Arts, architecture. --- .Introduction or summary to architecture. (1) General philosophy of architecture. What is architecture? Why do architecture? (2) Levels of architecture: Interior design. Building design. Landscape design. Community design. (3) Systems in architecture: Temperature, HVAC system. Plumbing system. Electrical system. (4) History of architecture. Architecture around the world, throughout time. (5) Criteria for architecture. Economic cost. Ecological sustainability. Technological progress. Aesthetics. --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- .This section is about architecture. Topics include: (1) Building design. ( ) Community design. (City. Suburb. Rural. Wilds.) ( ) Criticism of architecture. ( ) Ecology and architecture. ( ) Elements of architecture. ( ) History of architecture. ( ) Home and homelessness. ( ) Interior design. ( ) Landscape design. ( ) Philosophy of architecture. --- 1/24/2006
Arts, architecture. --- (1) Criticisms of the city: crowded, loud. (2) Criticisms of rural areas: boring. --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- (1) For public and private spaces. Developing something that will psychologically and sociologically benefit user(s), plus be functional. (2) Degree to which an individual changes his/her environment to psychologically or functionally benefit themselves. Some do either or both a great deal, instinctively. Others will repress it, and live in psychological and functional poverty. (3) Colors, lines, shapes, textures, light. The room and everything in it as art (aesthetics). --- 09/15/1993
Arts, architecture. --- (1) If you had buildings that nobody lived in, then that would be sculpture. (2) If you squatted in a sculpture garden then that would be architecture. --- 4/16/2006
Arts, architecture. --- Abstract, formal, minimal, bare bones, modernist, Zen bareness, less is more, asceticism, austere, boring, cold, vs. rich, complex, ornamented, plenitude, warm, interesting, less is bore. --- 10/25/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Architectural virtues. (1) Lightweight. (2) Strong. (3) Simple. (4) Flexible. (5) Ecological. (6) Inexpensive. (7) Transportable. --- 2/24/2001
Arts, architecture. --- Architecture as sculpture, facade as painting. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Artistic side. (1) Beauty. Style and tastes differ according to personality and value system. (2) Architecture as art. (A) Sculpture. (B) Facade as painting when seen from afar. Issues of shape, line, color, and texture. It has the ability to make the viewer feel emotions, and be put in moods. (3) Architecture as communication of message or statement about things like mankind, modern man and society, a corporation, a family, a nation, the buildings purpose (ex. duck), or an ideology. --- 10/25/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Big, big, big. More, more, more. Americans are over-consuming size-queens. Americans like it big. Big houses. Big cars. Big meals. Obese people. Big pollution problems. --- 3/13/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. (1) Buildings: 2-D aspects vs. 3-D aspects. (2) Exterior size and shape vs. interior size and shape. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. (1) Closed vs. open. (2) Pictorial vs. sculptural (2-D vs. 3-D). (3) Blend with nature vs. depart from nature (geometric). (4) Form vs. function. (5) Outer shape vs. inner shape. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Aesthetic values. Strong, enduring, beautiful, low maintenance, graceful, proportional, balance, symmetry, strength, power, stability, solidity, protection. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Architecture is like sculpture, a three dimensional work of art. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Balance angles (male) and curves (female). --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Big houses are out, because they are ecologically wasteful. The Japanese businessman hotel, with barely enough room to lie down, is the way to go. With virtual reality goggles to reduce claustrophobia. Take a trip. --- 3/30/1998
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Communication. What can you communicate with a building? What can you communicate to the public? Only, "This subject matter is important so we build a big building." --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Factors: economics, aesthetics, technology. What % technology, what % art, and what % economics, does and should affect construction of a building. Aesthetics vs. durability and functional utility. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Factors. (1) Environment: blend in vs. stand out. (2) Aesthetics and form vs. technology and function. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. How big house, how many rooms, how much land, where, what costs? --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Immutable laws of architecture. High ceilings, much closet space, good views, many big windows. Be out of eyesight and earshot of the neighbors. Lots of land and high hedges. --- 09/20/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Paul values. Have a porch, fire place, ceiling fan, green shag, cedar paneling, many windows (especially facing toward sunrise and sunset), blue ceiling. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. Technology. Function precedes form vs. it's better to look good than to feel good. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Building design. The basics of architecture. (1) Tall ceilings, and big spaces. (2) Lots of windows, and excellent views (far and wide), preferably on a hill. (3) Lots of land. (4) Good, quiet neighbors, in a good neighborhood (low crime). (5) Clean, warm, quiet. --- 12/30/1995
Arts, architecture. --- Building the architect's vision vs. what the customer wants vs. what the masses want vs. what the site wants vs. what the government wants (laws, codes). --- 10/25/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Comfy and cozy. Safe and secure. --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. To some extent you cannot design a community. To some extent you cannot design a city. To some degree you just have to let it happen. --- 3/29/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. Town design. (1) Rural, suburban, and urban. (2) Water, garbage, human waste, electricity, roads, schools, industrial areas, retail district, library, post office, town hall or town government, mass transit: plane, bus, train. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. Urban environments. See also: Philosophy, environment, specific environments, city. --- 3/29/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. Urban planning. In the city, tall buildings perform the same functions that mountains do in the wild. They turn a 2D environment into 3D. --- 05/30/1996
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. Urban planning. The big architectural problem is the city. Economic boom and bust. Over and under populated. Poverty, crime, drugs, dropouts. How much can a single building shape someone's mind or behavior, and change them for better, inspire them, or do the opposite, make them lose all hope and curiosity, despair. --- 09/01/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Community design. Urban planning. (1) Every community does not have to be a city. Suburbs and rural areas are equally valid. (2) The majority of people do not have to live in the city. Therefore, the city is not necessarily the most important issue of community planning. (3) The city, however, is one of the few areas that let people live without cars. However, if they made cars solar powered and sustainable then cars would be less of a problem. --- 1/1/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Criticism. Eric Owen Moss is cool. EOM is solemn and serious. No joke, no Disney, no pomo, no "irony". I like it. --- 05/10/1997
Arts, architecture. --- Criticism. Why I like Erik Owen Moss architecture. My current favorite. Good architecture is weird and wild, but not scary. It should be new, something you have never seen before, or even imagined. It should be different and interesting, not boring. It should be diverse and complex, with many different and new shapes, materials, and natural colors combined. It should make you think. It should be cool, blow your mind, move you emotionally, inspires and excites you, challenges you. Traditional architecture is safe, and popular. Radical architecture is challenging, and makes progress into new ground. Modernism is old, boring, simple, and uninteresting. Minimalism is boring. Combine the heavy, massive, castle like, and the light, airy, spidery. --- 12/30/1996
Arts, architecture. --- Design and architecture. Design every object in the house. Design every object needed to live. --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Dividing the space. (1) One big space (loft) vs. divided space (rooms). (2) Rooms by function: bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, library, gym, entertainment den. --- 6/7/2004
Arts, architecture. --- Ecological architecture. Power: solar, wind, human. Recyclable materials. Renewable materials. Natural materials. Organic materials. Sustainability. Independent, self-sustaining communities. Grown your own foods. Make your own goods. --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Ecological architecture. The current US building industry is entrenched in a non-ecological, "profit first", building mentality. The current US building industry should build more ecologically. A variety of carrots and sticks (incentives and penalties) should be used to get builders and consumers to build more ecologically. --- 10/12/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Ecological building practices. (1) Use naturally produced, locally available, biodegradable building materials. (2) Use as few materials as possible. Build small, not big. (3) Use a lot of natural insulation to keep the building warm in the cold and cool in the heat. For example, hay bales. Reduce or eliminate oil consumption used for heating and cooling. (4) Solar panels to provide electricity and hot water. --- 10/10/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Ecological. It does not make sense to build houses that look pretty or are inexpensive if the houses are harmful to the occupants, or if the houses are harmful to the environment, or if the houses exploit workers, or if the house materials exploit animals. --- 12/2/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Ecology and architecture. Architecture should be ecological. Renewable materials. Recyclable materials. Energy efficient designs. --- 3/29/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Elements of architecture. (1) Legal emphasis: obey the codes, zoning. (2) Ecological emphasis: resource efficient (energy and materials), recyclable, non-toxic. (3) Economic emphasis: build it cheap. (4) Aesthetic emphasis: communicate ideas. (5) Functional emphasis: does its job well. (6) Psychological and social emphasis: how does it make you feel: does it isolate or aggregate people. (7) Technological emphasis: high tech vs. low tech. --- 08/04/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Elements of architecture. (1) Materials: glass, wood, steel, concrete, brick, stone, fabric. (2) Economic costs: materials, labor, electricity, water. (3) Environmental: Solar power, wind power. (4) Psychological and Sociological: flows of people and information. Public vs. private space. --- 12/30/1995
Arts, architecture. --- Elements of architecture. (1) Technological side. The latest technology determines what the building will be like. (2) Function, program, purpose, and utility does to. (3) Safety. The laws, zoning and codes: electrical, plumbing, fire, general, etc. (4) Economics. The cost to build, maintain, repair (durability). Material costs, labor costs. Project management (cpm, pert). Running an architectural business. Customers, budgets. (5) Environmentalism. (6) Psychological effects of color, shape, etc. Social aspects: needs for privacy vs. loneliness. Need for company and togetherness. --- 10/25/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Elements of architecture. There are a zillion ways to build a house. How important is, or how much difference is made by, any change made to improve (1) Practicality (ease of use). (2) Psychological effects (light, color, space, etc.). (3) Aesthetic effects. (4) Social effects (gathering, communication, etc). --- 08/10/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Elements of architecture. Three main areas of architecture are: (1) Technology. (2) Psychology, sociology, and ergonomics. (3) Aesthetics. Minor areas are economics, politics, and environment, etc. Advances can be made in any area. How you rate importance of three main areas = what type of architect you are. --- 09/14/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Environment. (1) Creation of environment (see Philosophy: environment). (2) What will it be used for? (3) How much time will you spend there? --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Environment. Architecture is creation of environment. Environment affects people. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Environment. Shaping our environment is duty of individual. Your health depends on it. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Ethics, politics and architecture. Architecture is an ethical issue. Architecture is a political issue. Everything is an ethical issue. Everything is a political issue. Build houses in a way that is ecologically sustainable and that promotes social justice. --- 12/16/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Evolution and architecture. Evolution on the African savanna leads humans to enjoy wide views from the heights. See eco-psychology. --- 5/14/2004
Arts, architecture. --- Fabric in architecture: tents, sticks, and string. --- 09/06/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Fitting in with the site vs. going against it. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Five geometries of architecture. (1) Cube based architecture. The building is a cube and every room in the building is a cube. (2) Rectangle based architecture. The building is a rectangle and every room in the building is a rectangle. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than just cubes. (3) Right angle based architecture. The building is composed of right angles and every room in the building is composed of right angles. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than just rectangles. (4) Plane based architecture. The building and every room in the building is composed of planes set at various angles, not merely right angles, thus creating triangles, octagons, etc. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than only right angles. (5) Curve based architecture. The building and the rooms inside the building have curved surfaces. This allows more complex shapes and spaces than plane based architecture. One can work with regular curves that have a constant rate of change. One can work with irregular curves that have an even more complex shapes. --- 10/2/2004
Arts, architecture. --- History. (1) Classicism (formal). (2) Baroque (ornament and decoration). (3) Organic (all curves, no straight lines). (4) International style (all straight lines, no curves). (5) I believe in a 50/50 mix of straight lines and curves. --- 08/20/1994
Arts, architecture. --- History. (1) Schools (ex. postmodernism, modernism, etc.) (2) Architects. (3) Buildings. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- History. Modern architectural schools, definitions, pros and cons of each. (1) Environment and ecology: save the earth. (2) Modernism: the minimalist box. (3) Post modernism: mix and match historical styles. (4) Vernacular: local yokel. (5) Organic: art nouveau. (6) Brutalism: power and strength. (7) Expressionism: let it out. (8) Classicism: reserved formalism. (9) Deconstruction: break it down. (10) High tech: new materials. (11) I think ecology school is best. Reach ecological ends through means of high tech advancements. --- 11/20/1993
Arts, architecture. --- History. Styles of architecture. Levittown, Victorian, minimalist/brutalist, glass box, row house, pagoda, domed buildings, arch, teepee, hay house, sod house, wood frame, stone, steel frame, geodesic dome, roman columns, thatched cottages, barns. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Home. (1) Home is where your body is. (2) Home is where your head is (the home inside your head). --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Home. Find a retreat, both in mind and in physical world, to recover from wounds and to re-inspire. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Home. One might argue that they are not really homeless. Their home is everywhere. Which leads one to consider that there are several conceptions of home, such as home in terms of people, property, safety, ownership, space and place. (1) Home as ownership. "I want something to call my own" What is their obsession with ownership? Ownership is really a control issue or a power issue. To want to own something is to want to have some degree of power. To want to feel empowered when you feel powerless. (2) Home as safety. If we lived in a safe world then people wouldn't be locking themselves in boxes every night. What could be the alternative? If people knew that there was nothing to steal then there would be less theft. If people knew others were watching (on digital camera) then there would be less crime. If people did not feel deprived and disenfranchised there would be less crime. (3) Home as place. Some people consider home to be a geographic place. What is the deal with people's obsession with place? Is it part of the "tribal" instinct. I think so. The tribe inhabits a "territory". Just like other social animals. Home is just an expression of animalistic territorial instincts. (4) Home as space. If there were more user-friendly public spaces then people wouldn't need as much private space. For example, look at how many people prefer to sit for hours in coffee shops rather than sit in their apartments drinking coffee. (5) Home as people. Some people consider home to be a group of people. This conception of home is based on man's tribal instincts. Family instincts develop into tribal instincts, which later developed into nationalistic instincts. However, advances in communication and transportation technology have let us realize that we are one big global family. The person living on the other side of the world is your neighbor just as much as the person down your street. (6) Home as property. If people did not have so much physical stuff they wouldn't need such big boxes. (7) Sum up. (A) Home is not a noun. You cannot buy a home. You cannot own a home. Home is where your head is. The traditional conceptions of home developed from strong animalistic instincts which we later tried to justify through rationalization. The new conception of home is based on insight rather than instinct. The new conception of home may not completely replace our instincts but it does broaden our conception of home. (B) By embracing a new conception of home we will not disparage the homeless as much. We will not stigmatize the homeless as much. We will not feel so isolated. And we will not be so tribal. We will not be so materialistic and obsessed with accumulating material objects, which will be better for the environment. And we will not be so territorial. Recognizing the animal side of ourselves will let us recognize the human side of ourselves. (C) So we see that the traditional conceptions of home can be critiqued. The traditional formula of home=good is not always the case. A more sophisticated conception of home can give us greater insight into ourselves. The new conception of home says that: Home is not any specific person, place or thing. Home can be anywhere; home is everywhere. Home can be anyone; home is everyone. Home can be anything; home is everything. --- 9/27/2000
Arts, architecture. --- Home. Some say home is where the heart is. Some say home is where your hat is. I say home is where your head is. --- 11/23/2004
Arts, architecture. --- Homeless. Help the homeless fantasy. Give the homeless solar powered space suits that will keep them warm and dry. It will have a built in computer with tiny screens by the eyes. All their books and papers on one disk. No need for key board because you can just speak and it goes in the computer. Or else you just move your fingers and it goes in the computer. --- 12/30/1996
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness is not a crime. In fact, we should have more "homeless", with sleeping bags, and with solar powered laptops with wireless Internet connections, and with solar powered electrically heated clothes. --- 11/30/1999
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness no longer need be a stigma. If the city were to provide enough warm and dry public spaces, with chairs and tables, where people could gather during the day. With Internet connections. Like the public library. And at night they could have single occupancy sleeping vaults that could be locked for security. And if everyone had a Web enabled laptop, they could keep all their notes, books, art and music on their laptop. Everyone could be homeless! Homelessness would be the new paradigm. --- 1/8/1999
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness. (1) Light and flexible like a tent or a spacesuit. (2) Re-arrangeable to suit one's moods and needs. (3) Uses few resources, makes little pollution, and makes little garbage. --- 12/30/1995
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness. For homeless people in the winter, a sleeping bag with an electric heating pad underneath could help to keep them comfortable. --- 1/6/1998
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness. The barstool is the smallest piece of real estate. Next, the park bench gives you more room. Finally, the cafe' chair and table affords one complete luxury accommodations. When you have managed to go from the barstool to the park bench to the cafe' table then you know you have made it in life. --- 1/1/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Homelessness. We should give more serious consideration to how people could live in campsites, sleeping in tents with sleeping bags and backpacks. Nomadism should not be pejorative. Drifters should not be pejorative. Loners should not be pejorative. Public spaces should not be pejorative. (2) How can we do this? Perhaps by making available the following: Cameras for security. Water, showers and toilets available. Registration to track who is checked in. Internet connections. Electricity. --- 1/1/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Homes and homelessness. What does it mean to say that there should be no homelessness? What does it mean to say that everyone should have a home? Everyone should have someplace safe and warm to go. Everyone should have some physical privacy. Its an issue of social justice. The high cost of housing causes homelessness. When people pay half of their income for housing then it is a problem. When rents are high, housing becomes a means for the rich to become richer and the poor to become poorer, and that is injustice. When people are unemployed then they cannot afford housing and thus become homeless. One can argue that safe, affordable housing for everyone is a right, or at least should be a primary goal of society. When one considers the high cost of housing, and the goal of providing housing for everyone in society, then architecture becomes a political issue. --- 5/14/2007
Arts, architecture. --- House. (1) How much stuff does one need to live alone, to live with a woman, or to raise kids? (2) To live alone (not healthy) you can use and electra-therma-shed. You can buy a metal shed 10x10x8 for $1000. Put in six inches of insulation on all sides, with paneling over it. Run an electric line into it. For showers join a gym. For hot food eat out. For water buy bottled water, a gallon a day. For light put in a skylight and a light bulb. Get an eco-toilet. For laundry go to the laundromat. Get a chair and desk. Warm sleeping bag, warm clothes. An electric heater for six months of the year. Laptop computer with Internet connection. Walkman for radio, tapes and CD-ROM. Two weeks of casual clothes. Hangout in public spaces like parks, library, bookstore, and cafes. --- 10/1/1998
Arts, architecture. --- How much space do you need. How much stuff do you need? How much ease, comfort and convenience do you need? Lets hear it for simplicity and non-materialism. --- 11/15/2001
Arts, architecture. --- How to bring the sunlight into a north facing window? Place large mirrors outside to reflect the sunlight in. You could even mount a mirror on a computerized, solar-powered motor in order to track the sun across the sky. --- 6/4/2000
Arts, architecture. --- Idea for a building. A large, self supporting, steel beam structure, with no welds, held together by its own opposition, like popsicle sticks. --- 01/24/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Inside and outside, and the blending of the two. Build houses so the flow from inside to outside is seamless and indistinct. The dweller should have to wonder, "Am I inside or outside?" --- 10/2/2004
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design project: Bookshelves. Build bookshelves. Fill your bookshelves with books. Stare at your books. Ponder your books. Face your bed toward your books. --- 12/21/2006
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. (1) Large spaces and high ceilings are where it is at. Space is peaceful, like mountain views. (2) Be able to push furniture on wheels to the side and shoot basketball into regulation height hoop. Pull a wire barrier in front of large windows to prevent breaking windows. --- 1/6/1998
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. (1) Minimalist interior. Boring. High tech. Quick and easy to clean. Metal, plastic. (2) Cluttered interior. Decorated. Interesting. Victorian. Interested in, or sentimental about, doo-dads. Cloth, wool. --- 06/20/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Every house should have a bare white room with a big window and a pillow to meditate on. Also, an ornate, dark, Victorian room with mahogany panels, heavy drapes, animal skins, palms, and many figurines and trinkets. --- 12/30/1996
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Fill your apartment with trees, shrubs, ferns, so that it resembles a jungle. --- 3/3/2007
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Furniture as a pile of my gear. Bed: me lying on my gear. Desk: me writing while lying on my gear. Chair: me sitting on my gear. --- 4/26/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Furniture: every piece should be a work of art, and should reflect personality of owner. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Idea or fantasy. A bed completely surrounded by bookcases, with a narrow exit. --- 04/15/1997
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Make cleaning easy. Few things, easily moveable. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Nature. Get a big stone, a plant, and an animal. --- 04/30/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Nature. In your apartment keep a rock, earth, water, plant, and animal. Keep a pool of water with a mirror in the bottom to reflect the sky, like rich people had pools on their property. --- 12/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Nature. Interior decoration. Keeping nature out vs. bringing nature in. Bring in a rock, water, plant, animal. --- 04/28/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Nice to have: A room big enough to walk (figure eight) laps in. A room big enough to run (figure eight) laps in. --- 4/22/1999
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Ultimate room: six foot round bed, glass walls and ceiling, computer screen art, ultimate remote control (including heat, ac) for integrated phone, TV, stereo, computer, books,. --- 12/30/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Interior design. Walls. Instead of painting and repainting them. (1) Cloth hangings of various colors. (2) Various colored lights pointed at white walls. (3) Projections from a camera onto a white wall. Example, forest scene. --- 3/30/1998
Arts, architecture. --- Landscape architecture: must have proper amounts (balance) of water, earth, rocks, plants, sky, space. --- 10/30/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Landscape design. Harmony with nature vs. abstract and geometrical. Elements of landscape: earth, air, water, flora, fauna, people. Natural vs. manmade. --- 12/30/1992
Arts, architecture. --- Lightweight, small, mobile. (1) Lightweight architecture: Tents, tarps, etc. (2) Small architecture: Vacation cabins. Lean-to's. Cardboard boxes. (3) Mobile architecture: Car trailers. Truck caps. Vans. (4) Any combination of the above three. (5) Challenges: Security. Bathroom. Heat. Electricity. --- 10/27/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Money, power and architecture. Building is a game for the rich and powerful, who have money and land to build. Thus, architects tend to serve and support the establishment. Architecture is a pursuit of the establishment. A brief history of architecture looks like this: The pharohs built pyramids. The emperors built coliseums. The church built cathedrals. The kings built palaces. The nations built capitols. The robber barons built mansions. The corporations built skyscrapers. To undo centuries of unfairness, and to promote social justice, the architect should work on affordable housing for the masses. --- 9/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Natural look versus artificial look. (1) Natural look in architecture: Natural materials. Natural shapes; shapes found in nature. (2) Artificial look in architecture: Artificial materials. Artificial shapes; shapes not found in nature. --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Obsession with housing. Home addiction. The nest builders. The family raisers. The home improvement set (Home Depot). The home decorators (Martha). If you cannot think of anything better to do, you obsess about your house. --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Paul style: I like 50% curves, 50% straight lines. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture is about: (1) Philosophy of place. (See also: Philosophy, environment. See also: Literature, travel writing. See also: Leisure, travel.) (2) Philosophy of space. (which is the opposite of the philosophy of material or stuff). --- 3/29/2002
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Architecture as living in an environment. (1) Architecture is about living, not building. You build a building in a year but you live in a building for a century. (2) Architecture is about environments, not just individual structures. The "place where you live" consists of an outside environment (i.e., neighborhood, community, town etc.) and an inside environment (i.e., house), the former being more important than the latter. The natural environment and manmade environment (i.e., neighborhood, community, town) is more important than the type of shelter. (3) Yet people (architects and their customers) wrongly place the emphasis on architecture as the building of structures. Architecture is about living in an environment. Architecture is about ecology. --- 4/8/2001
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Architecture is an expensive and inflexible way to make a visual statement. The art aspect of architecture is the least important, compared to economic, ecological, psychological and social aspects. But the critics make art the most important aspect. Pompous and stupid. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Architecture is on the same level as fashion. You can say as much with either. They both have limited vocabularies, and thus are not fine arts. Both mix utilitarian function and aesthetics, and thus are not fine arts. --- 12/30/1996
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Beyond architecture as technology, economics, psychology, sociology, communication, and environment, architecture is just taste. Taste varies with individual and society. It's not worth arguing about. One is as good as another. It is just fashion. --- 11/18/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Most important idea. Ecological friendliness is the most important criteria for building design. Aesthetics, economical cost, and all other criteria are secondary to ecological friendliness and sustainable development. That is one idea they do not communicate strongly enough in architecture school. --- 07/04/1997
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. Really one design is as good as another, out of all the millions of models. Whether it is logical, formal vs. organic. Severe, austere vs. decorated. It just doesn't matter. And it is an expensive way to make (communicate) a visual statement that could be more easily and more cheaply made on paper, in drawings or words, or in models (small sculpture). The artistic side of architecture just is not as important as the technological, economic, environment, psychological and social sides of architecture. But the architects view aesthetics as the main issue. It is a mistake to do so. They get pompous about it. The fact is you just can't say (communicate) much with architecture (big sculpture). --- 11/10/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. There are people who have spent their entire lives in the post-WWII suburbs, who have never been in a bar from the 1920's or a house from the late 1800's. They exist in an atemporal, ahistorical time-trap. The phrase "be here now" has its drawbacks. --- 4/5/2000
Arts, architecture. --- Philosophy of architecture. They mock Levittown for its uniformity, but today they build millions of "postmodern" houses, each looking like the next. The style kings still say what is good, everyone still follows. It's pathetic. People should build what they want. The problem is few people have thought about architecture, and thus most don't know what they want. And actually, Levittown is not that bad a place to live. It's just that the houses are small, and the people who can afford them are not rich. --- 09/20/1994
Arts, architecture. --- Principles of architecture. (1) Philosophy of place. Location. Views. (2) Philosophy of space. Roominess. --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Privacy. See: Technology, privacy. --- 12/30/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Public space. A big problem is that there are no cafes that have full length reclining lounge chairs, where you can sit all day, out in the sun, reading a book. --- 11/16/1997
Arts, architecture. --- Public space. We must have places to lie down at work (and in public spaces), or at least recliner chairs. Smaller private spaces (Japanese businessman hotel) and more amenable public spaces (like cafes in bookstores). --- 3/30/1998
Arts, architecture. --- Site decisions. (1) What piece of land to buy. (2) Where to put the house on the land. Examples: Front of lot vs. back of lot. High point vs. low point. (3) Which way to face the house on the lot. Examples: Facing toward the road vs. facing away from the road. Facing toward the sun vs facing away from the sun. --- 6/7/2004
Arts, architecture. --- Systems approach to architecture. Heating and cooling system. Lighting system. Ventilation system. Fresh water system. Waste water system. Electrical power system. Communication system (telephone, Internet, wireless). --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Tents. The American Indian teepee. The Mongolian yurt. The Arab tent. --- 5/14/2004
Arts, architecture. --- The flow of development. (1) The wilds become rural areas. (2) The rural areas become suburbs. (3) The suburbs become cities. (4) The cities become bigger cities. (5) The endgame is that the entire earth will become one big city, unless we set aside some wild areas, rural areas and suburban areas and protect them from further development. --- 10/19/2004
Arts, architecture. --- The natural look vs. the manmade look. --- 01/01/1993
Arts, architecture. --- Things to say to a real estate agent: "Does the house have a parlor? We're not buying anything that doesn't have a parlor." (joke). --- 4/28/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Three levels of architecture. (1) Community design. (2) Building design. (3) Interior design. --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- Time, energy, money, stuff. (1) How much will you pay for housing? What percentage of your salary? Why not spend less on housing? (2) How much time will you spend in the house? A lot or a little? Why not spend less time in the house? (3) How much stuff do you have? Why not have less stuff? Why not keep it in storage? (4) How much energy will you spend working on improving your house? Why not spend less energy on home improvement projects? --- 10/17/2005
Arts, architecture. --- Two different conceptions of "house". Two different frames of mind. (1) House as fort. Solid, heavy, immobile, castle, safe, secure, rigid. (2) House as teepee. Flexible, adaptable, mobile, light weight. --- 12/31/2003
Arts, architecture. --- What % of architecture is art driven (enlighten or entertain)? What % of architecture is technology driven? --- 12/30/1992