. I would like to take the time out to take courses to prep myself before I dive in, since my first year will be an intensive program before I start my masters courses (I do not have a bachelor degree in architecture). Anyone know any places I can start taking courses online? I live in a place where there are nowhere close by at all to take courses locally. Plus my work schedule does not allow for it. I found this site called Red Vector, are the courses their legit? They charge about $450 per course.

Model Building

pulled_levers — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:00:00 -0800

First time building a landscape model on taskboard. Tips and advice? I have to build a landscape model for a class of mine using taskboard and other small objects that can pass as monochromatic miniatures of real life structures/nature such as water, stones, etc.

We have free range on what we want to use (toothpicks, cardboard, etc.) and I would like to lean towards the cheaper, yet still durable and presentable side of things. My design includes a mosaic fountain, planters, trees, a stage, and a lawn.

Do you have any tips/warnings (as in, you shouldn't do so-and-so) about model building? Thanks in advance!

(Also, I am planning to use a glue gun to stick everything together).

seeking books or articles on corruption in large building projects, ancient to modern

IndigoJones — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:36:50 -0800

Seeking books or articles on corruption in large building projects, ancient to modern. Any large construction project is going to have shavers, chiselers, sharpies, crooks, incompetants, opportunists. You expect it. I'm looking for anything describing these shenanigans, from overpriced and shoddy material, to deliberate slowdowns, work that had to be redone, hard bargaining to extortion, and of course, pure theft. Even murder, why not? Time and place are no bar, everything is welcome, desirable even, from pyramids to Freedom Tower. I want to know about the architects, contractors, financiers, government officials and parasites, the men whose low character makes the price of magnificence what it is in an imperfect world. (The heroes in the face of crap are also welcome, but I want exposé more than hagiography, and buildings more than, say, railroads. That said, I trust your judgement.)

Closest I can come up with are things like Caro on Robert Moses, McCullough on Brooklyn Bridge and train tracks. Fictionwise, Pillars of the Earth and Atlas Shrugged are noted. But I'm hoping you can do better. Anything you can think of - books, articles, documentaries - is welcome. Extra points for older.

(On afterthought - forseeable natural problems also welcome (libraries build without calculating weight of books, shifting foundations, etc) But mostly human moral failure.)

It can't be an oil derrick, this is Seattle after all

dw — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 18:03:31 -0800

What is the thing that looks like an oil derrick in this picture? My daughter is starting kindergarten at Daniel Bagley school here in Seattle. It's unusual among Seattle school buildings in that it's somewhat art deco, as the district's architect experimented with art deco design flourishes in this building (built 1930) and then abandoned them for later school designs. The building is decorated with these stone ornaments over all the doors (including a number of "modern inventions" over one door, such as a late 1920s vintage movie camera).

In this picture, you see two of the three shields that are over the front door. The middle one is a book with "1930" written in it (as seen in the photo). The one on the right (not pictured) is of an owl, which obviously symbolizes learning. And that leaves the one at the left, and I'm stumped at what it could be. I'm assuming it's some symbol of learning, but I can't figure out what it is. Any ideas?

Apologies for the blurry; it was taken with an iPhone around dusk.

What have I spent my life on?

Big Fat Tycoon — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:15:53 -0800

How do I apply to Master's programs when I don't have either real academic credentials or a particularly distinguished career reputation? I'm interested in applying to Master's programs in three related areas: Planning, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, all at UBC in Vancouver. Here's the problem: I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science that I completed in 1999, and almost no experience in any of the aforementioned areas except at a layman's level. Even worse, in my current "career" in software (first as a developer, now as technical support), I've had far from an illustrious career -- it's not a solid ten years of experience I have, with the concomitant excellent professional references that might subsitute for a lack of academic ones.

So... how do I get those "three letters of reference" that seem so important, and the related exposure I need? I have my own vague ideas -- mostly in the area of volunteering and making an impression there -- but I'm interested in what other people have to say. Also, is it a crazy idea to contemplate applying for next year's admission (Sept. 2010)? Given that the application deadlines are around December 1st this year, I'm thinking it might be a pipe dream.

Why are there no new Frank Lloyd Wright buildings?

moonmilk — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:38:43 -0800

We just came out of a real estate boom where a lot of ugly buildings were built and sold for a lot of money, some by celebrity architects. Why weren't any recent buildings built from or based on Frank Lloyd Wright designs? I'm sure the estate or the foundation or whatever would charge a lot of money for licensing, but the cachet surely would've done wonders for sale prices.

Websites for interior and exterior house design?

lapsang — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:37:02 -0800

Best websites to help brainstorm on house architecture and interior design Please suggest great sites that we can browse to help us pin down some interior and exterior house design ideas.

We live in the tropics (Colombia), its always warm, rains occasionally. The site is in a semi-wooded area.

We like Frank LLoyd Wright (interiors especially), also polished cement floors, high ceilings, wood, open plan. Practical, modern, sustainable/natural, informal would sum it up.

We also cook a lot, have frequent visitors, have 2 kids and a dog.

Cheers

E&O important to LA?

John Borrowman — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:18:36 -0800

When hiring a landscape architect, how useful (or not) is it to apply 'must have professional liability' as a selection criteria? I facilitate a committee of eight, tasked with selecting a landscape architect for an HOA makeover. One is an LA, himself, remainder are laymen. Consensus of group was to apply 'must have professional liability' as criteria to move to in-person interview stage. Resulted in disqualification of one person who, to be fair, volunteered to secure the coverage. Requesting the hive mind's view:

1. There are any number of design-related professions where one would commonly expect the practitioner to carry professional liability coverage. Is landscape architecture one of them?
2. Our project is in the 'commercial/industrial' category. Mr. Disqualified's experience has been entirely in the private home (albeit for very wealthy clients) category. Would this account for his not having the coverage? What, if anything, does the distinction in experience suggest about his capabilities?
3. If he says, 'I'll get if I need to', should we say 'okay, come on in for an interview'? Or does his not having it in the first place signal something we should pay especial attention to?

Please clarify your relationship to the profession to give further context to your reply.

Personal Design Software?

zeek321 — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:00:02 -0800

Computer-aided design using Christopher Alexander's Notes on the Synthesis of Form? So I just finished reading the book, which was published in 1964. I want to use the method described therein, and he even talks about a (now very outdated) way to implement it on a computer. I can't find any software online that seems to do anything vaguely like this. I was hoping there was something dead simple out there, like OmniFocus-esque simple. (I want to design really qualitative things like lifestyle and a business.) I'm doing Google searches for:

computer-aided problem solving
functional decomposition software
computer-aided functional decomposition
notes on the synthesis of form problem solving
notes on the synthesis of form software

Nothing seems to be coming up. I feel like the process could be super automated, as in 1) define the nodes and links, and then 2) it will do the decomposition for you. But I've got nothing.

40+ years later, is this style of problem-solving called something different, and I'm not using the right search keywords? What does the business world call this? There must be a software package.

Do I have to write my own software? I think I could hack something together, including even nice visual graphs, with existing libraries, but it would take hours to weeks. Thanks in advance.

Notes: I don't think a mind-mapper, Flying Logic, Tinderbox, or any sort of relatively static layout tool will work. I want the software to take the graph structure I define and actively transform it. There are software libraries that do these sorts of things, but I can't seem to find anything that puts it all together in a user-friendly package.

Help me find interesting churches

filthy light thief — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:52:50 -0800

I'm looking for significant, interesting, or unusual churches (for architectural, cultural and/or religious reasons) from around the world. More thoughts inside. My mom is looking to make a list of significant churches from around the world, like the Russian Church of the Savior on Blood, and Spanish missions in California. She'd like to make a list of the "top 100" churches, and has ~50 currently, though I don't have that list.

For full disclosure, she's looking to write a book on this, though it may never leave the stage of "interesting areas for further reading," as she keeps getting side-tracked in details and history. Her interest is in Christian churches, but I'd be interested in knowing more about other religious sites, too.

If this does get to be a proper book, I'll keep people updated and I'll make sure proper credits and thanks are in place. If it falls shy of that, I might make her a website, to share what she (and others) have found and written about.

thinking man (and woman)'s paradise

thinkingwoman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:09:23 -0800

What Caribbean islands have the best-preserved historical sites and architecture? Future husband and I want to take a honeymoon in a warm place that offers more (intellectually) than beaches, shopping, and golf. Charming buildings, old plantations and churches, museums, cobblestones, well-preserved indigenous settlements and archaeological sites, etc. (We'd been planning a trip to Italy, but it looks like we won't be able to take enough time off to warrant crossing that many time zones.)

San Juan/Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo/Dominican Republic are obvious choices. What haven't I thought of?

Language is not an issue.

New architecture in old Barcelona

Flashman — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:57:15 -0800

Barcelona architecture: I'm looking for an image of a specific piece of modern architecture in the Barri Raval, Barcelona This building is (or was when I was studying in BCN in 1998) part of the Ramon Llull University. It's in Raval, maybe 10 blocks south of the Museum of Contemporary Art on a dense, narrow street that runs perpendicular to the Rambla.
What it is, or the part that I'm interested in, is a perfectly blank, sheer façade of milky glass, 3-4 storeys tall, that forms the entry to a larger complex of buildings that occupy the centre of the block. Appearing like a vein of quartz splitting the chaos of the surrounding streetscape - crumbling old buildings, balconies with washing strung between them, this part of Raval was still pretty much a slum - I remember it as such a powerful, poetic piece of architecture.
If anybody knows anything about this building, and perhaps has or knows where I can find more information and images, I'd really appreciate it (it would greatly help developing some ideas for a project I'm currently working on). Gràcies!

web promotion for architecture?

ebesan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:30:51 -0800

How to promote my work online. I am an architect. NY and Mexico. I am trying to figure ways to build myself/my work. How to submit your work/name to design blogs, etc. w/out being a jerk? No name here; I'm not using this place for that purpose.

Replacement porch steps for older home

bonobothegreat — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:56:11 -0800

Where can I find vintage photos of, or designs for simple turn of the century porch steps? Our 96 year old house requires new front porch steps because the old 60's pre-cast concrete ones are falling apart. It's not a grand home, just your typical middle class, west end Toronto house. The thing is, Toronto seems like it's got the FUGLIEST collection of replacement front steps on the continent. While most homes still have the original porch in one form or another, the front steps have sat out in the rain and none seem to have survived from the old days. The newer ones are often badly sized, of concrete, terrazzo or brick with wrought iron rails or more lately, these weird, folded aluminum rails even.

I've had no luck googling for old photos or plans for houses built around 1910 that would fall into the arts & crafts category without being high examples of that style. I'm hoping there's a catalogue or flicker stream that I could look peruse.

I'm planning four steps with a railing on each side and I don't want it to look like it was thrown together with pressure treated 2x4s.

Thanks, I hope this doesn't sound too obsessive/compulsive.

Sketchup alternative?

AltReality — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:29:03 -0800

I'm looking for an easy-to-use, lightweight application that will allow me to visualize a wooden structure I want to build. I know about CAD software like AutoCAD and modelling apps like 3dsMax, but they seem way more complicated than what I'm looking for. Sketchup seems to fit the bill pretty well, but it's hideous to look at and I can't seem to get exact measurements out of it. Any alternatives to sketchup out there? (free preferably but not required) Thanks

Seeking blueprint drawings of windows and doors for art project!

Ponderance — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:25:12 -0800

Is there an architect or graphic designer in the house? I need line/blue print style images of windows and doors for art pieces I am designing. Please help! I am working on some art/architecture projects that require blue-print style line drawings of windows and doors. Not the floor plan style, but front-on views (I’m not articulating this well). Ideally these would be in illustrator or photoshop friendly formats. Is there anywhere online (or even in books) that have something like this? I have googled and I get are links to birds eye view images for architectural floor plans or exploded views from window manufacturers, which are not what I need.

Bonus for free, high resolution (I intend to blow them up fairly large) and downloadable, but I'm happy to shell out a meager sum for images that will suit my needs.

Metafilter pals please help me out!

Thanks!

I need to find this picture.

ad4pt — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:28:10 -0800

I need to find this architecture picture. This may be a long shot but I need to find the original source of this picture. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y25/sarahwags/help.jpg
That's it.
Help?
Thanks in advance.

Help me find journal articles for a paper about Santiago Calatrava's Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum

cmchap — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:11:14 -0800

I'm writing an undergraduate paper (not to be published) on whether or not Santiago Calatrava's Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum is just a reworking of architectural history, or if it's a completely new take on architectural design, kinetics, and art. Help? I need to find reliable, peer-edited journal articles or books that discuss:

relevant architectural historical trends (modernism, Bauhaus movement, Le Courbusier, etc.)

and/or

relevant architectural developments (Jefferson's dumbwaiters in Monticello<>the brise soleil, use of reinforced concrete, use of biological forms in architecture, etc.)

and/or

things that influenced Calatrava's career/ideas

and/or

specs or detailed photos of the Quadracci Pavilion itself.

Can you help?