cool website

http://www.maplight.org

very interesting website

The Wall Resurrected

It may have been beaten and damaged but it really glows in the late summer twilight.

Culturally Diverse Soldiers Wage Violence Towards Unsuspecting Cannibalistic Retarded Community

Just recently I was given the pleasure of experiencing a wonderful film by the name of "The Hills Have Eyes 2".  The plot of the film follows a top secret government mission to probe the hills with all kinds of fantastical army gear, however, this technology does hold up and the first crew of army folk are murdered in an all but a glorifying manner.  Soon, a group of young soldiers arrive to train in the mountains (with paintball guns, but somehow turn into real guns...i guess).  These youngsters soon find themselves in a world of shit and all sorts of horribly terrifically awesomely gruesome...stuff happens to them, like rape, sharpened staffs through the heart, rape, cleavers to the brain, rape, getting thrown off of a cliff, and rape.  I guess there was lots of rape.  Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that this film was excellent, that is if you have a certain affinity for shit like this, as I do.

Scoot

Ike vs. The Wall

Looks like something happened to The Wall this weekend. It is leaning considerably, has lost one sheet of drywall, and has massive dents and holes in one side. Sarah and I believe this was caused by a combination of human and natural forces. Some of the dents appear like they were created with a baseball bat maybe, but some of the holes may be related to water damage. The fallen drywall panel is somewhat of a mystery, though.

If you have any theories, shoot them my way.

You may feel saddened at the sight of this, but I am quite excited. Finally, something has happened! I hope our landlord doesn't force us to remove it now that it's busted up. We'll see what happens now as Tropical Storm Ike blasts through the midwest.

Wall

Frank, Sarah, and I built a wall in an unoccupied yard near my apartment this past weekend.


It stands 8' tall and 4' wide and is roughly 1' thick. Recycled 2x4's form the structural framework, while PVC pipes compose the internal gutter system. Insulation bulges from its internal voids on the sides. Drywall and wallpaper were then added to finalize the wall section. Our hope is that throughout the summer, nature will "have its way" with our creation and offer us a way to document decay of some sort.



I'll try to update this regularly or whenever decay "sores" appear on the surface.

404 Kitchen Update

Considering that it has been nearly a month since the last post, I have added here a photo of the current state of the 404 project - the kitchen specifically. We have just finished putting up the cabinets and doors of the back wall. Still missing the coffee maker and fridge. Cabinet in the foreground is the first element of the island to be installed.

It has been a new experience for us to work with such small scale measurements and precision. Throughout the process thus far, we have moved from large scale demolition and rebuilding, to medium scaled interior work, to small scale furniture crafts.

R+S

del.icio.us

As long as we are talking about networking, perhaps you have heard about del.icio.us? As you surf the interweb you can bookmark places and things and save it on your delicious for later retrieval. I use it. And you can subscribe to other peoples networks, which is sweet. Way too much information is all of a sudden at your fingertips.


Meanwhile, I just found this sweet bunch of papers from the Camp for Oppositional Architecture. Papers
This review of the conference gives a grounding perspective. Here. I enjoy his writings quite a bit.

io9

Came across this new site today - mostly sci-fi and technology stuff. Postings are short and in large quantity. The link is now on the right side of the screen.

Dark Knight

I found this mashup of old Batman clips and audio from the new Batman trailer. It's pretty amusing, especially the part when Batman is being pulled by a helicopter up from the water with a shark attached to his leg.

Dark Knight Trailer

new years

am sure many of you guys have seen this.
but oh well.
Scotch Mist
happy new years to all of you.

404 W Delaware UPDATE

The blog for our job, 404 W Delaware, has just been updated.  Our past 5 weeks of work are now online under "Weekend Update".  Again, just click on the link to the right.

Ryan + Sarah

I've got too much time.

AAAARG.ORG

Just found this site with a lot of theory articles and intelligent discussion on architecture/art/media themes. Really dense but interesting morsels of wisdom in here. Could take a semester to read and try to understand all this. I can't believe they are paying me to be reading this stuff.

Hyponeophagia

Greetings from the middle east, Maryland that is...

I'm not particularly fond of blogs because I always thought they were an outlet for someone you thought you knew until you read their blog and found out that they hate you, all of your friends, and what you stand for. But this blog is certainly different in that "we" (referring to those I recognize on this blog) are able to keep in touch.

The title of this entry refers to moving to an unfamilar place, living by yourself, and having no friends nearby...I know pity party but listen up! Does this sound familar Frank? Hyponeophagia is when an animal doesn't eat after they've been introduced to an unfamiliar environment ("hypno" = below normal, "neo" = novel, "phagia" = eating). This would be like moving from your home town to some place like Singapore and with no support network. In fact, hyponeophagia is one of many trademark behaviors that rats display when they are very anxious and in fact many drug companies use it to study new antidepressant therapies.

So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, with many of us having graduated from college, we have moved to different parts of the country, even the world. We have been removed from our social and familial surroundings, what has made us feel so comfortable on lonely nights. Certainly living with friends in college is different than living by yourself in a one bedroom apartment half-way across the country/world.

So four questions:

1) where is everyone living?
2) who do you live with?
3) what do you do?
4) do you eat less because you are anxious?

I'll start:

1) I live in Bethesda, Maryland (10 miles North of Washington D.C.)
2) I live by myself
3) I have a research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health and I play semi-professional soccer
4) I used to eat less but now I drink protein shakes...so really I eat the same amount of calories but drink a lot more

Hi guys this is Ed. This is my first time on this "blog". I must have been invited a while ago, because when i went on it it already had my info and everything. But i really thought this was just another one of those internet gigs (and essentially it is) so i didn't bother, but its actually kinda cool, so i guess this is my "test bog".

I was in architecture with ryan and versailles and that whole spiel. I read through the entire blog and i do recognize some familiar names, not all of them though. I hope everyone is doing well. I am in New York, slaving away. Though I do enjoy my work quite a bit.

As for your Theater Ryan, I cant say too much based on that one picture, so i guess i'll wait 'till some more of your stuff gets posted on here as your project moves along. One thing i will say though, i dont know if you've done stuff with podium or not, but its actually incredicblely powerful. Done right, some renderings look like they're out of 3ds max. its nice. For people who dont want to be spending a million yrs figureing out complex 3-d programs, its a decent alternative. that's a quick example for those dont believe.



I'll spent some more time in the future contributing to the blog.

Gordon Matta-Clark Videos

Via Ubu Web

Theatre L'Aerien

Some of you are already quite familiar with the Theater project from France. I have been revisiting it lately, trying to improve and revise it's design. I figured I'd post and share it if you have any thoughts.

Morphosis-ified

For those of you who are in the greater Chicagoland area, Thom Mayne is speaking at UIC tomorrow (wednesday the 7th) at 6 pm. Promises to be something.


http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/calendar/current/current.htm

Check this out for all Chicago atchitectural-related events.

critical spatial practice

roundtable

in my searches for ways architecture can be practiced and used differently I've come upon all this "critical spatial practice" work being done. I'm not entirely sure what it all means, it seems like they are doing a lot of intellectual masturbation, but its interesting none the less. There is lots of stuff out there regarding this interdisciplinary mindset regarding architecture, this is just one instance.

Radiohead

The new album is awesome. Except I still didn't pay anything for it. I guess that is how much music is worth to me. Do you think Jonny Greenwood will read this?

IN RAIN_BOWS/

For anyone who is a fan of Radiohead, their new album has just been posted digitally on their website. If you click on the link below and follow the directions, you can download it in .mp3 format for free (or as much money as you want to spend...) You can't beat one of the best bands posting an album for free - legally. Check it out.

http://www.inrainbows.com/

Hi, Ryan. Thanks for inviting me to your blog. Sorry I took so long to join. I share in your concern (maybe anxiety?) about the weather. I'm living with my aunt in this unnecessarily wealthy area right now. Whenever I drive at night I pass these monstrosities of houses that have almost every light on, probably with many vacant rooms. It is ridiculous.

Weird Weather

This temperature map seems a bit abnormal to me. Does anyone else feel like it should not be 86 in Illinois and 29 in Nevada in October?

404 W. Delaware Blog

As most of you know, Ryan, Mike and I have been working with Professor Vidar Lerum in Urbana doing some renovation and design work on his house. He just posted a new blog with various projects including the one we are working on. I have added a link for the blog on the right under Sites To See. For those who aren't very familiar with the project, check out the link and click on Weekend Update at the top to read about past and current activities.

Lebbeus Woods Interview

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/without-walls-interview-with-lebbeus.html

Here is a fellow U of I alum and some of his thoughts on architecture. Truly out there and inspiring work.

Mile High Weekend

Spent the weekend in Denver with Sarah and Scott and managed to pay a quick visit to the new Denver Art Museum addition (Daniel Libeskind). Spectacular first sight of it with its prominent point and supporting peaks below, but it was hard to grasp the scale of it within its context because you couldn't view it well from many angles.

It seems like the building is still under construction, which offered a unique opportunity to see how something like this is actually built. It looked like the roofers were finishing some flashing on this one particular roof face.


However, some of the surrounding buildings have started to adopt the "Libeskind Language", which I found to be quite interesting. We avoided an interior visit due to the steep $8 entrance fee and lack of time. I must say, after spending so much time studying, sketching, and photographing buildings onsite in Europe, it was very nice to do it again after a long break.