. . .

not with a bang but a whimper

Ok, so I'm STILL really bad about posting.

Things are settling into a good routine here in New Haven as Laura is busy with classes and all things medieval and I am continuing to enjoy my job at Pickard Chilton Architects, while trying to find my place there. After spending the last year in England building only one model for Freeland Rees Roberts, I was thrust back into the world of modelbuilding with a bit of a vengance. The majority of my time at my new job has been building and photographing some nice models. The first were for a competition which we won, and the second two were for the project I'm currently working on. It is very nice to be back in a woodshop environment and to have access to all of my tools that I am so familiar with. I missed them when I was in England, and wished very much at the time that I could have done some nice wood or Plexiglas models for them, or at least had access to a shop.
Now I'm back to drawing in the computer - again, so different from the majority of the time I was working inn England where most projects that I worked on were hand-drafted. There is a real craft there, a dying one, and one which my friend Tom is truly a master. There is always an appreciation for the hand-drawn drawing, though rarely for a 2D computer drawn one. There are times when a 3D computer model can be inspiring as well, and the process of building a 3D computer model is so similar to building a physical model with the software available today, I'm surprised that more architects aren't using it to its full advantage. I guess that in many ways it is still seen as something that is done after the fact, like a rendering, either for a competition or as a marketing tool, rather than seeing that it has such a potential to be used as a design tool.
My computer skills are limited when I compare them to those of some of my colleagues and peers, (Bryan) but as I was drafting today in AutoCAD, working on a series of sections and interior elevations of a very large building, I was very aware of how the computer has changed the way that I think about design. Throughout graduate school at RISD (not the most computer savy place, let me tell you) I drew everything by hand, mostly because I couldn't stand the nightmare process of plotting out drawings on the one, permanently broken plotter. I find now as I draft that I tend to explore multiple iterations of the same drawing simltaneously, changing a few things here and there, seeing where each will lead. If I have a new idea, I simply copy the whole drawing over to the side and explore that option along with the others. At the end of the day, I have a whole series of ideas worked out , and can easily go back to previous versions if necessary. This somewhat parallel processing of design ideas really stimulates my mind to creativity.

sea change

After a long hiatus, I am returning to blogging once again. There are times when there is simply too much to do to involve one's self in the blogging, and as I have never been a particularly good correspondant (understatement) I would like to be better about keeping up with these things. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Too much has happened to give an in-depth account of everything, so I'll just list the highlights and try to flesh out some details from there.

Since the last posting:

1. I have played a short season of Cricket as part of the office team of FRR and find that I'm an ok bowler and a pretty bad batsman. I think I've been playing the position of 'deep square leg' or something like that when fielding, and managed, in one exceptional afternoon game to rack up a lifetime high count of 19 runs. I'm still more partial to baseball, though I thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Cricket pitch

2. I recorded a CD singing with the Selwyn College Chapel Choir over the course of two long days in July of Christmas music, which should be out later this year. I'm anxious to hear how it sounded. I think it might be some of the best singing I've done in a long time because of the intensity and concentration of time and effort.

3. Laura went with the choir on their three week tour of New Zealand which she enjoyed very much leaving me to fend for myself in Cambridge and reaccquaint myself with a bachelor existance. From the tour she was able to conclude that the cities weren't nearly as interesting as the countryside, which was phenomenal, and that the lamb is out of this world.

4. I finished up my job at FRR Architects and left behind many wonderful friends with whom I hope to visit either in America or in England when next I'm there.

5. Laura and I moved to New Haven, CT so that she could start a PhD program at Yale University (5-7 years) and I could look for a new job. Getting here was a bit of a disaster which included an unplanned layover of 24 hours in Dublin, most of which was spent waiting in lines, and a hellish ride from Dublin to New York which made me understand the detriments of very poor parenting skills and how they should never be mixed with transatlantic flying.

6. After an absolutely painless job search, I now have a new job here in New Haven, three blocks from our apartment, working for the firm Pickard Chilton Architects, where I start tomorrow. So incredibly exciting!

So that's it in a nutshell, and I promise to try to post some photographs of the above exploits in due course.

The English Countryside

My parents recently came to visit Laura and I here in Cambridge for about a week after spending the previous week visiting my brother and his wife in Copenhagen, where they are residing at the moment. One of the nicest things about having visitors is that they provide the impetus for me to get out and see things beyond Cambridge. Fortunately for us, my parents had decided to rent a car for the week, so it was relatively easy to range a little ways from Cambridge. We planned an overnight trip to see both Dover and Canterbury in the South-Eastern region of the country. We set off on Tuesday morning and drove to Dover, managing to find our way to the castle without too much difficulty. We had some lunch in the restaurant there and bought tickets to go on a tour of the tunnels deep within the white chalk cliffs. There are three levels of tunnels, the oldest of which, Casemate, is in the middle, with Annexe above and Dumpy below. (What kind of a name is Dumpy?) We were lead on an interesting tour of the tunnels which explained their use during World War II as a military command center and a hospital, especially during the evacuation of 338,000 from the city of Dunkirk. After the tour, which was very interesting and worthwhile, we wandered all over the castle grounds and up into the castle itself, where they had an extremely cheesy self-guided interactive tour of the castle as it was preparing for the arrival of the King in 1215. After moving through that rather quickly, Laura and I decided to see the Medieval tunnels on a different part of the site, and decended down into the ground in a very unlit place with uneven floors and a fair amount of damp and darkeness. It was quite fun, and we enjoyed ourselves imensely being away from guided tours and faux reconstructions.
We left Dover eventually and drove to the tiny, tiny town of Leaveland, which is about 10 miles outside of Canterbury, where we were staying in the most wonderful half-timbered Tudor house in the countryside. We put our things in our respective rooms and at the suggestion of the owner, we set off to have dinner at the Woolpack Inn in a little town not very far away called Chilham. The little town of Chilham is an almost entirely Tudor village with a large manor house at one end in front of a car park area that was probably once the village green. There was a single street cleverly called "The Street" running downhill at the far end of the car park which lead to the pub. We wandered aroud the little town for a few minutes and then had a lovely dinner.
The following morning we were up early for our full English breakfast, and then we set off to see the small church next door to our B&B. It is amazing that some of the most interesting churches I have come across in England haven't been the big cathedrals, but have been the small village churches that couldn't afford to change with the times and are largely how they were when they were first built. We also looked at another church nearby which was also quite interesting and small on the recommendation of the rector who happened in to the first church we visited. When we returned to the B&B we found the cutest puppy in the back which made Laura and I (and I suspect my parents as well, though they would be less likely to admit it) really, really want a dog.

Spring

I keep thinking that spring has arrived here in Cambridge, but every time I've put away the scarf and heavy coat, winter keeps coming back. Two weeks ago, Cambridge seemed to be in full bloom. The Master's garden at Selwyn was open for visiting, so Laura, Victoria and I went to walk around. Some of the flowers were truly amazing, like this exotic orange one. We walked around some of the paths through the college, generally soaking up the rare sunshine and the beauty and tranquility of the moment.
One of the strangest things about the English educational system here at Cambridge is MA day. This is when all of the students come together to receive their MA diplomas and revel in the company of their friends. At the outset this doesn't seem like such a strange thing, but here's the deal: you go to university for three years and receive the BA degree and hood, and then you go out into the world for two years and come back to receive a master's degree without having done anything academic. Thus you are able to put BA, MA (Cantab) after your name to make yourself feel more special than people who just went to a regular old university for the BA degree. Perhaps I am missing something, but it does seem strange and elitist in a way. Here are some of the newly honoured MA recipients, having recently revelled at a local establishment.I guess when you have been doing things for this long, certain traditions are just inexplicable. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum, amen.

Lux et Veritas

This is a big Congratulations to my wife, Laura, who has accepted an offer from Yale University in New Haven, CT, to continue her studies towards a PhD. She has put so much time and effort into the whole application process, made doubly difficult by living outside of the country, and through her hard work, perseverence, and, well, just general cuteness I guess, been accepted at one of the top two or three programs in the world for her field of Medieval English Literature.
So, come the middle of August, we shall be returning to the east coast to set up our home in New Haven. It is very exciting to know that we will be in the same place for a little while now. I've been moving every three years since I graduated from college almost 15 years ago, and am definitely ready to be in one place for a good long time.
I'll be spending the next several weeks working on my portfolio, trying to piece together things from my time at RISD and from my time here in England at Freeland Rees Roberts Architects. Any suggestions on firms to apply to in the area are certainly welcome.

Mapping

I must admit, that when it comes to organizing information, I have a weakness for things related to Google. I love my Gmail account, and can't forsee a time wherein I would ever forsake it for something else. I use Google as my primary search engine and home page, despite the fact that I have a Google search bar as part of the Safari browser I use. I came across Google Maps yesterday and was really blown away. The interface is clean and useful, and the graphics are spare and easily understood. The fact that you can pan across the page without having to load a new page every time is wonderful. I especially like the way that you can type in "movie theaters Clayton MO" and it will plot a map of the greater St. Louis area showing all of the closest movie theaters and then giving addresses and links on the right hand side of the page. I can't wait until they have mapped the rest of the globe; trip planning will never be the same again.

Lyveden New Bield

A little more than a week ago, our friend Tonya suggested that we go explore an interesting bit of architecture in England that was a little off the beaten path, called Lyveden New Bield. Off the beaten path is a little bit of an understatement, but after a frantic bike ride to the train station, (don't ask) two trains, a bus, a short walk, a cab ride and a long hike in the cold rain, we finally arrived at the sight of the ruins of an unfinished Elizabethan Catholic oratory.
This building, one of many by Sir Thomas Tresham in the area, was built as a private residence and as a place of devotion. A secret Catholic at the time of the Protestant reformation, Tresham suffered loss of property and heavy monetary penalties for not belonging to the Anglican church. He was under house arrest at the time of the building of Lyveden New Bield, but was able to supervise the work through various agents. Despite these difficulties, he managed to acquire enough financial resources to be able to construct several modest pieces of architecture, all of which are based upon mathematical symbolism and proportion.
Lyveden New Bield is constructed from five perfect squares in plan: one in the center and one adjacent to each side, forming an equal armed cross. At the end of each arm is a full height bay window of five sides, each side measuring five feet in length. Throughout the building, the repetition of the numbers three and five can be discerned in the design.
The outlying area was prepared for a series of Elizabethan formal gardens, and work is currently under way to try to fulfill the design as Tresham set it forth.
This was such an interesting thing to see, and its remoteness from the typical tourist trail made it all the more so. I can only imagine what the Victorian romantics must have thought of it as they discovered it at the crest of a small rise of land, far from the nearest town, in the middle of the bucolic landscape.
If you are interested, there are more photos in the photo album section.

Daffodils

Laura has been spoiling me again. This time she went out and bought an armload of beautiful, big daffodils for my birthday, bringing some of them to my office as a surprise, and the rest of them home to scatter around the house in various containers. None of them was open all the way when I received them last Wednesday, but now they are all fully open and at the height of their glory. I can't ever remember a birthday without them. When I was young, there were daffodils planted right outside my bedroom window, which came all the way down to the floor inside. They always seemed to bloom just in time for my birthday. Of all the beautiful flowers in the world, I have a special place in my heart for the big yellow daffodils.

Snow in Cambridge

Last Friday, a truly remarkable thing happened here in Cambridge: not only was there snow, but there was accumulation as well!  Having come to England from New England, where it snows in abundance, it has been quite strange to have a winter where the sky looks so gray most of the time, and yet it never seems to snow.  When I would wax nostalgic about 20 inches of snow, my co-workers would laugh at me and tell me that I was simply in the wrong part of the world for that to ever happen.  The past week and a half, it has snowed almost every day, sort of on and off, but never amounting to anything.  It has also gotten colder and colder, with the result that on Friday morning a little before seven, really thick snowflakes began to fall and collect, amounting to about an inch over the next two hours.  Walking to work, I was in such a joyous mood, feeling as though I had finally gotten my taste of winter as I know it.  Unfortunately, it was all gone by lunch time and was replaced with a sort of sleeting rain which was just depressing again, but for those brief, few hours, I was ecstatic about winter.  Now on to spring, please.

Ely Cathedral

One of my dearest friends, Ruth Berry, is visiting me for the week this week. After arriving yesterday evening and having a good rest last night, we were off first thing this morning for the town of Ely. We took the train there from Cambridge, which takes about 20 minutes. We walked to the Cathedral, towering above the old medieval city and visible for miles, even from as far away as Cambridge. After walking for a ways, we found a gateway into the close, which is the area around the Cathedral, usually demarcated by a stone wall. There were fabulous rolling green hills leading up to the Cathedral on which were grazing these small shaggy ponies. We approached the Cathedral and went inside, paying our £4.20 student admission, and found a tour group that had just begun to wander around. We stayed with them and listened to the lecture. The Cathedral is very interesting from an architectural point of view in that it is such an old Norman structure, comprised of semi-circular arches and fat squat columns. The Norman carvings are simple and geometric, and at the west end of the Cathedral is a labyrinth set into the floor. The vaulting and archways were once covered in colorful pigment, but that was all destroyed during the reformation. During the Victorian era, a lot of work was put into the church to try to recreate what they thought the building ought to look like, which wasn't terribly historically informed. For me, one of the joys of Ely Cathedral is the Lady Chapel. It is one of the most acoustically wonderful spaces I have ever been in, and the vast lightness of the space is inncredible. We were not able to be there for a service, or hear the organ, but seeing the choir stalls again with their candles for illumination during the service brought back memories of singing here almost fifteen years ago.