How to think spatially. I remember as a first-year student during my studies at the Ecole Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne (EPFL), having a number of questions that kept me awake countless nights, leaving me often without tangible answers.
Hubert Robert: Painting as a source of knowledge
Hubert Robert: Painting as a source of knowledge. I will admit that my passion for painting is equal to my passion for architecture, although I have practiced and taught architecture for many years and, for fear of embarrassment, never taken my personal attempts in the art of painting seriously. During my own architectural studies, a faculty member who was also a graphic artist, introduced me to the foundation of the science of color. She enticed me to learn how the subjectivity of color could trigger sensations; this would become the source of a lifelong astonishment and appreciation of color and painting.
Continue reading Hubert Robert: Painting as a source of knowledgeJohn Hejduk and Cooper Union
John Hejduk and Cooper Union. Ask any architect, faculty member, student, or layperson to define architecture, and you will get countless individual responses. I am always astonished by the diversity of the answers, in particular with laypeople who have strong impressions often based on personal memories and stories about family members who are architects. However diverse all these conversations are, I have come to appreciate each of the answers. Collectively, they renew my love of architecture.
Continue reading John Hejduk and Cooper UnionHousing complex in Alcabideche, Portugal, Part 2
Housing complex in Alcabideche, Portugal, Part 2. Housing has always been key to modern architecture in Europe, and interestingly, remains a relevant topic throughout the old continent today. I visited some of the most seminal works by Portuguese architects who have tackled this topic with fervor and commitment.
Continue reading Housing complex in Alcabideche, Portugal, Part 2Cafe do Cais, Portugal
Cafe do Cais, Portugal. During my first visit to Porto, the northernmost city in Portugal, I strolled through the charming historic neighborhoods and streets lined with beautiful facades, of course, stopping far too frequently to sample freshly baked pastel de nata, the country’s famous custard tart.
Continue reading Cafe do Cais, PortugalStreet pavement: Wittenberg, Germany
Over the past decades, many European cities and towns undertook robust and sympathetic revitalization programs within their historic centers. By transforming narrow, picturesque streets into human-friendly environments—often restricting vehicular access to the city centers—the notion of a pedestrian zone was re-invented; at least in contemporary terms, as I am not sure that medieval streets were places of visual or olfactic charm.
Continue reading Street pavement: Wittenberg, GermanyModel Sketching, Part 1
Model Sketching, Part 1. In a digital world, sketching as a process of iteration is too often relegated to the past. Coordinating the mind, hand and pencil was once an activity essential to the education of an architect and remained important in order to represent ideas rapidly and concisely. I teach in an architecture school where we still impart these skills because we collectively believe in the act of sketching as a foundation prior to introducing students to the many 3D Modeling Software programs.
Continue reading Model Sketching, Part 1Kahn’s poetry between wall and column
Kahn’s poetry between wall and column. As a young architecture student, I remember being awestruck the first time a faculty member introduced me to Kahn’s question: “You say to a brick, ‘What do you want, brick?’ And brick says to you, ‘I like an arch.’ And you say to brick, ‘Look, I want one, too, but arches are expensive and I can use a concrete lintel.’ And then you say: ‘What do you think of that, brick?’ Brick says: ‘I like an arch.’”
Continue reading Kahn’s poetry between wall and columnThe Dieter Kienast project
The Dieter Kienast project. I believe that a sound site strategy is responsible for ninety percent of the success of any architectural project. Of course, beyond the initial principle of settlement, keeping an eye on how the project unfolds through multiple design phases —urban, architectural and human scales— and making constant adjustments to the site strategy is an important barometer of the health of the project.
Why a blog and why now?
I am often reminded of the experience of eating, and choosing the day’s specials, at restaurants around the world (Michelin starred or not). The inventiveness, the perfectly cooked subtle and innovative flavors, and the beautifully presented dishes are part of showing off the chef’s skill.