Farewell my friends... and see you THERE!

I am closing this blogspot, after a few years, and starting a new chapter: find me at https://www.beaspolidoro.com/ !

Enjoy :D

And the winner is... Affordability

In this season of Grammys and Oscars, let's see what is shaking in the Architectural world.
I have been published again, with an article on affordability in the AIA National Institute Honor Awards. I was a judge and here is my effort to share some thoughts and lesson learned.

Enjoy!

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When signing a contract with a client, the obligation for the architect is not to be perfect, but just potentially as messy as anybody else – the average architect. Despite that, when trying to win clients, architects need to present themselves as unique, more qualified than others, and the best in their specialty (which can lead to trouble through overselling their skills).

It takes a lot of effort to be an architect, so why be “average”?

Luckily, there is a dedicated structure, organized by the AIA National, allowing architects to showcase their extraordinary abilities.

Alternative Photography

"Shot" in San Vito d'Altivole near Treviso, Italy. Carlo Scarpa, on the background. Thanks to Carmen, amaryllis willing to travel from PGH to TV.

Collapse and Reconstruction: the Ethics of Preservation

I am honored to say that I lectured on the ethics of preservation, at the Pittsburgh History Landmark Foundation, and it went well! Last Tuesday, January 10th 2017,  the room of the Landmark Preservation Resource Center was full, and I was able to share some thoughts on how to deal with our irreplaceable past.
Below, you can find the abstract of the lecture:

Using collapse as an extreme example of damage to buildings, this lecture will present different ways to save historic architecture in need of repair. We will analyze today’s best practices, and discuss the ethics of preservation projects, compared to traditional restoration. Guided by solutions from the nineteenth century to contemporary practices, we will understand the challenges of dealing with aging infrastructure, the consequences of our decisions as clients and designers, and the opportunities of working with the existing environment. This lecture will interest anybody who cares about historic and old buildings, yet looks to the future of our communities.

Following are some pieces from the original presentation I prepared, which was divided in nine chapters: Introduction, A Game, The Nature of Change, Authenticity and Complexity in Architecture, Restoration or Preservation?, The US Standards , Challenges, Opportunities, and Conclusion.

Excerpts from 'The Nature of Change'

Duomo di Milano 

(c) Bea Spolidoro

The idea that architecture is an unchanging deep structure is a big misconception in the realm of architecture. Architect and clients alike tend to believe that.

Truth is: architectures change over time, usually because of mistakes made during construction. Then, there is the “new programming needs” chapter, which typically brings the most substantial changes. 

Change is inevitable and the word “building” itself points to an object – the building- but also a verb, in its continuing form – to build.

The Duomo of Milano is a common joke in Italy, because it was started in 1386 and the facade was finished only under Napoleon. Then maintenance and cleaning started and keeps going on continuously, since it’s so big. Once you end one side, you have to move onto the other, and so on. It is indeed a build-ing by definition.

Excerpts from 'Authenticity and Complexity in Architecture'

Milano: Parish of Santa Maria Incoronata in Corso Garibaldi

(c) Bea Spolidoro

   

The formal authenticity is the initial idea, the first drawing, or the project as delivered from the artist, at the beginning of its artistic life. On the other hand, the material authenticity is what we see in front of us, here and now, after time has passed since the “zero” moment in time. 

When more than one hand worked on a building, over time, the building is authentic just as if only one hand worked on it.  Moreover, changes accumulating over time are authentic nonetheless. Even if they might “offend the form" they are now material.

Reality is an addition of authenticities. It is complex, in the Latin sense which means “it embraces a lot of different things”, it tangles them together. It’s a whole composed of parts. It’s not impossible to understand, but need some extra effort, if you want to grasp the single parts.

You cannot subtract “authenticity”, but only add more. It is wrong to respect one specific period in time, or single author, and remove any dissonant element, just because it differs from what we would like to see. Or because it offends our idea of authenticity. 

After a collapse, partial or total, the formal authenticity is lost, but the material authenticity is all there, unfortunately forever de-formed!

Excerpts from 'Restoration or Preservation?'

Pittsburgh, Smallman Street

(c) Bea Spolidoro

Every sign of the past, even if incomprehensible to us, enriches our experience of the built environment. Only the authenticity of the material is real. It really happened, it really marked the material, whether we like it or not. Restorers think you can rebuild architectures, because the give importance only to the form. But this is “The Same Ax, Twice” paradox: one farmer had the same ax for his whole life. He only changed the handle two times and the head three. Does he have the same ax? 

Preservation looks at the present, and thinks of the future: how to consolidate, clean and protect the old buildings and what is left, in order to pass them onto the next generations sincerely. They will do the minimum work needed, in order to save the building. Truth, usually the building looks the same, after the work is done. And some clients are not very happy to pay.­­

Excerpts from 'Opportunities'

Castelvecchio Castle and Museum by Carlo Scarpa. (Verona)

(C) Bea Spolidoro

Opportunities arise when we focus less on the artistic message, and more on the historic message, which means: if we accept the progression of time.  If we mystify history, we loose an opportunity. Although the artistic message is important, and it’s what drives our learning, the historic message is the ”book” we are reading, and we cannot do without. 

We should not deny the natural progression of time, but put more energy in preserving what we have, and design appropriate new architectures, compatible with the past, but living in the present. 

As clients, we really need to understand that history lies in every brick, and while we are “in transit”, these buildings are supposed to last longer. 

After WWII and the physical losses of Italy, the shock was so great that reconstruction had to be both physical and moral. Asking a traumatized population to accept time passing in that way, was voted not okay.  Thus, many monuments in Florence, Milano, and other cities heavily bombed, were rebuilt in place, exactly as they were before the war.

That time, though, was also the opportunity to look forward and plan accordingly, like Carlo Scarpa did in Castelvecchio in Verona. This is interpretation of history, elevating the past with a modern look, in order to deliver it to the future generations: an eye on the past, and eye on the future.

Finally registered!

The best way to end a year is to look back and see the results of our hard work (and study).
I now want to look forward to new adventures, and if someone is thinking of starting the same endeavour I just finished, or keep working their way through the NCARB exams, here are some lessons learned I want to share.
You can read them on the AIA Pittsburgh online magazine eColumns.

Happy new year everybody!

Bea
- Finally Registered Architect

Architect Registration Exams: completed!

I am very happy to announce that I passed all seven divisions of the Architect Registration Exam (ARE), by NCARB. Once the paperwork is processed, I will be able to call myself an Architect! Before that, I am still an "Intern" - as Pennsylvania does not accept any other definition that sounds like "architect".

From the NCARB website:
" The ARE concentrates on those services that most affect the public health, safety, and welfare. The ARE has been developed with specific concern for its fidelity to the practice of architecture; that is, its content relates to the actual tasks an architect encounters in practice. This examination attempts to determine the candidate's qualifications not only to perform measurable tasks, but also to exercise the skills and judgment of a generalist working with numerous specialists. In short, the objective is to reflect the practice of architecture as an integrated whole. "

The seven divisions can be taken in any order. I passed the 4.0 version of the exam, but version 5.0 is already out, since few weeks. The following are the divisions I tested for, and passed:

• Construction Documents and Services
• Schematic Design
• Practice, Programming and Planning
• Building Systems
• Building Design and Construction Systems
• Structural Systems
• Site Planning

Below you will find a collection of the best Instagram posts from the past 20 months. That is the time it took me to live a very busy life, full of volunteering activities, work, AND intense study. I could have gone faster, but I opted for a solid study, slower in the making, but destined to last longer in my mind. Enjoy this video story: I always tried to cheer me up, despite the stress of testing and studying hard.

Now it is time to celebrate, and sleep way much more!

 

This is the basement of the Cathedral of Learning, where I started my path to licensure, gaining 3 credits in "English Composition", which were missing from my Italian scholastic curriculum. 

As an Italian graduate, I had to take an extra test, before starting the traditional path.

Little bit of Italian and Latin, in my American studies...

Sketching on Pittsburgh

Sketch to Structure: For the people

Re-posting this article I wrote on the AIAPGH eColumns magazine, on how buildings take shape. It is the review of an exhibition at the Heinz Architectural Center, back in March 2015. Read the full article here.

The process of architecture is not linear, with much back and forth happening before getting to the built product. Nevertheless, Curator Alyssum Skjeie was able to capture interesting architectural moments – and deliver them to the public – with the Heinz Architectural Center’s latest exhibit ‘Sketch to Structure,’ a collection of drawings, sketches, and architectural models that show how architects work. “The goal is to keep it broad and accessible,” Skjeie points out as we start the visit together…

Pittsburgh, now and then

Design Pittsburgh 2016 edition has just concluded, after a summer of volunteering and prepping, with a month full of events.  I have been on the committee for designing the space, also this year, and the theme was the past, present and future of Pittsburgh. I have produced two graphics that captured the iconic views of Pittsburgh, now and then.

Huge shout out to the Shaw Gallery and Kurt Shaw, for offering us the digital prints of the old images. See more maps and prints here, on their page Treasured Maps. 

The photos of Pittsburgh "now" are taken by me, between 2013 and 2014. 

Architects who run

I have been published once more, on the online magazine of the AIA Pittsburgh!
You can read why Architects should run - and what they can learn.
Read it here .

Below: photos from one of my favorite runs, along the Mononghaela River, between Downtown and the South Side.