2012.10.09
Studying Abroad: Cuba
Traveling abroad is essential to furthering one's architectural education and career. It enables designers to approach design with a diverse outlook and revamps one’s creative abilities. I had the opportunity this past September to travel to Havana, Cuba with my studio class from Boston Architectural College. The course has students learn about Cuba's history and culture to ultimately design a ferry terminal in Regla, Cuba. Each solution to the design problem will propose a definition of syncretic architecture as it applies - Read More
2012.10.01
Top Ten Reasons to Join a Professional Association
Last week I attended IIDEX Canada http://www.iidexcanada.com/, Canada’s National Design and Architecture Exposition and Conference. I was there representing the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and had the opportunity to engage with several Interior Design professional organizations, including Interior Designers of Canada (IDC), American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC), National Council for Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) , and Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA). Collectively we are working together - Read More
2012.09.24
“Innovation Units” and Urban Living at ABX
On Thursday, November 15th, Dan Connolly will be part of a panel discussing what attracts and detracts emerging professionals from living in Downtown Boston, and urban living for Generation-Y in general. You can register for this panel here. There will also be a fullscale mock-up of an "innovation unit" on the floor of the expo.
One in Three Bostonians is between the age of 20 and 34, and with the country going through an “Echo-Boom”, this ratio - Read More
2012.09.19
Exciting news from STA and map-lab
There is a time and a place for wild imaginings, but around here, we’re not just winging it. STA has integrated the brain trust of map-lab, an architectural laboratory. The collaborative power of STA + map-lab is designed to push the boundaries of architecture, interior design, and evidence-based research for the purpose of solving problems, initiating social progress, and humanizing environments.
The responsibility of design is advantaged when studios invest in research that interprets and translates new realities. Through the -
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2012.09.17
Boston Lights
As a designer lighting is something we implement and experience everyday in our work and life. I have always been interested in lighting and recently was exposed to the Designers Lighting Forum (DLF) New England, a source for lighting education.
“Established in 1968, the Designers Lighting Forum of New England is a non-profit organization dedicated to lighting education in an informal setting. We inform the Design Community about the newest lighting technologies and cutting-edge lighting applications through professionally-led seminars - Read More
2012.09.07
Designing the Tool of Education
My career as an aspiring architect has also become one of an educator. The experience of teaching architecture to Boston youth triggered a reevaluation of how design thinking has impacted the way I learn. Design education relies heavily on critical and creative thinking. It hones the skill set that help us to adapt quickly and stresses the importance of the ability to self evaluate and analyze decisions. These skills are important for the 21st century student and are vital tools - Read More
2012.08.29
Towards a Research Based Practice
With the recent integration of map-lab into STA, we have started to think about how we can leverage our new collaboration for the benefit of our clients and to the world at large. Our collaboration is about integrating the diverse disciplines of architecture, interior design, and evidence based research for the purpose of solving problems, initiating social progress, and humanizing environments. Starting with this first blog post, STA will begin to share our experiences via this website and via social - Read More
2012.08.28
ResilienCity: Boston’s Innovation District 2035
The International Living Future Institute launched the Living City Design Competition in 2010, seeking designs for our cities in the year 2035. map-lab's submission was ResilienCity. ResilienCity seeks to set the vision for the future of Boston’s Innovation District, a new neighborhood built on greyfield and brownfield sites that will provide residences and workplaces for over 300,000 people. We have reached the tipping point where we need to think of the whole, not the self. We have arrived at - Read More
AIA 2030 Commitment
The AIA 2030 Commitment program is the AIA’s cornerstone effort to demonstrate the progress AIA members are making toward reducing the operational energy use of their designs, while encouraging other architects to do the same. The program is a voluntary call for action for member firms to join and demonstrate progress toward the industry’s widely adopted 2030 targets in both how the firms operate and how they design. To date, more than 170 firms (including map-lab) have made the commitment, ranging in size from - Read More
2012.08.22
Role of the Architect in Hybrid Design: Part 2
Looking back on a computer programming class in my high school days, I remember a difficult problem which I could not easily solve. Frustrated, I told my instructor “I quit, I am going to be an architect; I do not need to know computer programming.”
...man was I wrong!
The role of computers in the field of architecture has grown at an exponential rate. It started with Simple CAD, a digitized version of the way architects had already - Read More
