There was this little patch of gravel in front of the new North Carolina Museum of Art. It’s a lovely field of tiny grey stones that sets the museum off like a pavilion in a Japanese garden. It’s very hard to push a wheelchair through gravel. I wiggled his chair back and forth until we made it to the entry. … Read More
Architecture filters the environment, you know, like a clam
I spent the weekend in Beaufort, NC. I looked over the water, and the marshes, and watched the sun go down over the sound. I watched the fishing boats come in at the end of the day. I felt the wind on my face. I squinted my eyes and tasted the salt in the air. I dreamed about buying a … Read More
Hey Architects, we are all going to die!
. We are all going to die! If you drop a lobster into a pot of boiling water, it’s going to freak out, because that water is hot. And, it’s going to know that it’s going to die. But, put the same lobster into a pot of cold water and slowly heat it up, and the lobster’s just going to … Read More
In tunnels
Tunnels Eventually, you don’t have another choice. You have to dig through the mountain. I bet they’d built the road along the edge of the mountains for years. They took the easiest route, even though it was out of the way. They meandered along, using the indirect path. And, they made a scenic route. They tried to convince themselves that … Read More
Community on a Bridge
I got caught in traffic a few weeks ago. Before the accident, we had been driving for hours. We listened to podcasts. We drank coffee. The kids were watching movies in the back of the van. For hours, we just drove. If we thought about it (which we never do), while we’re driving, we’re surrounded by hundreds of other people. … Read More
Pieces of Chicago
I’ve been visiting Chicago again this week, or at least pieces of it. I lived in Chicago, IL. for about a year just after college. In December of 1991 I met my wife while visiting friends over christmas break. We saw “white dog” at the Music-box and held hands. We went to the Green Mill, and stared at each other over vodka tonics. We … Read More