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 […]
Tag Archives: Architecture
The Great Metal Tube in the Sky
Composite Bird My window seat next to the wing of the Boeing 777 that would carry me across the Arctic Sea to China was anything but desired. As soon as […]
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 […]
GREEN CAST [vertical green: aesthetic + function exposed]
Project: Green Cast, Odaware-shi, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan Architect/Designer: Kengo Kuma and Associates Sources: http://kkaa.co.jp/ Featured material: Aluminum die cast panels and plant material. This vertical green facade by KK+A leaves […]
Plastic
Plastic is a tricky material. On one hand I reject it because of the tremendous negative impact it has on the environment and health. The production of plastic requires large […]
The Afterlives of Buildings
After many years of service, a Dutch laboratory is about to be demolished. Equipment sold, occupants long gone, the wrecking ball is about to arrive. A bit of the resulting […]
Excess
Less is more. More is more. But when is too much even better? In any society of great wealth, there exists a design market that pushes the boundaries of what […]
Blank Wall: An Invitation
In the film the Horse’s Mouth, the main character, an artist named Gully Jimson, has an obsession with blank walls. To him blank walls have an unseen character. They hold […]
Wt Hpnd 2 Vwls?
Architecture, Materials and The Battle of Speed and Quality Yeah, so where have all the vowels gone? What happened to them? We find ourselves in a world where words are […]
Sustainability Icon in a Sea of Suburbia
I call Omaha, Nebraska home. A mid-sized city in what many Americans call the “fly over” portion of the country, the Midwest. Omaha is unique in that Nebraska law allows […]
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 […]
Holy Crypsis
Crypsis is the final study of camouflage I’m taking a closer look at. In biology crypsis is the ability for an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. […]
Razzle Dazzle
This week I am going to continue testing and studying the idea of camouflage. Dazzle camouflage, also known as razzle dazzle or dazzle painting is used in the animal kingdom […]
Inspiration in Textiles and Movement
My design education over the last 6 ½ years has settled into a few areas of interest. One of these areas is interactive architecture and the use of textiles in […]
Journey to the Center of a Bathhouse
Every once in a while, I like to indulge in looking back to a rather perplexing creation of Peter Zumthor, the bathhouse at Therme Vals. And what a peculiar bathhouse […]
Material Strategies 
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