Saturday, March 31, 2012

Bromo-Seltzer in Baltimore





Once the largest building in Baltimore, this monolith, styled after the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence remains as art studio spaces in an ever-changing and quirky downtown area. There are many old bank buildings with classical facades interspersed among still older and newer buildings. The Lexington Market is just down the street and Camden Yards just a few block in the other direction.






I had a nice night in Fell's Point - but more about that later.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

teaching tonight

Thanks to Bill Goodrich, Forest Park Community College and Habit for Humanity Saint Louis for the privilege of teaching a segment of leadership training on the LEED for Homes process tonight. A great group of students/volunteers. I look forward to more in the future.

This links to my presentation - which will be updated to reflect a few changes in my life and some new designs for Habitat.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Affordable Comfort Conference


http://acinational.org/

I'll be attending this conference in Baltimore this week. Lot's of info/networking with key industry professionals and policy makers. I am interested in several things - from understanding how home performance will make the switch from an epa program to the doe and how the industry will work to maximize home owner participation and otherwise drive demand.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Herbie Hancock and Construction

Herbie Hancock and his Band were incredible at the Touhill last night. A really, really tight band that put together some really great work. A great jazz band is a great metaphor for a construction project working properly: It features talent, leadership, something planned, improvisation, melody, dissonance, rhythm and sweat.

Hancock's music helps us understand that we occupy a small space in a much larger whole.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

In the Shadow of Architecture


Depending on the time of year, time of day, etc...parts of our city provide great shadow play with the buildings around us. What are yours?

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

from Today's Post-Dispatch - MSD Project

http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/building-blocks/jacobs-engineering-gets-part-of-huge-metropolitan-st-louis-sewer/article_0c2270cc-6899-11e1-848a-001a4bcf6878.html



Jacobs Engineering gets part of huge Metropolitan St.
Louis Sewer District project
BY TIM BRYANT ‡ Posted: Wednesday, March 7

Jacobs Engineering Group said today it has a $1 billion slice of the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District's decades-long project to rebuild much of the area's sewer system.

The project includes three massive tunnels to store rainwater and sewage that currently flows untreated into the Mississippi River during big storms. The tunnels will hold hundreds of millions of gallons of water that will be pumped to sewage treatment plants after storms pass.
MSD says Jacobs will design and engineer the biggest tunnel, which will extend several miles beneath the River Des Peres, from south of Forest Park to MSD's Lemay treatment plant on the Mississippi.
Storage tunnels, high-rate treatment systems and pump stations are part of MSD's pending agreement with the federal government to bring the system into compliance with the U.S. Clean Water Act. The deal obligates MSD to $4.7 billion in work over more than two decades. A $945 million bond issue to underwrite part of the work could go before voters on June 5.
Jacobs, based in Pasadena, Calif., has a large office in downtown St. Louis. It bought Sverdrup Corp., of St. Louis, in 1999.




Sunday, March 4, 2012

Downtown Alton, IL

I spliced a couple of cell phone pix of the view from a friend's loft in downtown Alton shortly after sunset last night. The silo/conveyor bridge stuff in the background is another reminder the kinds of things documented by Charles Sheeler and commented on in this blog a few posts back. Alton has a good vibe with a combination of history and a handful of folks working towards a brighter future.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Washington U. & the Loop

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-proceed-with-caution-on-wash-u-s-big-plans/article_b02078af-de1d-5946-910c-b562618d7402.html

http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/washington-university-plans-million-loop-project/article_71474350-5f0d-11e1-ad6c-0019bb30f31a.html

A few pieces in the Post this past week related to some of the work I did with Wash U last semester - having grown up in U. City and lived in the loop as a young man I've always enjoyed the place.