West of Amarillo lies one of the most iconic of American art works, the Cadillac Ranch. It is exactly what it appears to be : 10 vintage, deeply graffitied, Cadillacs, buried in the west Texas plains.
A Field Guide to Ugly Houses - Ugly by Design
another post in the ongoing series A Field Guide to Ugly Houses
UBD -Ugly By Design
Of the many types of ugly that inflict the American house, Ugly by Design, although not the most pervasive, it is certainly the most offensive. These houses clearly fall into the "what were they thinking" category of a design idea gone wrong. Sometimes Ugly by Design is the result of a once-interesting and innovative design idea that has past its shelf-date.
Midwestern churches
MIDWESTERN CHURCHES
As I have talked about in a couple of recent posts on the flatness of the Midwest, a simple building standing in that relentlessly horizontal landscape is a powerful, singular moment. This is even more apparent when it is a church, rising upward to heaven, a determinedly vertical building contrasting the vast horizon.
an architect's education - figure drawing
ADVICE to future architects
I have been asked on more than a few occasions what advice I would give to a teenager who may be interested in being an architect. I try to avoid the cranky, cynical responses that most of us can toss out with aplomb. More often than not I talk about the passion necessary to see you through the grind of thousands of hours work trying to just get the basics down right. And the passion required to see you through years of working in offices, often 60+ hours per week, detailing mind-numbingly boring buildings before you get the chance to really be in charge of the design of a building. And then I am asked, most often by inquiring parents, what classes or skills their child should undertake in preparation for architecture school. And to that question I always reply the same: drawing.
