tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236757222011-09-19T23:27:04.721-04:00Very, very short essays on architecture and furniture - and sometimes Philadelphia - posted every couple of weeks. -MarkMark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.comBlogger731100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-64341168880750998762011-07-01T17:57:00.000-04:002011-07-01T17:58:01.388-04:00

PITCHES in ceiling make all the difference.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1029029312725061292011-06-20T18:11:00.001-04:002011-06-20T18:11:27.437-04:00

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-46970790811458413172011-06-20T18:07:00.001-04:002011-06-20T18:07:43.130-04:00

It's going to be hard for Philadelphia to turn the Schuylkill river into a place to enjoy. The trains and I-76 make hard fences to jump. At one time the river for us was just another freeway of sorts; more like the freeway and rail lines we curse than like the park we'd like it to be now. San Francisco has an amazing connection to the Bay but that is only because of two disasters. One is the

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-6594273987426664372011-05-21T14:40:00.001-04:002011-05-21T14:40:57.468-04:00

Uniformity and tediousness. This isn't whining. It's a fact. There's no joy in looking out their window for anyone with an office on this side of 1500 Market Street in Philadelphia. It is the people with the offices on the other side of this floor, who face the funky mess of City Hall, who feel like the have something to look at.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-45930730572555031762011-04-30T18:52:00.001-04:002011-04-30T18:52:25.145-04:00

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-82855844614049101732011-04-21T14:03:00.001-04:002011-04-21T14:03:22.422-04:00

Lovely.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-89946351876194903292011-04-19T11:56:00.001-04:002011-04-19T11:56:57.859-04:00

Oh so nice. SEPTA'S poor beat up Wayne Junction Station must have been something else at one time....

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-292757811872878572011-04-12T17:48:00.001-04:002011-04-12T17:48:30.022-04:00

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-81807868923981915362011-04-07T17:51:00.001-04:002011-04-07T17:51:20.577-04:00

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-82786957667687429692011-03-21T15:13:00.000-04:002011-03-21T15:14:03.539-04:00

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-16233011802621625682011-02-16T15:08:00.000-05:002011-02-16T15:09:04.694-05:00

Over and over, the accidental prototyping of color on buildings by vapor barriers that have yet to be sheathed prove to me that their blues and yellows are far more human to me than the taupes, greys and sands that cover them in the end.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-65314070038462561492011-02-16T15:03:00.001-05:002011-02-16T15:03:43.280-05:00

...it's hard to know how to engage a sheet of glass.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-60401510559857269952010-11-28T14:34:00.003-05:002010-11-28T14:48:45.728-05:00

This space in Ourense, Galicia, Spain is perfectly intriguing. This image is by Robin Mooty and is at her blog.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-66739477048242884632010-11-14T20:36:00.000-05:002010-11-14T20:37:00.298-05:00

The groovy Furness pedestrian bridge at the Allen Lane SEPTA station in Philadelphia is being really nicely rebuilt.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-61198414682577854472010-11-14T16:24:00.001-05:002010-11-14T16:24:14.266-05:00

East Mt Airy, Philadelphia PA.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-46450888192251564732010-11-05T12:36:00.002-04:002010-11-28T15:06:51.534-05:00

Glass and white steel frame entry. I am always surprised by the modern details at the Plymouth Meeting Mall. How'd they get there? They seem sort of alone in their elegance. It would be great if they presaged some bitchin' modern experience like a super lux modern restaurant at the top of Macy's. As it is now, the best modern design experience is Whole Foods in the lot below. And that seems

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-90649636506825236272010-08-13T14:05:00.000-04:002010-08-13T14:05:14.069-04:00

He taught me about using personas when I design and gave me an understanding of how architecture flows around people's experiences. And that it can do so in a way that provides the opportunity for greater meaning. He also taught me about listening to users. He was UX before the web was UX. Cheers.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-6059188317748417172010-04-28T09:35:00.001-04:002010-04-28T09:40:38.628-04:00

"A Singapore Junk at Sea".100 Years of Illustration : Aylward, William J. 1875-1956Man, love this image

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-77591909833956284052010-03-23T11:40:00.004-04:002010-11-11T10:43:16.169-05:00

It's good to see that Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) one of Philadelphia's largest architecture and planning firms, has relaunched their website This new site moves much more smoothly than the previous site! Also the design is more appealing - lighter and crisper - and it's also easier to navigate. The previous site was dreary and hard to move around in. I can also imagine that this new site is

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-45844100695392215812010-03-21T11:19:00.003-04:002010-08-13T13:51:07.524-04:00

Character may be the antidote to the frustrating inability of current architecture theory to deliver buildings that are fulfilling. Along with teaching theory, maybe we need to help architect students be better people - to have good character. In the film "Goodbye, Mr. Chips", Mr. Chips says that it is enough to teach students to have humor and a sense of proportion. I think that is

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-42361913361744118512009-12-27T22:20:00.006-05:002010-03-21T10:45:52.704-04:00

The pursuit of an architecture that pleases people, gives them mystery, fulfills their sense for beauty has gone underground. While the schools worry over theories, the job of developing architecture has changed hands.Deep, deep and far from the surveillance of academia it has passed into...... the hands of those who create worlds for cinema and gaming.LOL. Holy moley. I think it's true. Do not

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-381321492971716012009-11-16T10:06:00.001-05:002009-11-16T10:06:57.047-05:00

Architecture of the human experience

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-11664776964758320152009-10-26T09:03:00.002-04:002010-03-21T11:03:46.130-04:00

The Floating House Of Brad Pitt by Morphosis seems to be outside of the context that made this kind of design meaningful - the 1980s.The angularity, and prickily-ness of this house's aesthetic made sense in the 80s when we were challenging both Modernism's bleak regularity and Post-Modernism's detached ironic position to the whole profession. But now that the urgency to address these two trends

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-26664076999761043142009-10-24T21:59:00.008-04:002010-03-21T11:30:31.465-04:00

Stern's book also show a way to see one's talent. As Stern writes, it becomes clear that he is aware that he has world class talent; exceptional talent. I think most people either shy away from acknowledging this talent, if they have it; or go too far the other way and use their talent as a force to clear others out of their way.Stern seems to have found the balance."The cantor of the temple was

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-40662382381248229922009-10-24T21:46:00.004-04:002010-03-21T11:31:19.116-04:00

How do you view your talent? What is the proper angle? I like this quote I just read in Issac Stern's "My First 79 Years". Stern is speaking,"I have another photograph of Mr. Pollack [one of Stern's first teachers], this one of him alone, dated 1930, on which these words appear over his signature: 'to my beloved pupil Isaac Stern - May he watch every day over the treasure nature has given him.' "

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-83379063598673415662009-09-14T21:30:00.004-04:002010-03-21T11:06:28.645-04:00

A quick and incomplete list:Organizational ClarityImprintability - provisions for the user to imprint themselves on the buildingCompleteness and continuous opportunityPlace - responses to place, connections with place, embodiment of place, clarification and expression of place my place - the place. Having a wholeness of its ownUtility - functionality and enablementConnection to the place

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-87368719583867110862009-07-05T21:52:00.013-04:002010-03-21T11:32:00.736-04:00

Anchored at the far South West Corner of the King of Prussia Mall, Crate & Barrel's KOP location could be the nicest piece of modern architecture in Philadelphia.It is easy to not consider a Crate & Barrel store as fine architecture. Especially this one since it floats amongst the cars of a [hiss] Mall [further hissing], but its form is abstract and dynamic while at the same time having a human

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-5919887564368130102009-06-27T09:28:00.009-04:002010-03-21T11:34:00.035-04:00

We need to move from the meaning of a thing being in the signs on its surface to our experience of it...From literary theory to experience.From print to interactive.From ideas flowing across the face of a building to the experience within it.From semiotics to the meaning in an experience.So now I get to the title of this post. When I was 24 I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the meaning we get

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-67620866601511494862009-06-27T09:20:00.004-04:002009-06-27T09:48:28.314-04:00

I deleted all of my posts so far in 2009. I had not taken the time to articulate my ideas clearly in those posts. This blog (the whole idea of blogs to be honest) keeps saying, "Hey! Go ahead and post your thoughts whatever they may be! It's the web! It's two point oh!!! It's OK that they are only half baked!"But it's not. A blog is an essay. Just as homeowners who find a designer on Craigslist

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-88165491782632808252008-12-06T22:28:00.003-05:002008-12-06T22:44:19.885-05:00

I lucked into some very nice modern furniture in Philadelphia today at the 2nd Annual Mount Airy furniture show. Held for only 3 days at the Sedgwick Theater (a surreal space) the show held work by several Philadelphia furniture designers working in a variety of styles. After meeting with the affable Charles Todd at the door who gave me an overview of the show, I made the rounds. Wren and

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-15156076504318719342008-11-20T18:02:00.005-05:002008-11-20T18:20:41.309-05:00

A Basic Need: People need to see something in its entirety. The need to see its extents and what fills those boundaries in one motion.In Architecture: People be able to take in the entirety of a facade at one time.For example: with a large building on a narrow street it may be kind to break the building into multiple facades so that it can be taken in in steps."A large building in a narrow street

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-5483397571686101512008-08-04T07:51:00.003-04:002008-08-04T07:54:34.344-04:00

It is not enough to make architecture that is about ideas.There are not enough ideas about architecture.---We are stuck. The status quo is choking us: architecture as literature.No water is getting to the roots.-----

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-71050649570376638162008-06-27T22:44:00.009-04:002008-06-27T23:06:20.352-04:00

It is so easy to miss many of the amazing little International Style facades in Philadelphia. One of my favorite facades is at 1318 Chestnut Street (now occupied by Mitchell & Ness Nostalgia Co.)At first glance... well this one is easy to miss.But there are subtleties to it.The curved porous marble belongs so very much to 1950's modern architecture but also lives on its own as a nice subtle

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-86282579941275607132008-04-29T10:45:00.011-04:002008-05-05T14:55:57.691-04:00

[SPOILER ALERT: Herein below I speak of a moment in the last episode of HBO's "John Adams". ]I have struggled with some of the reviews I have read about HBO's “John Adams”. Both the NYT and the New Yorker reviews seem to miss the quality of the thing. They hang their reviews of the series on its bits and pieces. I thought both Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney were brilliant when seen across the

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-88739708685740323152008-03-21T14:37:00.001-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.778-04:00

I am always looking for precedents.Modernist architecture precedent and ideas are presenting very well at the Arts and Architecture Magazine website. This is the magazine that sponsored the Los Angeles Case Study houses and published California's post war modernist architects.This site selects a huge amount of content from this magazine and presents it via pdf. It's a great place to while away

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-56680270362466433022008-03-14T00:21:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.778-04:00

PreDesign Coffee Rankings – My Top 4...or the Top 4 coffees to drink in the morning when it is still dark and cold and you need to get going in style.Major Dickason’s Blend – Peet’s Truly great stuff. If you aren't in the Bay Area, you can often find it at Whole Foods.Sumatra Mandheling Dark - Peerless Coffee & Tea Michelle turned me on to this coffee at the Cheesery in the Castro (SF). Try it

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-73761109988837523932008-02-26T11:13:00.003-05:002010-03-21T11:24:54.905-04:00

Designing a space for creativity is always hard - especially teams focused on interaction design. If this is your current design challenge, check out the answers to,"What are some of the best qualities or features you've experienced in physical workspace to do Creative/User Experience work?" at LinkedIn.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-26684387141555549372008-02-25T14:53:00.007-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.779-04:00

I am seeing more modern interior design in Philadelphia mixing in decorative and floral elements. Most often this means mixing large pattern wallpapers and furniture that is reminiscent of early French pieces in with very modern pieces. I think my wife, interior designer Michelle Waldo of Michelle Waldo Interiors, did a pretty great job of this for a photography studio here in Philadelphia

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-51428336359925333832008-02-25T08:51:00.008-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.780-04:00

Boyle has said some of the best words I have ever heard about architecture. Although his comments below are about production design for the movies, I think they apply perfectly to architecture as well. Using his words to guide me, I think that ultimately architects are creating spaces within which the action and meaning of a person’s life is arrived at. This is a basic truth about architecture. A

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-33747378950342734372008-02-24T16:06:00.004-05:002010-03-21T11:38:27.041-04:00

I was watching a lecture at Temple University this past Thursday. My wife and I were hoping to learn a little more about the principal of a design firm whose work we found interesting. We lasted 20 minutes. Her lecture was all in terms of semiotics: subject-object and the concepts that bind, illuminate and confront these grammatical components. And it went on and on and on. I was so furious (

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-66800241400773235012008-02-17T16:17:00.002-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.780-04:00

I put together a music mix on Panodora. Something to have on the headphones that frees up my mind but doesn't take over my head space. I also listen to Chill Out 2 New York through Live 365.Neither are perfect. I was shooting for a down tempo-ish mix on Pandora, but Pandora can be random.My preference is the music selection that is streamed out of Chill Out 2 New York, but I really don't like

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-86033741770789522232008-02-08T19:13:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:06:28.163-04:00

Some of the nicest work I see are the wood forms for concrete. These are almost Japanese in their form. Pics taken while waiting for the train at the 46th Street Station,above the intersection of Farragut in Philadelphia.Taken as a design source for architecture, concrete form work could lead to very engaging details and human scale. The discipline of the forms also allows the plywood itself to

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1508553976385409082008-01-20T19:48:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.781-04:00

If you want an architect to sign up for your social cause, show him how it messes up a nice building. On March 14th 2006, I had only been in Philadelphia for a month. I was working as a project architect for Wallace Roberts and Todd and we were working on housing projects for the local housing authority, Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). Well I was in for a surprise. A couple of

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-5825845008436494522008-01-07T07:14:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.782-04:00

As I live longer and longer in Philadelphia, I am beginning to overlook things. It’s coming up on 2 years now for me that I have been here. I walk across Broad Street several times a week, often stepping off from the corner controlled by the Union Club. I don’t notice the club all that much any more; which is too bad. I just came across this photo I took when I first arrived in Philadelphia.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-39776988759557495232007-10-04T12:16:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.782-04:00

Beautiful kinetic sculptures. A beautiful melding of the winds we feel on the beach with ...stuff. By Theo Jansen.His website... StrandBeestAn explanation without words on how one beast works:

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-85398714202617705652007-09-06T16:42:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.783-04:00

If I were in SF next week I'd be at the DWR hosted lecture by the people at Heath CeramicsHere's the deal if you didn't follow the link:"Heath Ceramics at DWR Thursday, September 13, 6-8pm "Heath Ceramics was started in Sausalito, California, in the mid-40s by Edith Heath, who believed that the hand of the maker should be visible in all of her designs. Present owners Robin Petravic

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-45606706430991360152007-08-25T09:32:00.002-04:002008-12-28T00:40:21.492-05:00

The most limiting aspect of modern culture is the restriction on the expression of harmony. Like adolescents absorbed with the sudden realization that their parent’s aren’t so perfect, the culture scene is convinced that harmony and beauty are lies covering up an ugly world of truths. Over and over again the point of reference for the cultural critic is that at the base, everything is sad,

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-57743337869546799882007-08-16T13:42:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.784-04:00

Question: is an interest in style and fashion in architecture too lowbrow for the serious architect? Isn’t fashion something that is terrible? Another Question: If Design connects us to God and God is timeless, where do trends fit in? Trends evaporate – buildings stand forever. Is the architect who designs consciously in the current style a bourgeois oaf creating an irrelevant veneer hiding us

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-26855115874004301732007-08-09T16:13:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.784-04:00

To make analysis of architecture possible, I have chosen to see buildings as being composed of patterns. These patterns - infused with attitude, bias and ideology - communicate through pattern-texts. In these pattern-texts can be found the ideology of the building (though not necessarily that of the architects).The pattern can be understood to be the solution to a problem. For example, a problem

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-48322427292704177362007-07-31T16:54:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.784-04:00

Architect and friend Beverly Willis, FAIA, has sent out her second email newsletter today. If you are a woman in architecture or a woman architect (sorry for redundancy here – just typing key words for Google) you should be aware of Beverly and her grants to women architects. Beverly not only supports women in architecture, she is also an impressive architect herself: she has fought the good

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-15938988468898228492007-03-20T13:05:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:05:31.785-04:00

Over and over again the Hale building on Chestnut Street appears in my mind when I think of Philadelphia. This kind of building doesn’t exist in the cities where I came from – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Eugene, Tacoma, Seattle. It’s a mysterious and evocative building. Obviously inhabited by its own soul – I doubt whoever owns it can do much more than observe the affairs that swirl around this

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-86650737074636361912007-03-10T11:37:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.785-04:00

Every month I can count on Martha Stewart Living magazine to serve up a few amazing images. The March 2007 winner is page 147. The whole page. This bleed-to-edge image transports me. I also had feelings when I first saw it that were hard to track. It felt familiar. To be exact, the feeling that is dreamy-ness mixed with excitement mixed in with expansiveness felt familiar.After holding this for a

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-38311104498322330182007-02-26T07:23:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.786-04:00

Yep. I haven't posted in-- yipes! -- a month. I've just been busy. Lots going on. I will be back soon though.Thanks for coming by.-Mark

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-34817332900768977112007-01-26T18:17:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.786-04:00

The Tibetan Heritage Fund has a wonderful Flash piece on how to build a small Tibetan temple. This may prove useful to you at the next family get-together.It takes a minute to load (the Flash piece). You may think nothing is happening. But something is happening in the nothingness of it all. You'll have no notice when it finally loads so just keep clicking on "next" every 15 seconds or so-- maybe

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-22711080132036982162007-01-26T13:17:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.786-04:00

Sometimes conversations are like this.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-45300665092588148852007-01-21T09:27:00.001-05:002009-09-14T21:43:21.305-04:00

Is it enough to be an architect focused on concept?More often than not, design decisions based on a concept rule if you are hoping to be a critically acclaimed architect. Your building must be saying something political. It must challenge. It must engage in discourse. I did not always know that.At U of Oregon, I was taught by Bill (“William”) Kleinsasser that architecture is about meeting human

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-90057873542676549402007-01-04T12:58:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.787-04:00

I think the idea to license developers is a great one. Before we let architects practice we run them through a battery of tests -- after 8 years of combined schooling and work experience. But their impact on our environment is small considering that they must work within the visions of developers.It’s this “within the vision” part that is of concern. Developers aren’t trained in city planning,

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-89069493036635205562007-01-04T12:57:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:05:31.788-04:00

Yes, the sky was really that yellow.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-10834132123958630132006-12-29T16:48:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:07:22.876-04:00

The office has gotten very still. It’s Friday afternoon. It’s been quiet all week. Outside my window the Drake Hotel is in the warm glow of the setting sun. ...or the Drake IS a warm glow outside my window. The Drake HotelI am bothered by the flatness of Philadelphia. I have this little ache in my chest as I think of walking the Miwok and Mt Tam's trails just north of SF. These trails amble and

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1165072628213706202006-12-02T10:12:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:07:22.877-04:00

Butterfly roofs are hard to do well. The best I’ve seen is on the UCSF, Mission Bay Student Housing.It’s subtle but there is a lot going on here that makes most other butterfly roofs look like blunt interpretations of the definition. Try a google search and you’ll see what I mean. Here the angle is not too great. The tapering thickness refined. There’s just enough asymmetry between one wing and

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1163444100779714142006-11-13T13:48:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:07:22.877-04:00

The USGBC will soon release LEED guidelines for homes. Right now the focus of certification is on commercial buildings. I'm a LEED AP and I support what the USGBC is doing but I have a thought on the new LEED Home (residential) guidelines.I think the USGBC should give you 2 different tracks towards LEED certification for the home;A. the elaborate series of points they will come up with, or B, You

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1162995463061567562006-11-08T08:46:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:07:22.878-04:00

When I was a kid in Tacoma, every morning I would remember seeing Mrs. Clark's light on in her window across the alley. You'd think that nothing very cultural was going on in Tacoma in the 1970's but Dorothy Clark was up early every morning before sunrise to write. Under a deep black sky going to blue she was typing out plays and her writing. For all the technology out there I am still having

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1162590028139629932006-11-03T16:35:00.000-05:002008-03-25T08:07:22.878-04:00

David Sellers, an architect in Vermont, is up to some cool stuff with a concrete house. Here are a few photos from the CA phase that he’s now in.I like the cantilever and in general the large details.Made of concrete (cast-in-place and elements precast at his studio) this is a rarity. You don’t see a lot of concrete in residential building. If nothing else it’s hard to finish in a human way.It’ll

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1159884112144637222006-10-03T09:52:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.879-04:00

There is a flurry of studying as architects prepare to take the LEED AP exam before it is revised and made, we imagine, harder. The last date to take the "old" exam is October 31st, 2006. For more information on the LEED AP test, you can go to the USGBC site .

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1159883477935342722006-10-03T09:47:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.879-04:00

There is an interesting sounding marketing seminar for designers coming up in Philadelphia:“How Do I Get Into Magazines?”This will be given by staffers from Philadelphia Home & Garden magazine. You’ll need to RSVP. Here’s the link (the link!) October 11, 2006 at the Philadelphia Market Place Design Center.1:30 pm - Complimentary Refreshments2:00-3:00 pm - Seminar

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1158779144715098642006-09-20T15:00:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.879-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Metrozoe opens the annual nominations for the worst in architecture speak and plain bad writing with the following entry:"We conceive and describe appropriate built spaces at different scales, learn processes to bring buildings into place, and understand the consequences these have for inhabitants, society, and the environment."This is the UC Berkeley Department of

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1155852686019602742006-08-17T17:54:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.880-04:00

Having just visited the OMA’s Seattle Public Library – Central Library with a friend, I had to laugh at Jonathan Adler’s quote in today’s NY Times. “If you are dour and oblique, you are accorded tremendous respect because people are intimidated,”OMA’s Seattle Public Library – Central Library is a building that intimidates. Does this explain the respect it’s been getting from the press? I feel

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1154973323667609902006-08-07T13:52:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.880-04:00

Chestnut: Macy's Chestnut Street in Philadelphia has a run of architecture that is really stunning. Macy’s just moved to Market street at 13th inheriting a building with classical detailing. Here’s where the building comes through on the next street – Chestnut. This photo was taken this winter when the summer sun lit up the loggia wall and curved gracefully around the columns. The street was

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1154308107090317002006-07-30T20:47:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.881-04:00

Edoardo Gellner's "Corte di Cadore"Sometimes I think I must live under a rock. I only just now came across Edoardo Gellner's "Corte di Cadore" project. I found it in Interni #558 ( Jan 2006). It's an amazing set of buildings all part of a ski village designed between 1953 and 1964 for the enlightened patron Enrico Mattei, the president of ENI, for all ENI employees. The project was recently

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1153952035063071742006-07-26T17:52:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.881-04:00

The Restoration of Human ScaleI read a phrase today that really put words to an experience I’ve had. It is a line from Sunset Magazine’s “Western Ranch Houses by Cliff May”, [1958] and is in a chapter entitled “Traditional ranch house for a working ranch”. Here it is,“In place of the lonely countryside and limitless sky, the house provides shelter and enclosure and the restoration of human scale.

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1153501110330188192006-07-21T07:45:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.882-04:00

Architecture: Scotland – The Scottish Poetry LibraryI just came across a beautiful building - the Scottish Poetry Library by Malcolm Fraser Architects.The mix of European Oak for siding with a steel and glass awning and the soft white exterior concrete steps is really well handled. The timber cladding is essential to the humanness of this structure and is a great example of working wood into

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1153184635949689142006-07-20T07:57:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.882-04:00

2006 Mid-Year Architecture Podcast AwardThe Metrozoe award for best series of architecture and design podcasts goes to Ted Wells Living Simple. Ted Wells has put together intelligent and well thought essays on a range of subjects from what makes someone a client of modern architects to how Fallingwater has become the top rated house of all time. Another bonus is that these podcasts are short -

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23675722.post-1153170611888235322006-07-17T19:58:00.000-04:002008-03-25T08:07:22.882-04:00

Marketing Modern Architecture in PhiladelphiaHaving just moved to Philadelphia I'm wondering, "Where are the modern house tours? Where is the guide book to modern Philadelphia architecture?". I went to the Central Free library today to find a good guide book and didn't find anything like the kinds of books I can get for Los Angeles or San Francisco. Amazon didn't help much either. The same books

Mark Waldohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950485639206616197noreply@blogger.com0