Every Monday morning, team members in the Philadelphia and Princeton offices gather together via video-conference to discuss firm news and upcoming events and projects. Since 2003, founding partner Allan Kehrt, FAIA, has delivered his Monday Morning Musings, weekly slices of personal insight into the design profession, to the firm. To comment on any of his posts, send an email to us. We look forward to hearing from you. |
| June 30, 2008 PV It seems as if the time for solar cells has finally arrived. The United States started pushing research on the technology earnestly after the last energy crisis in the 1970s, but the economics of it didn't work until recently. Even though in some cases it is still hard to justify economically, the tide is turning. The industrial response has been extraordinary. Photovoltaic cell production has increased on average around 48 percent per year since 2002, and demand is increasing even faster. There are almost 90 petawatts that reach the earth every day from our nearby star--almost 6,000 times our current needs and enough energy to meet humans' requirements for generations to come. PV companies have seen their stock prices double and even triple in the past year as investors get on board, a positive sign that this is no longer a fringe market. Of all the alternatives to oil, this is by far the most promising, made possible by that wonderful yearly free trip around the sun. |
| June 23, 2008 Patron There is a loose quad on the MIT campus defined by three wonderful 20th-century buildings. The two that define the northern and eastern edges of this space are the Kresge Auditorium (northern) and the MIT Chapel, both designed by Eero Saarinen and dedicated in 1955; each has recently achieved 50-year status. To the south is Baker House or the Baker Dormitories designed by Alvar Aalto and built in 1948. These three buildings are architectural classics; buildings that contributed significantly to the development of the modern movement in America by introducing major European talent to the American architectural community. The collection of these three buildings in noteworthy proximity to one another was the singular achievement of The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and set the stage for more noteworthy work by a major American institution. If you walk a few hundred feet to the west, a new building of significance comes into view: Steven Holl's Simmons Hall, the $200,000 a bed sponge that MIT built in 2001 as a recent significant addition to the campus. The contrast in architectural styles could not be more striking. But perhaps more important is the contrast in architectural values, the earlier buildings with their humanist values and the later with singular artistic ones. The values of the first three have already endured over a half century while the latter has struggled through seven years of controversy and criticism. Any bets on the next 43? |
| June 16, 2008 SKP I had the opportunity to spend some time with the head of the Design Industries Program at Eastman Chemicals a couple of weeks ago. His position was created to bridge a gap between the design community and one of the largest United States chemical manufacturing corporations. His position was self defined to overcome what he defines as the "SKP problem" that exists between designers and his industry. It is a problem that he has watched grow in significance as more and more sophisticated materials are developed whose properties and appropriate uses are not being communicated to potential users. It may be found in all aspects of the design community, but is particularly serious in the architectural profession, whose lack of knowledge about the range of available options was instrumental in his naming the issue SKP after the call-outs architects were using for "some kind of plastic". There is a lot to be learned. Without being overly commercial, some fun stuff can be found at www.innovationlab.eastman.com. |
| June 9, 2008 19.20.21 There is an effort commencing to examine the implications posed by the extraordinary projected growth of the world's cities within the coming century. The effort is the brainchild of Richard Saul Wurman, author of Information Architects (a book that rivals Edward Tuffte's in terms of presenting information wonderfully) and founder of the Technology, Entertainment and Design, or TED Conference. (It's worth a look at: www.ted.com.) The issue of the growth of our cities is based on the understanding that during the 21st century, there will be 19 cities with populations that exceed 20 million; hence the name of the project, 19.20.21. This is such an unprecedented event that we understand neither all the issues that must be defined and examined, nor their implications. For architects it will probably mean both extraordinary opportunity and challenge, and as the designers of the future, we should understand how this growth may affect our world. Although the effort is just beginning, given his interest and success in the presentation of information, Wurman and his collaborators should make the findings of their five-year effort understandable. See www.192021.org. |
