28 October 08 - We went to the City last weekend to see the Zaha Hadid designed Chanel pavilion in Central Park. It was a treat to experience one of her buildings as we found it a holistic gem in the best traditions of the art pavilion, think Barcelona. We couldn't help but contrast this event with the MOMA Prefab houses as noted below; the Chanel building is certainly prefabricated and would be just about as practical to live in. Great architecture aside, it was the total user experience which was the most fun. From first entry to the site to your exit, your total user experience was minutely controlled. Identically dressed and demeanored assistants saw to your every move. An MP3 headphoned soundtrack choreographed your experience. We guessed that this was the closest we'll ever get to an actual Chanel shopping experience. And then as if on cue, a woman got into the ticket line carrying her Chanel shoulder bag, which caused us to joke that here was someone who in her own way helped pay for all of this. Or, as someone near us said, what goes around comes around.

25 September 08 - Three things on the current financial meltdown. 1. Falling home prices are at the root. 2. Architects are used in only about 5% of the housing starts nationwide. 3. Most of the houses in question are suburban sprawl McMansion wonders. So thinking in terms of design, as we are always wont to do, we wonder if all of this is not some sort of acerbic comment on the value of residential design in America? A quick Google search reveals that states like FL, CO and NE have both the highest sprawl and the greatest foreclosure rate. Architects have historically always wanted to solve societies ills with their work, think Le Corbusier. So if architects had been involved in a higher percentage of starts, the quality of the design would be higher, the houses would be worth more, and financial disaster would be prevented. Ok a fantasy, I admit. But then architects are good at fantasy.

28 July 08 - We saw Home Delivery - Fabricating the Modern Dwelling at MOMA this weekend. The exhibit starts with a history of the prefabricated house and culminates with 5 modern houses that you can walk thru. They even have a partial Lustron house constructed inside the museum. While the exhibit was great fun (model of Thomas Edison's concrete houses, movies, etc.), and the houses were stimulating to experience, we do have a gripe. How could they have not made even a passing reference to the modular housing industry that flourishes across the country and especially in Otsego County? Modular housing has everything the MOMA houses have: they are a)built in a factory, b)use off the shelf components, c)economically viable, d)show up on a truck and e)basic installation takes a day. Alas, the modular's are not modern and thus not cool in the MOMA sense, so they don't qualify. So here's an idea for a sympathetic exhibition; get some architects to go wild and see what the potentials are using the modular housing industry as a starting point. You might end up with solutions that are saleable, buildable, and yet fun.

2 July 08 - Wightman Specialty Woods used a photo of the Stayman Residence living room for the cover of their beautiful new brochure. For years, Wightman's has been to us this almost mythical place where much of the finish flooring for our projects comes from. We can be very slow on the uptake sometimes, but now we learn that the majority of Wightman's raw material comes from within a 60 mile radius of their Portlandville plant. So we find the confluence of sustainability, the venerable Wightman's, and the modern Stayman interior to be great fun.

13 May 08 - We all understand mileage standards for vehicles. Yet, most of our clients are suprised to learn that there are mileage requirements for buildings as well, which is called the Energy Conservation Code. While everyone knows that you put insulation in a building, the Code mandates how much there should be, and in fact allows tradeoffs between say larger glazing areas and thicker insulation. What is interesting is that you don't read anything about a building's mileage, yet automobile mileage is always a political hot potato. Since buildings are responsible for the vast majority of CO2 emissions, it would be interesting to turn the Energy Code into a hot potato also. You can hear arguments on the Senate floor now; "I vote to raise the R value for walls to R 24! No, R 19! No R 24! Spellbinding.

17 April 08 - Brewery Ommegang and AVA will present "Everyone Likes Green Beer" at the prelude seminar to Earth Day 2008. Our talk will highlight how Ommegang's expansion plans are tailored to meet increased production needs while providing the lowest possible carbon footprint, both in the construction and operation of the building. Clicking here will take you to the Environmental Education Network of Otsego County's website, who are sponsoring the event.

28 February 08 - In a recent issue of The New Yorker, a British company, Tesco, has set out to reduce the carbon footprint of their global supermarket operations. The article discusses the incredible complexity of trying to determine, for example, the environmental burden of where you should buy your apples. In this instance, they determined that it was better for the planet if Tesco imported New Zeland apples rather than purchasing them 50 miles away. After a huge investment of time and money, they concluded that the three most important steps toward a green lifestyle is 1) insulate your house, 2)make sure you have insulated glazing in your windows and 3)increase the efficiency of your house boiler. This makes sense, given that buildings are the greatest energy hogs. And it is nice to see someone say that being green involves something other than lifestyle shopping choices.

14 January 08 - Press Release - Click on the text for link to the SUNY Morrisville website for Roomplay press release. All of the students did a tremendous job in the construction of their environments. It was inspirational for me to see their interpretation of a modeling system that I have been exploring. I think someme somewhere said that a good educational experience happens when the student and the teacher learn together, and this was certainly the case. The image below is from Team Zen's Roomplay.

10 December 07 - In the recent issue of Architect Magazine, the editor questions the profession's current focus, both in the media nad in the schools, on modernism. Yet, the vast majority of structures built in the US are traditional. So should the profession refocus itself more on traditional design, given that this is what the market demands? We find this article interesting given that our practice involves both traditional and modernist buildings. Whatever the style, the building is either good, or it is not, and we hope that this is the first clarion call toward simply good design.

26 November 07 - The Zoltick Residence is nearing completion for an expected move in date of early January. Work is proceeding at a fast pace.

21 November 07 - Kurt's architectural design class is basing their final project this semester on Roomplay, which will culminate in student teams designing and constructing full scale rooms. This is an exciting project and we hope to show you images of the results. This is an image from Kurt's initial Roomplay experiments.

17 October 07 - We appreciated this article in Metropolis magazine regarding sustainable design. Be it a building or a chair, quality craftsmanship is paramount for sustainable design. Click here to go to article.

1 September 07 - Kurt is serving as Adjunct Professor at SUNY Morrisville College teaching first year architectural design.

27 August 07 - Teresa has completed her stint st Cooperstown Planning Board Chair after 5 years of service.

July 07 - We went to Philip Johnson's Glass House, the Historic Trust property recently opened to the public. Kurt worked with Mr. Johnson for a number of years, so it was great to finally see the house. Given Mr. Johnson's unmatched self promotional abilities, we were curious as to whether the reality was worthy of the hype. In our humble estimation, it turns out that indeed Glass Hous, by itself, is sublime. Five stars, highly recommended.

The landscape, both natural and man made, surrounding Cooperstown provides a wealth of inspiration. The rolling hills and topography looks much as it did 50 years ago.

Here in the first decade of the 21st century, great cultural influences are spreading themselves like never before. This yields a pluralism which has only begun to be felt. There is an increasing sophistication of the populous which enables greater analytical powers as they evaluate cultural forces, including architecture.

We evaluate each architectural project individually to discover a design direction that is appropriate. Whereas a historical solution will work for one instance, a more modernist solution will be appropriate in another instance. It is important to resist the urge to be historical just to be historical, and modern just to be modern.

We like to think that given our obsession with quality, we are building sustain ably. Equally important is the user’s experience quality. For as the user is happy and fully functional in their building, the more the building will want to be preserved.

The built world is replete with mediocre traditional and mediocre modern built responses.

Given the pervasive culture of bigger is better, our practice might be summarized as an antidote to that.