Public Transit and Why a Zebra?
I’ve wondered for a few years now while contemplating being car-less, and now being car-less if it would be possible to travel to and from multiple cities via public transit. It turns out it is! Evan Siroky has assembled various routes to prove the point. You got to love the efforts people make to share points on just how realistic transportation is without a car.
This oil spill is incredibly awful, but in terms of its effect on the planet vs. our total consumption and demand for oil have. It does’t even come close. You may argue the point that man made climate change is a hoax, and this is just the natural cycle. Fine, I’m not going to argue that with anyone because I am not an expert. There are scientist and people seeing it first hand that are better suited to do so. But for what it is worth the difference I see between man made development vs. a balanced ecosystem is visually disturbing to me. If it weren’t for my student loans I would surly kiss this capitalistic resource hogging world behind, and live with less out on the road.
Ok, back on topic. I really like this idea of public transit being used to travel great distances. Think about it, I could get on Trimet then connect with other regional transit systems and in a matter of hours I am in Seattle. It may not be as convenient, but there is nothing convenient about sitting in your car all alone unable to share the experience with other people. We are social animals, and while some of the people you may encounter on the bus aren’t the type of people you want to buddy up to. If more people ditched their cars the chances are better that you could meet someone new on your commute to — for example, Seattle.
This is just another idea that a better planned urban area, that focuses resources on transit of the foot, pedal, and mass-transit systems could go a long way towards developing stronger communities. So what am I missing? I’m not sure human beings; despite our social nature are ready for that close of a community. Some people just don’t want to change, don’t want to listen, and don’t want to give up on what they have come to believe is the American Dream. I wish it were different. My inner hippy mellow is being harshend, haha.
California just banned plastic bags. Oregon, are you listening? Safeway, you are the worst offender. My Safeway store doesn’t even offer paper. So if I forget my reusable bag, I have to take plastic. Boo!
Oh, check out this great audio visual bliss of five New York neighborhoods captured in their full glory. No inserted outside music, just a great ambient soundtrack and neighborhood blips. Sources: Architects Newspaper Blog and Urban Omnibus
Daniel, stop being such a gloating flower power dude and show us a cool house. Ok, here you go.
This is the JD House. It is located in the forest of Mar Azul, in the Argentinian province of Buenos Aires. Minus the Zebra skin on the ground, I really love this. The Architecture is so inspiring. I also like the minimalism of the interior. Sure it could use some art and a bit of color, but that is really those personal touches that are made by the inhabitant. Here, have a look.
Sources: Contemporist and BAK Architects
Good News, New Stuff and Things to Share
First, the good news. Starting June 21st I will no longer be unemployed! After more than 8 months of inconsistent income, overwhelming stress and general economic slumps — I will rejoin the working class. Awesome, and I have 3 weeks off until then to work on odds and ends without dwelling on the future.
I put up this weeks mixtape. You can listen to it, or download it on the sidebar to the right. Um, the language is NSFW. But so is leaving the window open. I guess try it out with headphones first before you start a dance party in the office. This will be a weekly thing, unless I find it to be too much to keep up on. For now, no problem on that front. Enjoy.
30 Days of Creativity starts today. I made a mix to kick things off. I have a few ideas in my head and sketch pad that I am going to try and get more developed. One of them includes a remodel experiment for my family’s house down in Florence, Oregon. It’s a really great mid-century ranch style house. Some other things will show up here before or after that. This 30 day project will be my motivation to really kick my portfolio into high gear.
“30 Days of Creativity is a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff, anything, every day for 30 days.
This is your excuse to buy that tub of Playdough, unbox your Erector set, or dust off your Holga. You might be working on one huge project for 30 days straight. Maybe you are creating something new thing every day. (That’s the best way to participate!) It could be as simple as taking a picture of your outfit for 30 days to something as involved as a writing a song or making a movie every day.” — MAKE Magazine Blog
#30daysofcreativity — A How To Guide from 30 Days of Creativity on Vimeo.
Finally, something to share. I’ve been trying to share at least one project/design a week that inspires me. Today I am sharring the Palmyra House located in Nandgaon, Maharashtra, India. This has been featured on a few architecture blogs. So it may look familiar. It was designed by Studio Mumbai Architects.
What I like most about it is the interior use of very dark and rich woods, along with natural stone and concrete elements. It has a strong textural aesthetic — almost rough looking. Still though, the end experience that I observed from the images it that the the house has a quiet and soft feeling. The house has great Eastern Asian design elements as well, to unify the modern design with traditional finishes. More images and observations are available over at Contemporist.
Wow, New Acropolis Museum and Urban Farming
I love this. It encompasses a total grasp of classical concepts, with a conversion to modern architecture. Beautiful wraps of glass, stunning horizontal and vertical planes, and interesting angles. Looks like I found another reason to get myself to the Acropolis.
Architects: Bernard Tschumi Architects
Location: Athens, Greece
Associate Architect: ARSY
Bernard Tschumi Architects Team: Bernard Tschumi; Architect and Lead Designer Joel Rutten; Project Architect, Adam Dayem, Aristotelis Dimitrakopoulos, Jane Kim, Eva Sopeoglou, Kim Starr, Anne Save de Beaurecueil, Jonathan Chace, Robert Holton, Valentin Bontjes van Beek, Liz Kim, Daniel Holguin, Kriti Siderakis, Michaela Metcalfe, Justin Moore, Joel Aviles, Georgia Papadavid, Allis Chee, Thomas Goodwill, Véronique Descharrières, Christina Devizzi
ARSY Team: Michael Photiadis; Principal, George Kriparakos, Nikos Balkalbassis, Philippos Photiadis, Jaimie Peel, Niki Plevri, Maria Sarafidou, Makis Grivas, Elena Voutsina, Manoulis Economou, Anastassia Gianou, Miltiadis Lazaridis, Dimitris Kosmas
Structure: ADK and ARUP
Mechanical and Electrical: MMB Study Group S.A. and ARUP
Civil: Michanniki Geostatiki and ARUP
Acoustics: Theodore Timagenis
Lighting: ARUP, London
General Contractor: Aktor
Project Area: 21,000 sqm
Project Year: 2003–2009
Photographs: Courtesy of Bernard Tschumi Architects
via Archdaily.
URBAN FARMING: GOOD
I think GOOD is becoming one of my favorite information sources for all things I love. They have a really interesting article, written by Peter Smith on future farming. Urban farming was a topic I studied for an environmental science class while in school. It is an idea that I see totally viable for reclaiming vacant or unoccupied land in cities all over the globe. If you are interested and have a couple of minutes I suggest checking out the article. This idea could do a lot to decrease our dependence on oil and bring local jobs. Forward thinking my friends! I need to work on my green thumb.
Oil, Greed, and Distractions
I have kept my opinions on the Gulf oil spill to myself. Mostly for the reason that there are more knowledgeable figures to take on this sad, sad topic. And with ignorance I can focus on the weighing problems in my life. But this catastrophic baloney that is happening outside of my selfish world has pissed me off enough to say something. I mean that’s what blogs are for, right? Haha.
These greedy oil tycoons and lobbyist controlled politicians with their thumbs up their butts need to step aside from their agendas, and deal with this HUGE problem. I know efforts are being made were made, and it was successful at stopping the flow, but it’s not enough. It is not just this spill. It is their inability to control technology, due to greed and status whoring.
Then there is this guy, who is too smart for Washington. Thank you Dennis Kucinich. Though once again, you have proven that these morons in Washington have too much dirty money in their ears to hear you. Sadly though, much of this falls on people like me. I and others like me demand for products that do more to sustain our oil addiction.
I don’t drive anymore, and I try to limit the amount of energy I consume. I am however not doing enough to demand for better sources of energy, better technology and better food production/packaging practices. We are simply victims of our own ignorance. Mother Nature — we are not worthy.
Treehugger.com has some images to help calm some anger, with satire. Which is different than Sarah Palin’s definition. /rant
Now for my daily distraction. Sports! This is a promo for the Portland Timbers MLS 2011 crest design. The Timbers will unveil the crest on June 12 — in a friendly against England. Great production, and I am very excited for the future of Portland Football. Thanks to Dropping Timber and PortlandMLS2011 for showing me this.
This fantastic boardwalk is located on the Benidorm Seafront in Spain . Designed by Office of Architecture in Barcelona. I can only imagine how the air flows through these elegant curves. The design reminds me of a wind sock. I’ll have to add this to my list of places to see someday. Found on Archdaily and Abitare.
Seedbombs and Walking in L.A.
Designed by L.A.’s Common Studio, the Seedbomb project has made it’s first installation in San Francisco. They use old gum ball machines, fill them with clay balls full of seeds to assist in spreading the gorilla guerilla gardening movement. This project helps to turn otherwise dead, grey, and vacant locations into colorful, life filled spaces.
This project needs support and you can help. For a minimum $1.00 pledge you can help fund this. Go here and help out. Find out more about this over at Inhabitat.
“Nobody walks in L.A.”, at least that’s what Missing Persons sang about. Over at GOOD, Ryan Bradley has started a series discussing walking in Los Angeles, and how to open the city to pedestrian friendly transportation. Narrow roads that are friendly to on-foot transportation are a staple for European cities. It brings neighbors closer together — which strengthens the bond of their inhabitants. It builds micro-economic markets and enriches culture. Both of which could use some help in my neighborhood.
I am a strong advocate for pedestrian friendly cities. It’s part of the reasons my friends have to put up with my biased love for Northwest Portland — my favorite and former neighborhood. I now live right on Cesar E Chavez Blvd; which is horrific for foot travel and keeps me from enjoying my neighborhood. I just don’t see the bond between people the way I did living in a close, walk friendly part of town. I’m glad someone is starting to ask these questions in Los Angeles. It could go a long way towards our continued efforts to build smarter transportation systems through better urban planning. It could also help small local based businesses open doors and thrive.
Check, check it out!
Oh, I want these! These are Limited Edition skate decks by artist Ian Johnson. Featuring illustrations of five of the world’s greatest Jazz Musicians. Made by Western Edition.
The Miles ‘59 series is an homage to the original band that created the epic recording “Kind of Blue” 50 years ago this year. -Rad Collector
Ian Johnson has some other amazing work up on his site, to check out. Someone hire me so I can pick these up.
GOOD.is has posted a really cool project, in which they asked people to create a flag that represents their neighborhood. There are some Portland neighborhoods in there, as well as many more really solid designs. I love the Roseway flag. Check it out.
Time to Share
I went to the open house yesterday for the house I had been working on earlier this year. Of course I forgot my camera. It looked great with furniture though, I swear. I am still busy looking for work, but I wanted to take a break and share some things that I’d come across over the weekend.
This first video is some proper reuse/adaptation to the foreclosures and economic dumps of these crazy times. This may be a little controversial depending on how you look at it. I grew up skateboarding, and see no harm done. What do you think? If you are watching at work, be careful. The language is NSFW.
Cannonball from California is a place. on Vimeo.
This next item is a fantastic combination of modern architecture and near perfect integration into the house’s surrounding landscape. I call this success. Beautiful textures, stunning lines, and so many interesting focal points. I would love to be a part of a project like this someday. This gets me going.
Los Molles House / Oltmann Ahlers W. + Oltmann Ahlers G. + dRN Arquitectos — Source: Arch Daily
What’s Next?
I finished up work on the house restoration project I was working on. Everyone did a fantastic job, and it shows. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can. It was a tremendous learning experience, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Except for painting ceilings.
Walking is awesome! Now that I am carless/liberated I have come to enjoy Portland more than ever. There are so many great spots and neighborhoods that by car you will never see. I walk everywhere now, occasionally taking the bus for trips greater than 3–4 miles. Before, when I had a car the idea of walking more than 1/4 mile seeming daunting and inefficient. But really, I can walk 3 miles in less than an hour. So pretty much anything I need is within that scope. And I’ve lost 10lbs. I’ve been without wheels for 4 months now and I don’t miss it at all. Traffic is loud, really loud! We need to find a way to leave the automobile behind. I’m encouraged now it can be done.
I made a short video of the woods that are behind my childhood home. I spent whole summers in these acres and there are so many great memories of adventures had. It is the first video I’ve edited and the camera work is not up to par. But I think the sound does a good job of capturing what I remember about the years I spent in what we called “The Field”.
This is an aerial shot of the location of “The Field”. Now renamed Springwater. “A” is my old house.
Still Keeping On
I’ve been busy lately, which is why nothing new has gone up here recently. So what have I been up to? Work. Just as I typed my desire for work, situations present themselves.
First, I’ve been finishing up some revisions for the Whole Foods project I was working on last month. Secondly, I’ve had the opportunity to work on restoring a 1890’s era house that a friend of mine purchased. No design work though, just good ol’ back breaking labor! This is turning out to be a very rewarding and educational project, working close with the General Contractor and asking questions on the blood and guts of a restoration project from the man building it. They didn’t teach me this stuff in school, and a good deal of this experience should go toward helping me be a better designer. The bad part is there isn’t much work left that I can do.
Last week I had another interview with Netflix for a call center position. I found out today they went another direction, which I guess has a positive outcome. I needed more experience interviewing, cause I know I don’t make the best first impression.
So well, it’s back to the grind of Craigslist and the land of lost resumes. Hey, at least I can pay half my bills this month. Right? The question is though, what the hell am I qualified to do now? It seems all I hear back is I am overqualified for the opportunities available at the moment. The work I do want, which I am qualified for isn’t available because of the great economic slump we are in. Even then, I am only entry level at this point and there is better experience in the talent pool right now. Meh.
On to other stuff, and what my fellow peers in the unemployed designers subculture have been up to…
My friend Colin just finished his book Pedestrian. It can be purchased here. Colin is my typography and design critic, who has countless times torn apart my own attempts at graphic and print media. And I listen and respect every nag he has about my work because of things like this. Pedestrian is a very strong mixed media project.
How about some music? I want to start a podcast of sorts called “Permanent Solution”, I’ll try and discipline myself to get that going this weekend. Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to the release by Cast Spells titled “Bright Works and Baton”. This is a track off that called “A Badge”. Cool.
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Stay Positive
I’ve been staying busy lately, but I am really hoping this unemployment stint comes to an end. I’m completely broke, and well I suppose it could be worse. But the fear of being homeless is way too close for comfort, so I really need some good news soon. I had no idea I would be hit this hard by following my goals, getting an education and trying to find real success before 30. I am two months away from 30. Initially my goal was to complete my education before I turned 30 — done. My new goal is to be apart of something real, with a great team around me and making good money too. Two months until this deadline. Stay positive.
This is a flat out stunning film done by Alex Roman. All computer modeled and rendered. If you watch it, do it right and go here to see it in HD. I should learn Maya. Speechless.
I saw two great films this week, thanks to a generous Regal gift card from my family. Up in the Air is the truth. Made me feel a little less alone during this economic crisis thing. Go see it, go alone.
Yesterday I saw Youth in Revolt. Holy hell this is the best Michael Cera movie yet, and it will be truly difficult for him to top it. Great humor, outstanding rebellious actions, and an all around well written screen play.
Stay positive.
Yes it Does!
More here. Whitezine
Good Bye 2009
It’s been quite a year. There were plenty of challenges along the way, and many lessons that have shaped me to become better. I am very optimistic and puzzled to what we will face next. I cant wait to see what 2010 and beyond will be like, and what I can do as a designer and human to make things better. I can say this, I am ready.
I just watched Invictus. The film exceeded my expectations and left a lump in my throat. It was also an incredibly motivating story that inspired me to look at our challenges with resolve. It has left me anxious to contribute in these demanding times, to lend a hand in solving some of our social and ecological problems. I recommend the film to everyone who is struggling to adapt. Obama is just another in a long line of leaders faced with adversity, and because of people like Mandela we know great change can happen. Go see it.
Here is another image from the Conrad house. I introduced sunlight to test the exposure to natural light. I should have the upper level and office ready to show by the end of the week.
Bah! Humbug!
The holiday season has been particularly good to me this season. That being said, and of no real choice of my own, I no longer have a car. I am happy however to shed my carbon fueled addiction and see where this challenge takes me. It does makes job hunting a bit more difficult because I have to limit my searches to those located near public transit.
Speaking of the job hunt, my interview last week was unsuccessful. The job really wasn’t in my impact market. I am getting really antsy to contribute and start whittling away at the goals I have targeted. I have a fear of being trapped in a dead and uncreative job where I have no chance at accomplishing what I want to do in life. I know I’ve only been out of school for 3 months, but I’m not where I thought I was going to be. So determination must take me to where I need to be, I just hope it happens soon.
I have been continuing on some older work. The first being the “Conrad House” that you can see a preview of on the front page slideshow. This is a design I am working on for a friend, as more of a dream home. It was a project I started on my 2nd year of school that I am now revising and creating some renderings for. So that has been keeping me busy. If you don’t like waiting, or you want to get a deeper look the image is below.
I’ve also been working on a bar that was in another project in one of my studios from school. Which is below. It was part of a resort hotel in Whistler, BC. I am really happy with the result, but I’d love to get someone else’s thoughts.
I head down to Florence on Thursday for the Christmas weekend to spend time with the family. This is the first time in years that we have all been together. Looking forward to it. Then it is back to getting a job, and being somewhere comfortable again. And honestly that is all I really want from 2010; comfort and happiness.
This songs sums things up pretty good right now. It’s Iron Chic, off their newest EP. Which can be purchased here.
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It is official
After what was supposed to be 6–8 weeks, this came in the mail today. So I guess I have to do something with it now. I have an interview tomorrow, which I am excited about. I’ll know more about that at 9:30 AM tomorrow. Sorry about the low quality phone sourced image.
I’ve been doing some personal design work and renderings to keep me busy between looking for paid work. Most of which should show up soon in the Portfolio section.
Algernon Cadwallader apparently released a new 7″ called “Fun” that I got my hands on today. I am really excited about whatever these guys put out, and this is no exception. You can here one of the songs on their Myspace page, it’s called “I wanna go to the beach”. Me too.
Coolness achieved
How cool is this? The Guggenheim’ Wright Restaurant opens today, and I wish I was there to see it.
From the NY Times article.
“…exactly as Frank Lloyd Wright himself would have wanted it: among the 400 drawings he made for the 1959 building, a few were devoted to a ground-floor dining space, though not one particularly suited to a contemporary audience. “The layout was very simple, almost monastic, with clusters of tables aligned with the portholes,” said the architect Andre Kikoski, who designed the restaurant. But, as he explained, “it wasn’t conducive to social interaction, and it certainly wasn’t about the integration of art.” Rather than executing Wright’s original sketches, Kikoski turned the space — most recently a generic cafeteria with brown carpeting — into a modern homage to the legendary architect, who designed the museum to harmonize with the artwork within.”
Read all about it here — The Guggenheim’ Wright Restaurant
This is equally amazing. How cool would it be to work in this office? This is a design by Maurice Mentjens Design, based in Holtum, the Netherlands — designed for Postpanic an animation and design studio.
The link to this is here -Cool Hunter
Weekend manifest
So things around here are about 95% done. I’ve done quite a bit of work over the past week. I just have some fine tuning and various small tweaks left to do. I created a new logo this morning and a new background earlier in the week. The Portfolio page is up, but needs some changes to the function and interaction of the images, and some more static images.
This isn’t a sports blog, so I will spare my opinion on a few things. But, I have to say — it is hard to be a Blazer fan. I am not a huge “luck” guy, I think that good things come from good decisions. However, when your coach is injured something isn’t right. It will be interesting to see how this team bounces back from all the injuries. New York is showing it’s possible to play well well with limited resources, and this Blazer team has battled back and shown toughness in the past. I’m still a Blazer fan, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I just wish it would be a little easier.
This is a print by Vasco Mourao, only 10 were made. I would be stoked to get my hands on one of them. I love the depth and weight of it. I must of spent a half hour just starring at it. The print is I bet quite a mind blowing visual experience.
I still have about a days worth of work left at CDS. I’ve been doing SketchUp work for a Whole Foods store proposal in California. If they like it there might be more work for me. It feels great doing something that I have fun with. If I can I’ll post some renderings of the store.
One quick rant: I really wish the Food Network had a vegetarian show. I am a huge Food Network fan, but it really lacks vegetarian programming. What would it take to get a well produced, fun veg friendly program? Please?
Monday workday
Well Thanksgiving is over, my stomach needs a break from all the food. We got our Christmas tree set up yesterday, the guys I live with love this time a year, so the spirit is a little contagious. I think we need a few more ornaments for the tree though.
I start work tomorrow with CDS, which should take about a week to complete the project. After that I will be focusing all my attention on finding more design work, hopefully landing a full time position before the end of the year. At least that’s how my goals are written out.
Instructables.com has posted plans for converting burnt out light bulbs into terrariums. I have been intrigued by terrariums lately because of their scale, they give back a little bit of the outdoors where ever you put one. If I have time this week I want to make one of these. There are two burnt out bulbs in the garage just asking for a renewed lease on life. The link for the instructions are here.
It’s small things like this that can really make a difference in our connection with the outside. Kind of makes me want to crawl inside and explore.
I have more work to do on the site today. Portfolio should be up and finalized by the end of today. I will also be playing with a few other functions of the site to clean up some formatting that is bugging me. I also need to find a better linking system to connect me better with other sites I use. So we’ll see how it turns out.
Onward
I updated the portfolio and about pages with new content. Still working on getting all the images together from my printed portfolio to their future online home. That should be done tomorrow. I also added a paper I wrote my senior year about my role as a designer, which would be a good read for anyone that wants to know my perspective on design and how it integrates with the world.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to spending time with family. We are a small family group these days, but it’s still nice to catch up. I need to look up some recipes and start cooking soon. No Tofurky this year though, but I do have some of the gravy!
Friday I will drive down to Florence to spend some time with my Dad and see what he’s been up to. I am going to try and dig up the blueprints to the house down there, been wanting to do some design work with that house for a while — just for fun though.
I am now unemployed for a few days, next week I start some Sketchup work for CDS. This is really exciting! It is kind of my first shot at paid design work. Should be a nice challenge and a much needed change of scenery.
Online
It’s been 5 years since I’ve been online with my own site. I used to run a site called NWequation.com, and it just seems weird that I have never had my own blog. Though if you know me, than you know my tug o’ war with social media. I take that back, NWequation was somewhat of a blog back in the primitive years of blogging.
So I’ve spent the better part of the last two months going over how I want my website to look and operate. I’ve come to the conclusion that instead of doing some simple “here is my resume, here is some portfolio stuff of my interior design work, blah blah blah”, that I would use danielmcclintick.org to be my personal story and constantly developing project. Nothing amazing is ever finished, and I love to tinker and have my hands dirty with many projects at once. So here’s to another work in progress.
The site has much more instore, samples of past work and future work will be in place soon. I have more ideas of pieces to add and how to place them into the mud of this foundation. I plan to talk about what I’ve done, what I want to do and where I want to go with my time. This should be fun.
This is such a good song by the way.
Kind of Like Spitting — Dodge Dart
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