I ♥ Finnish Design

I think it is safe to say that everyone who spent last summer in Finland in our program is nostalgic about it this summer - all of us keep posting about memories or reunion ideas, places we want to go back to - and now I'm realizing there is so much more to see. I discovered the firm of Lassila Hirvilammi this morning, and after my obsession with the churches we saw while abroad, I'm definitely wanting to return to Jyväskylä to see this one:

Kuokkala Church, completed 2010

I just think no one quite does it for me like the Finns...

Home + Architecture

After spending an amazing few weeks in Nepal, I returned to the hot/humid weather that defines summer in DC and thought to myself, "you're crazy, go home!" - which is exactly what I decided to do for the month of July. A last minute flight and a few days later, I'm settling in to the California lifestyle, which so far has consisted of moving in with my brother in Encinitas, reading a book for pleasure (crazy I know!), going to the beach, and a daily run or bike ride. Not too rough...

I am also really glad I took a definitive break from school, because now that I'm back in California and feeling refreshed, thesis is actually starting to become something I'm excited about. I haven't officially begun looking for a site yet, but over the weekend I walked along the coast for a while, and the ideas definitely started forming.

In addition to the bumming around SoCal for the month, I'm also excited to find out there are some cool exhibits, etc. happening this summer while I'm home. Somehow I usually miss things I'm interested in being on the wrong coast at the time (like Dwell on Design that was the weekend before I decided to come home). However, just got an email from LA Forum, and I'm really looking forward to the

Lewis.Tsuramaki.Lewis exhibit at the end of the month - 4 Projects: 4 Scales. The firm is out of New York, and our CBDS undergrad group permanently carried around their book last semester which I came to know and love. Excited to see some of their work first-hand.

I'll take this Bachelor (Pad)

I need to go to sleep, but drooling over this home in Brooklyn. Found via DesiretoInspire.

Designing through Metaphor

Yesterday's CBDS feedback completely opened our eyes to new possibilities with our building. It's incredible what the shifting of a few blocks of wood can do to push something in an entirely different direction. One of the comments we got was to look at Steven Holl's MIT dorm for its use of subtractive form. And, of course when I went to his website, I was sucked in to the amazingness which is Steven Holl for an entirely different reason. As I was looking through his master plan for MIT and the dormitory photographs, I read one of the press clippings that commented on how Holl tends to develop mythical or metaphorical reference that guides him through the design process. I certainly was seduced by his metaphor of a sponge (porosity) connecting campus housing:

And also for the dorm itself as a series of lungs that allow light and air to pass through the building:

All images from Steven Holl Architects.

Light and Shadow

Continuing my desire for some sunshine (it's freezing right now in DC!), and in the midst of trying to start thinking about thesis research, I'm thinking about the play of light and shadow. Most of my friends at school know about my obsession with lighting (thanks Aalto), but I also love the play of shadow created by manipulating form - and here's a pretty amazing example from a temporary "hotel" on the coast of Finland (what can I say, my summer there has stuck with me).

This rug is also pretty reminiscent of the one designed for my parents' house...

All images from ArchDaily

An end to Finland

I've experienced so much this summer, and looking back on my blog, I feel I have captured so little.  I guess that's what happens when you squeeze an entire semester into 3 months, a 6-credit studio course into 3 weeks.  But the experience did not feel compressed.  What I have failed to do is write about the places I have seen.  We did a day trip to Tallinn, Estonia - some of the craziest pairings I've seen of old and contemporary architecture.  I squeezed in a weekend trip to Stockholm - a city I know I have to return to someday, as I feel I just glimpsed its potential.  I could have spent the weekend alone at Woodland Cemetery.  As the Finland Summer Architecture Institute came to an end, the 3 Catholic guys and I stopped in London for a few days to end our summer trip.  I started the summer having no interest in staying in London, thinking I'd take the Chunnel to Paris, or fly to Ireland.  With finances ridiculously low, I decided to stay, and what I discovered was a city I could be tempted to live in - even after just three days there.  


I realize I will never be able to "catch up" here with what Finland was about, and since I'm no Austen, I'm sure I would never be able to really do it justice either.  But I have definitely taken a part of Finland home with me.  The culture, the landscape, the architecture, the spirit of place.  Surprisingly, I am feeling rejuvenated and even inspired to start my next semester of grad school.  I am looking forward to the challenge and discovery this new year holds for me.


So, I'm going to try to make a resolution.  I want to write more often on this blog.  It is probably just for me, because I swear even my family doesn't read this any more.  But I hope to continue to write here.  Document what inspires me, what I am thinking - whether design-related or not.  I think our summer studio left that impression on me.  Maybe this is my version of a scriptorium - my way of committing pen to paper - well, you know what I mean...


And since I'm referencing my final project, below are my final boards.

The Third & The Seventh

I should probably be asleep getting a good night's rest before I'm back to school tomorrow, but my brother sent me this architectural video today, which I really enjoyed (and felt like a cool and/or nerdy architecture student as I identified all the buildings ;) ):

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo

Now, I have no intention of creating films this semester, but it definitely inspired me to get out my camera and start shooting again.

See this Film!

As the semester is winding down, I've become more of a procrastinator, making time for more and more non-school related things lately. Tuesday night I went to see Visual Acoustics at the Landmark, and all I can say is if you have any interest in photography, Californian architecture, or old men that are total characters, you have to see this film. So inspiring and a great reflection of Schulman's work.

Architect Inspiration

My Friday studio ended early as we were invited to join another studio's lecture by local architect Mark McInturff. While I have never really considered myself to be interested in residential design, within minutes I was captivated by Mark's presentation and his thoughts on approaching architecture. He also has done several projects in Georgetown, so of course I was sitting there trying to locate the homes from my memory of the outlying residences.

Firstly, I was reminded of my summer 504 studio, in which we each had to design a form with one of four concepts: rotation, shift, extension and intersection. Similarly, Mark has his own set of conceptual words such as separating, sizing, stacking and sleaving - but what he does is use these words to integrate the old (house) with the new (additions). It was pretty incredible to see his process as often times he's taking a historic row house that's almost 100 years old, and fusing it with something extremely contemporary. His design approach definitely underlines the importance of reuse, and I think my heart fluttered when he said his favorite thing to do was design something tiny (now if only he could impart some of that wisdom on the residents of Orange County - a few of my parents' neighbors come to mind...).

I came home completely inspired and had to peruse his website so I could take another look at some of his projects - which I have now "borrowed" to show one of my favorites...

The house is literally steps from Georgetown's campus, above the Exxon station on M St. and the "Exorcist Stairs."

The remodel led to an amazing view of the Key Bridge stretching over the Potomac.

You would never know this house looked like this from the front - it's a row house that blends in with all the others on the block (okay, I also think it has a more contemporary paint palette, but still...).

Mark McInturff is a visiting professor at Catholic, and apparently he, in conjunction with another professor at school, teaches an advanced studio in the fall that has a week-long "field trip" to another country to study historical architecture and how it has been incorporated into the modernized city. Definitely a course I'll be hoping to take while here.