{ Can I Just Live Here? }

As a new mom I'm sure I follow / subscribe to too many blogs and people about parenting (mostly cool things for kids), but today there was a post for these incredible outdoor play houses. Now my lil' man just has your standard run of the mill fischer price play house / slide combo (it was actually a craigslist find), so he doesn't need a new play house or anything, but the designer inside of me just SQUEELED when I saw these!

Meet the Illinois Play House from Smart Play house (appropriately named)! Smart Play House has tons of other great modern play houses, but isn't this Farnsworth House knock off the cutest? I'd totally live there (well if the darn thing was scaled up like 300%). I mean it's a straight up copy, but who hasn't copied this house (thinking of ol' PJ, and don't forget Bill Shell - ut arch knows what I'm saying).

::::swoon::::

{ ABCs of Architecture }

This animation was too fun not to share. I adore this!
The ABC of Architects from fedelpeye on Vimeo.

{ Old White Guys are Everywhere }

Richard Meier x Massimo VignelliOn the Edge of Modernism With the Master Architect and the Genius Designer

Illustrious modernist Richard Meier and multi-disciplinary creator Massimo Vignelli reflect on their respective crafts, city life, and enduring friendship in this mesmeric film by Johnnie Shand Kydd. Shot at the minimalist offices of Richard Meier & Partners on 10th Avenue and West 36th Street, the two powerhouses discuss their collaboration on the firm’s forthcoming monograph, Richard Meier, Architect Volume 6, chronicling the stark, white, rationalist buildings that define the firm’s aesthetic.

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{ Now Ain't that the Truth: Architecture School }

I found this hilarious tumblr had to share. Hopefully it will brighten your day, it did mine, but I've been done with school for a while. {via}
enjoy my recent fave...{click for animated gif link}

{ Batman is Architecture Obsessed }

Batman: Death By Design is the first graphic novel from writer / designer, Chip Kidd and illustrator Dave Taylor. This sneak peek of the novel centers Batman around the concrete canyons of Gotham City, where suspicious building accidents place Batman at odds with both The Joker and a mystery man named Exacto. Exacto is new to the Batman scene and is VERY architecture-based... don't know if that makes sense, but this totally reminds me of a few super heros sketches I did of my classmates my first year in architecture school... Seems like I'll be stopping by my nearest comic shop May 30th. Click the link for more images...{via}

{ Linxxx Luv }

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope you all are glad this week is finally coming to close, I know I am! I couldn't be more excited for the weekend! (and apparently the use of ! - exclamation marks). It's been one hectic week around here, and tonight is no exception. I have a lingerie shower this evening for a good yet conservative friend so I'm looking forward to some awkward moments, and the Knoxville Farmers Market started back up this week. What are your plans?
I wanted to share with you some of the neat-o things I've found, and hope to start a reoccurring post theme for every friday. So be sure to check back often. Have a great weekend!

• I fell in love with the above video of an origami rhino and had to share
• Don't forget to check in every Friday with Modern Sentiment. Sara Martin's Friday posts not only inspire, but always get me thinking, and this week's isn't any different, More Than Personality. Pointing out 5 'habits' to form to really put yourself out there for success and making a connection others. {via}
• Amanda Li is a background designer at Nickelodeon Studios but trained as an architect. Her sketches are incredible, and really an inspiration for anyone with an architecture degree making it in other fields. {via}
• Speaking of being trained as an architect and doing other creative endeavors, Woodbury University hosted an event, "Architects Beyond Architecture" with a panel discussion of 6 and luckily for those of us who couldn't be there, Architects Newspaper did a great article on the event. I'm a big fan of creative endeavors outside of architecture, so much so my story was featured on the AIA website a while back. {via} 
• And finally a shameless plug, but be sure to check out and Like my freelance companay, m+j design bureau on facebooks. We try to run regular specials, and it would just make me oh-so-thrilled to have lots of 'likes'.

{ Eye Candy: Iphone Architecture }

 Serious love goes out to Artist Lynette Jackson, of Atlanta, Georgia, whose images are found on Page67 (flicker page). Jackson claims all her images are "taken, edited, and processed with her iphone". Pretty freakin' unbelievable! I can hardly take a picture that isn't blurry as all get out! Luckily filters (via instagram) help save the day, but daaammmnnn Ms. Jackson, these are serious eye candy! Below are a few of my faves (there were so many great ones to select from). I think I flocked towards the more 'brutalist' feeling ones... image Le Corbusier / Louis Kahn meets Polish Constructivism with a dash of Frank Stella vintage layering!

{ Guatemalan Architecture }

Swoon - worthy doesn't even begin to describe this dream house! Corallo House by PAZ Arquitectos is everything a south american villa should be even with a live tree growing through the house and all! and ohhh the use of materials, especially the concrete (board formed of course), and check out the second image with the conduits and other electrical/plumbing/mechanical nonsense spanning the concrete and exposed.... makes me wish I lived somewhere that had stupidly cheap labor. But I really must commend PAZ for a brilliant use of the Guatemalan terrain. As a first generation American, with basically all my family living in Guatemala, I still visit the 'motherland' regularly, now I just need to see if I can get an meeting with the owner to tour this home next time! {via}

{ Ol' Wild Bill Shell }

Probably the oldest (now retired) architecture professor at the University of Tennessee while I was attending, Bill Shell always had some crazy story going around about him. Some were too crazy to believe, like how his wife was a ballerina he left for a student of his, while others I later found out were true, like he was, in fact, building his dream home, by himself... basically with his bare hands. Oh yeah, and it is an entirely glass house. Then of course, I can't forget to mention he was a student of Mies van der Rohe, ya know, the less is more guy... Well yesterday, another interesting nod to ol' bill shell showed up on the interwebz... something I'm sure Shell isn't familiar with. Archdaily, posted Postcards from the Architect, a series done by Jody (a former UT grad - 1992 I think... and writer of Coffee with an Architect) and low and be hold, the first postcard was addressed to Bill Shell. I love the simple and yet snarky commentary on the picture. Enjoy! {via}

{ Nerdy Architecture Game }

My nerdiness is about to run amuck! NextArchitects have gone and developed and produced an ARCHITECTURE game! Ahhh! my inner architect (which seldomly gets to come out) is so excited!
All my knowledge from school can finally be put to the test... although, I still appreciate being texted for precedent questions. The game features iconic buildings and a set of infamous LeCorbusier for the player who is taking his turn. Originally launched in 1999 but only available to that damn awesome dutch Delft University, this is the second edition is the international version, meaning that it is produced in English, but also that the questions range right across the breadth of modern world history.




I can't wait 'til this is available for online purchase ...if you find it let me know. But when it is, expect a call from me for an uber nerdy board game night. {via}

{ Eye Candy: Hey Girl }

Previous student and peer, Ashley not only is rockin' out at Yale this semester, but has made just about the best tumbler out there... I know what you are thinking, how can there be something better than Paula Dean riding things? But for all the architects / architecture students out there, this is gold! Architecture Ryan Gosling is my newest obsession. I mean, just look at those eyes and tell me you didn't wish he was whispering those nerdy references to you. {via}


Update: another nerdy Ryan Gosling craze with fonts, also worth checking out. {via}

{ Apparently there is an Architect TV }

and my former professor is on it! Hooray for Tricia Stuth, co-owner of CURB, and winner of 2010 AIA Young Architects Award. Check her out...sorry it won't let me embed the vid... {via}

{ Eye Candy: Sometimes I Miss Architecture }

Cebra toons is the brain candy of Micheal Frost, partner at Cebra and totes book mark worthy! It's a lil' Steven Holl-ish, but still nice to see a few great concise transformation diagram images, makes me miss architecture and their whole graphic world. Enjoy! {via}

{ Takin' it Back Ol' School }

my first textured rendering

or to 2003... when my class was in our second year of architecture school and taking our first computer modeling course. Hooray for this awesome website rediscovery Beth (via Patrick). I was #50, with the Soviet Pavilion! Glad I've come a long way since that! ctm. {via}

{ Architecture's Truth... in a diagram }

{via}

{ At Least it's not Detroit }

Oh wait... it is! but this video is really great (not to mention I love Palladium boots + shoes). I've been swooning over the abandoned pictures of Detroit, but here is a hopeful video... in a way a nice change and not an AFH sponsored...just some kids (and Johnny Knoxville) tryin to reshape a metropolis. 

{ Hell Freezes Over: Autocad }

I know we've all (well us arch-ys atleast) problems and woes with Autocad on a mac, virtual pc just sorta blows... but apparently it's happened.... it's coming, Autocad for the mac (plays ominous music). Apparently the last time Autocad was made for a mac was back in ol' 1992, 18 years ago... wow. I know friends who have worked at firms that have used software like Archicad and others, god forbid Datacad, but Autocad is the industry standard, especially since the push towards BIM (building integrated modeling) and I think Revit (Autocad owned) is also the leader there. Hooray for all the upcoming architecture students, your life just got a whole lot easier. {via}

{ First Friday }

Tonight should be a better First Friday than normal! there is a bad ass open house at the Southeastern Glass Building (worked on by Michael and his awesome firm Sanders Pace) is having a pretty awesome open house, and my dad is having a show at Urban Bar and Cafe! It's the first time in like 20+ years he's had a show! so be sure to come on out and enjoy the festivities and drink and maybe buy some art! (below are a few of my faves)

{ School Project }

Not to be overly architecture heavy today, but I found this pretty cute school project video. It's a pretty rad diagram and provides a nice understanding of the whole site. The residential section is straight lifting from Unite d'habitation (Le Corb) but other than that, it's a cute info video! and be sure to stay to the end, the daft punk makes it all worth it.

{ Vanity Fair knows Architecture }

Or they think they do... They asked 52 experts (deans of arch schools, starchitects, and architecture critics) what are some of the world's most influential buildings post 1980. The list, for a magazine with no real authority on architecture, did put together a pretty decent list. and I guess the most exciting part for me, was out of the top 21, I had visited 7. {via}  and not to go on a whole other rant, but does it bother anyone else, that Tod WIlliams and Billie Tsien are counted as one vote, while Ricardo Scofidio (from Diller Scofidio) is counted individually? The list of women voters are far and few between, and here we have some acting and voting with their male counter part... so sad.