I took the picture on the left of L’Enfant Plaza on the Green Line in DC. It reminded me of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal that used to be at JFK Airport (or Idlewild Airport, as it used to be called.) Concrete is definitely not one of the more flexible building materials and it doesn’t look too pleasing to the eyes either, but these two public spaces look great. They have their own elegance through their simplicity, something made the wouldn’t be achieved with paint or subway tiles. There’s very little color in either of the places, just light, concrete, the bare essentials and design. It’s so functional, yet sleak, I found aesthetic value in that even though the DC subways remind me of George Orwell’s book 1984. I kept picturing Winston riding the rails on his way to the factory in the morning.

La prévoyance est meilleure conseillère en hiver...

Je ne sais pourquoi mais j’adore cette citation de Philippe Bouvard : « Le refus de la vieillesse et de ses atteintes passe par deux constatations subjectives: les gens parlent de moins en moins distinctement, les escaliers ont des marches de plus en plus hautes ». J’avais déjà traité cet aspect qui caractérise si bien Montréal, ses escaliers. Je récidive. À la veille de l’hiver, déjà à nos portes, ces escaliers nous seront d’un précieux secours, s’ils sont bien entretenus, ou d’une profonde frustration, s’ils sont négligés. C’est binaire. La neige peut bien avoir ses aficionados il n’en demeure pas moins qu’elle crée des soucis à plus d’un. Dont le soussigné. Dans le but unique d’attirer votre compassion sur ma modeste personne, je vous invite à bien examiner chacun de ces escaliers et de vous imaginer par une température de -10 degrés centigrade devant fouler un beau tapis blanc de quelques centimètres. Tapis qui, bien évidemment, dissimule à notre œil distrait une mince couche de glace. Que du bonheur. Beaux rêves!

(N’oubliez pas de cliquer sur les images)

Force est d'admettre que le style cède le pas... à l'utilité

Jolies spirales en perspective...

Un beau quatuor dans un futur concerto hivernal

Un duo souverain et magnifique qu'il faudra surveiller... cet hiver

Résolument moderne et fier. Prêt pour les intempéries hivernales?

Rigueur et discipline. Au pas cadencé... malgré tout?

Une certaine bourgeoisie qui a vu neiger... plusieurs hivers

Confusion ou fusion... escalier ou pinces à linge?

French-based manufacturer Bleu Nature created these beautiful modular wall panels by gluing leftover wood pieces to a layer of particle board. Looks almost like a home-made cork board!

Some random industrial building. I like the panels on the outside.

I just learned that a winged ram is called a Criosphinx. Krio’s Greek for Ram. <<glossary>> <<webster>>

Library Of Congress, Jefferson Building.

The Bob White Covered Bridge is an 80ft. truss construction bridge crossing the Smith River in Patrick County, Virginia and built in 1921.
© 2009 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used…(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

These are some pictures I took of The Capitol when  I was in DC this weekend. This building is amazing and breath-taking.  It reminds me of the cathedral Antonin Gaudi design in Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia. When I saw that church up close, I literally was in awe. The same thing happened when I walked up on The Hill, this building is massive.  I there right before sunset, the first pictures are from the south, then then east and some really nice sunset pics from at the front of the building, at the west. There are some Monument pictures too (I kept thinking about that Forrest Gump scene for some reason.)

Ross Lovegrove is sui generis in the world of designers.  His idiosyncratic approach to product design is organically breathtaking– fluid in appearance, and revolutionary in composition.  He describes himself as “an evolutionary biologist, more than a designer.”  This quote coming from one of the few sources I could find information on this incredible innovator, in an interview with Design Boom.

The following video is his presentation for TED, (which we recently wrote about here at Innovate). It’s a fantastic talk, but don’t get too sidetracked by the fact that there is a lot of focus on chairs!  (It’s more about the design process and materials, rather than the object itself).

Two items conspicuously missing from his talk are his Alpine Capsule and Solar Trees:

The Alpine Capsule is an off-grid, sustainable, futuristic cabin, if you will. Created as “simply a way to place people in the extremes of nature and its wonders, whilst retaining the maximum of comfort…space technology not in space, but on earth.”¹ The Capsule is meant to be a sanctuary within nature,  transparent from the inside looking out, but reflective of its surroundings on the exterior.  Learn more about it here.

Street lamps are often a dull affair, and Lovegrove’s Solar Trees are a welcome aesthetic antidote to humdrum street appearance.  ” The Solar Trees communicate more than light… they communicate the trust of placing beautifully made, complex natural forms outside for the benefit of all of society”  Read further at hg.hu.

image via Lisa Town

image via hg.hu

¹from interview in Clear magazine, issue 33

*Apline Capsule images from Dezeen.com (Design Magazine)

Depuis quelques jours, l’équipe technet US à mis en ligne un ensemble d’article orientés IT Pro sur SharePoint Foundation 2010 (ex WSS 4.0) et SharePoint Server 2010.

Ces articles sont une amorce à la future documentation officielle autour du produit. On en retrouve pour toutes les phases de conceptions (ceux qui connaissent le framework MSF ne seront pas destabilisés !) :

• Evaluation
• Planification et Architecture
• Développement
• Déploiement
• Administration et exploitation

A vos bookmarks !

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Stained-glass windows inside the basilica in Kevelaer, Germany.

Being a tour guide at Trinity Church has its many perks. However, becoming one is a grueling and arduous, but intellectually rewarding journey.  Trinity’s docent undergo a 10 week training course during which one is expected to master the art and architectural history of one of America’s most beloved buildings. Surrounded by H.H. Richardson’s massive Romanesque interior, John Lafarge’s awe inspiring murals, and some of the country’s finest stained glass windows, one of my life long dreams came true on Wednesday November 18, 2009.

Pulitzer Prize winning critic Paul Goldberger, former architectural critic for The New York Times and author of several books including On the Rise: Architecture and Design in a Post-Modern Age and the latest Why Architecture Matters elated (at least I was ecstatic) an audience over 100 people with a lecture titled Architecture, Spirituality and the Challenge of Modernism. Goldberger spoke of the sacred and how it relates to modern architecture and relied on Trinity Church several times  as an example of a building that is “fresh and vibrant [which] transcends our normal sense of time.”

According to Goldberger, architecture must express what is not material, that is, the idea of God. This must be achieved by using the physical to express the transcending. At Trinity Church, Richardson was able to create a work of art by inventing new ways for buildings to inspire and move us. It is a space where time loses its fleeting momentum and grounds each and every one of us who experience its seductive and sumptuous interior.  What architecture has done is to establish a connection between everyday life and the sacred.  Who are we to say that Saarinen’s 1954 Kresge Chapel at MIT, or Safdie’s Class of 1959 Chapel at Harvard Business School or Le Corbusier’s Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp are not sacred places? In the end, what makes a space sacred depends on who is feeling the experience. The same way we all experience a building, we can also be moved by it in different ways.

As to the challenges of modernism? Aesthetics have become indistinguishable from the sacred and as an example; Goldberger spoke of Kahn’s Kimball Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas as a model of how art institutions have become the emblems of cultural aspirations. These institutions have chosen to attract the beautiful rather than the divine (to illustrate this point, Goldberger questioned whether the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston is considered a sacred place, to Mrs. Gardner it may have been, to others, it may just be another museum).

As a student and a professional, I have been delighted to meet and take classes with well respected scholars in the field of art and architectural history. Having attended this inspiring lecture by Paul Goldberger was not only a dream come true, but it gave me a reason to continue writing, learning and being a critic. Thank you Paul!

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Second in my series of people photography!!  Now, I know I said that the Mexico series was done with, but, surprise!  More Puerto Morelos pics!  Were these strategically saved for this series or did I just forget to put them with the other series?  You’ll never know.  Anyhoo, its fun to photograph kids doing their kid-ly things.  They always seem so completely absorbed in what they are doing and bring such a fun, carefree-because-they-don’t-have-bills-to-pay  feeling to the photo.  I find that looking at pictures like this always makes me remember how much I liked to do (blank) when I was (blank) years old, long before medical school sort of owned my soul.   

So, this boy and girl were playing in the sand on the shore by the Puerto Morelos pier in Puerto Morelos, Mexico.  They are in front of the original lighthouse that was transformed into the Leaning Lighthouse of Puerto by Hurricane Wilma.  Since it’s more or less non-functional now, there is a new lighthouse a bit further back from the shore.  It is much taller and, personally, if I were a sailor, I’d be glad Wilma killed the old short lighthouse so that I could guide myself home with the more modern upgraded model.

The photo was taken with the Canon Powershot G7.  I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to adjust the contrast a bit and to bring out the slightly sepia tones in the picture to help create a more nostalgic feel and to highlight the angle of the sun.

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Natural Retreats awarding winning design residences are set in the hills of Yorkshire UK.

Each 3 double bed/3 en-suite timber clad cabin sleeps 6 + has been designed to integrate pure sustainable technologies wherever possible.

Recycled insulation, rainwater harvesting, natural spring water hydration, solar glazing, 100% renewable energy, local wood burning + low energy lighting plus more make this a zero carbon emission retreat.

From the green building fundamentals, to the open plan aesthetics + surrounding scenery this spot in the Dales is a truly innovative UK holiday opportunity.

A place to kick back and relax.

To book contact Natural Retreats through The Modern House for rates + fares.

This is the building and University next to it, the architecture is beautiful and had a real sense of history to it.

Click on thumbnail to visit B&W Gallery

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