design, build, learn. repeat.

Terminal Ageusia

I have mentioned before that “the Bad Movie tradition has completely ruined my taste in movies.” However, it does not end there. I am beginning to understand that living in Mississippi is slowly but surely ruining my taste in everything. I have arrived at this shocking conclusion based on a painful assessment of the evidence. The case of bad movies is only the beginning. Watching bad movies for their own sake gradually negates the desire to watch good movies. Why watch a good movie that would require you to think and have emotions, when you can simply watch a bad …

Read more

On Creativity and Productivity

I am writing this now in a website called Dr. Wicked’s Writing Lab, which encourages users to type fast or be subjected to a flashing screen and insistent noises. The point is to force you to stop thinking and start writing, and so far, it seems to work. I end up typing so fast that the reminders are hardly necessary. It’s an experience that makes me wonder about the nature of creativity. When I mention that I work in architecture, people respond, “Oh, you must be very creative,” to which I usually admit, “I’m really not.” In fact, most adults, …

Read more

Moss Point Exhibit, 3

Last week’s Moss Point exhibit was a great success. It was well-attended by city officials and community leaders, designers, and interested citizens of Moss Point and neighboring communities. I took lots of photos, which you can see on Flickr (65 photos). WLOX News did a piece on the exhibit as well. Here’s a quick look at the exhibit and the events of the evening: See the rest of my photos on Flickr (65 photos).

Read more

Carmen’s Dedication

This morning, Hope Force held a dedication for Carmen’s house, which I have been working on over the past year. Thanks to their hard work and the work of Christian Aid Ministries, the house has turned out very well. Carmen, her husband Clarence, and their children are very happy! The house has a ramp that zig-zags up to a wide front porch, a spacious living room with an adjacent kitchen, and a hallway that leads to the three bedrooms and two bathrooms. See more photos from the dedication on Flickr [19 photos].

Read more

Moss Point Exhibit, 2

As part of the upcoming Moss Point exhibit, I’ve been working on five renderings highlighting various aspects of the plan for downtown Moss Point, Mississippi. It took about 50-60 hours to get them ready; I used color pencils combined computer renderings produced by Seth. There’s a lot of energy going into this exhibit, so we hope it will be well attended! See the Sun Herald article for more information. Without further ado, here are some of the images: A section-perspective cut through Moss Point’s downtown, through the waterfront and the new City Hall: A view of the proposed civic and …

Read more

Moss Point Exhibit May 7 – June1

This is Your Downtown: The Future of Downtown Moss Point, Mississippi An exhibition from May 7th to June 1st, 2009 4836 Main Street, Moss Point, MS The vision for downtown is clear: a place where people can enjoy the beauty of the Escatawpa River, where locals and visitors can live, shop, and dine, and where modern facilities host the center of civic life and public services. The people of Moss Point, its leaders, and teams of architects, planners, and engineers have been working to make that vision a reality by improving waterfront parks, creating public buildings to make the city …

Read more

Kimbell Art Museum

While in Dallas for the Structures for Inclusion conference, we made a field trip to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, designed by Louis Kahn; one of the greatest buildings by one of the greatest architects of all time. The art was nice, but the building is the real star. Visit my Flickr page for more photos! It’s easy to appreciate what makes the Kimbell great: its simplicity. A simple form (the barrel vault) is repeated throughout the building. All of the different spaces (galleries, patio, foyer, portico) are created through variations on this form. A restrained material palette …

Read more

AmeriCorps

I recently suggested the AmeriCorps program to a friend who needs a way to explore what she wants to do next in life, and help others and support herself while doing so. It’s not always well understood; before I came to Mississippi, I didn’t even know what AmeriCorps was. AmeriCorps is a government program that supports national service in the United States, much like a domestic Peace Corps. Just days ago, on April 21, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, increasing the total number of positions from 75,000 to 250,000 by 2017. AmeriCorps members do not …

Read more

The Trace – Building a Neighborhood

My updating has not kept up with the progress on The Trace. This is the 28-house Habitat for Humanity neighborhood that Kristen, Sam, Nadene, and I worked on from August through November of last year. Thanks to the effort Habitat has put in over the last nine months, the neighborhood is nearly complete. All it needs is some landscaping work and, of course, people! The certificates of occupancy have been delayed while Habitat waits for the City of Long Beach to approve the neighborhood plat, so nobody has moved in yet, but twelve families have already been selected for houses …

Read more

And… I’m Back!

Once you stop writing for even a couple days, it’s easy to fall into that bad habit. Life has been eventful recently; there’s plenty to write about, if I can get around to it. There was my parents’ visit in February, a great architecture conference in Dallas called Structures for Inclusion, and more discussions about the mission and values of the GCCDS. Carmen’s house has made a lot of progress, as has the Trace, which is turning out to be a wonderful project. Spring in Biloxi brings all kinds of excitement: I flooded my car in a ditch, saw an …

Read more