Spacing size

"Old buildings can carry a certain comfort that new buildings frequently don’t, I don’t know what makes them feel more comfortable but there’s not enough glass, not enough metal, more brick, more wood" says an interviewee I met with in discussing the move of the Seminary Co-op and the Chicago Theological Seminary. I really do think it has to do more with the space in between walls, doors and aisles as well as the ceiling height in the building than the material used to create the space. Currently I'm in what could be the cafeteria in the Harry Potter films, but is actually the Harper Library at the University of Chicago. This space to me doesn't feel comfortable, the ceilings are too high to really make that comfort feeling. Plus there is that constant nagging of ... maybe the electricity in the room? or the air? I'm not sure what it is but it is very annoying and causes people like myself to keep our headphones on all the time so as not to get a headache. Yet I still study in here. Anyways, going back to the quote. I really am curious how much changing the width between spaces to make them larger so they fit ADA compliance makes one feel less "comfortable" while at the same time allowing it to physically be less cramped at times.

Design Decisions

It's funny, it seems I've some how fallen on the outs with the bookstore. I'm no longer invited to the meetings they have with the architects. In fact this past week the University architect invited me to the meeting and I was kind enough to ask the manager of the bookstore if that were okay with him, to which he promptly said no, it wasn't okay with him.

It's funny to me how architects work, or more how it seems they are forced to work. First they are hired by a business to create a space, say a bookstore. Then they have several meetings with a group of people that work for that store to determine the conditions for the design of the new space. Who determines which people they will work with? Will they be working with the president of the company who has several meetings with the rest of the employees (or the rest of the managers) to determine what they really need? Will they not meet with anyone at all and be asked to create the entire design themselves? Or will they meet with a panel of people who are in no way representative of the entire functionality of the company? If either of these later is the case who ends up getting blamed for parts that the architects (not knowing the kind of business well enough) overlook? In actuality it is unfair to blame the architects themselves, they are simply doing their job with the tools which they are given, but I feel sometimes they are the ones to be blamed, strangely enough.

I suppose this holds true for any kind of project, not just an architectural project. When one goes into anything not asking a true panel of representatives it makes it difficult to get enough information to do the job right.

Architect's Eye & Marketing

It's really interesting, in getting back into architecture (for the third time now?), how one's eye changes. I was on the bus yesterday looking out to see a beautiful extension someone had done on their house. What a wonderful back room! The rest of the house seemed to almost pale in comparison as it blended into the neighborhood, but this modern back room extension was wonderfully bright with glass all around it, amazing. Extensions, details, ornamentation, those are the small things that one starts to see with the architect's eye. What really opens the eye is the ability to see things in 3-D. I know that sounds strange, after all we already see in 3-D. But it's a totally different ball game once one has the ability to draw in 3-D, then it's like the colors all became brighter. What an amazing world to see when one's eye changes like that! I only wish I was better at drawing so I could see more of that!

Lately I've been getting more of a feel for the marketing world. Talking to customers about the Seminary Co-op has really allowed me to get some insight into the wonderful ideas they have for the store, from little things like having something with the store name branded on it so people could take away a little of this place to advertising more to certain communities. It makes me think of how important it really is to communicate with your customers. Some stores aren't very good about it, or don't have a very strong customer base, like Borders or Barnes & Noble, both of which are going out of business, which says it all.