London Caffs

London Caffs
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Just got my copy of London Caffs from Amazon - its really tiny

Drawing File

Drawing File
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Here's the drawing file - 6# drawers designed by me

Koolhaas + Balmond - winning combination

Koolhaas first analyses the brief and comes up with a strategy for organising the
programme. Then they look together at the kind of spaces they want to make and how the structure might work. Balmond uses the word “configuration” a lot — a loose term that seems to mean the patterns, lines and surfaces that define space. Only once they have a configuration of pro-gramme and space do they consider what materials might be used to build it. Each decision feeds back into the earlier decisions and the project slowly solidifies.

see link

Mies for your pooche

I know some of you architects and designers out there are always looking to spoil your pets, or better yet make sure they habitations match the other contents of your space. Take a look

Little Bay, Montserrat

Comparatively, Little Bay the new urban development in Montserrat will have allocations for only 240 residences, 2 hotels, no hospital, two schools (one being a medical school), and a few government buildings to include a parliament building, post office, etc.

watch this space for images

Clarendon new town to provide 24,880 residences

JISSunday, April 24, 2005

THE new town to be developed in Clarendon, as one of several millennium projects to complement Highway 2000, will offer the market 24,880 residences and 40 schools, according to Kingsley Thomas, managing director of the Development Bank of Jamaica.

The new town development will sprawl across 4,400 hectares of land.
In a breakdown of the housing solutions to be provided, Thomas who was giving a public lecture at the Management Institute for National Development, said that the development would include:
17,000 mixed housing solutions
3,000 townhouses
4,880 apartments
32 elementary schools and eight high schools
a hospital and a stadium.

The development is being led by the National Housing Trust.

for more see link

New Upscale Restaurants open in Kingston

Two upscale restaurants, representing combined investments of $50- million, are to be opened shortly in Kingston, one to be operated by restaurateur Mario Machado beginning early May, and the other, Kazumi Takahashi, with opening set for Friday. Designed by Architect Bob Fowler (former boss of mine) and interiors done by Katrina Marzouka, the design features high-end porcelain-finished walls, polished porcelain tiles, and copper mesh shades.

see Observer link for more

Today's Quote

“Architecture is not only an activity you do for clients,” Koolhaas said, “but an activity that generates knowledge.” - Rem Koolhaas

Church of the Nazarene

Church of the Nazarene
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

This was perhaps the most inspiring piece of architecture I saw during my recent trip to Barbados. I found it on a long walk (unintentional) east of Christ Church.

Just a little more order

The drawing file I designed for the office has arrived and what a difference it has made for the large paper management. No more unknown rolled drawings lying around the place. Will post images soon

How about a letter?

N-architects - I know, what does the "n" stand for? Look at the site to find out

Holy Trinity Cathedral

Holy Trinity Cathedral
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

I wonder how the renovations to the cathedral are going. Most of the work needed is around the dome as you can see the stripping of paint. There is also some restorative work needed on its interior where after Vactican II, ceiling murals were blanked out - representing the paring down of the Catholic Church. A tad too over zealous, as this is the priority in the preservation of this architectural icon.

This photograph was taken in 2003, and is to be featured in a book by the University of Chicago Press by Robert Nelson

more small practices - Netherlands

From the country that brings us legal drugs and open sexuality

Pascal Van Der Kelen

BULK - you can't get a better name than this

Mortuary Detail

DSCF1725
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Death never looked so good.

St. Johns Mortuary, Montserrat

DSC01425

DSC01425
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Visited the Brades Nursery, where we've just revised the paint scheme. It is really quite dramatic and uplifting. Hopefully we can get funds to extend the design to the landscaping.

Special Edition - "Within-Without"

Yesterday I recieved my special edition of "The Caribbean Architect."

This edition, as stated in the foreward, is "dedicated to the 2nd FCAA (Caribbean Federation of Architects' Associations) Congress of Caribbean Architects which was hosted by the TTIA (Trinidad and Tobago Institute of Architects) and held in Trinidad in May this year(2004)."

It offers selections of the papers written and presented by Architects, Artists, Historians & others from the Caribbean region. The highlight as presented was the main speaker Carlos Jimenez.

for copies contact sassman@caribsurf.com

Architect Wanted

We are currently advertising for two architect positions. See the link for further details.

Do you have design conscience? How about a social conscience? You might be suited to the job.

The best and worst of me

I just came from a meeting. And quite frankly I am drained. They got the best and worst of me, and I was struggling to keep back the tears. I was really quite hurt by the contractor's accusations of my apparent un-professionalism. Thank god the client's representative was there and was not only able to defend my professionalism throughout the contract but also to add that I acted beyond the call in the interest of the contractor.

Thanks Angela...

Careers Day

what a day, I'm really beginning to dislike Mondays. In lighter news i gave a talk to about 60 high school students about architecture. I didnt' paint too depressing a picture despite the suck-ass morning I had. Would be nice if someone actually decided to follow through with it...brings back memories

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN ARCHITECTURE WHEN...

1. ...the alarm clock tells you when to go to sleep.
2. ...you're not ashamed of drooling in the office anymore, especially in the Structures lecture.
3. ...you know what UHU tastes like.
4. ...you CELEBRATE space and OBSERVE your birthday.
5. ...coffee and cokes are tools, not treats.
6. ...people get nauseous just by smelling your caffeine breath.
7. ...you get surprised when you see a new building in your office complex.
8. ...you think it's possible to CREATE space.
9. ...you've slept more than 20 hours non-stop in a single weekend.
10. ...you fight with inanimate objects.
11. …you've fallen asleep in the washroom.
12. …your brother or sister thinks he or she is an only child.
13. ...you've listened to all your cds in less than 48 hours.
14. ...you're not seen in public.
15. ...you lose your house keys for a week and you don't even notice.
16. ...you've brushed your teeth and washed your hair in the office washroom.
17. ...you've discovered the benefits of having none or very short hair. You've started to appreciate inheriting baldness.
18. ...you've used an entire role of film to photograph the sidewalk.
19. ...you know the exact time the vending machines are refilled.
20. ...you always carry your deodorant.
21. ...you become excellent at recycling when making models.
22. ...when you try to communicate, you make a continuous and monotonous whine.
23. ...you've danced YMCA with excellent choreography at 3 am and without a single drop of alcohol in your body.
24. ...you take notes and messages with a rapidograph and colour markers.
25. ...you combine breakfast, lunch and dinner into one single meal.
26. ...you see holidays only as extra sleeping time.
27. ...you've got more photographs of buildings than of actual people.
28. ...you've taken your girlfriend (boyfriend) on a date to a construction site.
29. ...you've realised that French curves are not that exciting.
30. …you can live without human contact, food or daylight, but if you can't print. it's chaos.
31. when you are being shown pictures of a trip, you ask what the human scale is.
32. ...you can use Photoshop, Illustrator and make a web page, but you don't know how to use Excel.
33. ...You refer to great architects (dead or alive) by their first name, as if you knew them. (Frank, Corbu, Mies, Norman...)
34. ...you buy 50 dollar magazines that you haven't read yet.
35. ...when someone offers you a Bic pen, you feel offended.

Hip Hop & Architecture

The Architecture of Hip Hop" theorizes the development of an African-American spatial paradigm that at once recalls, creates, and deploys a new space of diasporian origin that is predicated on a response to spaces that represent an erasure of identity and, concomitantly, the presence of repressive power."

by C. L. Wilkins, MIT Press

I'm just glad they weren't talking about CRIBS

there is quite alot about it actually

Aqua-Man

I love reading Ian Martin, staff writer for the BD. A very cool character and whose writing I admire I've decided to use his particular style for this post, enjoy.

10:15am Redesign new ZJB radio station at a cliff overlooking the Caribbean Sea
10:40am Instruct surveyors to include 300m of aquatic contours
11:30am Present first ever subaquatic radio station to clients
11:32am Find out the disc jockeys can't swim
12:00pm Find a way to reclaim time spent on design
1:30pm Sign up dj's for swim classes

Dinner last night

Had dinner with some friends last night. They come and stay in Montserrat ever year around this time. They really have a sense of design, as their living room is a fine collection of MOMA prints by Warhol and Lichenstein. Always a fun time whenever I go to visit, and I'm still trying to nick the Michael Graves designed salt & pepper shakers. Asside from that the best part of the night was the kind words the hosts said about my recently completed community college in Salem

ZJB Radio Station

ZJB Image
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Project has been revived, and to be constructed on a new site. New designs will have to be considered but will reflect and retain the character of the original proposal

Rome, a city steeped in history for the arts has always been cautious of investing in contemporary architectural design. This is a city whose practice is has been to preserve rather than experiment with the many architectural styles throughout the ages. However legislative moves seem to want to reverse this trend yet still preserving the long standing culture of architecture.

I think it all started with the Rome 2000 Church by Richard Meier

for more see the nytimes

Its my birthday

Well what a shock today has been, I wont go into details but....

This morning, my staff at MCW gave me a cake in the shape of a house. I don't care much for cake but it was great! Really it was. The best part of it all was that my predecessor never got anything like that for his birthday.

They really love me...and I them. They are the best staff one could ask for.

World Design Portal

This is a design portal (fashion, architecture, art & design) in global proportions

Montserrat Community College

DSC00900
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Space between the classrooms and workshop. Accessible by wheelchair, will feature a dramatic array of tropical vegetation when complete

all-nighters, wife in nightie, no night cap

this is the story of my life - and fear most if I worked for someone else

Weekend post

its the weekend before my birthday and I must say I've been busy. Nothing to do with work (architecture) but just lyming. Dinner and drinks last night at my close friends, and then tonight a house warming at another. I may have to take it easy tomorrow just to be able to make work on Monday.

Anyhow...back to the matters at hand - architecture...and loads of it

Here are a few links worth looking at

we make money not art - a running blog on everything, architecture, design and art included funny enough. Most of this weekend's links are thanks to them

Studio HyBrid, the practice that does more installation type typologies - worth a look.

Architect David Hanawalt aka the blue prince....I dunno check the site out don't ask me

Then there's Nendo out of Japan. I don't know about you, but it seems the legacy created by Tadao Ando has just exploded recently. Japanese architects is where its at!! And I have one as a staff member - go me!!

Ok that's about it...check those out let me know if you like....don't be afraid to comment - good, bad or clueless

Competition Package Arrives

House of the Americas competition details have arrived from Martinique. The pressure is now on - not much time to finish/start designing and get it all nice for exhibition. Hmm real world - feels so good, but its come at perhaps the busiest week I've had in a while.

Eye Candy

Some eye candy to soothe the soul for the weekend

Tropical Moderne

Some Tropical Moderne buildings in Antigua, this is the State Insurance Corporation in St. Johns by Architect Martin Payne. He's been dubbed the Caribbean's Richard Meier - an unfair comparison.

bun down babylon

fyah
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

I'm officially in a stinky mood. So I've posted this lovely shot from a bon-fire late last year. Its my way of "mo'fyah"

The last hut in paradise

The last hut in paradise
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

Well its official I will be managing the construction of the 60 houses to be built by the government of Montserrat over the next 18 months. I guess I will have to extend my contract to satisfy that committment.

In honour of that I will show you what they are not going to build - pity really this has so much character and a novel use of materials too.

Propoganda nicely disguised

While I don't agree with the message, because a little swig now and then does hurt - the imagery is top notch and truly from a propoganda generating machine. This is true social science

Saint Pierre Martinique

saint pierre_mart
Originally uploaded by architechnophilia.

I loved this view of the Roman Catholic spire over the main street. This was from a trip in 2003.

Careers Day

On the 18th of April, I will be telling a load of secondary school students why they should invest 7 years studying. Presently I have no idea what to tell them because it isn't the money, the power or fame. I guess I will just have to make up something along the way.

Portfolio Pics

As promised here is another posting of some of the work I'm doing here in Montserrat.



This is one of the first projects I did on arrival. This involved a redesign of about 50% of the facility to accommodate changes made post-approval. Also became a pain in my side, a 6 month construction programme was altered to 14months to satisfy new client requests. One can't say I didn't give the people what they wanted.

from fetish to PORN

I just wanted to give a holler out to those crazy folks at Archi-Fanzine who've nicely blended architecture and pornography. From festish to porn - amazing.

The Pontiff, Pope John Paul II is with the eternal Father

My faith is strengthed yet my heart is saddened at the passing of his Most Holiness, The Holy Father Pope John Paul II. He is with the father at the final resting place, forever looking on to us, praying for our salvation and eternal peace to all. This is a most sacred moment for prayer for the Pontiff, his global congregation and those now delegated with the immense responsibility of divinely selecting our next Pope.
To keep this architectural, I would like to point attention to the church he created in Poland, his first created church as Archbishop and the first built during Communist Poland. I have been searching for details of this magnificent structure but seem to falling short. Who was the architect engaged with designinig such an enormous task? Details are needed, and will give an opportunity to those like me driven my faith to create architecture a moment of solice.

friends on blog

the one they call sticky, clare, amongst other names

Sugar Mill in Monty

Peggy Scott Sugar Mill in Lookout, Montserrat

12 days until

I love pressies! Only 12 days to go before my birthday, have you purchased my gift yet? If not take a look at my Amazon Wish List.