Thin Concrete Roof

I stumbled across this method when looking at concrete roof structures.  It involves pouring concrete over cloth and chicken wire.

 

http://www.edirisa.org/studioarchive/?p=1571

Cool Video of the Edge of Space

Check it…

 

A video from a weather balloon…

 

Maps – human factors – check it out

http://www.krisharzinski.org/

book about what we have talked about in human factors

There is this book that I have heard about but never read called “The Psychology of Everyday Things”  attached is the Google Books page.

http://books.google.com/books?id=TI5wnq1PimMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=psychology+of+everyday+things&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=ng85TaquF4W0lQfkpdX_Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Television series that is pretty cool and pretty dated

So I have mentioned this series to some, but I thought I would post it for all of you.  The series is called Connections: an Alternative View of Change.  The series was done in the 70s by a guy named James Burke and discusses how the technologies that we take for granted come about.  He refers to technology as an interdependent network of inventions that build on each other.  When one piece of the network is removed the network falls apart.  Attached is the first 10min segment of the first episode.  There are ten episodes in the series and I think most are on youtube.  Enjoy

 

glass

glass is heralded as one of the most important materials in modern architecture and can be found in almost every building. but in these trying times (i.e. deadlines) let us not forget why we put windows in our buildings.

http://vimeo.com/16611269

road printer

(via BLDGBLOG)

dimensions

cool site from the BBC

http://www.howbigreally.com/

origami fun

I’ve been looking at a lot of origami stuff (again) recently, mostly as a way to get un-stuck, but also for the flexibility that some origami shapes have. I found 1 really varied site, with lots of kinds of origami, and links to even more coolness. That link is http://cedison.wordpress.com/

Secondarily, there is one particular pattern that folds up interestingly (the site I found it on wasn’t the actual source, and didn’t cite the original or link back to it, but here’s the pic.

 

I actually made an illustrator file of the fold pattern if anyone is interested (just ask me), but here’s the pdf.

NOTE: solid lines are ‘mountain’ folds, dotted lines are ‘valley’ folds

Union Tank Car Dome

Pretty interesting story of an impressive industrial relic.

 

http://vimeo.com/13966041

for future reference

http://www.archive.org/details/maps_usgs

USGS Maps of all 50 states. I believe most are 1:24,000 with 10′ contours.

:(

I dont really have anything to say, or even a nifty link to share, at the moment. But I just wanted to encourage anyone who does find something, even if its not really architecture-y, to share it. Because right now our blog is pretty much dead, and thats sad.

It doesnt have to be fancy or super in-depth. I just don’t want this blog to become completely dead and irrelevant, when it could at least be an interesting collection of things any of us have found amusing, interesting, inspiring, funny, or just wanted to share with everyone easily.

 

So people. POST your/some STUFF! please?

ENNEAD (formally known as Polshek Partnership)

Yesterday Polshek Partnership announced to the office that the firm will officially change its name to Ennead Architects. Ennead describes the group of nine deities in Egyption mythology but refers to the nine partners of the firm.

The New York Times wrote an article about the firm check it out in “What is a Name? Firm Will Find Out” 

Architect Magazine also has an article but describes how Ennead hopes to “avoid the fate of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, which people still think of as I.M. Pei’s firm, 20 years after Pei retired”.

Also check out the new website. You may even find me in the studio photo!

ANY Post

To break the blog hiatus, I present you with: shameless plugging!

Within the next couple of weeks, Log 19 will be on the shelves (CMU has a subscription, so if you’re in Pittsburgh, you can find it in Hunt Library). There are a lot of articles in this issue that are particularly relevant to discussions we’ve had both here and in studio, which is partially why I’m mentioning it.

“Interest in the social dimension of architecture is again gaining ground. Log 19 investigates the reemergence of questions such as what role can or should architecture play in society. The parametric is alternatively valorized and disavowed; the ultimate consequences of climate change and environmental catastrophe are raised; and a new course for architecture is found in Badiou’s philosophy and Finnish architecture.”

In your perusal of Log, beware. In the words of Kazys Varnelis: “Note that a brief glance in the bookstore won’t suffice. Like any good naughty magazine, the issue is shrink-wrapped and if you unwrap it your fumbling efforts will be visible for all to see.”

BP diagrams

I came upon these diagrams of the BP oil spill on today’s NYtimes online coverage.

Also check out these interactive diagrams and other multimedia on the spill.