This is a project done in 2020. We, the humans, forget that we make things beyond need. We want outcomes so badly that we confuse desire with necessity. Things like war, a pandemic, a broken bone tell us pretty quickly that we while are fully righteous in our expectations, there is no such thing as […]
Architecture Is Human: Part VI – Methods of Making
This model is smaller than my fist. Today, models like these are mostly done in two dimensions, on screens, after some scribbles, some hard-lining (on a screen) of those scribbles. Creation results. It really does not matter how you vision, revision, or make before finding what is to be made, the important reality is to […]
Architecture Is Human: Part V – Scale: Size Matters
Every thing, every where, has a size. Dimension is upon every corporeal thing in our universe. But Size is not Scale. Rather than gravity, time, even craft, the Scale of what we make can be a result of what it is and does, or its Scale is completely independent of its Size. A skyscraper can […]
Architecture Is Human: Part IV – Craft: Beyond Building
We speak, but we also write poetry. We whistle, but symphonies resound. We can eat a protein bar or a seven course meal. Our needs do not limit our desire. That is true of making things. The places of instinct, the nest, the burrow, the anthill, do everything needed, they solve the problem, but they […]
Architecture Is Human: Part III – Context: The Cauldron
We are all somewhere. None live solely in our minds, or on the glowing screen you are seeing here. We all have a context, an origin point, a place. Humans are not satisfied with instinct, they create. Everything is made in a place. That place is where the needs and desires of those who wish […]
Architecture Is Human: Part II – History: The Other Gravity
Every second passes, and there was a before, now and after. Unrelenting. Unchanging. On every thing we see, hear, taste and touch. Time is universal. It is so pervasive, so overwhelming, that we often simply ignore it. We want to live forever. We want to freeze time. We revel in the past, we want the […]
Architecture Is Human: Part I – The Humanity of Making Things
Architecture only exists in humanity. Burrows, hives, nests and anthills are creations of instinct, not design, despite their exquisite beauty. Humanity is distinct from all other life on earth because, for us, instinct is inadequate. So it is with architecture. Outcomes in architecture are twofold. First, like the designs of instinct, any building must protect […]
Architectural Education Will Change Because The Way Architects Work Will Change
By Duo Dickinson, FAIA The CAD monkey (and degrees and training based on those skills) will soon become obsolete. This is because we are on the edge of a complete flip in how every service industry functions, including medicine, law, and architecture. It is now a cliché to declare that Artificial Intelligence will change everything, […]
Alexa In Architecture
Alexa is the way we will deal with our lives. Amazon is replacing much of our decisions with answers – with Alexa. Either architects are present in the mix of cultural awareness, or Alexa, who is the child of unavoidable Artificial Intelligence, will replace architects for all but those seeking the artisanal in architecture. This […]