From the CUDC with Field Operations...

Despite recent cruddy news (ODOT, med mart, the port, etc); this could be a Christmas Miracle.

Check out the schemes, they're pretty cool.

It promotes turning the Burnham Public Square (now a glorified bus terminal) into something(s) really really awesome. Studios at the CUDC have toyed with the idea in the past, I'm excited to see it happen.

And hey! James Corner teaches at my new school...what an odd coincidence. View full entry

Check it out. Post- is a journal of architecture in the Great Lakes region. It focuses on the buildings, people and writings that have formed our received environment and is informed by a faith that said environment is sufficiently rich that it warrants consideration. This recently formed journal... View full entry

So I would have walked yesterday, receiving my MArch from Kent State. Rather, I'm in Philadelphia, ready to start my MArchII at UPenn. "Intensive Digital Methods" orientation starts tomorrow. I'm pretty pumped. Sorry I abandoned you Cleveland / Ohio / The Midwest. But one last service! There's a... View full entry

The sneakiest one yet! I was down in Kent today and noticed posters on the walls (and doors, and stairs, etc). Apparently there's a lecture tomorrow. Thank my cameraphone for the graphic! Peter Macapia 4.22.09 7:00pm Art Building Auditorium (Art 202) View full entry

The second round of precedent. (1 week later) Previously I mentioned the inauthenticity of Streetsboro. A study of brands along the mile long strip reveals almost nothing of local origin. For this round of precedent study, I was working with MVRDV’s pig city. My colleagues: OMA’s Melun... View full entry

An entry in three parts: First (the future) Last fall I applied to post-professional graduate programs. Part of the initial draw for coming to the CUDC was the quick curriculum...it's essentially the 'new' 5-year professional degree. So, having spent a wonderful(ish) 5 years here, I'm off... View full entry

Another one. This Monday. (attn: ClevelandDesignCity blog-bouncer) with new and improved poster by restless works Wrong time. 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 7:00 not 7:15 yea. View full entry

Check out our student journal.here t r a c e It's been around for a few years....4 now I suppose. The whole time, it's been a continual struggle to find people who are willing to set aside time to work on something that's specifically not studio. Editors come and go, and it generally takes a few... View full entry

is about to happen. (So, when this loops to Cleveland Design City, heads up.) The method for publicizing these lectures: The lecture is scheduled (this counts as a minor miracle). Students create a poster. (restlessworks do it...feat: danny , among others). Students post that poster on flickr. I... View full entry

It's that time of the semester... Midterm's aren't quite that far behind... Finals aren't quite that imminent... ....and motivation droops as the first shades of nice days arrive in Cleveland. Simmering until things wrap up. In project news, we're repositioning ourselves to create our site as the... View full entry

Our midterm Jury was this Friday. It went well - better than I could have possibly expected. I was initially apprehensive because of the cast of reviewers. Because we’re working on the port site, and the port site is a real project, we’ve been in contact with a lot of real stakeholders... View full entry

Urban Design: What is it? What's the scope? What do you do? What don't you do? How far is too far? How do you design anything that will be urban design? Can urban design happen? DOES URBAN DESIGN EXIST!? It's not the street grid that makes the city a nice place to be. It's small catalysts that you... View full entry

This happened: View full entry

Today the photojournalists presented what they had prepared. Here’s a sample (not my group; but you get the idea). It’s a nice opportunity to be working with this class so that as designers, we can see how we’re interpreted by another group and in turn, what that group feels is... View full entry

Today I watched True Stories. It’s a 1986 film directed/produced/written/starring David Byrne of Talking Heads fame. I’m a Talking Heads fan, which is why I wanted to watch it. However, it’s pretty interesting from an architecture/urban standpoint. Byrne is an artist himself, and... View full entry

Our project this semester at the CUDC is investigating options for the Cleveland Port. The Port of Cleveland is moving to a new site (over the next 20 years, as the Army Corps of Engineers dredges and fills some new land). The site has been a hot topic for development, (as has the whole... View full entry

Today was the first day of Spring studio at the CUDC. There are 18 of us (14 1st year Grad - M.Arch, 4 1st year Grad MUD) 6 of us were here in the fall 11 of us were in Italy (not me). 17 of us went through undergrad together. [Also at the CUDC: There are 6 returning 2nd year Grad students getting... View full entry

"I'll try to blog more often" ...from a few weeks ago. School is fine. I'll elaborate this weekend...maybe. The cliff notes: Studio, we're coming up on our pre-midterm review. The process we're using to design at times feels really forced, and it's often frustrating. I've also been told that this... View full entry

I’m going to try to blog more often. As a side; it’s really bizarre to start blogging in a prominent blog. There’s no option to find my feet, so to speak, I just start immediately. I don’t have to build it up and wait until people find it, rather, people knew about it... View full entry

So if the “this” is the Streetsboro studio, the “that” is this:What I do in my spare time or: Teaching is hard but awesome So I teach. Kent State is one of few universities I know of that lets TA’s ‘have’ a studio class. My class. My grades. My Critiques... View full entry

Studio this fall is an urban design studio. Of all places, our site is Streetsboro, OH. If you’re not from [Northeast] Ohio, let me explain. Streetsboro is where I480 (the Cleveland “outerbelt”) ends It is a major junction with the I80 turnpike. The main drag is OH-14 which... View full entry

Today was the first day of classes at the CUDC. There are 7 of us (1st year Grad - M.Arch) There are 6 returning 2nd year Grad students getting their M.UrbanDesign There are 11 fellow 1st years in Florence Italy. All of them have been there before during our 3rd year undergrad. Nobody went to a... View full entry