Light tower, Verkehrskanzel, Berlin. When visiting European cities I am always much more aware of the urban realm than when I am at home. Perhaps this is because of my European upbringing, coupled with growing up in cities. This early initiation gave me a foundation to better understand the richness of cities and, in particular, the ceremonial spaces of the seat of the Habsburgs in Vienna, were I lived between the ages of five and twelve.
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Architectural sketching and how do I sketch. This second blog of the series Architectural sketching is a compendium and illustration of conceptual thoughts offered in the previous blog of a similar title. The examples for this blog are taken from my own sketchbooks that span over several decades. Each example illustrates a particular architectural preoccupation through sketching.
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Architectural sketching and why is it important.?This blog is part one of three on sketching architecture. This one introduces aspects about my own sketching techniques and their origins, and how sketches and architectural drawings were seen as works of art.
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Lower deck lavatory: A340-600. I have been fortunate to travel in many parts of the world since the age of nine. Although trains remains my favorite mode of ground transportation—especially in Europe where I grew up and during a day’s ride you can see the panoramic landscape transform in front of your eyes—taking an airplane is a must when speedy travel overseas is essential, of course, if you have time, a slower voyage across the Atlantic with the Queen Mary 2 is memorable.
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Latvian National Museum of Art: Part 2. In a previous blog I mentioned my desire to return to the museum. Recently I was able to make the journey and conduct additional research on the three previously mentioned stairs designed by Lithuanian architecture firm ProcessOffice.
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Pierre von Meiss: architect and pedagogue. As I reflect on how leadership could envision a roadmap for an academic unit, I am reminiscing on my own education, and how I benefited from an enlightened administrator.
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The Whitney Museum: stair by Marcel Breuer. There are too many magnificent stairs in New York City to fathom visiting them all during one stay or even in a lifetime.
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Hong Kong: a metropolis of contradictions. There is so much I love about the city of Hong Kong that it is almost impossible to articulate in a single thought. What draws me year after year to return to the Fragrant Harbor; a name inspired by the city’s early activities as a major Asian trading post for fragrant incense?
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Art seminar week. During my tenure at the ETH-Zürich, Switzerland, I discovered how consensus among faculty benefits students.
The following proposal involves consensus and a coming together of faculty to share their individual expertise beyond their classroom, and might be of pedagogical interest for a design school—for example, at my current institution—and is inspired by one offered in Zürich. Let me start by contextualizing that one, and then follow up with a proposal for first-year design studios that currently offer a design foundation to students in architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture.
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Visiting professorships. Now, just shy of 40 years of teaching architecture—close to 4,000 students across three continents between undergraduate and graduate design studios, history and theory lectures, and topical seminars—I recognize that I am indebted to my students for the role they have played in my professional growth.
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