Sunday, September 28, 2014
#018 - Gabriel Richard - Cajun Buddhist Design Philosophy
Design is inherently collaborative. Designers need clients who need our expertise. We also need others to help us realize designs, builders and other designers. We don't have complete control over the projects we work on and the people we work with. This means in order to produce the best designs possible designers have to be able to bend themselves to the situation and find the limits and possibilities inherent in the projects we have and not try and turn them into the projects we want.
Gabriel Richard is an architect who sees architecture not in terms of projects and buildings, but instead in terms of expert services. He sees himself as a keeper of a process that delivers quality design. His goal on each project is not to deliver a world renown design, but to do honor to the clients goals by providing the services that translates the client's goals and needs into a form which can be permitted and built and which represents the client well. The surprise of this approach is that it leads to the best design possible while not raising the architect's agenda above that of the client's.
Gabe is also a busy father of two. This interview was recorded at his house and his son Mason makes several surprise interjections. We like to think of it as texture that emphasizes that architects are real people who live in the real world.
Gabe was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana in 1973. Moved to the big city of Marietta, GA as a teenager. Then went to Southern Poly to get a degree as a requirement for Officers Candidate School while in the Marine Reserves. Turns out I liked Architecture School better than the Marines. Went to Columbia University, and got a Master of Science in Architecture and Urban Design. Since then I have mostly focused on Architecture, with very little Urban Planning. Revit has been a major factor in my success, but I still sketch when it's convenient. Revit helped me find work when times got tough. So now I use Archicad, working in the healthcare market for the
Thursday, August 7, 2014
#015 - Parthenon - The Nexus of Everything
"The Parthenon enjoys
the reputation of being the most perfect Doric temple ever built. Even in
antiquity, its architectural refinements were legendary, especially the subtle
correspondence between the curvature of the stylobate,
the taper of the naos walls and the entasis of
the columns." - John Julius CooperDavid Rader and Nathan Koskovich kickoff our architecture history series with the Parthenon and speculate on why it still matters to architects.
Monday, July 28, 2014
#014 - John Maximuk - Talking Talk that People Speak
First of all, thanks to the staff at Java Vino that allowed John and I to camp out in a corner and record this interview for the cost of a couple of beers.
John Maximuk was named the Director of Decatur’s
new Design, Environment & Construction Division in June
2013.
He brings 20 years of experience as a planner in the
Atlanta, Boston, and Washington DC metro areas working in local government,
regional planning, and advocacy. Prior to joining the City of Decatur,
John served as Deputy Director of the Livable Communities Coalition of
Metro Atlanta. A career-long urban planner, John is a member of
the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). From 2006 to 2008, John
served as the chair of theAmerican Planning Association’s Urban Design and
Preservation Division. From 2012 to 2014, John served as vice chair of
the American Planning Association’s Divisions Council, an 8,000
member component of the national organization. In every setting, John has
been a champion for the role of design in planning and for best practices in
local government.
John currently serves on the Boards of the Architecture
and Design Center and the Congress for the New Urbanism Atlanta
Chapter.
John earned an undergraduate degree in Environmental
Geography at Ohio University and a Masters Degree in Regional Planning at the
University of Massachusetts.
To reach John, email John.Maximuk@gmail.com
Link
Local Blogs to Follow
Atlanta Urban Events
Monday, July 14, 2014
#013 - Stanley Daniels - Citizen Architect #2
I sat down with Stanley Daniel's at his house to continue a series that began with his partner John Busby. I envision this series as a record of architects whose careers are rooted in the mid 60's. This generation had a tremendous impact on Atlanta's development through not only their practice, but also through their community engagement. In many ways the best of what Atlanta is, both physically and culturally, owes a lot to this generation of citizen architects. In addition to being a founding partner of Jova/Daniels/Busby, Stanley was a leader of, and continues to be engaged with, the American Institute of Architects, and played an important role in founding the Architecture Foundation of Georgia.
As a side note, Stanley's house is a lovely modern little building situated on wooden lot on the edge of Atlanta. Stanley designed the house. Its one of many hoses designed by architects I've visited. The homes of Atlanta architects are a wonderful legacy in and of themselves. Even when they struggled to find clients with modern sensibilities, their homes allowed them to stretch and develop personal modern design approaches.
Stanley Daniels attended Emory University before graduating from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Architecture. Afterwards he studied in France at the Ecole des Beaux Artes Fontainebleu. He worked for David O. Savini, AIA, and John Portman Associates before founding his own firm with Henri Jova and John Busby.
Jova/Daniels/Busby (JDB) developed a reputation for strong design and well conceived projects. The firm attracted a large number of significant projects that greatly impacted Atlanta and influenced practice throughout the Southeast, nationally, and international. Major projects include Colony Square, Atlanta City Hall, the Carter Presidential Center, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
As a side note, Stanley's house is a lovely modern little building situated on wooden lot on the edge of Atlanta. Stanley designed the house. Its one of many hoses designed by architects I've visited. The homes of Atlanta architects are a wonderful legacy in and of themselves. Even when they struggled to find clients with modern sensibilities, their homes allowed them to stretch and develop personal modern design approaches.
Stanley Daniels attended Emory University before graduating from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Architecture. Afterwards he studied in France at the Ecole des Beaux Artes Fontainebleu. He worked for David O. Savini, AIA, and John Portman Associates before founding his own firm with Henri Jova and John Busby.
Jova/Daniels/Busby (JDB) developed a reputation for strong design and well conceived projects. The firm attracted a large number of significant projects that greatly impacted Atlanta and influenced practice throughout the Southeast, nationally, and international. Major projects include Colony Square, Atlanta City Hall, the Carter Presidential Center, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Links
Perhaps the man most responsible for bringing a Modern design approach to Georgia Tech. Heffernan designed several buildings on Georgia Tech's Campus
Ideas developed at this German art school went on to become very influential after many of its teachers were forced to leave Germany.
The most influential school of architecture during the 19th Century. In many ways its influence was supplanted by the Bauhaus
Founder of the Bauhaus, Gropius latter taught at Harvard's Graduate School of Design (GSD). Many of the schools graduates came to the Southeast to teach and practice.
Influential Atlanta based architect, who employed Stanley Daniel's. Portman was one of the first Architects to play the role of developer and architect on projects.
Another influential Atlanta based architect who experimented with project delivery methods and service packages who at one time employed Stanley's partner John Busby.
An early John Portman project.
Influenced the JDB's work for Southern Progress (sorry you'll have to Google Southern Progress yourself)
Iconic furniture design and manufacturing company.
Speech at AIA conference influenced profession to become more engaged in civic questions and to work towards greater diversity in the profession.
Civil Rights organization whose efforts in part focused on community and economic development. Whitney Young was President of the organizations from 1961 to 1971.
Partnered with AIA Georgia, AFGA regularly distributes architecture scholarships to deserving students.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
#012 - Architecture Survey Introduction - How Architects Thinkspeak
Central to an architect's, or any designer's, job is solving complex problems. It's not possible to solve these problems through analytical methods, so Architects have come up with multiple subjective, or intuitive, ways of solving them. One of which is to simply draw on experience. "Well in the past, in a similar situation, this worked. Let's try it again and see what happens."
Where experience fails, architects can fall back on precedence.
The work of others in similar situations. Throughout the centuries architects
find themselves over and over again going back to certain buildings by certain
architects. These architects and these works form a set of building blocks from
which each architect can build his or her own design philosophy.
They also form the basis of a sort of short hand architects
use when talking to each other. They might say, "It's very Mesian, or
Wrightean" or "It's very Bauhaus"
To hopefully help listeners understand what we are talking
about when this happens, David Rader and I are going to undertake a special
sub-series in which we look at a survey of important architects and works that
make up the mental background of most modern architecture practices. It's not
an exhaustive survey. It's a bare- essentials for anyone who wants to be
relatively fluent in architect-ese.
From time to time David and I will look at a well known
building by a well known architect that still has a major space in architecture
culture. Where possible we'll look at a building David and/or I have been to in
person because no matter how much you study a building, seeing it in person is
always surprising. We'll cover the people involved, the Architect and the
Client. The reason the building was built and a little about the times in which
the building was built. We'll go over some of the distinct, unique, and
influential elements of the building or work. and we'll wrap up with why the
building is important and give our own critique of the building. There's a lot
to be gained by tearing down giants, or at least chipping away at them.
See our initial list below and feel free to suggest buildings and architects we may have missed. Heck, tell us there are some we should cut.
| Building/Work | Architect/Autor | Year |
| Parthenon | Iktinos, Kallikrates, Phidias | -447 |
| Ten Books of Architecture | Vitruvius (Marcus Vitruvius Pollio) | 0 |
| Foundlings Hospital | Brunelleschi, Filippo | 1419 |
| Pazzi Chapel | Brunelleschi, Filippo | 1430 |
| Duomo | Brunelleschi, Filippo | 1436 |
| On the Art of Building | Alberti, Leon Batista | 1452 |
| La Tempietto | Bramante, Donato | 1502 |
| Palazzo della Ragioine | Paladio, Andrea | 1546 |
| Villa Barbaro | Paladio, Andrea | 1560 |
| Villa Rotunda | Paladio, Andrea | 1566 |
| Stourhead | Varuious | 1719-1764 |
| Royal Saltworks Arc-et-Senans | Ledoux, Claude Nicolas | 1778 |
| University of Virginia | Jefferson, Thomas | 1825 |
| Panopticon | Bentham, Jeremy | 1791 |
| Bibleotheque Ste Genevieve | Viollet-le-Duc, Eugene Emanuel | 1845 |
| The Seven Lamps of Architecture | Ruskin, John | 1849 |
| Notre-Dame Paris | Labrouste, Henri | 1850 |
| Crystal Palace | Paxton, Joseph | 1851 |
| Eames Lounge Chair | Eames, Charles and Ray | 1956 |
| Entretiens sur l'architecture | Viollet-le-Duc, Eugene Emanuel | 1872 |
| Opera Paris | Garnier, Charles | 1875 |
| Marshal Field Wholesale Store | Richardson, Henry Hobson | 1885 |
| The Wainright Building | Sulivan, Louis; Adler, Dankmar | 1891 |
| Reliance Building | Root, John | 1895 |
| Paris Metro | Guimard, Hecotr | 1900 |
| Unity Temple | Wright, Frank Lloyd | 1906 |
| Robbie House | Wright, Frank Lloyd | 1909 |
| AEG Turbine Factory | Behrens, Peter | 1909 |
| Citta Nuova | Sant'Elia, Antonio | 1914 |
| Glass Skyscrpaer | Mies van der Rohe, Ludwieg | 1920 |
| Schroder House | Rietveld, Gerrit | 1924 |
| Bauhaus | Gropius, Walter | 1926 |
| Lenin Institute | Leonidov, Ivan | 1927 |
| Towards an Architecture | Le Corbusier | 1927 |
| Barcelona Pavilion | Mies van der Rohe, Ludwieg | 1929 |
| Villa Savoy | Le Corbusier | 1931 |
| Viipuri Library | Aalto, Alvar | 1935 |
| Casa Del Fascio | Terrangni, Giuseppe | 1936 |
| Falling Water | Wright, Frank Lloyd | 1936 |
| Eames House | Eames, Charles and Ray | 1949 |
| Farnsworth House | Mies van der Rohe, Ludwieg | 1950 |
| Unite d'Habitation | Le Corbusier | 1952 |
| Notre-Dame-du-Haut, Ranchamp | Le Corbusier | 1955 |
| Seagram Building | Mies van der Rohe, Ludwieg | 1958 |
| Guggenheim Musum | Wright, Frank Lloyd | 1960 |
| TWA Terminal | Sarrinen, Eero | 1962 |
| Fondazione Querini Stampalia | Scarpa, Carlo | 1963 |
| Kimble Art Museum | Kahn, Louis | 1972 |
| House VI | Eisenman, Peter | 1975 |
| The Pompidou Center | Pian, Renzo; Rogers Richard | 1977 |
| Delirous New York | Koolhaas, Rem | 1978 |
| High Museum of Art | Richard Meier | 1983 |
| Menil Collection | Pian, Renzo | 1986 |
| Hongkong and Shanghai Bank | Foster, Norman | 1986 |
| Pyramid de Musee de Luvre | Pei, I.M. | 1989 |
| Buckhead Branch Library | Scogin, Mack; Elam Merrill | 1989 |
| Michael C. Carlos Museum | Graves, Michael | 1993 |
| Guggenheim Museum Bilbao | Gehry, Frank | 1997 |
Sunday, June 22, 2014
#011 - Lennie Mowris - Making is Designing, and Design is Branding, Do it Will.
Nathan Koskovich, AIA, talks with Graphic Designer and
Printer Lennie Mowris at her studio and workshop. Lennie's work in letterpress
illustrates the power of details in design. How small things, like how ink
finds its way on to paper, affect our understanding of an image, and of the
brand it represents. For her working in letterpress is not a nostalgic quirky whim,
but a means to achieving certain design goals.
Lennie combines more than ten years experience in the
natural health industry with a passion for merging tradition and innovation.
Through her independent studio, Lenspeace, she specializes in sustainable
design and brand strategy for small business, non-profit organizations,
artisans and individuals. Her Decatur-based printmaking workshop features two
vintage letterpresses and screen printing services for production of custom
brand collateral and unique dimensional art. As AIGA Atlanta Affinity
Programming Director, she develops educational and collaborative programming
focused on The Living Principles for Design, Women's Leadership and Diversity,
and Design For Good initiatives.
Pictures
The big printer Lennie uses for large runs of hand printed material.
The smaller printer Lennie uses to test prints and experiment with techniques and designs.
Small printer walk through from Lennie
Links
Sunday, June 15, 2014
#010 - Heather Alhadeff - City Planning Gooooooooooools
Nathan Koskovich, AIA sits down with Heather Alhadeff, City Planner and fellow ADC Board Member, at her apartment in the Castleberry Hill district of Atlanta to talk about city planning and the power of listening as a design skill, and the complexity of graphic design and communication.
Heather is an accomplished transportation planner with an emphasis on land use planning and urban design. Her public and private sector experience has enabled her to work on a range of project types, from traditional highway solutions to site-specific urban infill development. She is frequently involved in developing and implementing plans that support multi-modal options, improved functionality, and spur economic Development.
Her passion lies in resolving complex urban challenges through logical implementation and creating constituent consensus. She is often the liaison between engineers, designers, the real estate community, and the public. She translates technical analysis into meaningful, understandable formats that foster buy-in and accelerate implementation.
As Ian Darke says, it's incredible.
Heather is an accomplished transportation planner with an emphasis on land use planning and urban design. Her public and private sector experience has enabled her to work on a range of project types, from traditional highway solutions to site-specific urban infill development. She is frequently involved in developing and implementing plans that support multi-modal options, improved functionality, and spur economic Development.
Her passion lies in resolving complex urban challenges through logical implementation and creating constituent consensus. She is often the liaison between engineers, designers, the real estate community, and the public. She translates technical analysis into meaningful, understandable formats that foster buy-in and accelerate implementation.
As Ian Darke says, it's incredible.
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