Hayward

I've heard several times now, that concrete is going out of style for counter tops. Although I think it's highly about personal preference. I actually like them, but for resale value I guess goes down if these things are installed.

^ In some places, their homes are required to have electricity by code if it was built after codes went into place. It's just that they shut off the power.

Wait, people EIFS their homes? Dang, all the new houses up here in the Saginaw use hand applied stucco if they are going for that look. EIFS people claim you can't tell the difference, but as I was biking past some five year old mcmansions today the stucco was aging nicely as well as the precast concrete lintels and arches that dare I say it looked much more established and "old" In contrast, a 14 year old walgreens rocked EIFS that was pealing, had an ugly peach color and too false of a texture. I'm so glad I work for an architecture firm that destroys EIFS on every attempt we can. That oddfellows building above would make my boss pass out from such a horrible site. I got the honors of smashing a window infill panel on a school we were restoring during demo stages where all the 80's modern crap was being removed. There were also these windows that had false blinds. That's right, stickers applied to the glass. I couldn't touch those though because the windows were donated and were in pretty good condition. I guess I'll step on the dark side for a moment and say that dryvit does manufacture some products that are decent when used in an appropriate way. The cornicework looks reasonable on this building. Although I'm not fond of the rest of it. I'd take that say over a blank scar from 60's cornice removal on a historic building. http://www.dryvit.com/fileshare/doc/photog/belmont_university_lg.jpg http://www.dryvit.com/fileshare/doc/photog/belmont_university_lg.jpg

off topic, but get this. I'm subleasing to my landlord right now. Weird. He writes me a check, and I write him one back

I killed it years ago when Brandon and I decided to work together on detroitrising.com. The current site will be scrapped too and a shiny up to date design will be in place of it. We will not have forums. I still have ownership of the domain though.

Really it's an okay tower, but if you would have let Gehry run free, you know this product would have been very different, and probably disastrous looking.

I've really seen worse. I understand people's criticisms with some of the new architecture going up in NYC. A lot of it is very different, but I can see the direction the city is trying to go. Booming cities all over the world are going for cutting edge buildings, using the latest in technology and the freshest ideas in design. While it may be appropriate for more modern cities, finding a place for this type of design is difficult for cities with a lot of history and conservative boxy construction (such as NYC). I don't know whether to be disappointed or happy. Being world class means having some landmark buildings. Chicago's Millennium Park is wacky in its sculpture but stirs a lot of interest and has become a new point in identity for people all over the world. On the other hand, a trendy tower goes up amongst a bunch of nineteenth century brownstones and its context can seem out of place, yet developers use it as an excuse to building a community that is on the cutting edge. There's a reason why the city of Dubai built the new downtown with all that new architecture away from the historical city center. Planners and residents felt it was way out of context, and indeed to many it is, even when its in the middle of a sandy desert.

While Chelsea appears small, it's about to undergo some explosive growth. Its close proximity to Ann Arbor offers young families a great place to live with a nice downtown, and excellent schools. They can still be downtown AA in about 15 minutes, yet live a peaceful lifestyle in this quiet, but very active community. The downtown is amazingly healthy and it definitely has a bright future. I only wish they'd open a commuter line that ran from the depot to downtown AA perhaps a line that went between Jackson to Ann Arbor, and then on to Detroit. Currently the Amtrak blasts through there at 75 mph on its way to Chicago.

Dubai does permit workers to unionize.

I found it interesting that the small town my parents live in had their police actually pulling people over. "Hi officer Garcia, how's the kids?" "Oh they're good, just got done with their baseball game" "Oh that's nice" "I'm sorry John, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a ticket, you were going just a wee bit too fast. 65 mph in a 25 mph zone near a playground" "Oh was I? Just trying to pick up some orange juice for tomorrow" "Do you like pulp or no pulp" "Definitely no pulp. You know, drive a bit slower. I need to meet the rest of the crew at 7-Eleven."

I definitely don't mind at all. I've seen the glass walls that switch before, but never knew the manufacturer. I had this idea where I might put the glass over parts where there is drywall, and this product could continue to enclose rooms in the center.

LOL Nice aerials. I appreciate the Knoxville ones since I've never been there.

hollowcore has higher fire ratings, and it's also relatively quick to install, thinner than a wood joist system, and will conceal all my wires and pipes. It works really well in conjunction with steel frames. Plus I have some helpful spec sheets with dimensions and what not.

Here's a project I'm working on for my portfolio. I'm looking at designing a corner loft in a vacant building that actually exists. The loft is on the 4th level, but I also intend it to occupy the 5th and 6th floors as well. As you can see, the floors have been removed a very long time ago. I hope to post floorplans soon, but I like viewing space in 3d. I figured I'd start by modeling the rough space. I'm not exactly sure what I want, but I have an idea where walls and rooms will go (although I intend there not to be too many walls) I'm deciding what type of floors to use. I thought about a typical wood floor joist system, but after modeling it, I thought it looked a bit too messy, or like someone's unfinished basement with them set upon the beams instead of an "old mill" look. After browsing through flickr, I was actually more impressed with exposed concrete ceilings. I'm thinking about a hollowcore precast system for the floors. You've might have seen this before in some loft construction. Check this: http://www.bison.co.uk/products.aspx?id=31. I believe it's more appropriate for this type of building They sell in 6 in slabs on US manufacturers websites, and I figured it would be nice to shove all the electrical and plumbing inside. The only things that will be exposed are the ductwork. I'm going to keep the brick, although I'll paint the orange terra-cotta block the same color as the brick. I'm obviously going to have to divide this building into separate units, and I would like to use the same brick that's already on the walls. A very similar color is still available today. There will be one full master bedroom and a guestroom+bath on the third level. The second level will have an entertainment/office/studio/everything type of area that could be turned into a bedroom if necessary. It will be entirely open but have a wall that can pull out for privacy. There will also be a bathroom on this level. First floor will have a living space that is double height, so you'll be able to see down from the studio. There will also be a dining area that will separate the living area from the kitchen. It will all be open, but variation in the ceiling will help separate spaces. A mechanical room will be off to the side of the kitchen. A foyer will either lead you to the kitchen or to the living area down the hall. A bathroom will be accessible from the foyer space. I want there to be a procession into a grand space basically as you walk in. A little history The building is located in East Downtown Saginaw. It's definitely an area that hasn't seen much redevelopment, since Saginaw's other downtown "Oldtown" or Hamilton Square is seeing a lot of new loft activity. But whatever, I'm going to pioneer this area. East downtown is primarily where Saginaw's larger office and commercial buildings are. This particular building was historically a 3 story auto dealership and repair shop. It burned in a fire and was rebuilt preserving the original facade sometime in the 20's I believe. 4 more levels were added although the 7th floor wasn't all that big. The top levels used steel construction and smaller steel trusses like you see at big box stores. A HUGE innovation for that time. I don't think the levels were used much, and the trusses were eventually removed. The city classifies the building as "Parking Structure" and apparently it served that for the last part of it's useful life. There's no inclined ramps, just a massive car elevator. The building has been abandoned for a very long time. The current owner expressed interest in renovating it or demolishing it. When it was briefly up for sale, my architecture firm had considered buying it, but opted out for a more historically valuable building not too far away. Current Building: I wanted to model my dream loft, but I felt this project would be challenging and perhaps create a vision that might help in saving this building if demolition is what the developer is leaning toward. So here's Update 1 showing the shell of the building. Looking toward the front of the loft. The beams on the first floor have only about 8'5 of clearance which is why I wanted to achieve extra height by setting slabs atop them. The floors above have much higher clearance Looking toward my corner from a different angle, the horizontal beam in the lower right foreground is actually where my unit ends. I'm technically standing out where the common hallway would go. BTW, there's a 3 story outdoor courtyard! So, more updates coming soon!

My Razr phone did pretty well despite some spills. The thing that malfunctioned was the keypad once, but it was replaced at my Verizon store free. That's about it, usually I get a new phone every two years. I know some people with the iPhone who have already dropped it several times (one who was on a bike) and their phones were fine, no damage. Apple products (see my apple thread here from awhile ago) have drastically improved in their durability since the early iPod days where you might as well have been dropping expensive china.

I wish Coca Cola was still 5 cents (although it probably still costs probably a cent to make it, bottle asside)

Great set Zach!

^ The only tower East of Lake Shore Drive comes with huge pricetags.

Great pictures! Ironically, a friend I recently graduated with just purchased a condo in what looks like the same building you took that from.

I'm sure if you hit "play" for all of them at once, then yes!

Wish I could do it since every time I head out to Cleveland, I take the bike although with my new job that might be difficult to meet up.

Flowers. I remember when I was young ripping weeds with a bit of color out of a vacant lot and giving them to my mom for mothers day. They came complete with bugs. She'd give a smile and put them in a vase. The sh!ts would be dead the next morning, and tossed out by noon, but I'd hardly notice.

God, no. lol. Athough I did recently discover there was a Hayward Ave up there

I'm sure some of you have already seen this but a recent video was filmed of this girl referred to as "Soulja Girl" blew up at an elderly woman on a MARTA train (Atlanta) last week. She was later arrested for disorderly conduct from several tips. A recent radio show discussed the matter and her boyfriend and sister called in saying she had bipolar disorder. It's crazy and thankfully no one (especially the elderly woman) got hurt. Although her out of control behavior is pretty hilarious. You'll have to view this at break.com because this particular video has subtitles - Warning N.S.F.W.- http://break.com/index/crazy-subway-girl.html

No one will ever know!