Architecture and...

My Generation.

There will always be shifts in who our leaders and clients will be.  Currently, we are seeing a shift in that the decision makers are in my own generation.  But it is just as true that this will shift again in time.  We, as architects, are a service driven industry.  As our clients change, so must we.  Cue The Who song...

"People try to put us d-down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)."

The Who, My Generation.  

We were in our staff meeting and our longest tenured partner was entertaining the staff with a PowerPoint presentation outlining the distinguishing features between the various generations represented by the employees in our office. There has been a shift, of course, in the almost 40 years he has been with RLPS. The firm began with the Silent Generation, not only for our original partners but for our clients as well. 

The Baby Boomers, the group to which the presenter belongs, has been at the helm of the ship for some time now.  The characteristics provided by the study included optimistic, confident and goal-driven.  About 28% of our 75 staff members currently belong to this group.  Mostly positive traits were conferred on this generation, raising my suspicions as to which group the author of this study belongs.

Then to my Generation, which got shafted with the singular letter X designation.  Also called the MTV generation (which isn't much better) Gen X makes up another 25% of our staff.  Our traits are somewhat burdened by our experiences as latch key kids, but we also are shown to be way more comfortable with change and diversity than our predecessors.

June 9, 1997 cover of Time.  One of the first articles that said, "Hey, maybe they're not ALL bad".

And last but not least, the Millennials, where our office has seen a large bump in population in the last few years specifically, accounting for over 46% of the current staff makeup.  Along with negatives like fickle and lazy, they also called optimistic and socially and environmentally conscious.  This mixed bag of traits may become more definitive over time.  This generation will surely mature into itself, just as my own generation did, as referenced in the Time Magazine article from 1997.  But I think we can agree that Gen X has been kind of the middle child, situated between Boomers and the Millennials.

For the last two-and-a-half years, ever since the first baby boomers started to hit 65 -- which they will continue to do at a rate of 10,000 a day for another 16 years or so -- media attention on generational change has tended to focus either on them or on the socially tolerant, liberal-leaning politics of 20-somethings, or millennials. Generation X has been an afterthought. Which pretty much figures, given how its members have always viewed their inattentive treatment by society at large. Yet it is members of Generation X who are coming into full maturity and thus leaving their stamp on community life.

Bob Gurwitt

Governing.com May 2013 Article accessed 03.04.16

How Generation X is Shaping Government

The point of our partner's presentation was to summarize some of the characteristics of each generation to show how we can complement each other and work together. Many of the buzz words used to describe each generation surely came from noteworthy sociological articles.  Though by definition they are generalizations, the terms seemed pretty spot on, at least when I thought in terms of myself.  For Gen X the descriptions listed were: adaptable, independent, prefers to work alone and cynical.  But when he came to one term for Gen X, our partner asked the group what it must mean: “hesitant to share”.

I happened to be in the front row, and as he looked around the room his eyes fell on me.  So I responded.  As opposed to a reluctance to share our toys, I said "I think we're slow to share emotionally".  Being a father to two Gen X'ers himself, a look of realization came over his face.  But he must have thought I could articulate the reason for such hesitance as a representative of my group.

"Why do you think that is?" he asked.

It came to my lips so fast, there couldn't have been any thought getting a laugh. Not even for someone like me who uses humor as a coping mechanism.

"I would rather not say."

Hmm.  Some generalizations may just hold true.

This post is part of the ArchiTalks series in which Bob Borson of Life of an Architect selects a theme and a group of us (architects who also blog) all post on the same day and promote each other’s blogs. This month’s theme is "Architecture and…" which either left a lot to the imagination or allowed me to shoehorn the topic I was already thinking about into this post.  A lot of other talented writers who also are architects are listed below and are worth checking out:

Marica McKeel - Studio MM (@ArchitectMM)
Architecture and Photography
Jeff Echols - Architect Of The Internet (@Jeff_Echols)
Architecture and a Future Without Architects
Lee Calisti, AIA - Think Architect (@LeeCalisti)
architecture and __
Lora Teagarden - L² Design, LLC (@L2DesignLLC)
Architecture and Travel
Jes Stafford - MODwelling (@modarchitect)
Architecture and Gaming

Eric T. Faulkner - Rock Talk (@wishingrockhome)
architecture and m&ms
Rosa Sheng - EquitybyDesign [EQxD] (@EquityxDesign)
Architecture And the Era of Connection
Michele Grace Hottel - Michele Grace Hottel, Architect (@mghottel)
#ArchiTalks 18: architecture and... the bigger picture
Meghana Joshi - IRA Consultants, LLC (@MeghanaIRA)
Architalks 18: Architecture and Mathematics
Michael Riscica - Young Architect (@YoungArchitxPDX)
Architecture and Yoga
Michael LaValley - Evolving Architect (@archivalley)
Architecture and Ego / The Architect's Unique Struggle with 'Good' Design
Sharon George - Architecture By George (@sharonraigeorge)
Architecture and Kids
Emily Grandstaff-Rice - Emily Grandstaff-Rice FAIA (@egrfaia)
Architecture and More
Jarod Hall - di'velept (@divelept)
Architecture and the Myth of the Master Builder
Jeffrey A Pelletier - Board & Vellum (@boardandvellum)
Architecture and Interior Design
Samantha Raburn - The Aspiring Architect (@TheAspiringArch)
Architecture and Wrestling
Keith Palma - Architect's Trace (@cogitatedesign)
Architecture + Memories
Adam Denais - Defragging Architecture (@DefragArch)
[#ArchiTalks 18] Architecture and Strange Travel Etiquette
Collier Ward - One More Story (@BuildingContent)
Architecture and Storytelling
Amy Kalar - ArchiMom (@AmyKalar)
Architalks 18: Architecture and ... Parenting
brady ernst - Soapbox Architect (@bradyernstAIA)
Architecture and Ego
Greg Croft - Sage Leaf Group (@croft_gregory)
Architecture and Real Estate

Architectural ABC's - Part Four of Four

Part Four:

Let's just say I didn't think this series out fully.  The final three letters were the most challenging, as any elementary school kid could have guessed.  These aren't quite as traditional as the previous terms, but they did teach me a lesson (literally and figuratively).

Although architects may know these terms and even use them often, the history and source of these terms in relation to their modern usage was in fact an interesting journey for me while researching them.  Aside from their alphabetical first letter, there was neither rhyme nor reason as to their selection, other than the etymological ancestry.  Here are X, Y and Z.

Xeriscaping - is a landscaping method that originated in Colorado.  The term derives from the Greek word 'xeros' which means dry.  The point of xeriscaping is to provide attractive landscaping that does not rely on irrigation.  I happened to have been introduced to that term years ago working on a project in Boulder, Colorado.  At first I thought I was hearing zero-scaping, but that was just a result of my own hearing loss - it does not mean plant less. It may have started in dry climates, but the concept is a valid part of best design practices for any climate.  Make use of rain runoff and use hearty plants that can use the runoff instead of piping in water.  Design credit: Martin/Martin Engineering in Colorado (www.martinmartin.com).

Vegetation is concentrated where the water will go.

Plants are hearty and drought resistant and provide visual interest even at dry times. 

Yoke  - is the top rail of a double hung window sash joining the two side rails or a pipe fitting that combines a drain pipe to a vent pipe.  The term is related to wooden beam used to pair two field animals to enable them to pull in unison.  A pair of oxen can be called a ‘yoke’ of oxen.  Many languages have words stemming from the animal related definition, including German, Latin and Greek.  A “yoke” that is an archaic unit of measurement is actually the amount of land that can be cultivated by a pair of oxen.  These units of measurements are also derivative in many languages.  They are notably described in the Great Survey of much of England in 1086, called the Domesday Book.

This member is more commonly referred to as a top rail.

The vent pictured is called a yoke vent.  Illustration Credit:  McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. 

Zamboni - okay, this is a stretch.  But my other options were ziggurat and zigzag; and for word origins Zamboni is way more interesting.  The word for that awesome between-the-periods entertainment at a hockey game comes from Frank Zamboni himself.  According to the company website (zamboni.com) Frank developed his namesake machines to resurface ice after working in both the auto repair and refrigeration business.  In the 1940's, ice skating was very popular and there was a real need to smooth out that ice after tons of teenagers scuffed it up.  The prototypes used tractors and Army surplus gear.  By the 1950's, he was on his way, selling to both the ice skating rinks and NHL for hockey, eh?

The first patent for an ice resurfacing machine.  Source: zamboni.com.

So there you have it.  Architecture terms A-Z.  If you missed the previous editions of this series, just go to YeomanArchitect.blogspot.com and keep scrolling backwards.  To learn more, use one of my sources:

Dictionary.com

Dictionary of Architecture and Construction

myEtymology.com

Wikipedia.org

Zamboni.com

All photos and diagrams are either my own or, to the best of my knowledge, fair use under U.S. copyright laws.

Architectural ABC's - Part Three

Part Three:
Although architects may know these terms and even use them often, the history and source of these terms in relation to their modern usage was in fact an interesting journey for me while researching them.  Aside from their alphabetical first letter, there was neither rhyme nor reason as to their selection, other than the etymological ancestry.  Here are 'Q' through 'W'.  Any help on X, Y and Z would be appreciated.

Quoins – are the expressive corner pieces in masonry wall.  They are often ‘faked’ in contemporary architecture using coated foam shapes.  Originally they were a legitimate reinforcing technique to support corners of walls that were spanned between with thinner stones.  In the Renaissance, quoins became exaggerated in order to impress upon the onlooker a feeling of strength.  Its origin is the same as the English word ‘coin’, both coming from the Latin ‘cuneus’ for wedge, or wedge shaped stone.  I guess you can say one is the cornerstone of an edifice, the other is the cornerstone of a free democracy.

Quoins on both corners at this intersection in Rome.

Reglet – is a linear architectural trim piece.  The term is often used when it involves flashing, or shedding of water from one surface to another.  The word is derived from the Latin ‘regula’ meaning straight edge.

The reglet here is along the rake, transitioning between stucco and metal flashing.

Scaffold – is a raised platform often seen used in the present participle of “scaffolding”.  Prior to its common use as a work surface for people and building materials working on architectural endeavors, it was commonly used to refer to the raised platform for the execution of criminals.  Earlier origins may be in the Italian word catafalco, which was the wooden framework supporting the coffin or body of a person during a funeral.  Maybe that is why erecting scaffolding is so darn expensive, because in the past, it was literally your last stop.

Scaffolding used to lay up masonry in a stair tower.

Terrazzo – is a flooring material made from chips of marble and granite set in a binder that is polished to give it a very smooth finish.  Many schools and public buildings have these floors because they last nearly forever and are abuse resistant.  The word terrazzo literally means “terrace” and the latin root terra means “earth”.  Invented by Italians to be a low cost alternative to stone slab floors, it is now a very high end material in terms of cost.

Used in schools because of its bullet proof nature, this is the school I went to 30 years ago, exactly the same today.

Urn – this form is found in Federal and Georgian Revival styles of architecture in decorative treatments in wood façade features as well as other decorative carvings in buildings.  The urn was very popular in furniture making in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and as the two fields shared woodworking crafters, it may have migrated.  Urns symbolize immortality and the word comes from the Latin ‘urna’ for earthen vessel for ashes or water.

The urn often makes its way into the pediment, as in this example from downtown Lancaster.

And another here.

Vinyl – what architectural materials cannot be made of this stuff?  Most commonly, building materials are made from PVC, or polyvinyl chloride.  But who knew that the word origin of vinyl comes from the Latin ‘vinum’ which means wine because of ethyl alcohol’s role in the chemistry of it.  The word as we know it originated with German Chemist Hermann Kolbe in 1851.

Vinyl can do a lot of things - here is is shown on the inside and outside of the building at the same time.  It can look pretty convincing and also meet fire ratings and smoke spread requirements. 

Wainscot – or ‘wainscoting’ is the paneling on an interior wall, typically on the lower portion and today for aesthetic purposes only.  The term in its current use has been around from the 1500’s, but the term may come from the Low German ‘wagenschot’ in the 1300’s – having to do with wagon and coach building from boards used for paneling.  I’ve come to realize that almost everyone has their own pronunciation for this word.

Some of the nicest I've ever seen in a skilled nursing facility, wainscot can really set off a room.

Resources:

Dictionary.com

myEtymology.com

Wikipedia.org

Next:  Part 4, X Y and Z

Architectural ABC's - Part Two

Part Two:
Although architects may know these terms and even use them often, the history and source of these terms in relation to their modern usage was in fact an interesting journey for me while researching them.  Aside from their alphabetical first letter, there was neither rhyme nor reason as to their selection, other than the etymological ancestry.  Here are 'I' through 'P'.

Incandescent – As in the light bulbs quickly receding into obscurity; incandescent comes from the Latin incadescere, to glow white.  Electrical current runs through a wire filament at a high temperature in order to produce visible light.  Over 20 inventors of incandescent lamps are recognized prior to Thomas Edison, however, he included his lamp in a viable system able to provide electric lighting to towns.  The term can also be used as an adjective to describe many architects.

Edison's patent for the light bulb.

Jalousie – A type of window or shade that is made from overlapping, angled slats of wood or even glass.  Pronounced Jal-oh-SEE.  The word literally means ‘jealousy’ in French.  Seems to be a reference to the ability to look outside without being seen, in order to guard your possessions.  It won't meet any energy conservation awards, however.

A Jalousie window we used to have in our house.  Jealous?  No.

Knob – as in door.  Probably from Low German ‘knobbe’ for a knot in wood or perhaps a knoll, or isolated, round hill.  I try to avoid grassy knolls myself.  And book depositories. Dead as a door knob takes on another meaning in architecture, because door levers are the standard for accessibility, and knobs are more rarely used in commercial buildings.  Kentuck Knob, a Frank Lloyd Wright home in Western PA, is an example of the round hill definition.

A nice door knob in Murano, Italy.

Kentuck Knob is built just to the side of the hill, rather than on the hill, in typical Wright fashion.

Lintel – a load bearing member across an opening in a wall, regularly seen in a door or window.  This word derives from the Latin ‘limen’, which means threshold.  This is very nearly the opposite of a lintel in architectural terms, one above a door and the other below – curious.

You can see concrete lintels over three openings in this CMU wall.  Often the structure is hidden.

Exposed lintels can be extremely decorative, such as this example from Duke Street in Lancaster. 

Mortar – the mixture of cement and lime that binds bricks and other masonry units together.  This seems to derive from the Latin ‘mortarium’ or a bowl for mixing or pounding.  Interesting that the product was named after the vessel in which it is mixed.  And that thing on your head at graduation? A mortar board.

Bags of Type S Mortar on site.  The mixing vessel can be a wheelbarrow or a specialized mixer, seen in the background.

Nogging - This is not binge drinking too much of the yule-tide beverage.  This is the infill of brick or sometimes other building materials in half-timber construction.  Sometimes it was intended that this be plastered over, other times it remains exposed.  A 'nog' in old English is a wooden block or similar that is of the same size as a brick, unassumingly used as infill.  Also, in naval architecture, nogging is the act of maintaining the shape of the hull of the ship while it is being built, similar to shoring.

Brick nogging in half-timber framework.

Oculus - this means 'eye' in Latin.  It is an architectural opening most commonly thought of at the top of a dome, but can also be in a wall.  The Romans, unsurprisingly, used this feature often, and it was used heavily in Renaissance churches.  The plural is oculi.

One of the more famous oculi - in the roof of the Pantheon.

Portland Cement - is not named for either of the Portlands in the United States, but is actually named for a type of stone, Portland, quarried in England.  Modern cement was developed at the end of the 1700's and is a critical ingredient in concrete, but of course the Romans had it figured out in the B.C.'s or else the Pantheon would not still be here.  Portland cement reacts with water to harden, it does not 'dry out'.  It is a chemical reaction that will take far longer than the 7 or 28 day strength tests often used in construction.  Most Portland Cement was imported from England to the US until companies in Michigan and Pennsylvania began producing it in the late 1800's.

Mercer Castle, or Fonthill, was built in the early 1900's for the tile maker in Doylestown, Pa.  

Walls, roofs. window frames & mullions, and stairs are all made of concrete, possible because of Portland Cement.

Coming soon:  "P through W"  Should be interesting.

Architectural ABC's - Part One

Do you know the origins of these terms?  Although architects may know these terms and even use them often, the history and source of these terms in relation to their modern usage was in fact an interesting journey for me while researching them.  Aside from their alphabetical first letter, there was neither rhyme nor reason as to their selection, other than the etymological ancestry.

ANSUL – A combination from the words Anhydrous Sulfur Dioxide (SO2).  This fire extinguishing chemical is synonymous with any commercial kitchen installation to architects.  The chemical compound was also used as a fruit preservative and refrigerant in earlier years.  The Ansul Company was named as a defendant in a 2005 lawsuit regarding the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.  Don’t spill any of that on the grill.

A typical ANSUL suppression system over a commercial kitchen grill.

Bariatric – From the Greek roots:  bar- (meaning weight); -iatr (meaning treatment); and –ic (pertaining to).  The term originated in 1965 and has in recent years become prevalent in health care architecture regarding patient rooms and spaces for the treatment of obese patients.  Specialized lifts and furniture along with larger spaces for patients are included in “Bariatric Rooms”.  Many facilities provide at least one or two bariatric rooms in each new wing to be built.

Ceiling lifts and the removal of barriers are typically addressed in rooms to serve Bariatric patients.

Caisson – From the French word for ‘box’ or ‘case’, in architectural terminology, a caisson is a deep, drilled footing or foundation system as opposed to a spread footing.  They are used where there is poor soil or high risk of turning due to seismic activity or in very tall buildings.  Maybe it comes from the need to find a big box of money to pay for them.

Cross-section of deep foundations.

Decibel (dB) – Strictly speaking, a decibel is a logarithmic unit used to compare two values of power or intensity.  In architecture this is most commonly sound intensity.  Deci- denotes a factor of one tenth and –bel is used in honor of Alexander Graham Bell, as the term originated to signal loss across telegraph and telephone circuits.

Various sound sources and their intensities.

EPDM rubber – Ethylene propylene diene monomer.  An elastomeric, synthetic rubber perfect for roofing.  Also a good insulator and chemically and thermally stable, it is also used in sealants and gaskets in the automotive and aviation industries.

A sheet of EPDM roofing.

Flue – The opening in a chimney to direct exhaust from a fireplace of some other combustion source.  This term likely comes from Middle English ‘flewe’ meaning a mouthpiece for a hunting horn, or Olde English ‘flowan’ or to flow.  Or both, no one seems to know for sure.

A cross-section of a chimney and flue.

Galvanic action (or corrosion) – This is a chemical process named after 18^th Century Italian physician Luigi Galvani.  Galvanic action occurs when one metal corrodes another metal in the presence of an electrolyte.  Salt water or acid rain provides the electrolyte in most architectural corrosive environments.  Architects must be careful in the placement of dissimilar metals if exposed to the exteriors of buildings.  Galvani discovered the process by making dead frog’s legs twitch.

The bolts are a dissimilar and non-compatible material to the metal it is fastening, thus the corrosion.

HEPA filter – High Efficiency Particulate Arresting filters are those that remove 99.97% of particles measuring 0.3 microns from the air passing though.  The original HEPA filter was developed for the Manhattan Project in order to prevent radioactive particles.  Probably didn’t help much when the bombs were detonated in the open air.  It is now a generic term but was a registered trademarked in the 1950’s.

An example of a HEPA filter.  Normally many times thicker than a traditional filter.

Next up:  "I through P"

Birthday Reminders

Need a reminder to get a birthday gift for that special architect in your life?  Feel free to import into your Outlook calendar.  Included on the right of their names are some of the seminal works, along with some of the photos I have collected along my travels.

January

Victor Horta                       1.6.1861             Belgian Art Nouveau designer of Hotel Tassel

Julia Morgan                      1.20.1872           American designer of Hearst Castle and estate

February

Alvar Aalto                         2.3.1898             Finnish International Style designer of Finlandia Hall

Paul Williams                     2.18.1894           African-American designer of the Theme Building at LAX

Loius Kahn                         2.20.1901           American designer of Salk Institute

Kahn - First Unitarian Church of Rochester

March

Mies Van Der Rohe           3.27.1886           German-American designer of The Barcelona Pavilion

Van Der Rohe - Barcelona Pavilion

April

Peter Behrens                     4.14.1868           German designer of The AEG Turbine Factory

Julian Francis Abele          4.30.1881           African-American designer of Duke University (then white only)

Behrens - AEG

May

Benjamin Latrobe              5.1.1764             British-American designer of the US Capitol

Gordon Bunshaft               5.9.1909             American modernist designer of Lever House (and best name ever)

Walter Gropius                  5.18.1883           German (and later American resident) leader of the Bauhaus

June

Charles R. Macintosh        6.7.1868             Scottish designer of the Glasgow School of Art

Frank Lloyd Wright          6.8.1867             American designer of Fallingwater and Guggenheim

Antonio Gaudi                  6.25.1852           Catalan designer of the Church of the Sagrada Familia

Gaudi - Segrada Familia

July

Philip Johnson                  7.8.1906             American designer of the Glass House

Inigo Jones                       7.15.1573           English neo-classicist designer of the Queen’s House

August

Charles Bullfinch             8.8.1763             American designer of University Hall, Harvard

Robert Mills                     8.12.1781           American designer of the Washington Monument

Eero Saarinen                   8.20.1910           Finnish-American designer of Dulles Airport Terminal

Mills - Washington Monument

September

Sir John Soan                   9.10.1753           English neo-classicist designer of Bank of England

H.H. Richardson              9.29.1938           American designer of Trinity Church, Boston

October

Le Corbusier                    10.6.1887           Swiss-French designer of Villa Savoye

Christopher Wren            10.20.1632         English designer of St. Paul’s Cathedral

Le Corbusier - Unite d'Habitation, Berlin

November

Andrea Palladio               11.30.1508         Italian Renaissance designer of Villa Rotunda

Palladio - Villa Rotunda

December

Gustave Eiffel (Hon.)      12.15.1832         French Engineer making the list for his Tower

Josef Hoffman                 12.15.1870         Austrian designer of Wiener Werkstatte

Oscar Niemeyer               12.15.1907         Brazilian designer of Cathedral of Brasilia

Eiffel - 1889 World's Fair Tower

What struck me in putting this list together, and there are many more who could have been added, was the prolific amount of important architects born between roughly 1860 and 1890.  These men and women shaped much of the 20^th Century.  Also, December 15 seems to be a harbinger for greatness.  Seems to me there was one more…

Sustainability in My Neck of the Woods

Having grown up in Lancaster County, green and sustainable principals have always been a part of our consciousness.  It does not escape my predilection for irony that these fundamental ideas are historically more prominent in the rural areas than in more developed parts of the City.

One can drive a car or ride a bike down the lanes that divide one farm from another and see the originators of sustainability and conservation.  I have been aware of harnessing the wind to create power my entire life, for instance.  It is not a new technology by any means, nor has the technology been improved significantly in the last 40 years aside from enhancements to battery storage.  The rotational moment is still the means to produce electricity.  Amish and Mennonite farms in the area have powered their electric fences with wind mills or water mills for centuries.  Now we see wind farms out our windows on the PA Turnpike.  I always wonder why some of the giant turbines are never rotating – you never see that happen on a farm.

High Tech wind power on the landscape.

Composting has also made it to the mainstream in urban and suburban centers.  From the zero-waste hotel I stayed in during a visit to Boulder, CO (good luck finding a non-recyclable or compostable trash - trash can), to the little compost mixer in my neighbors back yard, more is being done with our waste to keep it out of landfills.  As a 16 year old working on a produce farm just a few miles from here, however, I was all too aware of compost.  I dreaded the times when I would have to accompany my boss, Farmer Jim, out to the "pit" - a foul smelling and fly infested hole in the ground that I would have to "feed" with the rotting remains of cantaloupes, pumpkins or peaches.

Farmers allow unsold produce to compost in fallow fields.  This is the field I worked as a kid.

And it is funny more me to think that a trademark feature of a modern home is a laundry room on the second floor.  On those bike rides through the farmland, almost all the homes I saw had a very specialized technology to that not only delivered the laundry to the second floor of the homeowner's house, but also harnessed solar and wind power to complete the drying process at the same time.  It's called a clothesline on a pulley.

Solar and Wind dry these bloomers.

Because of our unique heritage here, Lancastrians have been exposed to sustainable ideas since the first settlers utilized them out of necessity.  The expansion and reliance upon the mechanical revolution may have clouded this vision to modern inhabitants, but because of the traditions and perhaps the frugality of our neighbors (all ancestors of the first settlers in the 1700's), we can take some pride in their continued vigilance and excellent stewardship of our natural resources.