Material Memory
Senses can trigger our memory, but can memory trigger our senses? My grandfather used to tell us stories of the war and his march from Omaha Beach to Berlin. With […]
Category Archives: Wood
NINGBO TENGTOU PAVILION [Social_Responsive_Vernacular]
Project: Ningbo Tengtou Pavillion, Shanghai, China, 2010 Architect/Designer: Amateur Architecture Studio, Wang Shu, Principal Sources: http://www.worldarchitects.com/en/amateur Featured material: Reused/Repurpose brick+tiles Responding to current China’s thirst for impatient¹ urbanization, Architect Wang […]
Indigenous Architecture
Climate change and sustainability are key considerations for architects when designing buildings in the 21st century. Since the industrial revolution, materials like steel, and more recently concrete, utilize the burning […]
She’s a Book—House…
She’s a book—-house… The lady’s stacked and that’s a fact, ain’t holding nothing back. …Actually, she is holding something back–or up, rather. Who needs a brick house when we could […]
Urban Camouflage Rethought
Rethinking about the application and ability for camouflage’s potential impact on design and the building industry, I have started challenging some of my earlier thoughts. How do we start to […]
The Cardboard Bike
With an ever-expanding trade network in a globalized world, shipping has become an important part of world commerce. Shipping technologies have become more and more advanced, especially in the field […]
Engineered Lumber #3: LVL
LVL or laminated veneer lumber is an engineering solution to span large distances without the need for large pieces of timber. This technology is similar to plywood in that is […]
Engineered Lumber #2: Plywood
Although plywood has been around for a while it has rarely been used for its aesthetic qualities until recently. Unlike OSB, plywood has a higher level of strength and durability […]
Engineered Lumber #1: OSB
As a solution to the scarcity of large trees, and thus large pieces of timber to use in construction, engineers have developed various types of wood products. These products use […]
Dematerialized Facade
The dematerialized façade of the Q4 office building ads layers that seem to defy gravity. The cedar planks are suspended from steel cables. They shade the building from the sun […]
Weathered
I’ve been researching weathering, aging, or degradation of exterior cladding materials over this semester because I’m working on a design project that deals with embracing patina rather than discarding worn […]
Camouflage This?
For my second attempt at understanding methods of camouflage I decided to study Casa Corallo by Paz Arquitectura. The project is located on a hillside forest in the Santa Rosalia […]
Vintage Wood
I come from small town America where farmland is of plenty and buildings are relatively few. While small town America does not offer too many pilgrimage sites for architects, I […]
Barnitecture
Barns scattering the Midwestern landscape have always brought a lot to mind for me. The barn is such an iconic structure, with icons differentiating with local materials and building practices, […]
50 Shades of Camouflage
Camouflage is a set of methods or concealment that allow otherwise visible animals, military vehicles, or other objects to remain unnoticed by blending in with their environments by resembling something […]
Material Strategies 
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