Mister Blandings

One of my favorite films celebrated its 61st anniversary this month.



If you're a designer, builder, developer, agent, or hobbyist; you should see this film.

Starring Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Melvyn Douglas as the Lawyer and Reginald Denny as the Architect.

In the Spring of 1948, 73 identical houses were raffled off as a promotion for the film.



Based on Eric Hodgins' novel of the same name, there have been many imitations of this film over the years, but none with the same charm and chemistry as the original.

The original house that was the basis for the book still stands in New Milford, Connecticut.

Jargon Watch

Here's what Pitagoras Arquitectos had to say about it's design for CS House in a recent article:

"The built body results from a manifested desired integration with the uneven topography that characterizes the land it occupies. Thus, the house is addorsed to the land, with the objective of defeating its accentuated slope."

Translation: "We built the house on a hill"

"All floors are contemplated with covered or uncovered verandas and patios that are closed off or open to the landscape, creating variable possibilities of inhabiting spaces, taking advantage of the light and scenery that change with the different seasons."

Translation: "Sometimes we built walls, sometimes we didn't."

Architecture Rap

Classic 80s synth/pop/rap/hip-hop/groove/beat.

Bonus: Great British curmudgeons in bowler hats at :50 sec



This originally aired on 10/30/1987.

Lego Architecture Series

I have always loved Legos, from the moment I first played with the giant red "Duplos." (Remember the big red 2x6 block with the bright yellow wheels? You could build all kinds of crazy structures on that.)

Now aging generations of architecture lovers, who probably owe their early inspiration to these simple blocks, can rejoice and play again.

Lego and Brickstuctures, Inc. have announced a collaboration to create collectors sets of great architecture.

Click on the images for larger detail. Links follow.

Landmark Series:
Empire State Building

John Hancock Tower

Seattle Space Needle

Sears Tower


Frank Lloyd Wright Series:
Falling Water

Guggenheim Museum


The packaging design and accessories that each set comes with is impressive.

Lego's Architecture series website here.

Brickstructure's Website here.

No news as to when these will be available.

Best of the Worst Reviews

Below are a just few of the best one-star reviews from Amazon.com. These are reproduced exactly, so I will avoid using "sic".



Great Gatsby

"Gatsby is the miz an and daisy is a sliz to the iz ut. Scott Fitzgerald i wish u were alive so i could kill u. Love DGS!!!"

Wizard of Oz

"the wort movie ive ever seen .I mean they clorized once color tv came out and there special effects are lame ,the costumes are ugly the props are ugly so never buy this film!!!!"

To Kill A Mockingbird

"This book is the worst book in the world. I read half way through the book and gave up because it made no sence"

Casablanca

"I expected a lot more action. I’m pretty sure I will enjoy it a lot more when Warner Bros finally gets around to releasing the colorized version, the way this movie needs to be seen - the world is not black and white, why should our movies be?"
"... Also Ingrid Bergman is no Maryland Monroe."

The Jungle

"Bad book toooo manyyyy words n not enough pitures"
"This book is fun for its first two-thirds, what with the rats and all."

Schindler's List

"Mr. S should stick with kiddie flicks like ET - although even there he was cruel to the actress who performed inside the ET suit."

Moby Dick

"Moby Ick's more like it. A PIECE-O-TRASH! SENSELESS"

Sound of Music

"This movie was made in the sixties, we live in the 21st century, GET OVER IT!"

Huckleberry Finn

"Twain has over used words once again. I wish someone would have told him that it's quality, not quantity."

Lord of the Flies

"Not sence reading the crystal Star and the Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy have i detested a book! If you want the point of the book watch the Simpsons parody."

Lawrence of Arabia

"I am used to seeing movies with fast action or at least a good story. This movie has neither. Some british guy goes to the mideast and fights with turks. The screenplay never explains why he would do that."

Rabbit Run

"Uggh!!! Updike can't write worth spit! This is just pure junk. Not only is it dull, but it's about nobodies. A total waste!"

Singin' in the Rain

"Sorry folks, but this is the biggest BORE-FEST I have ever seen. The plot is cheesy and uninteresting. The acting is old-school ham"
"I have now seen 1 musical so you cant say, 'well you have never seen one' when I say I hate musicals."

Underground Graphics

During a recent vacation to D.C., I was admiring the modern simplicity of the Washington Metrorail system.

The system was originally designed in 1966, so the planners were able to avoid nearly a century worth of aggregated mistakes of subway systems in larger and older cities. The system is a simple 5-line system, each with it's own color, heading in and back out of the city-center.

Having been planned after significant development of the city, the stations are located near population centers or attractions, and have names that match those destinations. Because of this, the residents of D.C. refer to locations as being "on the green line" and destinations are "off the blue line at federal triangle". There is an inherent value to property located "on the red line" for instance, indicating a freedom from everyday traffic headaches.


From an end-users standpoint, however, what really sells the system is the simplicity of the map. It is not a true cartographic representation (it is not-to-scale) and only has scant landmarks shown. Looking at the map convinces you of the value of the system, because landmarks that are not near the system are not shown. You are only seeing what's convenient to the system.

The style of the map was a revolutionary concept when Harry Beck, an engineer for the London Underground System, created his "simplified map system" in 1933.

The graphical simplicity of Beck's design would later influence Massimo Vignelli, when he redesigned the New York Subway map in 1972. In reality, these transit routes were a rats-nest of squiggly, criss-crossing lines that followed the contours of the land. On the map, however, the system was a simple system of lines, never deviating beyond a 45-degree snap, and often running side-by-side in harmony.



On our way back from D.C., I decided on a lark to see what a simplified transit map would look like, if overlaid onto the greater Rochester Metro Area. It was an interesting excercise, attempting to serve the greatest population centers, and landmarks, with the fewest amount of lines. I ended up with four lines running through the center city and back out to a village center. One of the benefits of the Metro system was being able to pop-up in the center of an outlying village, like Alexandria. I tried to apply this concept to the Monroe County Map.


Click on the image below to view a pdf of the the map. The second page is a detail view of the city center.


Click Here to download a map of the routes in Google Earth.

Architectural Competitions for Summer 2008

USA Newest to Oldest

Lifecycle Building Challenge 2
Submission Deadline: July 31 2008
LBC2 is a national competition that challenges creative minds to develop lifecycle building strategies to facilitate deconstruction and building material reuse. Student and professional contestants can submit entries in 2 categories: building and innovation. Lifecycle building reduces construction waste and conserves the embodied energy of buildings. Construction waste totals more than 100 million tons per year, and the embodied energy of building materials accounts for 12% or more of the total energy used in a building. Outstanding achievement awards will be given to Best Greenhouse Gas Reduction, Best Residential, and Best School entries.
Link

Round Building Reuse: 360 -Open Ideas Competition
Submission Deadline: August 8, 2008
Downtown Orlando is changing. The citizens of Orlando and Orange County have approved the much needed and highly anticipated 3 Venues projects, Including the Orlando Events Center, The Citrus Bowl expansion and modernization and the Dr. P. Phillips Performing Arts Center (DPPAC). The American Federal Building (The Round Building) occupies the southwest corner of the site of the DPPAC and is scheduled for complete demolition. The aim of Round Building Reuse : 360 is to promote awareness and seek the preservation of Florida's mid-century modern architecture. It is the competition objective to have the competitors develop an innovative reuse of the Round Buildings precast concrete brise soleil on another site or sites. Competition entries will provide valuable creative material to support the preservation effort of Central Florida Modern. Designs and Ideas will be used to create excitement, support, funding and a new purpose to a vestige of Central Florida's Modern heritage.
Link

Socio Design
Submission Deadline: November 21, 2008
Socio Design is a foundation that encourages social change through design-based dialog, a dialog fostered through an international student architecture competition. The competition asks students to question how prisons are used throughout today's world: what are the affects of prison design on employees, occupants and adjacent societies. Students are required to design a philosophy on what imprisonment should be, and express that philosophy architecturally.
Link


International Newest to Oldest:

Kings Cross, London, International Urban Design Competition
Submission Deadline: EOI August 1st 2008
Camden Council and Network Rail are seeking expressions of interest from architects, landscape architects and urban designers for the design of a brand new, urban square at Kings Cross, London. King's Cross Square is destined to become one of the great public places in London. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the Grade 1 listed façade of King's Cross railway station, it will be used daily by thousands of commuters, visitors and residents - a unique addition to the Capital's palette of memorable street scenes. To create this new public plaza, an international two-stage design competition has been launched. This search for a world-class exemplar design is jointly sponsored by Network Rail and the London Borough of Camden - recognising not only the Square's role as a major travel hub but also as a catalyst for wider urban regeneration.
Link

International Competition for the Development Proposals for the Olympic Village as Part of the Planning for Candidate City Madrid 2016
Submission Deadline: August 28, 2008
The object of this tender is the selection of the best architectural proposal for the development of the future Olympic Village. This tender of ideas, announced by the Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo de Madrid, will be developed as an open single-phase competition on a draft level. The winning ideas will be ceded to the EMVS and may be used for the presentation of Madrid's candidature for the Olympic Games 2016. If Madrid succeeds in becoming the venue for the Olympic Games 2016, the EMVS undertakes to entrust the winner with the complete construction of one of the buildings contained in the proposal.
Link

Open international competition for the realisation of Mobile Floating Architecture
Submission Deadline: September 15 2008
Organiser: Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land GmbH. The topic of the competition is the design of a mobile floating house to be used as a holiday house or dwelling house in the Lusatian Lake District. The houses should have a possibly high degree of autarky and mobility. The design should typify the life on the water
Link

Oslo Public Library - Restricted Plan and Design Competition
RFQ Deadline: September 15 2008
HAV Eiendom AS invites teams to submit requests for qualification, for the New Oslo Public library Design Competition in Björvika, Oslo. Competitors will be requested to propose urban design strategies that integrate the library's organization and programmatic requirements with the building immediate context; the overall objective is to establish a unique set of relationships between the Library, the City and the Fjord. This invitation is open to international teams and the competition languages are Scandinavian and English.
Link

Got a competition you want listed?
email me
Next competition update is October 1

Getting Ready for Opening Day

As the Art Director for the Brick Street Market, we have been feverishly preparing for the grand opening on July 4th weekend.

This shop will be located in the town of Delavan, Wisconsin (about 1 -1/2hrs north of Chicago and an hour south of Madison)

It is going to be a sweet little shop, where you can get your fix of the finest cheeses, and some other gourmet foods, from small farms around the region.

Laura Jacobs-Welch is the proprietor and she certainly knows her cheese.

If you're in the area, stop in and tell Laura, "Gary sent ya" and she will set you up with some of the finest selections of fromage you have ever had.