Easy to me…

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Eric

I meant to post this earlier, but my writing time has been limited lately. Too many hours at the computer doing the day job. Working 50 or 60 hours a week is taxing.

I don’t talk a lot about my day job here. In part this is because I want to keep this space separate from what I do for a paycheck everyday. Having separation and balance is vital to maintaining a healthy self. Blurring the lines between home and work spaces is a new thing, but not necessarily a good thing. We’re in the midst of learning how to set boundaries and use these amazing tools constantly at our literal fingertips.

The day job. I’ve worked in commercial architecture for more than two decades now (almost three if I’m being more honest). The work is creative, mentally taxing and rewarding. At the end of the day you can (if you’re close enough to the project site) go to a place, point at it and say, “I was part of that”. I am part of a team that solves complex three dimensional puzzles and draws out the answers on a daily basis. I have logged thousands of hours at this.

As part of my work I browse a number of articles, news stories, and magazines related to my field. I have seen a number of variations on science fiction-esqe buildings and cities and beyond in recent years. Not that these visions didn’t exist before, it’s just easier than ever to create something vivid and eye catching then share it around the world in an instant. This trend has been ramping up recently with the expanded use of artificial intelligence based tools. Type some words, feed the machine some images and get all sorts of pretty, pretty pictures. This is wonderful for making splashy ideas. AI does not mean easy.

In all the years I’ve worked in the commercial field – and that’s an important distinction here – I’ve never seen any structure succeed without the efforts of a team. Small shops, residential work, local additions are easier for the solo practitioner. At a certain point the scale and scope of required work gets far beyond what one person can handle. There is simply too much to detail. This is the ultimate group project.

Taking on a project with the number of things tied into a whole city is no small undertaking. It is in fact, the opposite. It’s massive and daunting. Multiple buildings and all the things associated with getting a structure built is the work of a huge number of people. Getting locations, districts, connections, utility functions and all the things we don’t routinely think about in well established places ready and mapped out is huge. Having a pretty, pretty picture of your dream is great. You need more than a dream, you need a clear vision coupled with a significant amount of studying urban dynamics, infrastructure and a host of other things.

I applaud people who really do have that clear vision. True visionaries are rare. Many times that vision fails to survive the process of being made real. What we do is great in pictures, but it is certainly not easy. I don’t know who Akon is, but he’s not the only one who’s had an idea and it hasn’t gone anywhere. What the people in my field do is important to the health, safety and welfare of the people who live, work and play in and around our works. Some of the best of these works are amazing and unforgettable structures that can move you emotionally with their beauty.

It’s more than a pretty picture. The picture, the idea is the starting point. That’s when the real work starts – and it is as creative, artistic, businesslike, and challenging as anything else.

I hope the ideas and the grand visions continue. We need that in our world. We also need to do the work to make it real. Check out the article here.

Going Solar

Posted on July 17, 2022 by Eric

I don’t spend a lot of time here talking about day to day stuff in my life. There’s been a trend over the past few years to do exactly that – share every waking moment. I don’t believe I’m that interesting. I don’t believe there is anyone that interesting. Sometimes day to day stuff just needs to be unexceptional and plain. It gives both context and contrast to the things that are special or that hold more significance.

My family has had some special moments lately and has a couple of those coming up. The public doesn’t get everything. Some things are just for us.

What is not just for us is finally being in a position to try to do more to help others in our day to day lives here at Chez Hardenbrook. We’re getting solar power added to the house.

Adding solar power should be something easy, affordable and common but it sadly is not. Affordable alternative power is slow in coming to the residential market here in the US. We’ve looked at it for years now and simply haven’t had the money or been in a position where we could afford to add the equipment needed to our house. We have finally gotten there, and we signed the deal this past Friday.

Is it immediate? Of course not. During the height of the sunniest time of year for us here in the middle of Pennsylvania all we can do is sign up and wait. There’s a process to getting all this work lined up, the parts ordered, and of course the regulatory things squared away (building permit, utility permission, etc.). What does that mean? It means we’re going solar… eventually. IF everything works out, we should get a series of panels added to our roof sometime in early October this year. Just in time for the weather to turn grey, the days to get shorter and the actual amount of power we created to drop right off.

In the end, this isn’t about immediate returns. This is about making long term choices for the betterment of everyone. Over the course of the next year we should generate enough power that we don’t actually have to draw from the power grid. The next step along the way is getting a power generator or battery source set up so that when / if the power grid goes out we can continue to use that electricity we’re making.

Small steps, but consistent ones. Plan for the future in small steps and make it happen. Do what you can to help. Hopefully this step is a good one.

Failure – sort of

Posted on July 9, 2022 by Eric

As a writer one comes to understand that the words laid out may, or may not, find a home. Sometimes the moment of inspiration that hits amuses or delights you but fails to connect with anyone else. It happens. Keep writing, keep putting words together and hoping to not just turn them into salad.

Some time ago I saw a call for submissions to a ‘course catalog’ for a horror based university. As stated above, it amused me and I had sudden inspiration. My submission was rejected (without any real notice) and that’s just fine.

I was bumping around that aforementioned debris pile that is my notes on writing and found that submission. It’s never going to be publishable anywhere else – so I’ll drop it out for you here. Hopefully you’ll find them amusing too.

From the course catalog:

Established in 1613 by academic and occult pioneer, as well as failed vintner, Fenrick Oglebutt, through trans-chronological fallacies and a lust for knowledge, Nafallen University has become one of the foremost centers of learning on all matters from the mundane to the mythic.
Located in beautifully desiccated Crisp, Texas, Nafallen University is dedicated to bringing its students the best in education, career opportunities, and fulfilling student lives from any university in current existence.
Nafallen University offers a hands-on and practical approach to education, with in-person, virtual, and astral courses offered at all levels of degree tracks.
Within this tome, enterprising students who wish to expand their minds and power will find courses offered for the current semester. Course descriptions are provided by the professors themselves, ensuring an honest appraisal of the material.

Here are the courses I submitted. I think they would have been a fine addition.

School of Architecture

ARC 212 – MASONRY II

PREREQUISITE: Poe; Amontillado

Gain additional skills and practical knowledge of masonry wall systems. Active interpretations of heat applied flashing, mortar selection and weep vent installation. Gain knowledge of residential construction inspection timing, effects of climate on drying time and STC (sound transmission classification).

Purchase of additional materials may be required.

ARC 135 – ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND GRAPHICS

Explore the fundamental issues of spaces, perception of spaces, scale and habitation. Emphasis is placed on ordering principles, pattern recognition and figure ground relationships. Build on graphical representation with an emphasis on observational symbology, aesthetic color choices and drawing presentation.

STR 301 – ADVANCED STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS: ALLOWABLE STRESS DESIGN

Prerequisite: Euclidean Geometry, Plasticity

Combine classical thermodynamics with plasticity and high yield functions. Allow the numbers to flow and discover numerical dissipation and pliability factors. Blocking, buckling, transient and steady state response combined with temperature creep. Emphasis on temporal stability and consistency. Galerkin meshfree imposition of boundaries and domain limits explored. Calculate how much your structure may flex under varied circumstances.

Off Course

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Eric

I’ve been getting a number of rejections on my written work lately – and that’s to be expected as part of the publishing industry. Any number of those things I mark on a list and work out where else they can be submitted.

Sometimes there just isn’t a good fit. The thing I created is tailor made for one specific time or place and just won’t become something else. An open call for creators to make course catalog entries was one such instance.

Imagine a university opening to become another or alternate version of the infamous Miskatonic University located someplace other than Arkham. What would the course selection look like for a place like that? This was the assignment. Here are the entries I submitted for “Advanced Cthulhu Studies” at this university:

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

ARC 135: ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND GRAPHICS

Explore the fundamental issues of spaces, perception of spaces, scale and habitation. Emphasis is placed on ordering principles, pattern recognition and figure ground relationships. Build on graphical representation with an emphasis on observational symbology, aesthetic color choices and drawing presentation.

ARC 212: MASONRY II

PREREQUISITE: Poe; Amontillado

Gain additional skills and practical knowledge of masonry wall systems. Active interpretations of heat applied flashing, mortar selection and weep vent installation. Gain knowledge of residential construction inspection timing, effects of climate on drying time and STC (sound transmission classification).

Purchase of additional materials (casks) may be required.

STR 301: ADVANCED STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS: ALLOWABLE STRESS DESIGN

Prerequisite: Euclidean Geometry, Plasticity

Combine classical thermodynamics with plasticity and high yield functions. Allow the numbers to flow and discover numerical dissipation and pliability factors. Blocking, buckling, transient and steady state response combined with thermal creep. Emphasis on temporal stability and consistency. Galerkin meshfree imposition of boundaries and domain limits explored. Calculate how much your structure may flex under varied circumstances.

What sort of courses would you create? Who would you expect to see in class?

Crossover

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Eric

My writing time has been squeezed a lot lately, but I found myself with a little crossover time today. Part of the construction specifier chapter I am involved with is presentations and learning sessions about what’s coming in the construction industry. This evening we were listening to a talk about the future infrastructure needs based on urban air mobility.

Yes, people are still talking about flying cars. Uber has actually had a full design contest involving a scenario involving take off and landing areas for flying vehicles that “everyday” people would have access to (something like 600 people per hour through the ‘vertiport’).

The presentation was from one of the top three firms in that design competition.

I listened, but I’m not buying. I understand the efficiency and practicality of what they’re saying. I do. I love the concept and I really wish this was something we could make work. My personal experience with vehicles that fly in that manner make me believe this will not work.

First – I’ve seen the way people in the U.S. treat public transport. How many people do you know that actually take the bus? Do the bus routes go where you need them to go? Are you willing to wait on that schedule if you have a list of things to get done today? We need to do more in the public transportation arena, but I just don’t see this working the way they envision. So I don’t see it as “public” transport. Could it work like a taxi? Maybe. Uber has crashed into the taxi market and made some significant changes there. IF a “Sky-Uber” was available, some people would take it. This is fantastic for business movements locally, but my first thought was what about the drunks? That won’t end well… unless you’re into riding the vomit comet.

Second – you’re depending on pilots at first. There’s a plan / thought / idea to have automated pilots, but the automated systems are a long way off. We’ve seen that with the self driving car. The self driving cars have loads of problems based on what actually happens in an urban environment. Now take all those issues and multiply them based on the simple fact that they fly. We’ve always had a ‘hub and spoke’ kind of plan with our transport systems – but does having a person going around this wheel and not to the hub really work? A massive cluster of people is still a massive cluster of people. There’s no way to get around that. People don’t move quickly when they’re staggering out of the stadium after the big game (for example).

Third – you’re talking about taking away the individual vehicle use to a certain degree. This may be the part where I’m old, but part of what makes a trip lasting in your memory is the actual journey. The actual ride. YOU are in control of where you go and when you stop. With UAM (urban air mobility) you also have to share a ride. Yes, there are times when you don’t want to spend part of your vacation time sitting stuck on the highway. I’ve been in that situation. It sucks. The highway was at a dead stop for hours. We snuck off an exit and went to a local mall to spend time outside of the car. We would never have had that little ‘side quest’ if we’d just flown around the issue. Sure, it would have meant we got to where we were headed faster, but that mall is now on our radar when we travel and it never would have been if not for our willingness to go someplace else just to get around.

Lastly – these vehicles do not account for people that don’t fit the ‘accepted average’. I’ve gone into flight places and dealt with people flying helicopters. I was charged almost 30% additional ‘fee’ based on the fact that carrying somebody my size simply uses more fuel (and therefore decreases the flight distance) or as much as being asked to purchase 2 seats. I’m not a fan. Ground transport actually eliminates a number of these factors, or perhaps simply accounts for them. I can use any number of these vehicles to go from place to place. A flying Uber does not fill me with the belief that it will work for me.

Is this something that’s coming in the future?

Probably. There is definitely a movement to get away from individual owned vehicles. There are definitely members of certain demographics that are completely willing to use something like this. We’re going to need to plan for this, but I don’t see it happening as quickly as they claim. They’re looking for 2028 as a start point (complete with FAA test sites). I suspect that the current pandemic and the massive move to conducting most business via an online presence will dent that significantly. I have very little need to actually drive anywhere right now, and depending on where a function is and what virtual options are available, I might still not go in person. Kind of depends on what the event is. It’s going to be a tough sell.

Uber does have some fascinating stuff out there that’s worth paying attention to. I would suggest checking them out and dare I say it? Watch the Skies!

No Joy

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Eric

My daily work is in the architecture field. I’ve worked in this field for twenty years now and studied it for even longer than that. There have been things that have always bothered me about the field of architecture. The two biggest of those things were the lack of communication with the general public about the work of our field and the massive wall of elitism that is so off-putting.

First the attitude. The amount of pure snobbery I have received from architects over the years is staggering. It is so commonly noted that it has become something akin to a meme ~ wearing a black turtle neck and small round glasses or a tweed jacket and a bow tie kind of pervasive. It grates my nerves to deal with people who look down on the rest of the moving parts of their field. The most rare architects I have gotten along well with are those who came up via an old school apprenticeship rather than by way of some ivory tower… and I went to one of those design schools. I don’t understand the attitude. My lack of understanding has likely cost me opportunities over the years because I don’t deal well with those people. I don’t have time for them. If you’ve got a scoffing ivory tower attitude, you can walk because I’m not interested.

Communicating with the public poorly seems to be rooted in this elitism. I have conversations with friends about architecture from time to time about names working in the field past and present who are doing or have done amazing things. These architects have recognizable names within the field but rarely are they known beyond the field (even when they achieve “starchitect” status). Every time I ask people who they know as an architect they invariably answer Frank Lloyd Wright. As if he’s the only architect ever. This has caused me to push back quite a lot against fans of Mr. Wright. I have often proclaimed he was a short egomaniac that made buildings with leaky roofs. This has gotten me in trouble with supporters who were my superiors in the past, but I stood by my stance – there is more to architecture than Falling Water.

That argument is entirely about pushing back and advocating for the study of others. It’s exaggerated to make a point. In my career in the architecture field I have come to learn that there are many reasons to admire what it is that Mr. Wright accomplished. Among the things he accomplished was starting a school of architecture that concentrated on how buildings related to their environment. It’s well known and a very big deal in the architecture world.

Thus the title of this post. It does not bring me joy to see part of the legacy of an immensely famous architect fail. The 88 year old school is shutting down.

For all that I complain and exaggerate my grievances with buildings I can’t stand up straight in (6 foot ceilings do me no favors) the field of architecture is not a zero sum game. There is room for a world spanning variety of opinions and scholarly studies. It is disappointing to hear that the school at Taliesin is closing. I hope that others will continue to carry forward those studies and work toward making our built world mesh more favorably with our natural environment.

Article here: The School of Architecture at Taliesin Closing After 88 Years