A group of my classmates are doing a design/build studio for their Masters Project and are looking for some help raising funds. Its for a great organization in Fuller Park. Click on the video below for more info, and visit the Kickstarter page here for more info and to donate!

The booklet I put together for the 3rd Year's concrete workshop if finally up on Blurb. You can see the whole thing here (and maybe grab some concrete samples for Photoshop while you are at it). not sure if any on them will get it but it is a cool little artifact and fun to put together.

I went on a road trip recently in a car with no tape deck for adapters and no auxiliary port for iPods, but I wanted to listen to a few podcasts none the less. I turned my iPhone's speakers all the way up but they just couldn't cut it and the mids and highs were drowned out. What to do??? I looked around and saw the stack of papers or the map directions. Hmm... I rolled them up into a cone, put it at the bottom of the phone and pointed it up and... Voila! Louder and better quality! but of course my hand got tired holding the makeshift megaphone. But what if i designed a little silicon megaphone that could act as a case too? or even 3D print them super cheap. I COULD BE A MILLIONAIRE! Well, quick scan of the interwebs shows many people have beat me to it. I think I could make a better one than the hokey red one below, but I am in love with the ceramic phones. I want one badly. Until the next epiphany...

A few movies about design I have watched recently. "Eames :The Architect and the Painter" was very eye opening, a much broader look at their work then I have seen before. Both "Objectified" and "Helvetica" are by Gary Hustwit, who also has a movie "Urbanized" that I haven't seen yet. "Objectified" is interesting for its interviews but only really scratches the surface of a very interesting topic. "Helvetica" is allowed to delve a bit deeper and also has some priceless interviews. Who knew that Graphic designers could have nonsensical conversations about "neutrality" or "purity" just like architects! Both of the Hustwit movies are available for instant view on Netflix.

Happy late St. Patrick's Day! Perfect weather this year helped make it HUGE, and pretty much everyone was a mess. We hit downtown for a while and then headed to Max's house and spent the rest of the day on the roof with a perfect view of the city. Not a bad way to start Spring (Work) Break.

After last year's brutal winter the weather gods have seen fit to grant us an amazing and strange spring. its been in the 70's the past few days and should be through spring break. I was at Steve's apartment in Hyde Park last night when this fog rolled in off Lake Michigan. You can just see the SEARS (mild protest of Willis here) Tower peaking out of the fog in the distance.

Dozer had to be put down yesterday. He had gotten pretty sick and nothing was working to fix him. He was an amazing dog, super fun and smart. I'll miss him and I know the family back in AZ will really miss him and have a rough time. Just gotta remember the good times. RIP buddy.

Midterm went fairly well. Need to do a lot of refinement, as wells as develop the narrative of the project. If you have ever heard Will Bruder talk about Architecture you know what I am tal;king about. That man is a fantastic story teller.

Board for 434 Midterm. The requirements turned out to be a lot less than I expected. I was all geared up to do some exploded axons... I still might just to do the building right. It's amazing the little corners and reveals you find when modeling a building off of tiny drawings and pictures. You think you have the organization figured out, then go to add a piece that suddenly deviates from everything and you realize your assumptions about the organization is all wrong. But, it's pretty close!

quick raster image of library progress. Midterm is due Wed.