A question prompted by Plinky made me think of how I am tired of the same old architectural rhetoric in the news. A new $200M museum here, a new concert hall here, and the latest skyscraper that’s bigger than yours is really getting old. Why does every magazine (architectural or not) have to feature something that I don’t have, don’t need, in a city I’ll never live, in a house I’ll never afford, with someone I’ll never look like driving a car I’ll never own?

Where is the story about how the new rural school design is helping students have a better learning environment? What about the part where the design gives back to the teachers too?

Where is the story of the small business owners in the small town who invested in design to make their new storefront capture the brand of their new coffee shop or diner without spending their life savings?

Where is the news story of the small architectural firm whose pro bono work for the church camp or non-profit group has helped them realize their long-lost dream to expand?

Is there a story about a rebuilding urban community that worked with local architects to design houses that respect the tradition of the neighborhood rather than the out-of-towners who injected their narcissistic expressions on those grateful just to have a house?

Where is the story about smart, practical, and affordably sustainable design for the average person?

And where is the story where the local arts community hired a local architect and a local contractor to add onto their one hundred year old historic property with a respectable but exciting new addition that fit within their modest budget?

Where are the stories where we hear from the people who use our architecture rather than the architects for a change? We know what the architects are thinking about themselves. What do the people think about us and the architecture we make?

Yes, these stories appear…occasionally as features in the back. When will news ever be real more often? What do you think?

Filed under: architecture, community, observations Tagged: architecture, community, design, news, Sustainable design ]]> http://thinkarchitect.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/news-stories-im-sick-of-and-ones-i-long-for/feed/ 3 leecalisti Plinky http://thinkarchitect.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/what-defines-you/ http://thinkarchitect.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/what-defines-you/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 04:51:53 +0000 leecalisti http://thinkarchitect.wordpress.com/?p=1550 ]]>

I don’t have answers. I am not putting forth a strong opinion. I am listening, so speak.

For those of you with your own practice or those of you who have an role in the direction of your firm, some of the most important questions to consider as an architect are “what will define you” or “what defines your practice?” In other words, do the projects you get or the projects you choose set the course for the work you’ll get in the future? Will you be known (or remembered) for certain types of projects or a certain type of architecture? Should you refuse to take on any project that will not further your goal to get to wherever it is you wish to get?

Is this sound career advice or merely an ideological polemic? Is it even reasonable?

I’ve come across these questions a few times in the past nine years with varied advice. Quite frankly I have no clear answer and no real assurance of what to do with these questions. To me, the question makes a series of faulty assumptions. First, it presumes that the practitioner has some magic control over every project, every client, every contractor and everybody that works for them. It extrapolates the observation that the selection of prime projects (enjoyed by established star architects) is a privilege that is available to the remaining 99.5% of architectural firms. In other words, it presumes that all architects can choose all of their work like they’re sifting through the magazines at Barnes & Noble. Are there choices? In some cases there are. Sometimes the choice may be no; sometimes one should say no. Sometimes it has to be yes because people have to eat, pay bills and pay their staff. How do you think super large firms survive? What I don’t understand is how can one afford to pursue the elite projects if there are not other projects to fund that effort? The reciprocal of that is how do we find time to pursue great projects if we are tied down to ordinary projects?

Does this mindset of being choosy eliminate the “service” part of our profession? Does it perpetuate the potential elitist attitude that is already prevalent in our profession? Will our evolving profession tolerate architects that will only accept commissions that fit their strict profile? How does pro bono work fit into this model?

I discuss this often with colleagues and other practitioners with no common answer. However, most do not turn down work at face value. They seem to get it done knowing it won’t be published or show up on their website. It just keeps the doors open and they don’t talk about it. Let’s remember we just went through a major recession. The last I checked a third of us are walking the streets with NO work. Does it help if we look through our black rimmed glasses down our long noses at ordinary projects? Am I being unreasonable? Sure, I’d prefer to focus only on projects that excite or interest me, the ones that I can put in my portfolio, and the ones that will give my firm visibility. Am I contradicting myself here?

The belief has been (or is) if you choose to do mundane or banal projects it will only breed more of the same. One thing leads to another and you wake up in the proverbial architectural gutter. Your reward for designing a great bathroom addition is another bathroom addition. What I want to know is how much control does the architect have over this…really? I heard one architect suggest once that one should only work on projects or competitions (real or imagined) that align with one’s interest and work a side job (i.e. waiting tables) in order to pay the bills. This should go on until one scores a significant commission. Is this good or realistic advice?

Now let’s think through this a minute.

What about if what defines us is what we’ve done with the projects that we accepted or the commissions that we were fortunate to receive? Is it more impressive to make something remotely interesting out of a banal project or design wild projects that are not real and only exist on paper? Any architect that can make the proverbial silk purse from a sow’s ear ought to be congratulated, awarded and given more work…right?

Good work breeds more good work. Right? Winning local or national awards ought to get needed visibility which ought to lead to more work, more interesting work right? Is getting published another step on this path to success? How does one get published when the architectural magazines have such strict taste? Can the Pritzker prize winners remember the early years? Can they tell us what they did to get to where they are now? How did they position themselves? How did they support themselves? Do you need a rich spouse?

Look, who doesn’t want to the proverbial “atta-boy” every now and then? Don’t we all have somewhat similar aspirations? I am starting to doubt. I’m not judging you, except serve your clients well. I still want to know how much control we have. How does a young small firm score the prestigious commission? Is it luck or is it smarts? Even if we score the cool project, should we turn down the other projects…even if they’re for a good client? What am I supposed to do?

What will define me? I suppose you will.

photos are from the Wikimedia Commons (used under the Creative Common License)

Maybe I should have been born in Mayberry or somewhere like that. Maybe I should have been born twenty five years earlier. I’m the type of person (that without any rationale) prefers to either be completely anonymous or enjoys when everybody knows me. Usually I prefer the latter despite being mostly introverted. I thought about this recently as I shopped at a local hardware store (for which I was the architect) and several of the employees called me by name as I entered. The service is really good and when you walk in someone immediately asks how they might help you. For those of you who shop in the big box home stores, you could be on fire and no one would acknowledge you. That is if you could even see another employee. If you do find someone, they’re probably not more than twelve years old and are not sure why they’re there. Occasionally you find a smart one, but they’re with another customer and there’s a line forming that is probably twenty deep. In this trip to the hardware store, they stated “did you pick up that [product] you ordered Lee?” I like the personal touch.

These types of things cause me to think.

I have found that when we know the people in our community, at our kids’ schools, or the people that we do business with or services we purchase, we just might get better service. If nothing else, it’s just really nice to have someone say your name when you walk in the door. I like that the person making my sandwich knows me and is not going to sneeze right before they finish making my lunch. Occasionally I frequent the local ‘mom-and-pop’ copy-and-print store for my business. Everyone there knows me and usually the owner will come out and say hello when I am there. It’s nice. One associate always asks me about my son too. I love to talk about my son. I also admit I shop for most of my copying and printing needs as well as my office and computer supplies at a well known big box store. Yes I admit it. However, I have gotten to know many if not most of the day time employees including the managers. I get the absolute best treatment and we chat a bit while I’m paying. Some of them also know my son. Do I get better treatment than the guy next to me? I hope not, but it’s really nice for someone to say something like “we got your order done Lee.” It makes me feel special that they care about me and my work.

A similar thing happens where I take my car for repair. Yes it’s a major dealership, but most of the service managers know me and treat me well. When I am unhappy they listen. When something expensive surfaces, they do their best to make me a deal, find a coupon or something to ease the pain. They always shake my hand. In fact one day recently they told me how happy they were I came that day. Looking puzzled I said why me? After having dealt with an irate and unreasonable customer with an incontinent small dog, my name had come up as a reasonable customer. I’m frugal and scrutinize the charges, but I don’t throw fits or yell at them when my car breaks. I also don’t have a dog that soils the car right before I send it in for repairs.

This is being part of a community, we all know each other. It makes for a completely different environment. It’s pretty difficult to be rude to someone you know or have even a friendly acquaintance type of relationship. However, I still find people prefer anonymity, perhaps so they can be free to say what they like without fear of hurting a relationship. That’s not good business, that’s not good networking and it’s not good community.

top photo is from possum1500’s photostream on Flickr (used under the Creative Common License)

What is great architecture? OK, you’re thinking we had a difficult time defining architecture let alone put any type of positive modifier on it. I don’t have an answer, I simply have questions.

In sports we can measure stats and championships, in business we can measure profits, in medicine we can measure saved lives. In the arts, it becomes a bit more difficult. I hope there is a more objective means of establishing this title than we find in the art world. How do we establish this status? Obviously there is never going to be unanimous consensus, but there are history books of architecture that have been canonized as great works to revere and learn from as students and architects.

These are my questions. What are yours?

Is it great because it was published? Is it great because it won awards? Is it great because the client likes and appreciates it? Is it great because the public likes it? Is it great because it was generally built as intended without cutting half of the “good stuff”?

Is it great because the architect says it is? Is it great because it is LEED certified? Is it great because it got built? Is it great because the public understands it? Is it great because the public does not understand it?

Is it great because decades or centuries later it is still standing? Is it great because it is known to inspire? Is it great because it was never built?

Is it great because the architect is a star (or near star) regardless of the inherent qualities of the project? Is it great because of the building type?

Is it great because it just is?

• What if it got built, but due to time and fees extensive explorations were unable to be considered?
• What if it got built, but the client made radical changes to save money?
• What if it got built and the client imposed their sense of style and taste opposite the architect’s?
• What if the contractor didn’t build it with the quality or detail intended?
• What if…there’s more to the story than you know?
• Is it still great or has it been disqualified?

photos are from jfonono’s stock photo gallery on Stock.Xchng (used under the Standard Restrictions)

A meeting with a prospective client initiated this line of thought. As architects we need to listen to our clients; whether they’re right or wrong. Obvious right? However, it can be tempting to jump ahead in our minds to the place of our benefit and the place where we get to speak. Do you recall that place where we exert our will before we understand where the client wants to go? I am guilty as charged, but not this time.

I noticed this problem in speaking with a contractor with respect to this same client. The contractor had led me to this client and provided useful data, but was a bit resistant when it came to finding alternative ways to get the client to move forward because they were indecisive. The key here was listening to why they were indecisive. What brought them to this place? What was their real concern? What worries them is what we need to perceive and find answers if we want projects to proceed. In this case my response was to work in an untraditional way to answer the question I “heard” them ask. It was not the exact approach I take, but I understood their point.

Clients are not always able to explicitly verbalize their real concern, but it’s an important skill for all professionals to learn if they wish to help make projects happen. Most times I will repeat back what I thought I heard to confirm if I understood them. Oftentimes I will ask the same question in several ways.

As design and construction professionals we know more about construction and more about design than most of our clients. We likely know what could make their project soar given the freedom. However, it’s their show. I was taught an important lesson years ago from another architect; it has worked well for me. Listen to the client. Not just their words, but listen to what they’re not saying. Get into their heads and figure out what is their biggest concern; what keeps them up at night so to speak. If we can address those issues first, most clients will give us more creative latitude with the areas that mean more to us.

I admit clients will often take us on a wild goose chase and at times drive us crazy. At times they think they want something that we know is a bad idea. In rare instances, we might have to walk away. However, before we get too nervous with their unusual requests, pause, take time to listen. You might be surprised what you hear.

Yes, I did my research for this client. Many wondered why I asked the questions I did. Most of them wanted to answer a different question. Too bad I couldn’t find the exact answers I thought I could find this time. Maybe it’s because no one was listening to past clients who wanted the same information.

photos are from krossbow’s photostream on Flickr (used under the Creative Common License)

There seems to be a misunderstanding about those of us who think of ourselves as modernist architects. Some think that we only appreciate or like modern architecture. It is the palette we prefer when we design and we talk about those projects the most. Nevertheless, if that is what you think then you really don’t know us very well. That would be a bit like…

…listening to one type of music

…liking only one type of food

…having only one favorite color

…playing or following only one sport

…having only one friend

I believe it is really difficult to appreciate modern architecture without knowing where we’ve come from and where we’ve been. Despite the attempt to break from the past, we can’t ignore the past since it’s our source for learning, precedent, inspiration, form, and even failures.

I love all of these giants of the past. They had real attitude and they set the course to where we are today. Despite the complex forms, beautiful details and rich ornament, I still prefer clean lines, great composition, and those crazy round black glasses. I just can’t help myself.

The only problem we have now is we need a new name. Modern architecture is now historic architecture, so what does that make us? Traditionalists? Historicists?

Today’s architecture needs a new name. Got any ideas?

photos are from the Wikimedia Commons (used under the Creative Common License)

I am not a person who generally takes on the role of “language police” when it comes to architecture. Debating terminology and titles is just a sporting event, but a recent article by Aaron Seward in Architect Magazine had a few of us with our “noses knocked out” (as my British mother used to say) with his “editorial slip.” In the course of a larger article dealing with code issues, he casually used the phrase “small-time architects working on minor buildings.” Several of us responded online and in writing and I will admit a sincere apology appeared online and on the AIA Small Project Practitioners Blog. The online version of the article has been edited. However, I must use the opportunity to discuss the thoughts it generated as I pondered this adjective “small” as it relates to either architecture firms or architectural projects.

Although I understand the context of the article and what it implied in an honest sense with no permanent offense taken, I must pause for the sake of intellectual jousting to respond to those who may not offer the same degree of respect to all members of our profession. Remember 79% of AIA Member firms have 10 persons or less so let’s not be condescending in any comments related to ‘small firms’ or ‘small projects’. Even with all of that, I am not interested in being defensive, but actually the opposite. We must be willing to accept many realities that ‘small projects’ bring which may be proportionately more challenging than a large building. However, I also have many positives to celebrate being an architect with a small firm who works on small projects. Yet as I too can’t escape the innocent use of that word, I’d like to clarify that those who have hired me and those who use the buildings I design are by no means ‘small’ in any definition of the word. Your project is equally as significant as the tallest of buildings. In some respects even more.

Before you may respond with exceptions to my points that follow, I am not stating that these are the absolute rules. Neither should one imply that if I share one observation about small firms or small cities that the opposite is true for large firms or large cities. I am just stating my perceptions and experiences of the challenges many of us have as small firms in small cities. No complaints, I love where I live. I’m just supporting all of us who have chosen to work in these regions and how our small victories should be celebrated with more enthusiasm than when NYC gets a new skyscraper or Washington DC gets another museum on the Mall.

Budgets – Yes, all projects have budgets that must be respected and met. However, on small projects there is little or no economy of scale involved from a cost or material use standpoint. Space is at a premium. For instance, a small office may require a similar amount of area given over to stairs, elevators and bathrooms as an office many times larger. Therefore more of the available area is taken up by support features. This is especially critical when the space is being leased and the owner wants to maximize the leasable area without being burdened by complying with the code. This could be a subject all to itself, but when we discuss proportionate costs, small projects seem to be more difficult to solve. After the entire budget is spent on code items and support features, there is nothing left for anything inspirational, let alone functional.

Building Codes – This is another category that has disproportionate effects on the budget and feasibility of a small project. As mentioned above, two required stairs could eat up most of the usable space. Accessibility is another challenge that I’ve struggled with my entire career. It is a real challenge to find resources to renovate small existing buildings when accessible features like ramps, entrances, larger bathrooms, and even elevators are involved. We all support their inclusion, but a fifty-foot long ramp on a $50,000 project is a major difference proportionately than a fifty-foot long ramp on a $50M project. Other issues like dealing with fire separations, fire alarm systems and any other life safety feature poses real challenges if not impossibilities with the smaller project. There are almost no exceptions within the code for the small project. Do we wonder why it’s so hard to get them built and have small businesses invest in architecture?

Public awareness and knowledge of architecture – In response to the “small town” slur, it seems true from my limited and distorted perspective that there is less awareness of architecture and exposure to different architectural expressions in a small town since there is just less architecture and people are more likely to be indigenous. A large city for instance is filled with buildings everywhere and of all scales and time periods. So it is more likely for residents to walk past a great new museum, library or other inspiring work thus broadening their world of vision without showing an interest in the subject. If you are surrounded with Ryan Homes,  the local strip mall and the 1950′s school (in desperate need of renovation) where your kid attends, then it becomes more difficult to have a wider palette of architectural expressions accepted.

Projects and Staff – Small firms must operate lean and everybody is involved in everything. I happen to enjoy this part. However having to manage multiple projects simultaneously requires architects to be efficient, organized and extremely busy. There is simply less time and fee to explore any particular design feature.

Less publicity in magazines – I may take it on the chin for this one. However in all of my years of reading and collecting architectural journals my perception is that there is a large emphasis on star-architects, large firms, large projects and large cities. It’s the small firm, small project and small city that gets the ‘feature’ once or twice a year.  I know they claim that good architecture is good architecture regardless and that’s their focus. However, once you’re a star, you could sneeze on a napkin and they’d publish it as good architecture. (I hope this doesn’t blackball me from the major journals now.)

Big Impact: Let’s not be so blue. I’ve chosen my path so I’m not complaining. I have some benefits that I could never have had when I worked downtown in a larger city. I generally recommend to my students to return to their homes or move to a smaller community and work to make a difference somewhere other than NYC or L.A. There is a large world out there distant from architects and architectural services. They need great architecture too. Since there are less projects going on at any one particular time, a new building or renovation of a building downtown gets noticed by everyone in town. This is something I certainly enjoy and appreciate.

Flexibility of schedule – As a one person office whose studio is part of my home, I enjoy a great flexible schedule. It allows me to teach part-time and spend a tremendous amount of time with my son. It’s important to remember that there are a variety of rewards to this profession besides a paycheck.

Connectivity – I find that in my world I get to be connected to all types of people and economic levels. That’s not meant to be derogatory; it just means we work with more small business owners and homeowners and less Fortune 500 CEO’s, university presidents and government officials. I appreciate the social aspect of my work and being able to be connected to my clients and the contractors who build my projects. In addition to the personal connections, there is a greater involvement with more aspects of the project. As a sole proprietor, I am connected to all aspects of the project. In small firms all team members get to contribute to all aspects of the project. It’s real collaboration.

This is my perception. Tell me I’m wrong, that’s fine. I have no beef against larger firms or larger anything. I am for all architects. However, when someone doesn’t offer the same level of respect, even with an innocent slip, something needs to be politely said. If we truly do our jobs as architects, we’re all big.

photos are from gmarcelo’s stock photo gallery on Stock.Xchng (used under the Standard Restrictions)

would you rather…

work for a star-architect all of your days with no recognition or work towards having your name on the door?

work occasionally on non-glamorous projects that might develop good relationships or have no work at all?

work on a team on a global project that might impact a city overseas or work on small local project with a big impact on your community?

have diverse responsibilities that make each day different or sit at your desk every day doing the same thing?

have a project you worked on be published and be one of hundreds on a team or work for a small office and have a large feature in your local newspaper?

work for a company making a big paycheck doing dull work or work for a company with a small paycheck doing interesting work?

work for a firm that does only one building type or work for a firm that does a variety of project types?

teach someone in your office something new or learn something new on your own?

have a large notable commission with a very difficult client or have a small commission with a really appreciative client?

make a small impact in a big city or a large impact in a small city?

convince a client to finally think and build sustainably and never get any certification or have a client demand for their project to be certified merely because it brings them attention amongst their peers?

work for a global firm and get to travel frequently or work for a regional firm and be home for dinner every night?

work at a place where you’re paid well and hate it, or work somewhere you love where the rewards are other than your paycheck?

work at a place requiring a very early morning commute, or wake your son up every day, eat breakfast together and take him to school, then start your day?

Pardon the hyperbole. I’m not judging you or your answers, nor am I stating these are either-or situations. These are not the only questions, they are just questions I ask myself to keep things in focus.

photos are from grbenching photostream on Flickr (used under the Creative Common License)

As we planned a weekend away, many thoughts came to mind as we gathered our things that we need and prefer to have with us during even our short times away from home. Sure we took clothes and all of those other necessities, but we packed plenty of technology too. We took a three-hour trip which requires things to do for my wife and son. They are both avid readers, but also enjoy video games. So the DS, iPad and portable DVD player were packed. They watched a movie onboard our flight as I piloted our car to our destination. This gives me time to ponder, meditate and dream up more posts for the blog since I prefer to drive. With that list our two cell phones, digital camera and FlipCam struggle to compete as impressive.

As we closed in our own destination I pulled out our GPS to land us accurately at the first stop on our trek. In the old days, my wife navigated for me from a map. For those of you younger than 30, that’s a paper copy of what you see on your iPhone GPS app. Once you unfold it, no one can fold it back again. It still bothers me not to have a good sense of direction of where I am and where we’re going. So I check maps online ahead of time and I tend to use the map mode of the GPS and not that weird mode where it looks like you’re driving into the thing. How does that help? All it tells you is you’re going forward. I also remember the old days where we left an itinerary with the hotel phone number with our parents before we had cell phones.

So as I’m writing this I’m sitting in our hotel room Saturday night using my laptop which we bring along so we can check email on the hotel’s WiFi service. We won’t stay in a hotel unless it offers complimentary WiFi…and free breakfast too (preferably with “make-your-own” waffles). Classy places we choose huh? (Off topic…but did you ever notice that the more you pay for a hotel room the less complimentary services you get… go figure?). I don’t do work on these days off, but when you run your own business, it’s impossible to go for two days without at least checking email. My wife has her digital routines as well.

I say all of this to tie in my week of work…as an architect…where I am using technology to supposedly advance the higher causes of the profession of architecture. Despite using email, PDF files and the web to communicate with contractors and vendors during construction, I’ve been using a few recent projects to force teach myself to use a BIM workflow more (yes Randy, Tara, Enoch, et al). Give me time; it’s a love/hate relationship. I finally got on board with some aspect of “the Cloud” by signing up for a Dropbox account too. I was introduced to it in my role in teaching at CMU. Yet a frustrating trip to a popular cafe for lunch and a bit of work (where I forgot my flash drive) made me realize I needed a better solution for file management and backup. Wow, that’s a lot of technology in a single week for a guy who is most happy with his sketchbook and a wood office pencil.

The final thought as I drink in all of the radical changes occurring in my lifetime is what is it really improving? We supposedly work more productively and share information in split seconds. We can build complex structures that were nearly impossible before because of computational design and hopefully we’re saving the planet from the past bursts of technology. Yet as all of our information is floating around out there in cyber world, I have to wonder about it. I worry about it like we are all like Hansel and Gretel giddy about their find of a house made of gingerbread, candy and sweets while the witch is inside heating up the stove. These are my wonders…how about you?

photos are from Wikipedia (used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License)

“…As the critic Lewis Mumford wrote half a century ago, ““The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is the right to destroy the city.””

I recently read the latest New York Times article by Michael Kimmelman titled, “Paved, but Still Alive.” It is a sobering reminder of how much we’ve covered the earth’s surface with asphalt to make daily life easier. In the article the author references various studies and competitions taken on to address this issue as well as ideas developed by architects and planners to suggest alternative uses for these black top oceans beyond their obvious day job. I recommend reading the article in its entirety, but let me share with you a few quotes from the article that I found profound and interesting. If we can break free from our single-mindedness about how life ought to function based on our pampered way of life in 2012, we can see that finding diverse lives for these automobile napping carpets could not only give them more life, but possibly build community as a result. Maybe some of these ideas are not practical or even feasible, but it is imperative that we think about how we live and what impact it will have on future generations. Ironically, I often hear that we need to make more parking…as if 500 million to 2 billion spaces is not enough.

“The Pensacola Parking Syndrome is a term of the trade used to describe a city that tears down its old buildings to create parking spaces to entice more people downtown, until people no longer want to go there because it has become an empty lot.”

“…the journal Transportation Science has shown that drivers who parked at the first available spot and then walked to their destination on average saved considerable time (never mind savings in gasoline and anxiety) over those who cruised around until a “better” spot opened.”

Some of the additional uses cited in the article…wouldn’t this be fun?

“… farmers’ markets, street-hockey games, teenage partiers and church services… creating lots that function, in effect, as public squares…a hot dog truck had set up shop there. Patrons at a drive-through McDonald’s ate in their parked cars. Truckers slept there overnight.”

“…installing fitness and day care centers, which the postal workers said they wanted, and turning part of the mall over to a nightclub, so that the parties already happening in the lot could move indoors. The lot would get a beer garden, a recycling facility, a used-car business, a hiking trail entrance where the lot abutted protected wilderness and a summer stage that exploited, as a readymade band shell”

Look, these ideas may seem nutty to some of you and the nay-sayers may find fault in the idea or the expense. But I’d bet they’d be the first to line up if something fun was going on there. I remember the days when the owners of classic cars would line the parking lots as the mall was closing. It was a great way to give us high school kids something else to do before we descended on McDonalds. Yet to imagine some of these ideas presented in this article is really amazing. It’s a real ‘lemons into lemonade’ type of thinking.

What do you think? Has your community responded to these possibilities? What have they done? In favor or not “either way it’s a lot of pavement.”

top photo is from drouu’s photostream on stock.xchng (used under the standard image license)

bottom photo is from peejay’s photostream on stock.xchng (used under the standard image license)