Archive for the Architecture Category

Constructing Thoughts:  Overton Window; Morrison Door; Basic Box (August 19, 2019)

Posted in Architecture, Awards / Incentives, Genius on August 19, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Triple pane?”

J          “A better argon seal?”

. . .

K          “That assumes that one has an incentive to think clearly.”

J          “There is that.  That is there.”

. . .

K          “If you want to market an old idea, concoct a new name.  Why not enlist the name tag on your shirt and market yourself?”

J          “Comes down to marketing.  Everyone proclaims that they are ‘thinking outside the box’ while everyone is actually thrashing around inside their own self-imprisoning box.”

K          “If everyone thinks (s)he is thinking outside the box, is the only person thinking outside the box the person who is thinking inside the box?”

J          “So those who are thinking inside the window are really just thinking inside the box.  Only those who look outside around the window itself can see the outside that is outside the window.”

K          “Genius is two things.  It is simple.  It is obvious.  It is in the box?” 

J          “The Overton Window seems to be a peep hole into the status quo and sounds like another form over substance pseudo-intellectual gimmick.  What do I know.”

. . .

J          “Designing and constructing our intellectual house is an on-the-job task.  What about adding the Morrison Door to open one’s perceptions?”

K          “Triple hinges?”

J          “A better sill seal?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “The ‘I’ Gene; The ‘We’ Gene: Searching For The Genie In All Of Us (April 3, 2017)”, “The Power Of Small Thinking (March 12, 2018)”, “On Standards & Quality (July 20, 2015)” and “So Many Words, So Few Ideas (Sept. 21, 2009)”.]    

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

I think I think

Think big!

I think big, therefore I am, I think

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”  Upton Sinclair

“And 3 Feet Above The ‘Recalibrated Sea Level’!!!” (May 22, 2017)

Posted in Architecture, Economics, Health Care, Housing on May 22, 2017 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Forget about the attractive magnet schools, forget about the nine star energy rating, forget about the cute little pergola in the back yard.  Recall and remember that the property is 3 feet above the official published ‘Recalibrated Sea Level’ (‘RSL’) for the region!!!  3 whole feet!!!  Almost a meter of freeboard.”

J          “The sales brochure proclaims:  ‘Natural gas bill:  only $14,700 per year!  And only 1600 square feet!’  That should seal the deal.”

. . .

K          “The premium for the flood insurance exceeds the yearly mortgage payments, but that is the way it is today.”

J          “Bummer.”

K          “But it is still slightly less than my health insurance premium.”

. . .

K          “I think they call it ‘contemporary architecture’ in all the tony salons.”

J          “Did you read if the HOA provisions allow you to use one of the swamped homes in the neighborhood as a duck shack?”

K          “If you have both your state and federal duck stamps and a temporary use permit on your person.  But there is a three-day stay limitation.”

. . .

[See the article “High Ground Is Becoming Hot Property as Sea Level Rises” by Erika Bolstad in “Scientific American” dated May 1, 2017.]

[See the e-commentary at “The Marginal Utility of (House) Utilities:  Only 1600 Square Feet! (October 25, 2010)”.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Take the high ground, take the high road.

World Trade Center Building 7 And The AIA (May 18, 2015)

Posted in Airlines, Architecture, Aviation, Awards / Incentives, Collapse, Courage, Perjury, Profile In Courage Award, Pulitzer on May 18, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A          “If they presented a Profile in Courage lantern, would someone seek the light?”

B          “If they provided a Pulitzer Prize, would someone pursue the truth?”

A          “If they fielded a Fields Medal, would someone prove that 2 plus 0 is not 3?”

B          “It they supplied only two planes, could someone destroy three buildings?”

. . .

A          “On Saturday, delegates of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) overwhelmingly voted down Resolution 15-6 which called for AIA to support a new investigation of the destruction of World Trade Center Building 7 on 9/11 2001.  By a vote of 3892 – 160, the resolution, introduced by AIA member Dan Barnum FAIA, was voted down.”

B          “96% of the delegates voted to ignore the facts, the science, and the evidence which is today common knowledge among those who care about the destruction of Building 7.”

A          “The vote says more about architects, at least 3892 architects, than anything ever said about architects.”

B          “And about 160 architects.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Give prizes for the truth and you may get some truth; give prizes for untruth and you will get untruth.

Potemkin Estates, Parvenu Palaces (September 10, 2007)

Posted in Architecture, Housing, Society on September 10, 2007 by e-commentary.org

The drive to impress in America is driving us to buy more expensive rides and bigger homes.  Architecture is about scale and proportion, among other considerations.  Bigger is not better; bigger is usually garish and gaudy and not better.  Pumping steroids into a house plan is counterproductive.  Some Americans commission monstrous McMansions and only finish enough rooms to obtain a certificate of occupancy.  Potemkin Estates.  Parvenu Palaces.  “Staging a home” before a sale is undertaken to make the house look like a movie set and presumably more appealing to prospective buyers.  However, the staging is now done at an earlier stage.  Talk to a furniture deliver person.  Some individuals finish a room, furnish it with tony furniture and cordon it off from use.  The thinking is that the house will look more comely when it is put on the market for sale at a later stage.  The house today has lost its essential purpose.  The bigger houses in particular have no heart and no soul; they are somber museums, monuments, mausoleums.Bumper sticker of the week:

Only you can prevent narcissism

Consume Inconspicuously