Clik here to view.
When Things Fall Apart
The best way to learn how buildings get put together may be to build them, or to watch them be built. But another pretty good way to learn how things go together is to see them falling apart. You may...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Exterior Decorating
Are you designing for the function and performance of the building, or just doing some exterior decorating? Funny things can happen early in design on a project, when an architect or interior designer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Now You See ‘Em, Now You Don’t: Green Roofs
Some of the projects I work on experience many design changes between initial concept and completion of construction. On healthy projects, the most dramatic changes that I see occur after the schematic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Follow-Through
Learning isn’t always comfortable. Some of the lessons we learn most thoroughly come from mistakes we’ve made, or from finding out the consequences of actions we never considered before acting. For a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Planning for Obstacles
Some people are used to showing up in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong stuff. Others of us double-check our calendars, recheck that voicemail, look up an address once again, and plan...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Long Is This Gonna Last?
When I was in architecture school, people often talked about “building for 500 years.” The architecture program at my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, is a classical program, steeped in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s Under That Stuff?
I recently stayed at a historic hotel a few states away. It’s a very historic hotel – over 130 years old, and a designated historic landmark. The framing of the grand old building is all wood. I don’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Insides Out
When we see parts of buildings coming apart, we get curious, and that can prompt us to learn how things get put together. Sometimes, it’s obvious how building elements began to deteriorate or started...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nice Curbs!
One thing I’ve noticed about upstate New York is that they have some really nice curbs. Stone sidewalk and curb, Lake Placid, New York I first noticed the curbs on a college campus in Geneva, New...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“How Do You Write the Specs?”
I know it’s late… in the project. I know you’re weary… of the hard questions. I know your plans… for this last week before the deadline… don’t include me. “How do you write the specs?” I was asked...
View Article
