what architects do for fun
12 June 2012
work…late…often…always
write blogs
visit a specific restaurant for lunch so you can sketch the interior details
tour construction sites of buildings they didn’t design
write witty lists about architects
take over the design when their kid is building with legos, tinkertoys or k’nex
buy their own lego collection sets
collect rare books of early modern architecture
buy an expensive pen simply because it looked cool
rearrange their vast collection of books from alphabetic order to topical and then back again
enter design competitions that they have do at night once everyone else has gone to bed
read ArchDaily and wonder why they haven’t picked up their latest project
travel to France to create existing conditions drawings of Ronchamp Cathedral
go to a baseball game and wonder how many sheets of drawings it took to document the stadium design
share stories about architecture school and debate who had the harder professor and who stayed up the most
debate which shade of white the local modern museum wing is painted
ponder whether to use Arial Narrow or Helvetica Narrow font
sit in their favorite coffee shop and work on their laptop because the décor is cooler than their office
create custom made Christmas package boxes with foam core and Christmas cards with Strathmore
visit the local Home and Garden Fair on purpose, then complain about how many products are made of vinyl
custom design birdhouses, doghouses and gingerbread houses
build a complete 3D model when their brother/sister asks for design help on their kitchen
photograph buildings (what else?)
organize their closets with the black clothes on the left…and right…and in the middle
travel to see their favorite work of architecture only to have their child announce upon arrival “ok, can we go get ice cream now?”
12 June 2012 at 12:52 PM
Thanks, now I want to go get some ice cream.
12 June 2012 at 1:24 PM
me too
12 June 2012 at 3:04 PM
A lot of hits there… In particular about the ice cream.
12 June 2012 at 6:29 PM
that seems to be the favorite, but my reference was how our kids are not interested in what we are.
13 June 2012 at 5:29 PM
My kids – on The Cape (Cod, of course) this week – are sending me pictures of old houses and townscapes with commentary. They did not know they were interested until they grew up. I expect yours will be the same.
13 June 2012 at 9:54 PM
I hope he gets it someday too.
12 June 2012 at 5:17 PM
Love the list. Orange sherbert in a sugar cone, please.
12 June 2012 at 6:30 PM
so you’d rather get ice cream than look at architecture?
13 June 2012 at 7:54 AM
Actually there is an old mill town near me that in which I’ve had the pleasure of working and in the center of town is an ice cream stand (built over a part of the waterfall/spilway, can you say cantilever?). Get your orange sherbert, sugar cone, take your camera or sketchbook, and walk….any direction, any street….there’s always an interesting home or store or bridge or water element. Large, small, any style. A wonderful opportunity to just decompress and admire.
Oh, my release? Driving my race car at some ridiculous speed with a few other like minded crazy people. Really can’t think about much of anything else but the immediate moment.
{{I do like the idea of birdhouses though}}
13 June 2012 at 9:52 AM
sounds like a road trip to me
12 June 2012 at 5:27 PM
Decide no books from my library can be sent to the library book sale
Walk through second-hand/antique shops looking for old design. magazines to share with clients – ie: “Here’s what your house owners were seeing”.
Drive past a particular building again, and again – invite myself in. Also visit real estate open houses if the house is pre-WWI.
Redesign a friend’s house in my head while sharing coffee.
Take the ‘long cut’ in order to see a building or village. And after a life time with me, my kids do too
ps: Ronchamp is a pilgrimage chapel
12 June 2012 at 6:31 PM
we share much in common
12 June 2012 at 5:47 PM
Do the birdhouse thing. Don’t have to worry about wind loading or egress or 7.75″ risers or parking requirements or clients or budgets or permits.
But the users don’t pay anything and they leave the place trashed!
Doug
12 June 2012 at 6:31 PM
do your birds like traditional or modern architecture?
13 June 2012 at 10:17 AM
Do a google of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. And if you’re doing a roadtrip make sure I’m aware of it. I’m done a couple of nice restaurants in the Village and we can do lunch…..
13 June 2012 at 5:41 PM
At first, I didn’t know what town you were describing in your first post, but in my mind Chagrin Falls memories were playing. Lots of great memories going there as a child and teenager, especially getting popcorn or ice cream at the Popcorn Shop perched right over the falls. I have a brother that lives near there and I get back there once in a while from my home in Maine. I’ll be making a pilgrimage for ice cream, camera and sketchbook in hand, on my next trip.
13 June 2012 at 9:55 PM
sounds like a fun trip…architecture and memory are very powerful
13 June 2012 at 4:59 PM
I know it’s cliche, but I actually do where all black. Mostly as a way to save time in the morning and it hides stains well. Not to mention trying to keep up with modern fashion is an exercise in futility. The only “color” in my wardrobe currently is dark navy blue, a random green button down and a white polo that I bought to satisfy my wife who keeps saying “why don’t you buy something other than black?” All my pants are black, black pinstripe and black. Black socks, black belt, black shoes and black glasses. My hair is a darker shade of brown. No body is perfect.
Everything else was completely spot on as well. I laughed out loud more than once. Now everyone is starring. Oops. :-\
13 June 2012 at 9:54 PM
I wear a lot of black too, hence the joke…we just do
13 June 2012 at 9:58 PM
you guys make me laugh! I buy another blue shirt!
14 June 2012 at 6:14 AM
…make that a black shirt please…
13 June 2012 at 10:57 PM
Love the comment about complaining “how many products are made of vinyl” . . . surely the day is near when there will be so many vinyl products that one could nearly build an entire house from vinyl. That will be a sad day
14 June 2012 at 6:15 AM
I am coming to the conclusion that people really don’t care what it is made of today. If it “looks” like what they want from ten to twenty feet away, then they’re perfectly fine with that. I doubt they understand why we care so much about authenticity. I don’t know how to make the argument anymore.
14 June 2012 at 1:21 PM
Kind of makes you wish there was a movement where folks that value historic preservation could move to a town and fix-up everything in sight–or build new based on traditional methods and materials like this guy: http://hopeforarchitecture.com/. That way you would ensure that no one has to look at any vinyl or any other “fakeness.” HHHhhhmmm . . .
14 June 2012 at 2:12 PM
Nice, I’ll check it out. I’d rather take all the vinyl lovers and make them live in a world of only vinyl. The humanity in them would kick in and they’d hate that even the trees were fake.
6 July 2012 at 9:40 PM
Helvetica Narrow. Always.
6 July 2012 at 10:36 PM
a smart choice