Paz & Pot

More Nonsense...maybe... is it really us against them or are there more them than us? Seasons Greetings.

99%

I appreciate contrast. Its about time.

Guns

Libya, New York Times Photo

If you go into the hills here in Washington and ran across folk trying out their firearms, I'd wagger it would not look much different than this view in Libya. There is the fellow in the back taking some photos and of course, exchange the huka with a Marlboro.

Empowerment vs. Participation

Washington Redistricting Options

I've always been arguing that one of the most pressing concerns involving the organization of communities has alway been boundaries or the lack there of. Property for the most part is treated as an indicator of economic activity in this country. Unfortunately, economies of scale, along with antiquated zoning decisions, incentivize the consolidation of tracts of property.

Political consolidation is surprisingly similar in fashion as the power brokers parley the high stakes game of redistricting. If one were to equate political redistricting to the manner in which we legislate community development we might have a landscape as the one shown below, but would it be fair?

Re-dundant

Using a word heard frequently this week in the unveiling of Windows 8, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer laid out a "re-imagined" Microsoft. If the contrarian had a penny for each time he heard "re-something or other"...

A dilemma because society finds itself adverse to comprehending change or progress by any measure, by "re-ining", we assuage that we are mostly only molifying existing situations. Redundancy trumps innovation. "Imagine" Microsoft?

Choices

Private studio c. 1978

I've admired Philip Johnson's work and had the chance to visit New Canaan. The piece above has been a favorite of mine, but I was unaware until I arrived that Johnson and his partner David Whitney had a change of mind later on and repainted it a more muted brown. Not to pass judgement on these two aestheticians but I find myself partial to the original design intent. Interesting too, the guide discussed that Johnson never had the desire to modernize or modify any of the buildings he created on his property over all those years. Case in point, the sculpture house has become a beautiful decaying relic. We were told the private studio was one of his most used structures in the compound and I wonder what brought on the change of heart? So be it.

Private studio today

Annus Duos

After two years the pace of blogging has mellowed a bit, well maybe a bit more. Part of this is the energy required to produce content, and one can not blog all day. One needs a day job as well. Since the contrarian is not a social networker we still plan to waste our time on the blog as a means to explore our existence... So onto year three.

Tunisia

I read a lot and still find it difficult to fathom what is going on in other parts of the world. This story of what has happened in Tunisia as many flee Qaddafi, is that rare bit of sanity which also seems hard to fathom.

mmmmm....

A few people in the news after their passing struck a chord with the Contrarian. Max Mathews was considered the father of computer music. In 1957 he wrote a program for a computer to play a 17-second composition, proving that sound could be digitally stored and retrieved. Have we traveled a bit since then, or have we? Commenting recently, Mr. Mathews discussed the vagrancies of music, "What we have to learn is what the human brain and ear think is beautiful. What do we love about music? What about the acoustic sounds, rythms and harmony do we love? When we find that out it will be easy to make music with a computer." And therein lies the rub, what our brains and ears hear are by no means constant.

In another passing, Arthur Lessac, the famous Hollywood voice coach and educator discussing language once said, "if only one knows what to listen for. With their sustained, purring timbre, the consonants "m" and "n" are stringed instruments. Luxuriant "w" and "zh" are woodwinds, raucous "r" a trombone. "L" is a mellow saxophone; "ch" a clash of cymbals; and the small explosions "p", "b" and "t" are percussion." A wonderful explanation of the music in words.

I bring these wonderful morsels of thought because in my profession some consider architecture to be frozen music. And its difficult to understand what our eyes view as beautiful without knowing what to listen for.

For Sure...

"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything."

From the father of the interstate highway, Dwight Eisenhower, a prescient quote conveying the current condition of Seattle politics battling the replacement of the Highway 99 viaduct with a new tunnel.

Grid vs. Parcel

New York city 1861. Owners complained, but property values soared.

On the anniversary of the map that created New York City, this interesting piece in the New York Times, frustratingly over focuses design intentions on the grid, over the laying down of individual parcel boundaries. We like to believe, its the parcels in blocks, that create or mediate the perception of good or bad communities.

Unfortunately today, zoning and financial economies encourage parcel consolidation within the grid arguing efficiencies are only achived with scale. And the discords stem from mature neighborhoods introducing development over or on top of original platting efforts that are out of sink with the scale of those original parcels. Originally, defining parcels within the grid was the way to provide for multiple, individual (unique), people (stakeholders) to coexist. Today, more often, entire blocks are owned or controlled as one entity. Community can not be established solely block by block. There requires an ingrediant to be in between. Abutting constituents, stakeholders and even vacancy make up the solids and voids inherent in mature successful neighborhoods. Maybe its time to reconsider the block to parcel as an important mediator of community as much as the underlying grid. Time to get back to the future.

...Sign of the times, Denny Regrade, Seattle 1910.

Thank Heaven...

Whenever the Contrarian leaves for a road trip, his first stop always, is grabbing a good cup of coffee at a close by 7-ELEVEN (check specs in associated piece). Here, in the land of Starbucks, our tradition might be biased actuarially growing up on the Slurpee. But the piece in the Denver Post about buying the "Kool Aid", experiencing these ubiquitous shops just reinforces our decision.

This week the 40th anniversary at Starbucks produced a new nameless logo. Citing global recognition, they negated their previous worded brand graphic. We'll predict by the semicentennial they'll have drank the "Slurpee" and return to the named identity.

Spirit

GREG GILBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES

I was struck hearing the Indian tradition that speaking about the recently deceased for a period of time was frowned upon as disturbing the newly transitioned spirit of the individual. The tragic death of John T. Williams and the ensuing coverage of the circumstances has created a paradox with tradition and the need to comprehend what occurred. As the city supports a tribute in the form of a totem pole, I wonder if such a totem located in front of an appropriate and acceptable police precinct as a needed reminder of the incident and whatever story told on the totem could be a positive message and memory of Mr. Williams and not disturb his sprit.

Gray

My favorite color is white, but an article caught my eye about the quality of gray, in this case about using gray's as opposed to white as back ground exhibiting art. That contrast inherent in white can overpower or manipulate the way we take in the color of the art. Most artists do not create work against primarily white backdrops (at least not the studios I've visited). Does art get perceived differently as its placed on white walls? Or make lessor art any better? Thinking about nature here in the northwest during periods of gray make a compelling argument. It strikes me, that more galleries do not work more with gray, myself included, but that will change having read that piece.