In the spirit of open access to information, professor Jochen Gros and designer Friedrich Sulzer headed up a research project at the C…Lab of the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach in Germany, where they have developed 50 different wood joinery techniques capable of being fabricated digitally, using tools such as a CNC mill or lasercutter.
Now these files have been made accessible to the public via downloadable files in various data formats (including several Autocad capable formats). They have also provided each joint with a PDF guide to assembly, to make piecing together the wood elements a snap.
Example joint guide. Via Flexible Stream
On his site, Gros explains why architects & designers may be so fascinated with joinery:
Every time we come across them, we are filled with admiration: Admiration for the skill of the master craftsman, as their creator, but also admiration for the balance between function and beauty, which turns the furniture or temple into a work of art.
With the onset of industrialisation, the traditional wood joints have been banned more and more to the background. Manufacturing has to be above all efficient, so there is no more room for traditional wood joints. Or is there?
As computer-controlled wood processing machines move into the cabinet-makers’ workshops, the way two pieces of wood are joined together in a construction needs to be reconsidered.
Example joint guide. Via Flexible Stream
By making the joint files publicly available, the team hopes to inspire designers, architects and DIYers to utilize the joints for their own projects, and encourage users to send them pictures of their creations, and ideas for how to make the joints even better.
You can find a link to the files and contact info for submissions, here.
Over on Intstructables, user Ladycartoonist was so inspired by Gros’ work that she created a beautiful poster as a visual reference. It too has been licensed under creative commons and can be downloaded here. Enjoy!
Perched between ocean and pond, Field House almost appears to allow the landscape to run through it. Acting as both an extension of its surroundings and as a shelter from it, the house is conceived with flooding and wind in mind. Field House is constructed on piles and is comprised of a steel frame clad in durable mahogany, with anodized aluminum framed windows and doors, and high density limestone.
These are all recyclable materials intentionally chosen for their low maintenance in this harsh but beautiful setting. The lower level opens up to the limestone clad pool on the pond side, and to dune grass and ocean to the south. Overhangs and operable screens limit heat gain during summer, but allow for the warmer rays to penetrate through in winter. Less than 5 thousand square feet, the house offers a myriad of ways to experience the setting, from the second stair bridge in the double height entry and living room to lower level rooms that open up completely to become covered outdoor porches. A robust revegetation program allows the building to become an extension of the natural landscape that it inhabits.
The house is approached through a loosely terraced set of stairs, bypassing the elevated pool, which at the entry level functions as a water element allowing the sound of water running over the edge to signify the arrival. Yet once up at the main level entrance, the pool and surrounding decks are screened through vegetation and low walls, providing the area privacy and the uninterrupted view out to the pond beyond. The moment of arrival at the entry takes you straight through the main space and out to the ocean ahead. Once inside, pending the space, there is either oceanfront, or pond views, with some spaces acting as an open bridge between both. The lower level is composed of a main living room open to an offset dining area both ocean facing. The separated kitchen opens up to the pool terrace and pond view, literally with a large sliding window that allows for an old school concession counter relationship between kitchen and terrace. Adjoining the kitchen is a glassed in eating area enclosed by retracting glass doors. Throughout the lower level, limestone walls function to contain, guide, and define various areas. On the ocean front terrace the wall becomes a container, housing a gas fireplace and various cabinetry for outdoor entertaining.
The east wing of the house functions as guest and family bedrooms on both floors. Conservative in size, each forges a relationship with the exterior through floor to ceiling glass, properly screened, again to avoid heat gain as much as possible. The second floor bridge connects the children’s’ bedrooms to the master suite and a sitting room with a glass corner.
The interior palette matches the exterior, with the limestone extending through out the main level and reappearing as solid blocks in bathrooms. The intention throughout is to reinforce rather than detract from the natural beauty of the surroundings.
Product Description. This is a steel structure with wood infill. The siding is African Vertical grain mahogany. Door and window frames are anodized aluminum. Valders Limestone from Wisconsin used throughout inside and out. The stone is used landscape elements such as the pool and spa and the surrounding terraces. It continues through the inside main level of the house reinforcing the indoor outdoor relationship.
The latest chapter in the saga of London’s Garden Bridge, which has seen counter proposals and reactionary follies alike, has revealed major concerns relating to its funding mechanisms. As reported by the Architects’ Journal, new findings from the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office (NAO), which has studied the decision taken by the Department for Transport’s decision to grant £30 million ($37 million) of funding to the Garden Bridge Trust, has discovered that the “sum [£30 million] was provided following a commitment from [the] then Chancellor George Osborne, and despite the DfT’s conclusion that there was ‘a significant risk that the Bridge could represent poor value for money’.”
According to the AJ the report, which was first ordered in the summer of 2015, “also found that transport ministers had repeatedly relaxed a cap on the amount of its funding that could be used for pre-construction activity following requests from the Trust, twice against the advice of senior civil servants.”
In spite of a cost cutting exercise in November 2015, the Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, Meg Hillier MP, has said of this report:
It worries me that whenever the Garden Bridge Trust runs into financial trouble, the Department for Transport releases more taxpayers’ money before construction has even started.
Hillier also commented on the fact that the piece of infrastructure will need costly maintenance throughout its life: “who’s going to pick up the bill to maintain it?” If the project is cancelled the DfT looks set to lose “up to £22.5 million” of public money; meanwhile, the NAO has “expressed serious doubts that the Garden Bridge [will] be built.”
A spokesman for the NAO has said that “there remains a significant risk that the project will not go ahead. The Trust has still not secured the land on the South Bank for the Bridge’s south landing, which has affected the timetable.” In addition, “the main contractor has been put on standby and construction is now expected to begin in the spring of 2017” – around eighteen months later than initially planned.
The British Transport Minister, Lord Ahmad, has said that “the government remains supportive of the Garden Bridge project and Ministers took into account a wide range of factors before deciding whether or not to make funding available.” He added: “The taxpayer, however, must not be exposed to any further risks and it is now for the trust to find private sector backers to invest in the delivery of this project.”
From mountains to sand dunes to wetlands, Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve in Colorado has a terrific diversity of ecosystems. Each landscape is affected differently by the seasons. With fall descending on the park, that means patches of aspens in the alpine ranges are starting to show their gorgeous yellow colors. What a view! Photo by Patrick Myers, National Park Service.
If you’re a sole-practitioner architect, you’ve probably already thought long and hard about the pros and cons of working solo, and don’t feel the burning desire to work in a bustling office environment with large-scale projects and constant collaboration. There are plenty of upsides to running your own practice. “I have it pretty good as a sole practitioner,” says Portland, Oregon architect Celeste Lewis. “I love the flexibility it provides with having a child, parents who are ill, and my passion for being involved in the community.”
But along with the benefits come challenges. One of the biggest is proving you’re worth your salt in a competitive marketplace alongside larger, bigger-reputation firms. Here are eight tips to help sole practitioners—who make up nearly 25 percent of AIA-member firms—build credibility.
Sole practitioners can’t do everything for everyone because of their limited resources. A key to success as a sole practitioner is to “decide who you are, what makes you happy, and figure out what it is you want to do on a daily basis,” says Kevin Harris, a Baton Rouge, Louisiana–based architect. “I didn’t like the projects other firms were doing, which is why I started my own practice.” Harris does a variety of residential work, but as a sole proprietor, you may be happiest focusing on a specialization.
And while it may seem obvious, don’t forget your bandwidth. “It’s imperative to come up with a sweet spot for the amount of work you can take on as a sole practitioner and do a good job,” Lewis says.
2. Do Pro Bono Work
Whether you need to build your portfolio or just have a heart of gold, doing pro bono work is a great way to build your reputation. “Pro bono work was fun and gave me tremendous publicity,” Harris says. “My pro bono work would get published in the paper, I was referred to as the architect, and that gave me a lot of credibility.” Pro bono work may not pay you in dollars, but it can yield new contacts, expand your network, show people what you’re capable of, and thus clinch your next paying client.
3. Get Involved in Your Local Community
Harris says that an architect’s training prepares you to serve as a valuable board member of many organizations, and to be of help to your community in various other ways. “I joined the YMCA board, the Rotary Club, and made presentations as often as I could about things I thought were good for the city,” Harris says. Having high visibility in your community, and volunteering your time with organizations, puts you in front of potential clients and gives them an opportunity to get to know you before doing business.
“When you’re a sole practitioner, you have to work hard to maintain a network of peers to help your thinking along,” Lewis says. “I relish going out to meet other people, professionals and peers.”
Jane Frederick, an at-large director on the AIA board and partner at Frederick + Frederick Architects, suggests that sole practitioners join AIA knowledge communities to stay abreast of what’s going on in the industry and to get advice and ideas. “The Small Firm Round Table and the Small Project Practitioners knowledge communities are great ways for sole practitioners to get out of their bubble and plug into a larger sphere,” she says. “And it’s a perfect support mechanism because the other members are not direct competitors, as they are spread across different cities in the U.S.”
5. Establish Yourself as the Expert, and Get Published
If you have some downtime in your schedule, one way to bolster your income and reputation is to teach. Before Harris started his own practice, he taught for 10 years at the Louisiana State University School of Architecture. “I always chose projects for my students that benefitted the community, and the projects often got noticed by the community,” he says.
A surefire way to gain credibility is to persuade others to make the case that you are the best architect for the job through architecture awards or write-ups in industry magazines. So submit your work for consideration. “A lot of people don’t know if an architect is good or not, so distinguish yourself from the outset,” Frederick says. “When you win an award or your project gets published, it gives clients a trusted third-party’s approval and praise of your work.”
Shrimp Pond Studio addition in Spring Island, South Carolina, designed by Frederick + Frederick Architects. Image Courtesy of John McManus
7. Boost Your Professionalism
Even when your firm is just you, it’s important to present yourself professionally. Frederick advises to “get comfortable with public speaking for when you have to make presentations to clients or groups, and be very intentional about everything that goes out of your office, including letters, drawings, emails, and any kind of communications.”
In terms of online presence, “it’s important to keep your website fresh and updated,” Frederick says. “This is critical for the residential market.” She suggests that a sole practitioner’s website should “show your personality, show what you’re working on, and broadcast a message that says, ‘Hire me because it’s going to be fun to work with me.’”
8. Have Good Systems in Place, and Hire Help
Part of the challenge of being a sole practitioner is that you have to do it all to keep the firm going, including designing, marketing, and billing. Without a good project-management tool (such as Asana or Trello), sole practitioners are prone to making mistakes, letting things slip through the cracks, and not getting to everything they need to get to—thus undermining their credibility with clients.
“Sole practitioners have to wear 15 different hats,” Frederick says, “so it’s important to have systems in place and to hire other professionals, like accountants or marketing consultants, to take off some of the burden.”
Managing a business is easier said than done. When you run your own business, you need to give it all your time and attention. It’s a job that is both demanding and fulfilling.
Eventually, you’ll want to turn it into a business that can run without you. This, unfortunately, is the harder part.
The first obstacle you need to anticipate is manpower. For small businesses and start-up companies, it is usually the owner that does most of the work. To help you out, here are the top business productivity apps you can rely on for help.
1. TMetric
This is a time tracking app that can help you manage projects and your team at the same time. It can track your team’s work activities which you can view in a simple timeline mode.
If you have remote employees or you’re not in the office most of the time, you can use this app to check on your team’s productivity. As the project leader, you’ll be able to view what sites your members visited or what apps they’ve used in a specific period of time.
Tmetric is completely free and can be integrated with other tools like Trello, Basecamp, Jira, Asana, and RedMine. Compared with other time tracking apps, this one is very user-friendly and does not require training to understand.
It’s a simple click-and-go app with powerful features at no cost.
For a business to grow, its mailing list should grow as well. It’s a great way to continuously generate leads and sales.
MailChimp is an easy and professional way to send emails to your subscribers. Its intuitive interface allows even the most non-techy users to make it work.
For small businesses, the free version is a good starting point. You can send up to 12,000 emails a month to a mailing list of up to 2,000 contacts.
MailChimp has a huge directory of integration. Popular platforms include WordPress, Shopify, and Magento.
3. Wave
This app is pretty straightforward. It’s a free accounting software that covers invoicing, payroll, bills, and other factors that involve money. It’s specifically tailored for small businesses.
Wave gives business owners an easy and efficient way to manage books. If you want to handle accounting work yourself but don’t want to spend money for more advanced apps, this is a great solution.
You can securely link your banking accounts, send unlimited invoices, and pay as many bills as you want. It is a Canadian-based company with over 2.5 million users.
You can securely link your banking accounts, send unlimited invoices, and pay as many bills as you want. It is a Canadian-based company with over 2.5 million users.
4. Tasytt
Welcoming a new team member can take a lot of work, particularly when it comes to orientation and training. This is a common experience and issue for most small businesses.
As a solution, you can try a tiny but powerful app called Tasytt. It streamlines your company’s training process so you know who’s reading what and for how long.
In addition to onboarding new team members, it’s a great tool for training existing team members without having to set up individual meetings, too. By creating ‘flows’, which are basically tasks made into a smaller set of activities, you can easily track your team’s progress and productivity.
This is clearly one of the best business productivity apps you’ve got to try.
From the architect. The church is located on a large plaza to the southeast of a new urban development in Monterrey, Mexico. Its main entry opens right onto the plaza, and with an unobstructed width of 11.5 meters, this opening allows for the visual connection of the interior space to the plaza. The plaza can therefore function as an annex to the church, with religious celebrations and rites spilling out of doors when attending crowds exceed the church’s capacity of 350. Above the entry canopy, the façade is a large flat wall without fenestration or ornament, an emphatic and nearly square plane, declarative of the otherness of the space behind and within: the sacred space of the church interior.
With this project of contemporary architecture we engage in a dialogue where the spaces of the temple not only allow for teachings, social activities, rites and celebrations, but also represent a development of an architectural language with a long history, speaking of continuity but also renewal. We see this church as a place of meditation as well as a social and educational center.
The volumetric concept of the church derives from traditional church plans, and the design presents recognizable architectural features taken from early Christian temple prototypes, such as the bell tower, the stained-glass windows, the frontal altar, the baptistery, the choir, the three chapels and the lateral courtyard. Nonetheless, the design is undoubtedly modern.
Section
The plan is that of a basilica, with a rectangular central nave some 15 meters high, its long axis oriented towards the altar. There are multiple sources of natural light in the interior. Behind the baptistery a long glass wall runs the length of the nave giving views of an enclosed patio. Above this area is a version of a rose window, a nine-square grid opening to the west with colored glass. To the southeast, three small chapels each enjoy daylight from high skylights. Finally, above the altar is a forth high skylight, whose light washes down behind an inclined panel cut into four sections to reveal a large Latin cross, the cross glowing with the light from above.
“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture”
This well-known quote, most often attributed to comedian Martin Mull, compares attempting to explain music’s complex auditory intricacies with words to trying to interpret architectural forms through the motion of the human body – the underlying implication, of course, that it’s fruitless.
But take a closer inspection of the analogy. Music and writing may be media for disparate senses, but, at their height, dance and architecture share a realm of space and light; both perform as formal exercises that relate to the human proportion of the body. Must dancing about architecture truly be an exercise in futility?
A year after premiering at the 2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial, last week Steven Holl and dance choreographer Jessica Lang’s “Tesseracts of Time” made its New York debut at the City Center mainstage. The 21-minute performance, designed as a part of Holl’s ‘Explorations of IN’ project, explores the relationship between performance and environment through four phases, which the designers liken to the passing of the four seasons.
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
“It’s a dance for architecture. Where light and movement and the passage of another artist, the choreography moving through the architectonic becomes the total experience,” explained Holl in an interview with Archinect. “I feel that architecture—the movement of a body through space—that’s the instrument of the measurement, space. And you can’t really photograph it.”
Perhaps that elusivity was the inspiration for the performance’s title. A geometric impossibility, the tesseract is the four-dimensional counterpart to the cube – whereas a cube is made up of 6 squares folded to create a volume, a tesseract consists of six cubes folded in on one another. Not only does Holl reject the notion that architecture can be captured in 2-dimensions, he argues that it can only properly be explained in 4-dimensions, through the addition of time.
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
“Both Architecture and dance share a passion for space and light in time; however, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to time,” explain the designers. “Architecture is one of the arts of longest duration, while the realization of a dance piece can be a quick process and the work disappears as the performance of it unfolds. Here the two merge in a compression of time and space.”
This congruity is expressed in the performance’s four “seasons,” each of which has been choreographed to respond to different types of architecture: Under the ground, In the ground, On the ground, and Over the ground.
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
In the first section, ‘UNDER,’ the stage is partially bisected by a suspended screen upon which softly-light versions of Holl’s signature carved surfaces are projected. Dressed in all black, the dancers stretch, swim and sprawl on either side of the screen, laying out when their path is obstructed by its presence. Their movements are linear as they are driven by the David Lang’s percussive score.
As UNDER transitions to ‘IN,’ the screen is extended to reach the ground, transforming the projected architecture from object into environment. Virtual dancers begin to occupy all corners of the projected space, interacting with and typically upstaging their real-life counterparts, who remain tied to floor of the stage. Despite the perspectival depth created by scaling the figures’ size, the movements in this section are distinctly 2-dimensional – the dancers remaining relatively stationary as they stretch their appendages and bow their bodies to match the shapes of the architecture around them.
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
The third section, ‘ON,’ introduces 3-dimensional objects onto the stage: three 12-foot-tall ‘Tesseract Fragments.’ The dancers themselves provide the 4th dimension as they move around and on top of the white fabric structures, obscuring, bending and distorting their forms. The choreography is at its most playful here, allowing the objects to be used as slides, shelters or terrain.
The three objects are slowly lifted into the air, the final section, ‘OVER,’ begins. Now, color is introduced for the first time, in both the setting and in the dancer’s clothing. The objects become background elements, hanging over the stage the way a setting sun hangs in the sky. The music, too, settles into a hypnotic hum, while the dancers’ movements become fluid and air bound, with poses resembling a joyous worship.
The performance ends in darkness, setting the stage for the cycle to begin again.
At the inauguration of Steven Holl Architects’ Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa this past weekend, a group of Iowa Dance students put on a building-interpretive performance. They hugged the building’s Guggenheim-esque railings, stretched their bodies over the edge, and cast paper planes to flutter down into the building’s atrium, instructing visitors as to how objects and bodies could occupy its space. It was dance – but it sure looked a lot like architecture.
Courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
Jessica Lang Dance is now touring the country performing a variety of pieces from their repertoire. “Tesseracts of Time” will next be shown November 10-12 in Seattle and December 9 in Dallas. For the full schedule, visit their website, here.
Sig Nordal 