Nahant Beach Reservation

Nahant Beach Bathhouse, Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

If Revere Beach Reservation became the playing ground for Boston’s working class during the early 20th century, Nahant Beach was Revere’s direct opposite. The increasing patronage at the bathhouse at Revere Beach led to the acquisition of Nahant Beach by the Metropolitan Park Commission. Unlike Revere Beach, the architecture of Nahant Beach Reservation is ostentatious and highly sophisticated, reflecting the social classes of the beach’s surrounding towns.

 Located in Essex County, Nahant Beach catered to the upper class residents of Boston’s distinguished North Shore who were building their lavish estates in Beverly, Manchester by the Sea and other coastal communities. The architecture of Nahant Beach reflects the influential wealth associated with these people as well as the influence of New York masters like McKim, Mead and White and Carrere and Hastings on Stickney and Austin.

Refreshment and Waiting Room, Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

When the Metropolitan Park Commission took possession of the Nahant Beach Reservation, it contained a high number of privately owned properties which sacrificed the beauty of the beach. These proprietors were notified to vacate their buildings in order to demolish or removed them and “convert the land into a public park.” Nahant “was the most popular resort on the coast, and was the home of so many distinguished men that visitors to the [Nahant] hotel were attracted from all parts of this country as well as from foreign lands.”

William Austin designed “an attractive building for the Lynn-Nahant Beach Bathhouse” which was completed “in time for use during the summer of 1905.” It opened “as a branch of the Revere Beach Bathhouse” and “excellent service was maintained…and the patronage was generally satisfactory, considering the coolness of the month of August [of 1905].” The scale of the Bathhouse is grand and its importance and opulence is emphasized in the Beaux Arts tradition of Carrere and Hastings. The building’s core activities are organized around two hipped roofed towers each flanked by an arcaded loggia following in the footsteps of Carrere and Hastings’ 1887 Ponce de Leon Hotel and 1888 The Alcazar Hotel, both in St. Augustine, Florida.

Nahant Beach Police Station, Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

Other buildings in Nahant Beach include the Refreshment and Waiting Room, the Men’s and Women’s Sanitary and the Police Station. The Police Station at Nahant Beach recalls McKim, Mead and White’s Naugatuck National Bank of 1892-1893, in its brick and limestone trim, both a simple rectangle with bold decorative details at the windows and cornice. The scale these buildings in contrast to the Bathhouse for Nahant Beach is significantly reduced to emphasize the grandness and importance of the Bathhouse which like Revere Beach, must have been the focal point of the Reservation.

Nahant Beach Women's Sanitary, Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

The architecture of Stickney and Austin for the Metropolitan Park Commission played an important role in reflecting the ideals and social classes of the time in Boston. It remained democratic in the sense that the poor and working class could relate to the surroundings and the architecture as is the case of Revere Beach. By examining the driving influences behind the work of Stickney and Austin for Nahant Beach Reservation, the case speaks in favor of Boston’s upper class for whom the architecture reflected the opulence, pomposity and grandiosity present in the works of McKim, Mead and White and Carrere and Hastings. Stickney and Austin proved with their work for the Metropolitan Park Commission that they could design in a variety of architectural styles capturing the vision of Charles Eliot of designing buildings and their surroundings as one harmonious composition.

When World Shelters and The Turning Point Foundation teamed up last September to revitalize the River Haven community we were there to capture the moment.  Several hundred volunteers came together to build nineteen structures.

Revere Beach Reservation

Revere Beach Bathhouse, Courtesy: Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

In a review of Italian Gardens by Charles A. Platt, Landscape Architect Charles Eliot writes that “our public has still to learn that only by designing buildings and their surroundings as one harmonious composition can a happy result be secured in either the formal or the picturesque style [of landscape design].[1]” The review best captures and reflects the ideals of Charles Eliot and his interest in architecture enhancing and complementing the natural environment. Eliot believed that ordinary citizens were the guardians of natural scenery and that they should consider themselves true trustees of nature.[2] As a fierce advocate for open spaces for the enjoyment of everyone, Eliot believed that his work with a public commission should and would benefit all levels of society including ‘the common people’, ‘the ordinary people’, and the ‘crowded populations.’[3]  In 1893, as a result of his tremendous vision, the Metropolitan Park Commission was established, launching in local stardom the careers of two extraordinary architects, Frederick W. Stickney and William D. Austin.

The scholarship on the work of Stickney and Austin for the Metropolitan Park Commission is lacking. Their work in designing facilities for recreation in the metropolitan areas of Boston played a role in reflecting the ideals and social classes of the time. Through the examination of the possible driving influences behind the work of Stickney and Austin for Revere Beach Reservation, much light can be shed into the men behind the architecture and the people who sought leisure in these places.

The Metropolitan Park Commission originally consisted of 12 cities and 24 towns which comprised the metropolitan area of Boston.[4] In a letter written to Governor Russell in 1890, indicating a pressing need for open spaces and of the possibility of a metropolitan system of parks, Charles Eliot urged the governor to include remarks on metropolitan parks in his forthcoming address to the 1891 session of the General Court[5]. The eloquence and persuasiveness of Eliot led to the creation of the first metropolitan system of parks in America.[6]

As a landscape architect and consultant to the Commission, Eliot believed that one of the first goals of the Commission was to make the acquisition of ocean areas a priority.[7]Revere Beach, just north of Boston, became one of Eliot’s first successes with the Commission of which he commented “the present condition of this beach is a disgrace.”[8] The Metropolitan Park Commission not only did manage to protect and preserve the natural scenery of Boston, but also commission Stickney and Austin to design facilities which further enhanced and harmonized with the surroundings, reflecting the social classes of Boston for whom these public lands were set aside for.

For the architecture of Revere Beach, Eliot envisioned “a row of buildings which most eventually face the public beach throughout its whole length and should compelled to conform with exactness to this long and grand sweep.”[9]

Revere Beach Police Station, Stickney and Austin. Courtesy of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

Stickney and Austin designed eight bathing pavilions, a Bandstand, a Bathhouse, a Police Station, and the Superintendent’s House. The architecture of Revere Beach reflects the influence of the Italian Renaissance Revival which evokes “a Mediterranean flavor for this seaside reservation.”[10] One of the first buildings to be completed at Revere Beach was the Bathhouse which opened in time for the summer season.[11]  “The gigantic bathhouse to be put up for the accommodation of the bathers at Crescent Beach” soon became one of the grandest and most celebrated buildings on the reservation.[12] The first of three buildings planned by the commissioners for Revere Beach, it was constructed of brick with terracotta trim and terracotta tile roof topped with an elaborate, multistoried windowed cupola. It contained a central administration building, an office, a laundry, a steam plant, a toilet room, and a detention area. Unfortunately, the bathhouse was demolished in 1962 to make way for a more “modern” facility which was in turn demolished a few years later for a highway.

Superintendent's House, 1905, Revere Beach. Courtesy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Conservation and Recreation Archives

The Police Station at Revere Beach, completed in 1899, follows the Italian Renaissance Revival influence observed in the Bathhouse. Designed with an imposing 62-foot campanile bell tower used to survey the beach, the Station also featured an arcaded brick façade, a granite base course and molded terracotta tile caps for the roof.[13] The development of Revere Beach as a reservation for the people represents a change in America in the beginning of the 20^th century which is reflected not only in the social class that frequented the Beach, but also in the buildings of Stickney and Austin. The result of “developing the public property for the advantage and comfort largely of the poorer classes” is in recorded in the large number of the working class who resorted to Revere Beach to enjoy the outdoors.[14]

The architecture of Stickney and Austin is best summarized in an article published in the Boston Daily Globe in 1895 in which the newspaper praises and refers to The Norman School Building in Lowell, designed by the firm as the “envy of all of Massachusetts.” The Globe writes that “Lowell will have one of the best equipped normal school buildings in the State.”[15] It is clear that the author was praising the school building as one of the finest in the state, even at its initial stages of design, but the artistic skills of the architects behind the building place Frederick Stickney and William Austin among the finest architects in the state of Massachusetts in the first part of the 20^th century.

Both of these architects were graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture and had been exposed to the works of Stanford White, Peabody and Stearns, Hartwell and Richardson, and Carrere and Hastings as well H.H. Richardson. As architects, Stickney and Austin not only managed to designed most of the structures for the Metropolitan Park Commission, but also for the City of Boston, shingle style houses in Maine and mansions for the wealthy in Long Island. They proved with their work for the Metropolitan Park Commission that they could design in a variety of architectural styles capturing the vision of Charles Eliot of designing buildings and their surroundings as one harmonious composition. Their architecture reflected the social classes of the time and at Revere Beach this is captured in the massing of the structures and the grounded “feeling” projected in the Police Station and Bathhouse. Revere Beach was the ultimate destination for the working and poor classes of Boston while Nahant Beach, another reservation acquired by the Commission became the destination of Boston’s upper class.

(Nahant Beach will be discussed in the next post)

This post was adapted from a research paper I wrote on the architecture of Stickney and Austin for the Metropolitan Park Commission. The seminar which inspired the topic was on the architecture and planning of Boston taught by Professor Keith Morgan at Boston University.

[1] Charles W. Eliot, Charles Eliot: Landscape Architect (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), 549.

[2] Leah A. Schmidt, Images of America: Revere Beach (Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 11.

[3] Keith N. Morgan, Introduction to Charles Eliot: Landscape Architect, by Charles W. Eliot (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), xxxvi.

[4] Norman T. Newton, Design on the Land: The Development of Landscape Architecture (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1971), 330.

[5] Ibid, 323.

[6] Ibid, 323.

[7] Leah A. Schmidt, Images of America: Revere Beach (Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 11.

 [8] Charles W. Eliot, Charles Eliot: Landscape Architect (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999)

 [9]Ibid, 535.

[10] Keith N. Morgan, “National Register of Historic Landmark Nomination Form Revere Beach Reservation,” (National Park Service and the Massachusetts Historical Commission, December 18, 2000), 19.

[11] Ibid., 19.

[12] “To Accommodate 1000,” Boston Daily Globe, March 12, 1897, 2.

[13] Leah A. Schmidt, Images of America: Revere Beach (Portsmouth, NH: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 11.

[14] “Boston’s Park System,” Boston Daily Globe, June 4, 1895, 8.

 [15] “Finest in the State,” Boston Daily Globe, June 30, 1895, 24.

check out this new networking site, its like facebook for architects, and of course im on it already! it has only just been launched and has already attracted thousands of architects and designers looking for what is hot and who is hiring. Members from all over the world can upload images of projects that they have just completed/working on. check it out! ARCHITIZER

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for their new – building, rightfully wanted something creatively progressive, suggestive, and unique. In comes the “forward designing” architect Frank Gehry.  This building is Gehry to the enth degree. 

Obviously an interesting structure that demands multiple glances.  Gehry, famous for his sweeping metal buildings that seem to take musical flight, with this project has gone one step further. A mix of traditional stoic brick, interspersed here and there, strategically off set the more predominant jutting and swooping metallic sections that evoke futuristic spaceships, that makes for easy art. Although, at a certain point the abundant amalgam of angled and curving metal shapes with protruding windows becomes a bit overdone and tiresome to the eyes. This is design excess as excuse for masterful architectural creativity . The building as a whole embodies unnecessary artsy details turning the avant-garde into the new art deco. This is not to say the idea on a whole is not beautifully conceived, yet small detail which look beautiful on paper, seemed overplayed when produced on the large scale.  

Let us hope the interior is more easily navigated than the outside suggests.  Next we will here that the outside shapes are actually a result of the inside functions. Or that the wild mish moshed design of past and future is actually conducive to the work MIT would like to encourage from it’s students.     

On top of all that, the building leaks. The school has found that the structure may not be as sound as the architect would like to imagine his reputation is. One might make that assumption by just looking at the overstated achievement. Lets hope where the building leeks, it does not allow for holes in the work it aims to inspire. Sometimes less is more…

Mission Hill Mural

Since its settlement around 1629-30, immigration has dramatically altered Boston’s built environment, shaping the city as we know it today. The impact of immigration on the development of architecture in the metropolitan region of Boston is reflected in the city’s distinct architectural fabric and planning patterns. The influence of immigration from abroad, migrations within the United States and the migration of populations across Boston from the initial settlement until the 21^st century is not only reflected in the city’s unique development patterns, but also in the character of many of Boston’s neighborhoods. The aspirations and realities of the immigrants that arrived from abroad as well as those that migrated from other parts of the city and country are traced in the architecture of Boston.

Like the Irish who have migrated from one neighborhood of Boston to another, the African American Diaspora migrated from the Southern part of the country to the North where they settled on the north slope of Beacon Hill. The African American community succumbed to the economic pressures of Beacon Hill and relocated to the neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan, but not without leaving their imprint on the Hill. The African Meeting House which was built by free African American artists and the Abiel Smith School serve as testament to the powerful impact of cultures and immigration on the architecture of Metropolitan Boston.

Islamic Society and Cultural Center of Boston

The 20^th century witnessed the fall and rise of neighborhoods like Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan with the influx of immigration from other parts of Boston and the revitalization of Boston Main Streets. Although populated predominantly by African Americans, these areas of Boston have become increasingly culturally and economically diverse. As recent as 2008, the Islamic Society and Cultural Center of Boston opened its doors in Roxbury, standing as a symbol of Boston’s ethnically-diverse communities.

The Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mission Church)

Another example of an immigrant group who left their mark on Boston’s architectural heritage are the Germans who settled on Mission Hill in Roxbury.  Mission Hill gets it names from the architectural gem that sits on top of one of the hills, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The church stands a testament of the impact of immigration in Boston.

Designed by two New York architects, William Schickel and Isaac Ditmars, “Mission Church” as it is commonly known, was built by the Redemptorist Fathers who were of a German Catholic order in 1874-1878. It is a handsome Romanesque Revival structure with Gothic elements on its exterior. The church is constructed of Roxbury Puddingstone, the official state rock of Massachusetts. Its interior is grand yet elegantly restrained, surrounding its users with a golden shimmer radiating from the octagonal cupola and the numerous stained glass windows.  

Mission Church - View looking West, Octagonal Lantern

Mission Church has been ‘rediscovered’ with the recent passing of Massachusetts’ Senator Edward M. Kennedy. On a tour of the church, sponsored by Discover Roxbury, a local non-profit organization, I learned that people have flocked from all over the country to experience its architectural grandeur and beauty.

Boston’s patterns of immigration have impacted the development of architecture and planning to the extent of evoking the aspirations and realities of those who have settled in the city and its metropolitan region. Neighborhoods like the South End and Jamaica Plain have witnessed an influx of new Americans coming from the Caribbean; in particular Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. These New Bostonians have already left their mark on the city’s built environment, most notably in Villa Victoria, a section of the South End whose architecture is a coherent compromise between American Modernism and Puerto Rican Vernacular.

Daniel Burnham, visionary behind the World’s Columbian Exposition and The Plan of Chicago, said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably will not themselves be realized.”  And so I begin my exploration into Chicago’s Architecture with a huge undertaking indeed: discussing the 1909 Plan of Chicago.

At the turn of the 20th century, Chicago was still a relatively new city.  It was first incorporated not long before in 1837.  As you can imagine, going from a population of just 3000 in 1837 to nearly 2 million in 1909, much of the city was put together in great haste (and not great planning) to accommodate the influx of people into the city.  A plan was needed to put some order to Chicago’s chaos.

Intersection of Dearborn and Jackson Streets in 1909

The Merchant’s Club and Commercial Club of Chicago combined forces towards this goal and chose architect Daniel H. Burnham to lead the project.  A force  of charisma with the heart of a business man, Burnham was key to managing the project and popularizing it among the people.  For help designing and implementing the Plan he chose Edward H. Bennett, formally trained in architecture at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts in Paris.  Bennett’s classical training and Burnham’s preference for classicism is clear in the resulting plan, nicknamed: “Paris on the Prairie”.

Luckily Chicago did not end up looking just like Paris as Burnham wanted and instead boasts  one of the most architecturally diverse skylines in the world.  But many of the important ideas of the plan were implemented and some are still being worked out today.

Not wanting to go into too much detail, I’m just going to point out some of my favorite elements of the Plan, like the:

• Improvement and Public Reclamation of the Lakeshore.  Despite a document dating back to 1837 which decreed that Grant Park remain “Public Ground – to remain forever open, clear and free or any buildings or other obstruction whatsoever,”  it and the adjacent lake shore land has always been threatened with development.  The Plan was key in making sure that today both Grant Park and the lake shore is kept undeveloped.  Today of the 29 miles of lake shore property, only 4 miles are privately developed.  The only threat today: Mayor Daley fighting to move the Children’s Museum into Grant Park.
• The Widening of Michigan Avenue.  Michigan Avenue wasn’t always as lovely as it is today.  Though many fine cultural institutions, clubs, hotels and offices had moved in after the Great Chicago Fire, the street was still made out of dirt and very congested.  According to the Plan, Michigan Avenue was paved and widened – only then did it become the impressive boulevard it is today.
• Expansion of the Emerald Necklace.  Based on John Wright’s 1849 plan, William Le Baron Jenney–father of the skyscraper–began developing a series of parks that made a ring, the Emerald Necklace, around downtown Chicago: Douglas, Garfield and Humboldt Parks with connecting boulevards.  The Plan helped to further develop the parks and expand the connecting boulevard system.

Below are a couple of examples of Jules Guerrin’s drawings of the 1909 Plan (which I happen to think are truly fabulous).

I just singled out a few ideas out of an entire book of ideas.  One element that was seriously lacking from the final Plan were ideas on social reform within the city.  Though Burnham wrote extensively on this subject in his first draft, somehow they were omitted from the final copy.  Where the Plan was successful was in ideas for BIG infrastructure improvements – some of which are still being worked out today.

I’ll end with one of my favorite examples on how we’re still building on Burnham and Bennett’s Plan: Smith and Gill’s idea for an Eco Bridge that would both look to the past in completing the last major recommendation of the 1909 Plan, while also looking forward in turning it into something environmentally savvy.

Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill's plan for an Eco Bridge

For more information on this Eco Bridge visit Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill’s Website:  http://www.smithgill.com/#/work/chicago_eco_bridge

Showroom Manager Julia Brown traveled to Europe recently and found some random design in Barcelona she wanted to share.

So it’s been like a year since the Altamont never say die, and Despised Icon and Architects are back, with new albums to showcase, and a host of new deathcore bands. As expected, all the usual Manchester scene kids were out in force, and the room was pretty much full of new era caps and adorable scene wiggers. I also loved the way that this year on top of the usual crop of standard deathcore acts they added both Horse The Band and IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, to add a more spazzy, synth fueled element to the proceedings. Both have also been at some point or another “my favorite band”, so finally having them in England on the same tour was a bit of a godsend for me.

The Ghost Inside got things rolling pretty solidly, with very generic, yet tight deathcore tunes that got a few people hxc dancing and moshing. Nothing memorable in anyway, but as an opener, pretty much ideal. [6/10]

Oceano on the other hand were definitely a cut above generic, their massive sounding rolling assault sounding just as powerful live as on CD. Tight as hell, and the lowest, slowest most stomach churning band of the night, they delivered a set that can only be described as “big”. Adam Warren screamed, squealed and growled through with frankly scarily deep vocals. His gigantic dark form pretty much a perfect vessel for Oceano’s massive stage presence. [9/10]

I was so syked for IWRESTLEDABEARONCE that I don’t think anything they did would really disappoint me. And while they did play a decent enough set, with all the cool songs I know and love them for, and Krysta Cameron can both sweetly sing and scream proficiently just like on record, I felt a little let down by the sound. Maybe they didn’t get enough time to sound check or something with all the other bands tonight, but with all the natural chaos and spazzy riffs in their songs, and a muddy guitar tone, it all felt kina sloppy. This, and the fact that I always felt they suited the electronic/programmed drum sound from their EP, than the organic approach from after when they found a real drummer. I heard from the scene that the new drummer refused to play an electronic kit, which is a shame, cos it suited them much better, or at least better than the drum sound that night and on anything they recorded post EP. [7/10]

Horse the Band on the other hand also seemed to suffer from the same muddy sound problem that IWABO also had, although they were tighter, which then again is probably to be expected as their stuff isn’t quite as tech. Apparently this wasn’t a good night to be a synth-spazzcore band. They did however, put on a far more interesting show, though their general witty stage banter, and the presence of Napoleon Dynamite on the keys. Hella fun to watch, and ending on Cutsman, I certainly wasn’t complaining. [8/10]

As Blood Runs Black were pretty much exactly as I expected. Tight, heavy, brutal, and kina generic. Kids love em though, so obviously they got a great reception and played a sick set. Oh yeah, and now they have a new singer, and (female, WTF!) guitarist. I’ve never seen them before, so I can’t really compare, but they were tight enough. Good, but definately not noteworthy. [7/10]

Despised Icon took to the stage in a flurry of wigger hand gestures, caps, and basketball shorts, and tore though an impressively tight set. Alex Grind is definitely one of the most underrated drummers ever, cos that man can blast like a threshing machine! As always, “In the Arms of Perdition” came out strongest, everyone shouting “GO!” on cue and pitting the hell out of the place. The tightest breakdowns of the night, obviously, and with a wonderfully crisp clear bass drum tone. I know a lot of people have a problem with their rapper like gestures, but I think it makes for a hell of a stage presence! [9/10]

Architects are fun live, and pull off enough crazy stage antics to really get a good reciprocal reaction from the crowd. Yeah, they’re probably not as heavy as most the other bands playing, but on sheer energy they more than make up for it. And to be fair, its a really good ending to a night of similar sounding breakdown laden deathcore. Plus most of the crowd seem to know them well enough to get some really good sing along responses. [9/10]

Eyelicker

The move from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Lafayette, Indiana is complete (more or less). Colorado Springs is a beautiful place to live and I wouldn’t have moved if I could have stayed. Here is why I moved:

As sole proprietor of a CAD consultant company I call CAD Directions, I have been providing services to the architectural community since 1994. With over 30 years Architectural CAD experience I provide an array of services.

Highlights from the last couple of years:
-    As production draftsman: Produced architectural construction documents for several buildings including an 84,000 sq. ft. school on the north side of Colorado Springs.
-    As 3D Modeler: Created several 3D computer models including the 21 building Health Sciences Center located in downtown Philadelphia for Temple University (I had previously done the same for their main campus.)
-    As delineator: Provided many photo-realistic computer renderings, including animations and shadow studies for several clients ranging from a home owner in California to a land developer in New Jersey.
-    As programmer: Provided custom AutoLisp programming for a cabinet designer in Colorado Springs.
-    As teacher: Furnished custom AutoCAD and Revit training.
-    As CAD Manager: Setup CAD standards and procedures for an interior design company and an architectural firm in Colorado Springs.
-    As BIM expert: Assisted a Revit professional in California who required help in refining prototype families for architectural product manufacturers.

You can find more information about me and the services that I can provide at my web site:

http://www.caddirections.com/index_old.htm

Last year (2008) was my best year ever. But this year my business got slower and slower until by October, it had slowed to to the point where it was practically nonexistent. Having lived off my credit cards for a couple of months in the vain hope that work would pick up, I finally had to swallow my pride and accept my daughter’s offer to move in with her in Indiana. So my wife and I, along with my father-in-law and his dog are all now happily living with my daughter and her husband in Lafayette.

Even though I do work for Architects and designers all across the USA most of my work for the last few years has been for local Colorado architects. I have started cold-calling all of the local architects. First I called all the architects in and around Lafayette. Lafayette is about half way between Indianapolis and Chicago so I have started calling the architects in Indianapolis. I’ll call the Chicago architects next.

The good news is that I have met a local architect who has offered me a contract to produce a set of drawings for him. I start tomorrow. I have also talked to an architect in Indianapolis who is giving me a contract pending his client’s signing off on the project. And I have a meeting on Wednesday with another local architect to discuss possible opportunities.

Every year my office, Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects, has a Holiday party. During which people dance, eat, and have fun, but the principles also say a little speech about each of the employees and give out Cutso-wear. In the past we have gotten tote bags, vests, hoodies, jackets, hats all with a little saying / motto. This year we received personalized insulated coffee mugs and a bag of coffee, and to me this was the best Cutso-wear yet. I say this not because I like coffee, I actually do not drink the stuff, but because of the graphical representation and execution of the project. Each of the three principles is depicted on the mug and coffee bag looking like Juan Valdez. The bag is layed out like a title block on our drawings.

I am very happy to work at a firm that does this kind of thing for their employees. It is not something they have to do but want to do to show us their appreciation.

How well do you know London? I’ll freely admit, in my case, the answer is not well.  Sure I have my own little hangouts, but the East of London is pretty much terra incognita.  Save for the odd trip to City Airport, London pretty much finishes at Tower Bridge.

So the other week I broke new ground by visiting the Design Museum for the Dieter Rams exhibition, Less and More.  Rams was Head of Design at the German firm Braun. Whilst I’ve never had much time for Braun, it’s clear to see the huge influence he’s had on the modern homes electronics industry.

One floor down, and slightly more pleasing to the eye, was the David Chipperfield Architects’ Form Matters exhibition.  I could happily spend my life surrounded by architectural models and design plans.  It’s just a shame I don’t have any artistic ability myself.  But I’m not the only one….

Not far from the Design Museum must be London’s most hideous hotel. If ever there was an example of why we should make architects criminally responsible for their mistakes, the Guoman Hotel Tower Bridge is it.

Nestling behind this monstrosity lies St Katherine Dock, a pleasant corner of London that I never new existed.  Maybe it’s time I started to explore new ground and look behind ugly hotel façades.

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norstone works closely with Architects whose projects include, Schools, Commercial, Retails Shops, Office Buildings both Internal and External landscaping designs to achieve a modern contemporary elegance.

The first 6 Months of operations has seen the Company Focus on the Architectural space. This has involved detailed discussion at a planning stage with an assortment of projects usually with a 4 to 8 Month lead time.

When asked about the level of enquiries in recent Months, Jack Jago said, “There has been an increased inquiry level from Architects/ Project Managers since July 2009, with commencements in the second quarter of 2010 and we expect to be involved in a number of them”.

The Ellis’ are holding their final open house before they move onto their new home. Please join us to see the Ellis Residence at substantial completion.

Over the weekend, we finally did what we wanted to do ever since we got the house – we knocked down the mudroom in the back. We had some room left in the waste bin and the first snow storm was just around the corner so we knew it was now or never. With BJ’s help, we took turn and tool it down in no time. As it turns out, destroying something is a lot more fun than constructing something. We think Hayley just found a new calling in life. She sure knows how to handle a crowbar. A side note, we finished mudding and started sanding the upstairs bedroom. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.