Spine Project.....Revisited

Just recently, I revisited a project that I had designed a couple of years ago, right after I had a second surgery on my spine.  It was a multi-family project that was inspired by what was on my mind at the time….the spine! The project as it was designed back then can still be seen on this blog by going  to the residential design page and clicking the on the Spine Project.  At the time I originally designed the project, I did not have the design software that I currently have now (Revit). I designed the first version the old fashioned way, by hand and the presentation drawings were by hand as well.

I will be the first to admit that although I can visualize a project in 3 dimensions, it has always proven difficult for me to communicate that visualization through perspective sketches. That is the beauty of REVIT as is it allows you instant feedback on a particular idea you are chasing, whether it is the shape of wall, or a difficult arrangement of roof lines.

From a design point of view, the idea was to develop a building organized along a central axis, an axis that is flexible and can bend (unlike my own spine). This allows for a variety of layouts for each particular building in a complex, adding variety while at the same time keeping a cohesive design character.  To reduce the amount of unsightly parking lots that typically surround multi-family housing, detached garages are connected to the building with a drive through which effectively hides the garage door from the public. The building is also designed so that unit entries alternate on each side of the building, eliminating front, back and sides of buildings which enliven the spaces that occur between buildings. 

I enjoyed working on this design exercise immensely as it was a challenging and creatively  rewarding project. Below are a few images…………..

RBP

5.1.12  

Progression Of An Idea

The Inspiration:

Our everyday world that we experience, that is to say the collective, visual environment that we are immersed in and travel through on a daily basis, is a complex layering  of forms, lines, shades and shadows and information that  we process instantaneously. That visual environment is ever changing due to many factors including lighting, point of view and the speed with which we travel through that environment. It is a constant and ever changing input of visual information that we experience without realization. A photograph instantly translates the dynamic world we experience into a static memory of that specific place and specific time. There will never be another moment that has exactly the same conditions of information as the time at which a particular photograph was taken….ever. In that regard, there is no better starting point from which to create a composition from than a photograph. It is inherently unique, free from artistic intent (at least in origin), which ensures a creative process of discovery.

The Sangre De Cristo Arts and Exhibition Center

Hurtig, Gardner, Froelich, Architects

 

The Process:

Discover the influential visual forces of that particular moment, removing all informational content. In other words, Grass is no longer grass; it is an element in a collection of elements. There is no shade, shadow or sky; they are just individual elements that contribute to the moment that dynamic information became static.  Note that the iteration below (I’ll call it Iteration 5) is not the first iteration as I did not record every iteration I performed. I do however, believe it is a fair representation of capturing of the elemental forces of the initial image and how those forces began to inform and lead me to creative discovery.   

 Iteration 5

I like the iteration above, it has flow and energy and I can honestly say that I would never have created the composition purely from my imagination and in that sense it truly reflects the underlying forces of the initial genesis, the photograph of the Sangre De Cristo Arts Center.  If you have read any of my earlier posts, you know that I am all about the process and where does the creative investigations take me. What can I do to improve the product? It’s of critical importance to note that the creative intent was never to recreate a graphic representation of the image. The intent is to capture the energy and visual forces of the moment, and use that as a point of departure for creative exploration and discovery. That journey took me to the iteration shown below.

Iteration 17

Now the piece is developing a life of its own. Now, rather than taking cues from the initial image, I am discovering possibilities that are generated from the piece’s own history, energy and character.  In a sense, I am letting the piece design itself, and am merely guiding its development. Further explorations lead to the final iteration, the final product of this particular creative process.

The Solution:

Iteration 33

The epilogue:

I’m satisfied with the process, where the creative journey led, and ultimately find the end product, Iteration 33 a compelling and intriguing conclusion to the design exercise.  Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of this investigation is that it inspired me to explore other creative possibilities that would not be possible had I not travelled down this path of discovery……….  

Iteration 1…..

And the process continues……………

RBP

4.25.12

John Hurtig: A Mentor Who Inspired!

The other day, quite unexpectedly, I had the opportunity to chat with the first Architect who hired me after I graduated from my fifth year at UNCC in 1991 and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation.

My first job after graduating from college was in Pueblo Colorado with Hurtig, Gardner and Froelich Architects. They had designed a fantastic building that caught my eye, The Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center.

It was a beautiful building, and most assuredly the Jewel of Pueblo. I could instantly tell that it had organic influences, which was right up my alley coming out of college. I was lucky enough to find employment with them, and to this day am grateful for the opportunities they gave me.

During my interview, I discovered that the three principals had gone to college at the University of Oklahoma and studied the art of Architecture under the tutelage of one of the most driving and influential forces of organic architecture, Bruce Goff. That influence and education has left its mark on the City of Pueblo in a number of Architectural Jewels including the Buell Children’s Museum, Pueblo Transit Center, Pueblo Ice Rink, and many others. If you get the chance to travel through Colorado, and have a bit of time, take the Pueblo downtown exit and tour around. You'll like what you see, especially if it was designed by Hurtig, Gardner, and Froelich!

John Hurtig happened to be in the office after I had lunch with an old friend, Bob Hart, who along with some others, have taken over the reins of the firm now that the three founding principals have retired. It was a great conversation that included some college war stories, recollections of Bruce Goff and his cohorts as well as a brief history of why and how John started an architectural firm in Pueblo, Colorado.

John also told me about his memoirs that he is writing and showed me several paintings that he has done since his retirement. They are based on artistic principals that he learned while attending Oklahoma, particularly an Architectural elective course that Bruce Goff had taught. I can tell you the paintings are fantastic!! Each one is a vivid collection of colors, lines and shapes that swirl around and draw the eye into its depth. The more you look into the intricate and organic tapestry he has created, the more you see. The paintings are not Architectural in appearance, but Architectural in nature and process. By that I mean they are not planned and laid out with proportions being studied and revised and the underlying composition being molded into a final product, but rather they appear to be the instant application of colors and lines in a quest for an unknown conclusion. It is quite evident that each painting is an internal journey for Mr. Hurtig, a journey where even he doesn't know where the final destination is. It was an honor for me to be taken on a tour of these journeys and a memory that will be cherished for a long time!

After talking with him, I realized that he was in the process of finding his passion again. He was re-discovering through all his new paintings the "why" that made him want to be an Architect all those years ago. He is in the process of shedding off the everyday burdens of a lifelong and professional career that are a required necessity for success in the Architectural profession. After seeing some of his paintings, I realized that John, like myself,  is Lazarus.......and I am humbled to be in his company.

Hopefully, through publications (Friends of Kebyar) and a museum exhibition or two, his lifetime collection of work and contributions to the world through architecture will be recognized.....as they should be!! 

This is a taste of his early work.

And you can follow this link to see examples of his latest work.

Paintings and drawings by John Hurtig

Thank you John for the education, training and above all else…..the inspiration!!

RBP.

 4.17.12

A MAP OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

I was asked by someone the other day what I meant when I say that the typical suburban house is void of any design. It got me thinking about the process I went through to come up with a graphic insignia for Lazarus Designs, and decided to make a map of the process.
I'll say it again......the typical suburban house is void of any design, as it doesn't go through a reiterative process where options are explored, proportions and spaces are examined and functionality is not refined. Yes, the house is designed in the sense that rooms are layed out, a roof is put on it and somebody decides what material to apply to the front elevation of the house. Thats as far as it goes though. 
To see the design process for the graphic insignia, click here Creative Process Map

DESIGN EVOLUTION......(or lack thereof)

I have been giving considerable thought as to why the house I live in today, built just 10 years ago in 2002, isn't all that much different than the house I grew up in the early 70's. Everything we use today, cell phones, computers and cars for example, have evolved greatly over the past forty years. It's extremely difficult to find a rotary dial phone with a tethered handset. Forty years ago, computers were room size and definitely not personal, and a hybrid vehicle was a pick-up truck with a camper top installed on the bed. The one glaring exception to this evolution is the house. The house of today is not all that much different than the house of 40 years ago. 

A trip through the local neighborhood will give you no indication of the era in which we live. Instead, you will be greeted with nostalgic images of houses that have been regurgitated and poorly imitated at best and at worst, cartoonic memories generated from some historic fantasy. Houses are being built with the same material, and other than the "bigger is better" phenomena and the technology of appliances that goes in those houses, you are hard pressed to find any real innovation in the house of today.

The primary reason for the stagnation of evolution of residential architecture is the utter absence of design, both the verb and the noun.

The process of design (the verb) is a reiterative methodology used for the purpose of transforming the imagined, the impossible and the possible......... into reality.* It is a process born from creative inspiration that requires research and development as well as trial and error. This process is highly evident in the evolved, but absent in the un-evolved. Somebody had the inspiration that a phone would be a better product with a remote handset in which you could walk room to room without being restricted by a 3 foot long cord. Through a lengthy design process, that inspiration became reality. Today, phones, (with computers on them) fit in our pockets and we can shop for the latest and greatest automobiles from them. My question is.....Where is the inspiration in the residential architecture of today, and the creative spark that generates innovation? Instead of research and development, the process used in the house of today is cut and paste from magazines, and the spark is usually ".....can you make it look like the third on the left?"

 If Design (the noun) is defined as the intended physical and emotional meaning conveyed through the crafted object, then the reality of our constructed neighborhoods falls far short of good design.* It's left the public with a desire for the nostalgic, a yearning for romantic images of memories of houses they grew up in, or that their parents grew up in. These images are poorly translated into a built product, with little imagination and less originality. The result of this regurgitation of old ideas, poor planning and lack of creative inspiration has left our neighborhoods with caricatures void of any character. In short, our neighborhoods are void of design.          

The design of the laptop computer that I use was inspired by stealth technology, and not in the image sense only. Its base is tapered to allow for improved ergonomic typing. This tapered design allows for bigger cooling fans in the back, resulting in better performance and longer life. I use 3d mouse (exceptionally designed) to facilitate the design (verb) process of the designs (noun) that come across my desk. My computer of today…………….

                                                                                  

                                                     Asus G74X

 looks and performs like nothing that was around 40 years ago. …….

 

                                                          Apple II

It has been designed. The design has adapted. Innovations have been made. The computer has evolved.

The house of today…………...  not so much.

 

                                                      1970                                                                     

                                                            2010

 
Adaptation leads to innovation, innovation leads to evolution.

RBP 4.3.12

*Note: For an excellent resource on design and its impact on our world, refer to: “Imagine, Design, Create” Autodesk, Inc. Published by Melcher Media.

Does Design Matter?

Does design matter? A simple question really….or at least it’s a simple question to ask, but not all that simple to answer.

The question was posed to me by a friend over coffee and a bagel one morning. We were having a discussion about the quality of homes in a particular neighborhood.  I of course retreated to my architecturally trained and knee jerk response of “Hell yes it matters”! And then I was greeted with that ever so common and most annoying question. “Why?” I answered of course, but in all honesty, was not satisfied with my response. My response was not confident and I realized that I have never honestly reflected on a personal level why design, that is to say high quality good design matters to me, and by extension to the public, society and civilization.

Design, at is base and core level, is a thoughtful response to a problem. In other words, design is process that leads to an answer to a problem or question. Believe it or not, cavemen were designers. Primitive designers yes (pun intended), but still designers.  Intuitively, they realized that in order to survive, they had to become hunters, and the more efficient hunters they were, the stronger and healthier they became.  They became aware through trial and error (life and death) that it was better to attack an animal with a pointed stick as opposed to a blunt stick. It took less energy, and the pointed stick could penetrate the animals hide easier than the blunt stick could.  The problem: How do we kill an animal and provide food for the clan. The answer: Use sticks that have pointed edges as opposed to blunt sticks. They arrived at that conclusion through a process of investigation, trial and error and thought. They began to look for sticks that had sharper points, and then began to shape it themselves by scraping the end against a rock until the point became sharp. They designed a better weapon to attack an animal with.  They then realized that the weapon would be even better if the tip of the stick had a hardened edge, fashioned and shaped from stone that was then tied to the end of the stick. They now had the ability to pursue and hunt bigger game with tougher hide that their weapons could now penetrate. Without that process, the trial and error; the weapon would not have improved. Without the inspiration to attach a pointed stone to the tip of a stick, there would be no improvement to the weapon, and they could not hunt bigger game that would ultimately provide more food for their growing clan.

  “Does design really matter? After all, a house is just shelter right”? My response is still “Hell yes it matters”! But I would add the following. “Without design, a stick does not become spear”!

Without design……….

…sound never becomes speech, words and music.

...the ocean remains to be the end of the world.

…there are no footprints on the moon.

…a horse drawn wagon never becomes a car.

…there is no Macbeth, no Mona Lisa, or Avatar.

…there are no nets to protect children from malaria in Africa.

…the album is never replaced by the eight tracks, the tape cassette, the compact disc or the I-pod.

…travel time between California and New York is weeks instead of hours.

…nothing would scrape the sky but clouds.

…a house provides shelter and nothing more. 

Without design, a house is nothing more than shelter and a suburban neighborhood a bland collection of structures void of any inspiration or creativity. Without design, a house is something you buy and occupy rather than invest and live in. Without design, a house is a product purchased that you adapt to, rather than a crafted object that is adapted to you, your family and your life.  

                                  Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright

“Hell yes, design matters”!!

 RBP  3.26.12

New American Colonies

Here is a quick peek at a project that I have been working on for The New American Colonies. It's a great project with a lot of promise!!

The launch of Lazarus Designs!

Welcome everyone to The Lazarus Archives, the official blog for Lazarus Designs!!
Lazarus Designs, my new Residential Design Company, was conceived over 21 years ago, and has been in labor since October 31, and was officially delivered February 13,2012!
When I graduated from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1991, I had aspirations of starting my own company. I took the usual path of most architectural graduates, and went to work for an architectural firm in order to gain experience. While that experience has been most valuable, it has ever so subtly kept me from that initial dream of starting my own company. I became satisfied with working for other people, producing construction documents, managing projects and detailing buildings that other people had designed. I begrudge nobody for this distraction as I am responsible for the decisions I make, and the path of my career. Over the past 5 or 6 years however, I was growing increasingly frustrated and longed for the early years of my career when I was moonlighting and designing homes on the side. That was the closest I've ever been (until now) of realizing that initial dream. I have also realized that if I stayed the course I was on, that dream would never become a realization. I could become an integral part of an architectural firm, but it would never be "my firm".
In 2009, due to the economy and back surgery that was desperately needed, I ended up unemployed. During that time I agonized on whether I should stay the course I was on, safe and consistent employment with an architectural firm, or take the giant leap into the unknown and start my own company. I had a brief contract employment stint with an architectural firm in Denver in October of 2011, and during that 4 week period, was left with no doubt of the course I wanted the balance of my career to take. It was watershed moment for me. A moment that changes the course of a career, and I am so grateful for that moment.  Nothing sums it up better then this quote from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "Most people would succeed in small things if not troubled by great ambitions"!!
Having overcome the inertia of indecision, the momentum for Lazarus Designs has been gaining daily. It started with the investment into new computers and the 3D modeling software program REVIT. Once those investments were made, the momentum went into overdrive during the production of a Residential Portfolio in which I could display my creative ability and design skills. I am proud to say that with completion of that portfolio on February 13, 2012, Lazarus Designs has officially been launched! Let the dream begin!
Please tour the design sketches for some of the projects included in that portfolio. Feel free to contact me with questions, or if you would like to be sent a copy of the portfolio.
Thank you for visiting The Lazarus Archives, the blog for Lazarus Designs.
Ronald B. Paden