The logo of Lazarus Designs

The other day I was asked what the story was behind the Lazarus Designs logo, so I thought would post the graphic history of its inspiration, creation, and evolution...........

RBP
11/18/13

Form:uLA-The Big Bang.....Creatively Speaking

Design is a lengthy process. It requires trial and error and constant questioning. Whatever the product is, it undergoes a rigorous examination of possibilities that may or may not improve the product. Lessons are learned and then applied before the final product is delivered. Products that undergo a weak design process, or no process at all, are most often either forgotten or failures. Before that process can occur however, there must be an idea. A process of thought  that captures the very essence of Creativity. From a void emerges an idea, and from that idea, a concept explodes to be explored, investigated and developed. Without this” Big Bang” of originality there is no progression of a concept. There is no process of investigation and exploration of alternate possibilities and the process of design becomes nothing more than a cycle of digestion and regurgitation of what already exists.

 In terms of the architectural design process, there is no better example of this Big Bang of Originality than the world being explored by Bryan Cantley and his architectural laboratory Form:uLA.  It is a world of architectural thought and alternate possibilities that exist on a different plane of reality than the one we are familiar with. It is an architecture that is not for the faint of heart, or as Cantley himself might say, NSFA ( Not Safe For Architecture (Architects?)).  Our perceptions of what architecture is, and what it can be, are challenged in his recently published book “MECHUDZU: New Rhetorics for Architecture”.

*Mechudzu Cover, Copyright Form:uLA*

 In order to really appreciate the work (data?) being explored in the book, one is required to suspend one’s beliefs and follow the rabbit down the hole into the world being explored by Cantley. You simply cannot bring your familiar architectural bags with you when you are trying to understand a project with a title like “Enantiomorphistic Inversions” (...and yes I have checked the spelling at least 10 times!).  To do so, one risks the possibility of one’s head exploding! The beauty of the ideas (experiments?) being explored by Cantley is not in the projects themselves. A world populated by the theoretical constructions presented in the book might be a bit on the uncomfortable side for most people, which is where the suspension of beliefs comes into play. Enjoy the work presented in the book for its purity of origin and unbridled imagination.....That is where the beauty lies. That and the very fact that these ideas came to fruition and are being explored in the first place!

To continue the Big Bang analogy, the projects and ideas being investigated are being generated in a primordial soup of architectural thought that is mix of advanced machine technology, complex layering of informational data and pure unadulterated passion for architectural experimentation. While Cantley may be swimming in the same waters that Lebbeus Woods once swam in (RIP Mr. Woods), he is expanding on that influence with every project, and discovering waters that have not yet been visited. These experiments are most certainly unique in origin and are fantastic examples of the essence of creativity. There is no better example of this passion for the original and the unique than the project "Mobile Gatherspace". 

Mobile Gatherspace, Copyright Form:uLA*

I don’t know what the parameters were or what the question was that the “Mobile Gatherspace” was in response to. I can imagine it was in response to something like….”In the year 2150, how will our civic institutions adapt to the ever changing social, economical, global and physical forces that shape that society?” From that question, and before anything existed before it, the idea of a floating civic plaza occurs…..and explodes into the theoretical construct of the “Mobile Gatherspace”.Yes it’s theoretical, nothing more than a concept. Whether something like it could be built, not to mention float, from location to location is actually of little importance.  The true value of this project lies in the inception of the unique and original idea, and then developing that into a quantifiable project that others can critique, respond to, and be inspired from. The project, (along with the other theoretical , graphical, economical and even alchemical projects listed in the book's contents) displays a purity of thought and a passion for the alternative possibilities that exist if one is willing to simply discover them.

*Mobile Gatherspace, Copyright Form:uLA*

The other aspect of the architectural investigations that requires mention is the sheer audacity of the investigations, and the confidence in which they are developed through the design process. From somebody grounded in the minutia of everyday architectural production like myself (flashing details, sq. footage costs and the number of risers between floors), it is a refreshing and pleasant visceral experience to see the successful experimental investigations of  Bryan Cantley and his architectural laboratory, Form:uLA. They continue to pull back the curtain on an alternate reality of mind numbing constructs that challenge the everyday perception of our built environment; what architecture is, and the inherent possibilities  if we allow ourselves, as Cantley puts it, …..to consider the future of architecture before we actually get there”.

MECHUDZU: New Rhetorics for Architecture” by  Bryan Cantley……………….Read it( repeat as necessary), learn from it and become inspired from it!

For a further taste of of the work, please visit

Form:uLA-Facebook

 Well done Mr. Cantley. Well done!

RBP

9/18/13

*all images obtained and used with permission of Form:uLA

The Next Five Minutes

I am going to stray a bit from my usual musings about design, architecture and art that preoccupy my thoughts most of the time. Everything that you think is of utmost importance, and that you think should be important to others, becomes a bit small when tragedy intrudes into our lives. Within the past two years, the most destructive wildfires in the history of the state have occurred within 10 miles of my home. In Oklahoma, tornadoes devastated entire communities in the span of minutes. In Newtown, Connecticut, beautiful innocent children were lost to the whim of evil. In the face of these events, the daily grind of life seems to become a trivial pursuit of meaningless intentions and we become painfully aware of the vacuum of safety that we live in is only an illusion.

We live our lives and we strive for our goals, complete our daily tasks, love the ones we are with and enjoy our distractions. We go about our daily journey under the illusion that tragedy exists, but not in our little world and not in our little corner of earth. We construct this illusion in the hopes that we can live our lives without the fear of the unknown because fear of the unknown is most incapacitating fear of all. If we fear that which we do not know, then we fail to live and we waste the precious gift of the time of our lives, however much time that may be. We cannot pre-occupy our lives with the fear of what might happen, because if we do, nothing will.

 There is a very poignant commercial out there right now that illustrates this point perfectly. There are sharks in the ocean, but yet we swim. We know that tornadoes and fires and hurricanes are real, yet we live in places called tornado alley and build our homes in beautiful forests and tranquil coastlines. We send our kids to school, even as we mourn the innocent children of Sandy Hook.

Rather than construct an illusion where fate only brings bliss and happiness, we should embrace the very fact that  the next five minutes is a gift not yet given, and the last five minutes is a precious gift already received.   

Stay strong Colorado!

RBP

6/14/13

CREATION, COLLABORATION AND UNINTENTION

Creation, that is to say the act of creating, has always intrigued me. Specifically, where does the genesis of the Idea come from?  Often times, it is generated by the need to solve some posed problem or resolve some issue. The seed idea is created through the intentional actions that are born out of the need to resolve or respond to some dynamic force or action with a set of defined goals.  This is the process that enabled man to fly with the evolution of airplane, and a tiny little robot to land and explore the desolate grounds of Mars. But not all creation is generated with a specified goal in mind, or is a response to a problem that needs resolution.  Other acts of creation, be it the writing of a book, composing of song or creation of a sculpture. Most often, but not always, the idea is not generated with a specific goal in mind. It is born through random imaginings and organic exploration. The act of creating becomes a dynamic process where the end result is unknown and the possibilities endless. In many instances there is an accidental aspect to the process where something is simply discovered with absolutely no prejudice of thought or intent.  I have often thought that it is these products, regardless of what they may be, are the most intrinsically honest and the most intriguing specifically because of the absence of artistic prejudice and intent.

Below is a series of images that were created from the elevations of a house that I am designing. As anybody within the architectural industry knows, building elevations are simply a tool to convey information to the contractor on what to build. Elevations are simple diagrams that display heights, indicate material, and so forth. Obviously, as I am designing the house, artistic intent and aesthetic judgments are being infused into the design as it evolves, but not necessarily as a flat composition of elements that visually interact with each other. The other aspect of the images below that I find intriguing is that they are products of collaboration between man and machine.  The collaboration of a machine (Asus laptop and Revit software) interpreting and rendering, within its graphic limitations, an object that I designed. In other words, if I decided to specifically to render these elevations either by hand, or with some software program, the result would not have been the same. There are things the computer either couldn’t understand, and utilized its default settings, that I simply would not have thought of, even if I were trying to create a composition of 2dimensional elements with varying colors, rhythms and textures.  

Strip the elevational aspect away from the images below and they become something else, something that was discovered by accident, through a collaboration of man and machine. I find the results most intriguing and reinforce the notion that the idea, the very act of creation, the genesis of discovery and exploration, is often by mere chance…..

And yes, the overlap of the black border is also by accident, and only reinforces the notion of this post!

RBP

4.18.13

DOES DESIGN MATTER-2nd POSTING

Sometimes, It's already been said.......and when that happens, you just say it again!

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