my favorite architecture and [non-architecture] bookmarks

i've been working in an architecture office for nine years now, usually at a computer. over that time i've amassed a large number of website bookmarks.  the ones i frequent most usually find their way to my toolbar.  i thought this was a standard practice but apparently i use this feature more than most people as the number of icons on the top of my browser usually draws sarcastic comments from co-workers.

listening to a recent archispeak podcast, the guys mentioned how google has replaced the office library, a spot to find reference materials, standards, details, products and other information. it occurred to me that my bookmarks toolbar had basically become my library; a digital spot i frequent everyday. curious what other architects might have in their "digital library", i thought i'd share my collection of sites.

reference material (stuff i should probably know by now, but don't)

international building code you'd think i would know most of this by heart by now. link is to the 2006 edition which our city still uses....for the next month at least.

2010 ada design standards - more information you would think i would know, but i still find myself double checking myself all the time.

ul fire resistance design wizard - a great way to find fire rated details or an assembly to use.

arcat details, info, products, drawings, overall great site.

revitcity for those few of us still getting use to revit.

profession related (information from great groups i belong to...which is nice of them)

ncarb - a site with wonderful articles related to architecture. also vastly improved from when i was an intern using it to record hours.

aia homepage - just because.

young architects forum their magazine "connection" is amazing, check it out. now.

architecture magazines (those things that sometimes still get delivered by mail)

 

architect magazine - the digital and better version of the magazine...in my opinion.

the architects newspaper - great articles, news, competitions and job postings.

dwell because there's just something about a "dwell" style photograph that makes me smile.

architecture sites (digital eye candy and information)

 archdaily - who doesn't check out this site everyday?

a daily dose of architecture - pictures of buildings that make you go *ahhhhhhh*

life of an architect -  the "fun" uncle of architecture blogging. with his insight and wit it's easy to see why this is such a popular site. he also started #architalks which i've enjoyed being a part of the last few months. *side note, i realize this entire post is similar to one bob does every year, but i thought it was varied enough and offered a different enough perspective to post...hope he thinks so too.

design related (sometimes about architecture but thankfully some other subjects too)

 design taxi - graphics, art, photography....all about design and all of it is wonderful.

design boom - architecture and various other well designed products.

co. design - articles about design and technology that make you "feel" smarter after reading.

 

 

citylab - i could read every article on this site, all day, err day.

music and sound (because sometimes you're a cad monkey and you just need to zone out)

 pandora - sometimes completely random music is fun, even though i think coldplay has a deal with them to play their music no matter what station you have it on. see my post about that here.

the current - the best variety of live internet music i've found on-line.

listen to a movie - just what it is, listen to just the audio of your favorite movies. if you ever find me giggling at my desk, chances are i'm listening to caddyshack.

products (because i can dream about owning fancy, well-designed objects)

swiss-miss - delightful little items, photos, quotes and products from around the internet that make you smile.

hi consumption - stuff i can't afford but love thinking about owning.

bless this stuff - more stuff i can't afford.

podcasts (it's like getting an education while you work)

 achispeak - priceless insight, information and "gen x" humor about the profession. *side note, the "gen x" comment was placed there simply to see if they'd read this.

99% invisible if you care about design at all, listen to this podcast. topics i had no interest in at the beginning end up fascinating me by the end.

song exploder - it's like hearing about how a building goes together, but with great music.

there you have it, a few "books" in my online, digital library.  i'd be curious to any links any other design professionals find interesting, as i'm always looking to add to my ever growing bookmarks toolbar.

what [gear] in history

by some strange series of events, the wonderful people in charge of the wichita riverfest asked me to lead an architectural bike tour last saturday.

i agreed, i mean, why not? i've lived downtown for the past eight years! how hard could it be to talk about a bunch of buildings in front of people?  

i knew some stuff.....

right?

the more i thought about it, the more i realized my "stuff" wasn't exactly what you'd call "facts." i couldn't "bs" the wonderful people on the tour. by some fluke i had been placed in a role where people might actually believe what i say, a position i was not familiar with.  thankfully we live in a modern world with access to the wonderful information available on the internet.  a glorious place where even the most inane mind, can appear wise.

the days before the tour found me scouring the net, searching for details, facts and stories on some of my favorite buildings downtown. between information from the kansas historical registry and some fascinating articles by local historian michael carmody, i was able to piece together enough information to not look like an architectural ass.  thankfully the tour went we'll, and those who rode their bikes down douglas last saturday seemed to enjoy it.

finding all this information fascinating, i wanted to share the few facts i've learned about some of the architecture of our city.  i hope you enjoy!

also, if you have history to correct or add to any of these buildings, please feel free to comment!

broadview hotel

year: 1921

architect: Ed Forsblom

style: ?

notes: named the "broad view" because of the broad view it offered of wichita.  the basement held a speakeasy which could hold 600 people.

century II

year: 1969

architect: john hickman and roy k. varenhorst - both apprentice's to frank lloyd write

style: usonion?

notes: color and shape of pillars meant to mimic wheat stalks and fields. blue doomed roof meant to mimic the vast sky over the prairie

central library

year: 1967

architect: schaefer, schirmer and eflin

style: brutilist

notes: one of only a few buildings in kansas to have won a national award - an aia merit award for library design 1968

wichita city hall

year: 1892

architect: proudfoot and bird

style: romanesque

carnegie library

year: 1915

architect: crowell anthony allair

style: beaux arts
notes: the cities library until the new central library was built across the street

kress building

year: 1929

architect: g.f. mackay

style: gothic revival
notes: one of many kress buildings around the country

caldwell murdock building

year: 1908

architect:

style: early modernism

notes: wichita's first building with a steel structure, making it the cities first "skyscraper." also the tallest building in the city when it was built. built by louise caldwell-murdock in memory of her husband.

douglas building (ambassador hotel)

year: 1926

architect: vizthum and burns

style: chicago school
notes: site of the 1958 dockum sit-in 

fourth financial center (bank of america center)

year: 1974

architect: skidmore, owings and merrill

style: modern

notes: the large reinforced concrete pylons house the fire stairs as well as mechanical and electrical systems.

eaton hotel

year: 1887

architect: terry and dumont

style: late victorian/ 2nd empire

notes: in 1900 carrie nation took and axe to the hotel bar

union station

year:1913 

architect: louis s. curtiss

style: beaux arts

keen cuter building (hotel oldtown)

year:1906

architect: mauran,  russell and garden

style: warehouse

orpheum

year: 1922

architect: john eberson

style:?

notes: atmospheric theatre

scottish rite building

year: 1887

architect: proudfoot and bird

style: romanesque

notes: original ymca

photo by Ty

shake and [break]

if you surround yourself with optimistic and creative people, your life will never be boring.

so far, this year has been somewhat dull. studying for architecture exams isn’t the adrenaline rush one might imagine. i have however been able to enjoy a few wonderful moments with friends and acquaintances at my newly appointed “home-away-from-home” public. enjoying dinner there last friday some very optimistic and creative people who work there asked if i would like to participate in a “harlem shake” video they were filming the next day. knowing i’d be spending most of saturday reading, i felt an hour off for a mental, social, and creative release would be fine, so i agreed. just like watching the videos, the filming was quick, easy, and provided a bit of humor.

now, i’m well aware everyone and their dog has made a “harlem shake” video. it’s a meme, and at this point maybe even a fad, and fads are supposed to be fun. they spread fast because they have the ability to spur the imagination of optimistic and creative people. fads have a quick and interesting cycle. they should be enjoyed, expanded upon, ridiculed, and eventually mocked. enjoyed and expanded upon because they’re a break from the mundane, and ridiculed and mocked because the novelty runs out and they become stale. however you can’t deny what fads do for us. they’re flashy mile markers on the monotonous highway of life giving us a sense of time and place. moments helping us recall when and where we were when something happened. bookmarks in our autobiographies allowing us to look back at our past and say, “crap, I can’t believe there’s video of me dancing around to a stupid song dressed in a teen wolf costume.”

here’s one of my bookmarks, brought to you by optimistic and creative people.

from wichita with [love]

back in april some friends and i attended a workshop put on by the wichita downtown development corporation called "for the love of wichita" hosted by peter kageyama.  to make a very brief summary, the workshop focused on recognizing different aspects certain cities posses making them "lovable".  being grouped by table, which just so happened to be my friends and i, we ran through several exercises, identifying the reasons we loved wichita as well as looking at our city through the eyes of different demographics, taking note of why other groups may like or dislike wichita.

at the end of the workshop each table was challenged to come up with a project or activity they could put on to help spread love in and around wichita.  every table would present their ideas and then all would be voted on by the attendees, with the winning idea receiving $500 to actually fund it.  our group discussed several ideas all focusing on ways to get the most "love" for the buck.  in the end our idea was to use the money to print as many postcards as we could and spread them through out the city, giving as many people the chance to send some wichita love.  the message on the card would be "wichita, wish you were here".  this would allow people to send it to friends and family living elsewhere, or to stores, companies, businesses, or bands who may have never considered coming to wichita.  hashing these rough details out in 20 minutes, we presented our idea.  as fate would have it our idea, as well as two others, was chosen.

that's when the real work began.

we started out with a very simple, romantic idea. living in this digital age, we wanted people to receive something tangible, something that when held, shows time and thought were put into it.  something valuable to send to those you really care about.  as personal, touching, and old fashioned as that idea is, the digital side of us kicked in and we wanted the ability to show the community where all this "love" was ending up.  this led to the idea of creating a website where those who had received cards could upload pictures of themselves holding the card showing everyone where this little tangible piece of wichita love had found them.  the site would be the central place for senders, receivers and other in the community to watch the love spread.  also, as a way to make this project more ingrained within the community and spread the love even further, we wanted the postcards to be available at local businesses.  if by some small chance, people head to a local shop to find the cards, and they happen to stay and purchase something as well, in a very small way, the project would be helping out the local economy as well.

we quickly enlisted the help of some of our highly creative and wonderful friends.  with a graphic designer, web developer, and several others talented people, we set to work.  after hours of volunteered time, talent, creativity, opinions, and leg work, we were able to design, print, and distribute 20,000 postcards as well as develop a webpage for $507.  last week our idea came to fruition, and i'm extremely happy to share it with you all.

so please visit the site fromwichitawithlove and watch all the wonderful places these cards end up.