Model For A Marine Architects House, First Sketch -  From the "I Want To Be Your Architect Series"  Ongoing

...the house would bridge two rock outcrops that fell off to the sea on the island.  The island had been in the family for generations and many important discoveries and theories were ...

TRIZ

An engineer I know suggested reading about TRIZ, the inventing problem solving method developed by the Russian inventory and science fiction author Genrich Altshuller.  The book I got is "And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared", and I'm working my way through it, using the problem solving methods as I go in my own work.  I also got a copy of his and his wife's science fiction works called "Ballard of the Stars" where Altshluller under the pen name Altov works out first formulations of his theories on TRIZ.  My favorite so far is the story "The Donkey Axiom" where the character Antenna works as an engineer designing toys but on his own time creates endless numbers of receivers and has built a prediction machine in his home.  Absolutely fascinating.  The study continues.  Just reading about all the hardship that Altshuller overcame in the development of his theories is a wonder in itself.

http://www.aitriz.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Art and Science

I've been immersed in reading science lately.  Echoes of past classes and projects.  What got me started was re-reading Oliver Sacks "Uncle Tungsten, Memories of a Chemical Boyhood".  My two favorites parts of the book are the sections on Uncle Tungsten at work in his light bulb factory and the lab he had built there and the descriptions of the Periodic Table in the Science Museum in South Kensington.  I've always been fascinated by the Periodic Table and think it's one of the most beautiful charts in science.

Model For A Marketing Managers House - From the "I Want To Be Your Architect Series"

Ongoing
".....he was looking for a place off in the desert, away from the Vegas Strip that had the look of the abandoned billboards and left behind structures that dotted the other landscape outside the city."

Designing a New Reality

I'm in the process of reading "Off The Books" by Sudhir Venkatesh.  The insights into the underground economy are both eye-opening and a re-direction of focus on understanding one segment of a world not normally seem with eyes wide open.  I've also been intrigued with a section of the website of the design firm IDEO called Patterns, Design Insights Emerging and Converging.  Great topics and the redefinition of design and how we can use it to help in the economic situations we find ourselves in today.

http://www.sudhirvenkatesh.org/books/off-the-books

http://patterns.ideo.com/

Pattern Recognition

It's interesting looking at patterns.  In life, art, advertising and street culture to name a few.  Watching a trend develop over the past few years like the rise of an urban bike culture vs. the standard weekend road rider dressed in the obligatory spandex uniform to a more edgy street-wise style and disdain for the norm.  Also the number of books, websites, articles and talk focusing on the maker movement.  People getting back to not only knowing how things work but designing and building that allows repair and customization access.  I've been thinking a lot lately about good design being made available to all at prices that make it available to the masses that need it and not to just those who can afford it.  Also the redefinition of what business is.  Small companies putting out high quality products and services with an attitude of let's get this out there and see what happens vs. a lengthy research and development phase.  Things are happening faster and at first at a smaller scale with the potential of really making a big difference.  Look around.

Almost got my bike stolen this week.  Right out from the loading dock area of our building.  Inside no less.  Whoever it was only had enough time before the automatic door would begin to close, like two minutes after someone had been allowed entrance, say a delivery truck.  One of the women in the office had her bike stolen the day before.  My bike was right next to hers and targeting since all I was using was a cable lock thinking no one would be able to get at these bikes.  I went down to get my bike for my commute home and when I did the combination and pulled the lock apart I was holding two separate pieces.  The cable had been cut and was only being held together by a bit of the plastic sheath.  Apparently the person got spooked or the door began to close and he had to get out without the bike.  So I have a homemade mega urban assault lock that I'm using until I can move into the world of Kryptonite ultimate security.

I also wanted to learn more on how people actually go about stealing bikes and the two best videos I found is one called "Know The Enemy" from the UK, a great animation done for BIKE OFF from the University of Arts London  and probably the most famous bike locking video with a more recent update with Hal Ruzal of Bicycle Habitat in New York and Kerri Martin, founder of The Bike Church in Asbury, NJ.  Take a look.
(http://www.bikeoff.org/design_resource/ABT_problem_who_steals.shtml)

http://www.streetfilms.org/hal-and-kerri-grade-your-bike-locking/