If Apple were the Operating Systems for Architects...

I just saw this amazing version of an Arcitectural presentaiton one would present to clients. I think its incredibly clever in its approach to both provide all the information which goes into a buidling, yet still keeping a streamlined approach...

After seeing this video, and how seamlessly things seemed to come together in the video...it makes me want to personally lobby Steve Jobs to create a Mac O.S. version equivalent of Autocad...something with Intelligence built into it...

Sartorial Sunday

Sundays have always been my favorite day of the week. Some people dread it like the plague, being the last day of freedom before Monday rolls around. Some people prefer Fridays for its festive nature signaling the end of the work week and the beginning of their time for post-work debauchery...Saturdays have a cool sophisticated air, perhaps the benefit of being situated between the Licentiousness of Fridays and the Sanctity of Sundays. Its a day of strolls in the park, brunch on terraces overlooking tree-lined avenues and sailing along the Charles...But Sunday. Oh Sundays really take the cake...

Being that Sunday is a day of worship, one is especially expected to dress in a manner that they don't usually aspire to. While I'd say I'm usually conscious of what I wear most every day, its Sundays that give me carte-blanche to engage in the pursuit of sartorial gains. Boston in general certainly may not be the most sartorial of cities, but at least on Sunday you'll see people wearing things a bit nicer than they usually tend to...the leggings are gone, the madras stays at home, and every once in a while you'll see a blazer or a tie. As for myself, and being that its so ungodly hot today, I chose to keep it simple this Sunday with a light blue western, some professional looking raw-denim, Gucci horse-bit loafers, the crocodile attaché, a good pair of Persol, and my light blue Hermes belt...the closest thing you'll ever find to me wearing that features a monogram of logo from a designer brand...I buy things for their quality, not for their social prestige...

I attend services at the Arlington Street Unitarian Universalist's congregation of Boston. Apart from having truly mind-blowing sermons they also have strong ties to the Symphony and the Longwood conservatory, which often means some truly amazing performances. This Sunday's piano-piece was Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. Its an old classic, but I thought you'd enjoy the modern way in which its presented...

...heres to a wonderful Sunday...

Blown Away...

Its come to my attention, that many of you "hip, with-it" bloggers use Polyvore to create your own evocative looks which pull elements from the things one writes about. Well, I've finally given into this trend, after all who doesn't enjoy the ability to essentially have an all access granted artistic pass to "buy" whatever you want!!!

In honour of my last post, and given the unchanged weather conditions here in Boston (dismal and grey, hovering mist clouds, and hurricane winds) I've decided to create this little assemblage of all the things one could need for their very own rainy day "walk with themselves"...after all you cant ponder the vast mysteries of life if you've water in your shoes, best come prepared...and here's what I'd plan on...

...I hope this gives you lots of good ideas on what to plan on wearing for your own rainy-day excursions!!!

Rainydays are here again...

***Side note before you start reading...try playing the music (scroll to bottom) while you read...its incredibly calming and underscores the words...give it a try!!!***

If you're a local to the Boston area, then I'm sure you're aware of the unseasonably cold, damp and blustery weather we're currently experiencing. August usually tends to be one of the hottest months of the year, a time so hot and humid you could cut the air with a knife and half expect to find water. Its times like these that really impress upon me the stick-to-it'd-ness of those first explorers and pilgrims. I'd have felt like we'd reached the borderlands of Hell and high-tailed it back to the temperate climbs of the continent on the next frigate back...

After about a years worth of life in Boston, I've come to expect the unexpected in most things, particularly the weather. I'd expected August to be just as hellish as last year, which is why I'm so delighted this current grey cloud of blusterous mist has descended. Most people really seem to detest the rains, and I myself find times when I'd rather be home in front of my electrical outlet painter's tape fireplace than be out in the cold swearing into the pelting hurricane force winds...But, I've so needed a break from Summer. It seems like such an odd thing to say, "needing a break from summer", but frankly I'm sick of the sun.

When I was a child, whenever it would rain, I always had this feeling that when I grew up and was an adult and could make my own decisions for myself, I'd go out of my way to spend as much time outside when it rains as possible. I'd swing from lamposts like they do in "singing in the Rain", and splash in great big puddles, and just generally enjoy being outside. And to a certain extent I've managed to keep this promise to myself. However unlike that unabashedly confident inner-child I certainly don't have the courage to swing from lamp-posts, or to tap-dance my way through Beacon Hill, I do find myself sheepishly go out of my way to at least walk through puddles. Its times like these when the weather is DISMAL and everybody is home indoors, or huddled under awnings that I walk, and walk, and walk.

Without a doubt, it can be said that I can walk for miles. Not bragging here, other people have walked with me and found they've ended up with blisters and bruised, bloody and beaten, and meanwhile I've still miles to go before I break down. Theres something within me that seems to compel me forward, unceasingly and relentlessly progressing my way through the city. perhaps its my background in Architecture and my fondness for Urbanism which drives me to experience the city as a sequence of spaces, enthralls me, and draws me onward. And its times like these when the weather is at its worst and the streets are deserted that I can have the whole city to myself. No distractions, no annoying tourists, no homicidal taxi-cabs, just me and an endless stream of thoughts...

I do some of my greatest thinking while on these walks, and while I've always been somewhat of a solitary soul, Its times like these that I can truly think. Talk to myself, sort out all the things in my life, examine my past, my present, my future, all the mistakes, the regrets, the losses, the good times and the bad. And while I may come away regretfully nostalgic, a bit forlorn and penitently despondent, I always walk away a little bit more of myself. A little bit wiser. And a little bit happier for having done so...

so here's to all of our rainy-days to come...

I first listened to this song while attending service at the Arlington Street Church here in Boston. Its Gnossienne No. 1 by Eric Satie and a new personal favorite of mine. Reminds me ALOT of Yann Tierson and his work for the film Amile. The presentation is such a great visual and sonal work, very evocative, I just had to share it with all of you...its a great rainy day listening piece...

Design is for E V E R Y O N E !!!

...Recently, while waiting for a friend to meet me at a Local Harvard Square bookstore, I stumbled across a unique yet poignant reminder that Design with a capitol D, requires that we as designers must be sentient in our pursuits to serve all of humanity. Flippantly flipping through the pages of one of my favorite Arts magazine, Art: Das Kunstmagazin, was a brief article on a young German designer's re-design of the rubiks cube...you might be thinking, "why and HOW would anybody do such a thing?"

Just take a look, I think the pictures will speak for themselves...

they did for me, my grasp on the German language just isn't what it used to be...

...combining my love for Art, and my incessant need for finding German

Language publications to try and keep myself from forgetting the language...

...It was just a brief design highlight in the magazine, but reminded me that as

designers we need to be concious of a broader, sometimes forgotten audience...

...and lastly, a brief diagram of the colours for all of you non-braille reading people...

...it was just a brief article, and the concept just so simple, but sometimes its the simplest of ideas that can have the greatest impact. I hope that as designers we can remember that the best design is one that is accessible to everybody...

Townhouse Tour - 559 E 2nd Street / Boston

...A bit boring what with all the grey going on, but its whats on the inside that counts...

...Lovely little front stoop, nice mix of natural materials to convey hierarchy...

...As an architect, I'm falling over myself with such a beautiful example of rectilinear form...

...fortunately the owner enters the home through the main foyer unlike many suburban homes where the owner must enter from the garage through the kitchen/utility room/service area, thus the foyer's grand/hierarchical effect is lost on them...and in the end...a waste of space...

...room just enough for some art and a side console...

...and despite the narrow nature of the townhouse, it does

seem to get an awful lot of natural light...

...Money Shot. I love this townhouse because its use of colour really

separates spaces, and keeps the space from becoming just another

white-box "Modern" townhouse...you know who you are...

...that, and their mod furniture aesthetic they've got going on...

... Living room, with dining space behind...

...I also really like the idea of the sliding panel to conceal the kitchen...

open plans are nice and all, but sometimes its better just to close a door

and watch as all the dirty dishes/cooking mess Magically disappears ...

...the only thing special in this room is the chandelier, but it somehow makes

everything seem pulled together under that "Mod" aesthetic...all you need is ONE good

piece to center a room around an idea and its works...frugal too...

...although, not going to lie, everything else in their apartment looks like it came from Design within "reach"... the furniture store of really purist design savvy rich people...

...we all have our weaknesses, mine are fireplaces, inglenooks, and STAIRCASES!!!

...the staircase is really quite modern, all metal, but has a familiar traditional quality to it...

...I think its the hand-railing's switchback moments that give it that

sleek-updated look of a modern townhouse's staircase...

...Master bedroom is a bit bland, but what do you expect, its Boston...

...another vivaciously green bathroom...are they reading my blog!?

probably... No.

...wait this colour reminds me of someone...is it!? could it be!? Yes! the UGLY ONE..."Gnarly Nursing Home Green"...

...really liking the second bedroom / study...are they a psychologist!?

is that how they're paying for all these expensive pieces of furniture!?

HEM* HEM* Barcelona daybed...

...but wait there's more!!!...

...at the top of the stairs...

...a fourth floor Family Room!!! and another extortionately expensive chair...

...AND!!! A ROOF TERRACE!!! SOLD!!!

...GAH! every townhouse needs a descent roof terrace...

...and lastly of course...a good floorplan for you analytical architect-types...

So you see, with a few pieces to center a room around they managed to create a coherent Mod-design aesthetic...and kudos to the owners for at least including SOME colour into their modern townhouse. So many people think just because a thing is modern it has to adhere to a specific white/black/grey aesthetic, BOSTON ESPECIALLY...so its good to see a few crafty colourful people out there...as for me...I kind of which they'd gone

a few more shades neon like our swiss freinds...

Colouring Pigeons...

As with most things in my life, I discovered this song while listening to Morning Edition NPR, and have had it playing continuously in the background ever since. Definitely experimental, their use of beat and operatic elements and those weird pictograms in the video make it hard NOT to watch all 8 minutes and 31 seconds of this entrancingly odd yet beautiful song.

...just goes to prove... Scandinavians have the quirkiest sense of taste...

SALE!!! Allsaints

Newest kid on the block, Allsaints of Spitalfields, which opened its doors to Boston's Newbury street masses not two months ago is already having its end-of-season SALE! I took a mosey on through the store when it first opened and was quite frankly shocked at the prices they were asking for some, if not many of the chicly distressed a-symmetrical garments they carry. The quality seems good, tight seems, good textures, well curated graphics by season, and the line seems to be a younger, slightly more publicly palatable Rick Owen's-esque luxury basic, which is a hard thing to do in a recession when the spend-thrift masses tend to tread more conservative waters...

Needless to say, there are quite a few leather jackets, some A-symmetrical zip hoodies, and a proliferation of neo-1890's-esque-hipster-hiking-boots I've had my eye on...which is why I practically jumped for joy the moment I saw their sale signs out in the window. While I still may not even be able to afford their wares at the deeply discounted 70% off in my currently unpaid status as intern, it just goes to show there's still hope for me next season. So if you've the luxury of a job that pays you legal tender, then I'd soundly suggest a trip to your nearest Allsaints of Spitalfields...

Boston Location:

122 Newbury Street between Dartmouth and Clarendon...or just have a look at the fine map I drew especially for this occasion!!!

A proper Luncheon...

Ah, Bergdorf Goodman...bastion of wealth, privilege and all things ultra-luxe. It's long been the ne-plus-ultra when it comes to department store shopping. Situated at the top of 5th Avenue where the Park meets the City and the beginnings of the chicest bits of the Upper East Side, its no wonder why this place has long been the stomping grounds of the zeitgeist makers of society...

...but did you know they have a restaurant? Unlike most Department store restaurants, and in usual Goodman style they set out to create not just any old restaurant, they hired the interior designer / zeitgeist fashionista and incomparably brilliant Kelly Wearstler to oversee their culinary undertaking...

...Known for her fantastical mix of old, new, eclectic, vintage and sometimes just-so-ugly-you-want-one-in-every-colour, Kelly's interiors are practically 3 dimensional characters unto themselves. However, being the place to lunch for the Uptown Crowd, not only did Kelly manage to instill a certain sense of subdued chicness with that ever-present vintage-cool she's known for, But whats more, the space maintains its own sense of character and uniqueness while still being approachable and understated enough to make it visually appealing to a wide spectrum of Bergdorf Goodman's demanding and eclectic mix of patrons.

...And this was how she made out...

...such a fantastical mixture of vibrantly hued colours, rich textures, and refined eclecticism...

...and did we mention they've views overlooking 5th Avenue and Central Park...

...A friend of mine and I came here for Lunch on a brief 2 day trip into the City for the Guggenheim / Andrew Bird concert series/exhibit, and we both found the experience entirely worthwhile (We managed to nab one of those hooded leather chair tables overlooking Central Park). While the prices may be a bit steep at ~$30ish dollars for a good salad, the service, the cuisine, and the experience was more than worth it...we left feeling like we ourselves were both a part of that rarefied world of American aristocracy and principled privilege...

...though perhaps that was just the post Salad cocktails...

Next time you have the chance be sure to Lunch here for your next special occasion, or just need a pick me up, just tell your chauffeur to drop you off at the corner of 58th & 5th Avenue...

to make reservations call: 212. 872. 8977

again. ENTIRELY. WORTH. IT!!!

the Dark Sounds of Andrew Bird...

...I'm very pleased to announce that I and a great friend from my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin have managed to score tickets to the sold out concert series / exhibition "Dark Sounds" being put on at the Guggenheim...

...apparently the exhibit is a three part live concert performance given as compliment to the musuem's current exhibition Haunted: Contemporary Film/Video.Performance which by itself looks to be an interesting venture into the meaning of the captured image and how the human psyche relates to these pictographic and sonal frameworks. The word du jour here is Melancholy, Ghostliness, and the Uncanny...

...and who better to represent such a sound than the uncannily mesmerizing Andrew Bird, whose music I and my friend have a severe addiction to...and whats more!!! his installation piece will be a collaborative "sculptural landscape" piece with Chicago based luthier Ian Schneller for what the Guggenheim is calling "Sonic Arboretum, a site-specific performance involving violin, looped passages, and a landscape of speaker horns." Needless to say, I and my friend are going to be ecstatic at the opening. Apparently there's also a private showing for ticket holders at eight, followed by the performance at 10pm.

...If you're not familiar with Andrew Bird then you're truly missing out. A Chicagoland native, he's both a multi-instumentalist and lyricist (though I'd wager more a poet) but also a damned good whistler, which he often manages to weave through his music. His sound is...truly uncanny at best, a mixture of as the guggenheim describes it..."experimental forays into pop music which incorporate elements of gypsy jazz, classical, folk, and country blues traditions."

...And! Did you know? The Guggenheim puts on "Art After Dark" a social gathering of food, music, and a chance to mingle with artists, socialistas, oh yeah and theres some art hanging on the walls as well, but nobody seems to go for that. Its that rare New York moment when both Uptown and Downtown crowds co-exist and tear it up on the rotunda floor...