by Robert Lach Jr., A.I.A.
I'm one of those very rare people that always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. From a very young age, I was creating spaces, finding relationships in systems, and designing habitats.
My very first memory of the process was when I was five years old. My parents had a summer vacation home at the New Jersey shore, about an hour and a half to two hour drive from our house. My brother and I would fight like only brothers can the whole way down in the backseat, and the whole way back. My parents, ever the clever folk, stated that if we were quiet and well behaved for the ride down, we could stop at the Surf City 5&10 and we would get a toy. This led directly to my brother and I staying up VERY late the night before, fighting like only brothers can, in order to be so tired that we would sleep for the whole ride, and earn our coveted prize.
On one such occasion, the toy I chose was a clear bag filled with plastic dinosaurs. I'm sure the detail was off, but each miniature great lizard had its name and weight in kilograms stamped on its tail, or other convenient spot. I believe my brother received a similar bag of army men.
That particular trip to the shore I do not remember well, but what I DO remember quite well is the next week back in our northern New Jersey suburban home, and my trying to find a home for my new dinosaur friends. My father had just finished mowing the lawn, and due to an outdated mower issue, there were clumps of grass clippings spotting an otherwise perfect and immaculate mowing job. My father would be around in a little while to rake up the clippings, but I had other plans.
I scooped up a bunch of the clippings and started to make small nests for my dinosaur pals in the branches of the three evergreens in our backyard. I remember being quite methodical in their creation, shaping them carefully, placing them into the spiny leafed boughs, and setting different families of dinosaurs into different levels of the tree. At some point of this day, and most likely why it was so memorable, my soon to be best friend ever rode his little bicycle to my house and came into the backyard to see what I was doing. I explained my "project" to him, he offered assistance and constructive critique, and we were off and running.
From that day forward, most of our time would be lost in setting up elaborate scenes to play with, intending there to be a conflict or epic battle once we were done setting up the different camps. Since most of our play times were scheduled into two or three hour periods (after school before dinner or after dinner before bedtime) we would do about 90% of our time setting up, then wreck it all in the remaining 10% of time, only to begin the process anew each time we played.
Star Wars figures, Micronaughts, Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets and of course, LEGOS were all incorporated into our builds, but our greatest joy came when we could combine these different systems to create something wholly new and unexpected. When a new set of, well, whatever toy came out, we would bring this new technology to our tred and true designs to launch larger and more elaborate playsets.
When school started, and we were "chained" to a desk for hours on end, most of that time was spent doodling and drawing, inevitably drawings of the playsets we were going to create after school was over. Oh sure, we played all sorts of active and outdoor games as well, but I remember the times drawing, imagining and then building as my favorites.
It is no surprise to me now that when I learned the word "architect", and realized that I could be doing just what I was doing all that time in elementary school and get paid for it, well, the deal was done, and the rest is history, the present and the future. My career is built on very solid foundations, spanning back now 35 years or so. I wonder how many of my current designs are influenced by the famous "Plastic Dinosaur and Lawn Clippings" school of the early 1970s?
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Why We Draw By Hand, Part the First
I recently received this email from a civil engineer:
“Did you really just send me an email from your iPhone declaring that you were “old fashioned”?”
And yes, that is exactly what I did. The initial impulse is to say that there is an age old debate on the merits and flaws of computer aided drafting (CAD) versus those of drawing by hand. This initial impulse is a bit erroneous, however, as the issue has only been around for the last fifteen years or so, thus hardly “age old”, but perhaps it is more of a very timely debate.
Before this essay launches into an old fogey type rant about “how we did it back in the day”, it is important to note that we find the computers brilliant for so many different applications. Research, investigation, communication, all of these outlets have exploded since the personal computers and the Internet reached its teen years in the form that we are now familiar with it. But, like most teen-agers, the Internet and the personal computer is still struggling with the notions of “just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we ought to.” Technology can be brilliant, and it can also be blinding.
The images that most of our contemporaries carry with us to this day of what an architect is or does is characterized by the movies and television. Mike Brady sitting at his desk designing lipstick and powder puff buildings for Zsa Zsa Gabor comes to mind immediately. For a young man that grew up playing with Legos and doodling houses when he ought to have been listening to lectures, the idea that you could get paid to draw houses all day was incredibly attractive. My skills in the Fine Arts of drawing and painting are not negligible, but they were never to the level of my peers, and demanded of me a disproportionate amount of joy for the energy I had to exert in their production. Having drafting equipment to lend an edge of craft to my creativity, giving me the stanzas upon which to write my verse was again something that allowed me to express my creativity throughout the entire architectural process.
Today’s image of an architect is portrayed primarily in television advertisements for cell phones and wireless communications. What better profession to showcase the capabilities of the technology than in the architectural? Apparently you can take conference calls, snap pictures of your kid’s sandcastles for precedent studies and create interactive 3d models of your project while on a white sand beach. This fantasy is also VERY attractive to me, of course, but again...
Just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we OUGHT to do it.
Is it really a good thing to be able to bring your whole architectural studio with you wherever you go, especially on vacation? You do not often see the spouse of said jet setting beach architect glaring at him or admonishing him for working too much and not being there with the family, but you can bet it happens!
Myths and fantasies aside, there are very real and concrete reasons why I feel hand drafting will always be superior to the work done on computers. Watch this space for updates and continued discussions on this topic!
“Did you really just send me an email from your iPhone declaring that you were “old fashioned”?”
And yes, that is exactly what I did. The initial impulse is to say that there is an age old debate on the merits and flaws of computer aided drafting (CAD) versus those of drawing by hand. This initial impulse is a bit erroneous, however, as the issue has only been around for the last fifteen years or so, thus hardly “age old”, but perhaps it is more of a very timely debate.
Before this essay launches into an old fogey type rant about “how we did it back in the day”, it is important to note that we find the computers brilliant for so many different applications. Research, investigation, communication, all of these outlets have exploded since the personal computers and the Internet reached its teen years in the form that we are now familiar with it. But, like most teen-agers, the Internet and the personal computer is still struggling with the notions of “just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we ought to.” Technology can be brilliant, and it can also be blinding.
The images that most of our contemporaries carry with us to this day of what an architect is or does is characterized by the movies and television. Mike Brady sitting at his desk designing lipstick and powder puff buildings for Zsa Zsa Gabor comes to mind immediately. For a young man that grew up playing with Legos and doodling houses when he ought to have been listening to lectures, the idea that you could get paid to draw houses all day was incredibly attractive. My skills in the Fine Arts of drawing and painting are not negligible, but they were never to the level of my peers, and demanded of me a disproportionate amount of joy for the energy I had to exert in their production. Having drafting equipment to lend an edge of craft to my creativity, giving me the stanzas upon which to write my verse was again something that allowed me to express my creativity throughout the entire architectural process.
Today’s image of an architect is portrayed primarily in television advertisements for cell phones and wireless communications. What better profession to showcase the capabilities of the technology than in the architectural? Apparently you can take conference calls, snap pictures of your kid’s sandcastles for precedent studies and create interactive 3d models of your project while on a white sand beach. This fantasy is also VERY attractive to me, of course, but again...
Just because we CAN do something, doesn’t mean we OUGHT to do it.
Is it really a good thing to be able to bring your whole architectural studio with you wherever you go, especially on vacation? You do not often see the spouse of said jet setting beach architect glaring at him or admonishing him for working too much and not being there with the family, but you can bet it happens!
Myths and fantasies aside, there are very real and concrete reasons why I feel hand drafting will always be superior to the work done on computers. Watch this space for updates and continued discussions on this topic!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What Style is That?
We get this question all the time when talking to our new residential clients. They see a house that they like, and are trying to describe it to friends, family and to their architect. Most of the time, we go out to look at it together, point out the things that we like and don't like, but it would be nice if there was a way to describe the predominant style that we are designing in.We like to describe our residential style as "Contemporary Vernacular". Dictionary.com has the best definitions for contemporary used as an adjective, and vernacular used as a noun. We will use excerpts from these definitions in today's post.
con⋅tem⋅po⋅rar⋅y: existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time.
If we can get used to using contemporary by its true definition, that is "of the current time" and not as it is commonly used to categorize the wildest options that building technology can express, we can see how it can apply to even the most traditional forms and structures. Taking it one step further, the idea that we are designing houses according to the very latest and current building techniques coupled with an eye to how the home will be used and enjoyed by the families of the present day combines to create a truly contemporary building, inside and out.
ver⋅nac⋅u⋅lar: a style of architecture exemplifying the commonest techniques, decorative features, and materials of a particular historical period, region, or group of people.
We do not live in a vacuum, nor do we design in one. It is perfectly acceptable for one's home to reflect an inner character and nature, being a work of sculptural art all unto itself, but it is also perfectly acceptable and wonderful to design, build and live in a house that fits harmoniously into the context of the neighborhood, city or town in which it is located. The benefits of creating a dynamic streetscape that provides a rich visual tapestry, but woven of common threads has been exemplified in the best of American Architecture.
Combine these terms and you have a phrase that you can use at any cocktail party to describe good residential architectural design. We hope to be at functions soon overhearing "Yes, we just bought that Contemporary Vernacular home with Arts & Crafts influences, and we just love it!"
As always, feel free to send an email or call to discuss this point further. We appreciate the opportunity for discourse and discussion!
Monday, February 23, 2009
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