My first blog - 01/04/10

This is awesome.  I have always wanted to have my own blog but I have new had anything worthy of blogging about, nor did I have anyone who would follow my daily musings.  But now, I will have plenty of things to reflect upon and a loyal group of devoted followers.  Hopefully, my postings will be unique and interesting, but I can't promise to not sprinkle in the amusing or absurd from time to time.

So, today I started on a new project at work; we are renovating an existing building about 100 years old.  The building serves several functions - the lower floor houses a non-profit organization while the upper floors provide housing for former prostitutes looking to get out of the "business."  they do say prostitution is the "oldest profession in the world."  Anyway, today was my first day on site as we were field measuring the existing conditions to create as built drawings.  The building is in poor shape (as I said, over 100 years old.)  The building is open in the middle, with a glass atrium over the first floor and rooms and offices ringing the open air atrium.  This has lead to extensive water damage through the plaster walls and ceilings.  Residents live in cramped quarters and share common restrooms and showers on each floor that have far too many dead cockroaches littering the floor.  Radiators heat the space, in an excruciatingly effective manner; some rooms honestly top out around 90 degrees and workers leave windows propped even when the mercury hovers around 30 outside.  Going through the building and seeing some of the people who live and work there, I couldn't help but think about the meaning of what I was doing and whether or not the people who use the building appreciate or recognize architecture.  Field measuring is not always the most glamorous work.  Today alone I hand sketched over 20 different door jamb profiles and I found myself thinking, is this why I want to become an architect?  I didn't have that "feel good" moment where I thought about the people I was helping or how maybe I would help these people who have had a rough life.  Instead, I wondered how much the residents notice what we are doing and what level of comfort they might be willing to accept.  Structurally, the building is unstable.  It leaks water.  It smells of sewage at times.  But it does offer refuge from the elements; a place these women can call home.  Only a block or two from the inn is a highway overpass, underneath which a homeless camp exists; a camp in which I'm sure some of the residents may have spent time in.

I'm not trying to sound cynical - I know what we are doing is good work.  I just wonder sometimes how much people who have no knowledge of architecture think about our profession or work.  Are the basic comforts of being warm or cool or not wet enough to make people happy?  Or do we all inherently desire more?  I will be heading down to field measure the building for the new few days so I'm sure I will have more opportunities to think about this.