The Newamsterdam Project

Fresh in from NPR : In the city of Boston the New Amsterdam Project is more than just personal transportation, these bikes take the idea od bike-messenger to next level : the bike-trucker.

But you don't have to take my word for it:



Also from NPR, an article on the Crimanimlz, an LA base bike activist group getting down on the downtown freeway.

In.Ex.Arc's Summer Vacation

This blog will be undergoing some work over the course of the summer - and some vacation time.

It started out as a means of conference lecture materials and then communicating with students, but the hopes are to turn it into a blog with a cause, or at least the cause it set out to begin with - architectural experimentation - of its own.

For the past months my interests been of watching, hopefully, guiding six students experiementations with thier own ideas and ideals and as such my energies were with them. Now that they have completed that process, it is time for a new direction on this page.

Now it's summer, time to get out from behind keyboard.

The link lists will certainly grow longer, but since the writing has been poor, and there are more saved 'drafts' then 'posts' I'm putting In.Ex.Arc. on a limited abscence for the summer, short posts, links, with less likelyhood of major posting.

"Would you like to supersize your building with fries?"

The Philadelphia Business Journal reports (with way too much information on the financing and only a little on the design) of the newly proposed big-honkin' skyskraper the American Commerce Center to add to the concentration of big-honkin' proposed skyskrapers for Philly, whose bretheren built and unbuilt include:

The Richard Meyer Residences on the Schuykil (name will be posted later)
The Murano
Cira Center #2
The Comcast "I'm bigger and more honkin' than all of you" Center

Philadelphia continues to grow in multiple directions, upwards, outwards, and inwards (and by that I mean density in Center City.

http://changingskyline.blogspot.com/2008/03/skyscraper-height-no-object.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080530_Comcast_Center__Phila_s_tallest_building__is_clean-lined_and_dignified.html?adString=ph.news/news_update;!category=news_update;&randomOrd=053108020933

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Philadelphia

And with this and the preceding post I now am aware that I have become and endentured architecture blogger hitting on all major themes - historical latin reference, linguistic word play, and now facination with tall structures - to ice the cake i'll submit this link: to the Dubai-really-tall-elevator-in-a-tall-iconic-tourist-promoting-structure-competition http://www.thyssenkrupp-elevator-architecture.com/concurso.aspx

more to later...

Architecture & Baseball

A tale of destruction, prank, jinx, hijinx, hijacking and the power of built space to speak to millions....and maybe..just maybe curse them? c/o NYTimes

Bikers are transport too

links for biking, bike-harrassment by drivers, and modes of action:

http://www.bv.com.au/change-the-world/10199/

http://www.astoriabike.com/2008/03/design-this.html

http://torontoist.com/2006/01/when_motorists.php

http://www.citynoise.org/article/2770

http://bicycleaustin.info/justice/harassment.html

http://www.bicyclenewswire.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.showrelease&cid=108&id=683

http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/uastripes/uastripes.htm

http://beatbikeblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

Hold on for the ride.

Here we are, the last fits and fights of the end of the semester. I am nervous worried, excited and filled with anticipation to see what will be created at the end of this long run.

It has been a hard fought year, much has been placed on the table to chew on to think about. And now the at last mile of the marathon - the question remains - can we, can you, make the great leap into (your name here)SPACE - make your statement to/of/about architecture.

"This is what I believe and I stand here by my work, this is the built, the place, the space, the ideas, the ideals, the pathos, the mentos of my design all in one single-serving-slice of juriable work - whutduyathink?"

All the projects, every last one has come a long distance, and now stands poised to really become something interesting, intricate, and meaningful. The jury comments, the other advisers, and my own thoughts are on how will you best utilize the time you have to not just survive, but thrive in this last month. Pushing your project to be all those things that you said you wanted it to be when you first started painting the big picture way back when you were but a green-horn thesis student in October.

You are the measure.

Those goals you set down in the fall are still valid, and worthwhile, they were laid out in a haze of unknowns, which are now....knowns. Now it's just up to you to give those goals solidity, tenacity, rigidity, structure, space, place, and most of all spirit.


But beware, May 12th and 13th will come to soon.

80's music n' Poltics

If nothing else I like the creativity. I'll hold comment at that for now.