MAY 13TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
We recently wrapped up the branding package for a local craft distillery. The work involved coming up with a graphic language for the distillery that could be applied to all of their social extensions, most importantly their bottle labeling. Although this type of work isn’t what’s typically in our wheelhouse, we found that our skills as architects and designers applied quite well to the exercise. After all, it’s got the same ingredients as an architecture project; it has a rigorous analysis phase, state codes must be followed, it requires creative interpretation, and the end goal is still a physical product. Oh, and alcohol -they both have that going for them. So we dove in and had a ton of fun with the project.
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FEBRUARY 4TH, 2011
By BUILD LLC
We’re currently in schematic design on a new house and, being knee deep in conceptual thinking, we thought it’d be a good time to get some diagrams up on the BUILDblog. We find that diagramming is critical to the design process for several reasons:
1. FROM CHAOS TO CLARITY: The information gathering stage on most projects produces a substantial amount of data. City & state codes, covenants, site parameters, and all that other good stuff… it all adds up. Good diagrams turn chaos into clarity. And clear diagrams allow a client to get the gist of a project’s requirements without being dragged through the mind-numbing boredom of the City of [fill in the blank] Amendments to the International Building Code. Everybody wins.
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JULY 1ST, 2010
By BUILD LLC
As architects and designers we reference a lot of books, some are quite transient and leave just as quickly as they arrive, others stay on our desks and on our shelves. The BUILD Book Report aims to share our favorites, some of them are brand-new and others have been around long enough to pass the test of time.
Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, The Nature of Circumstance, Rizzoli, $95.00
There is a certain caliber of book that the internet will never be able to replace. The latest book on BCJ has been masterfully designed by Pablo Mandel of Circular Studio and published by ORO Editions. Wandering through this book is a gratifying experience – it exemplifies both how architecture should be designed and how the text should communicate built-work and ideas. At 400 + pages, the book is filled with drop-dead gorgeous images, each shot with a clarity that teaches about the mechanics of architecture. A masterful, inspiring book; it has become an immediate favorite of ours.
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MARCH 26TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
If you follow the BUILDblog at all you know that we have huge respect for well composed diagrams. So to kick off the weekend in proper style, here are ten favorites from what we’ve been peeking at recently.
This diagrammatic hand-out by Sprinkles Cupcakes illustrates which type of cupcakes are available each day of the week and it’s gorgeous. This simple diagram kicks butt over most architectural diagramming – and it’s a friggen cupcake company.
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MARCH 12TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
This is our second Book Report and we’ve been having a ton of fun with the theme, so they’ll be more to come. Some of the books we cover are hot off the press and need some tire-kicking by us architects in the trenches, and some are books that have simply been around a while for good reason. For previous Book Reports click here.
Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals by Rob Thompson, Thames & Hudson, $95.00
This is a serious book, the kind of book that you’ll actually learn something useful from. The text categorizes manufacturing into 5 clear parts; Forming, Cutting, Joining, Finishing and Materials, all the while explaining the process behind your favorite design objects. The documentation is so concise and thorough that you feel like you’ve just bought a black market text on trade secrets – which justifies the sticker price. This book is so valuable that it should be sold in a black envelope reading “for your eyes only”.
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MARCH 10TH, 2010
By BUILD LLC
Although we operate a shoot-from-the-hip design blog, we actually draw from a great deal of professional literature. By ‘professional’ we’re referring to periodicals comprised of articles written by authors who actually went to school for journalism or English literature. These individuals have a command of language, a thesis of communication, and don’t rely on spell check as the only means of quality control. In a nutshell, they’re just as serious about writing and reporting as we are about design and buildings.
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NOVEMBER 30TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
As Architects and builders we buy a lot of books and we get rid of a lot of books, but there’s always a few design books that stay on our shelves and on our desks because they’re so good. Today’s post reviews a few favorites and a few that we suspect will quickly become favorites. Let us know what’s important in your design library.
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SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
About a year ago we did a post on the Architecture of Death, wherein we criticized the chinsey, mass produced methods that poorly signify the nature of dying and opened up the discussion to meaningful, well designed methods to mark the passing of a life. We were delighted to have so many extraordinary works brought to our attention; one prominent example is local designer, Greg Lundgren of Lundgren Monuments whose work you should really pay attention to. If you’re like us, design minded and mortal, you’ll need him someday.
[Urn photo by Lundgren Monuments]
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SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
We just returned from Vancouver B.C. where we scouted out some cool new design products for the home. There’s some hot stuff out there that we hadn’t yet seen in the flesh and we’re happy to report that the following items meet the BUILD standard of aesthetics + function. You know how it works, when you invest in crafted, well designed, functional objects for the home the quality of life improves, try some of these on for size:
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AUGUST 7TH, 2009
By BUILD LLC
[Empty parking lot in Buenos Aires, Argentina, photo by BUILD LLC]
As professional architects and amateur photographers we’re always snapping photos around town. It’s not usually the most recent high-rise or the sleek new house that gets our attention though. What stands out to us is texture and form, light and shadow, the subtleties and serendipities of the built environment around us. Frankly, they’re boring scenes, but beautifully boring. The information that can be extracted from these images informs our design philosophy just as much as the glossy photos in the design magazines. So for today’s post we thought we share some of our recent images from the beautifully boring scenes theme. You can keep up with this series by following us on twitter.
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