Posted by: matt | September 2, 2009

3/50 Project

You want to know a great way to help your local economy? Yep, that’s right, get out there and Help Your Local Economy!!

Make an effort to buy goods and services from your independent retailers and service providers!

The 3/50 Challenge proposes that you spend a total of at least $50 a month at three different locally owned businesses that you want to keep around.

If you have a local grocer, make an effort to buy some of your groceries from them. If you have a favorite local restaurant, make an effort to visit them on a regular basis.

Every little bit helps!

Posted by: matt | July 26, 2009

best architectural bookstore in the world

Best Architectural Bookstore in the World!

Prairie Avenue Bookshop

I went to college in Chicago, the best city to study Architecture. We had the downtown as our laboratory, discovering and learning block after block.

Our professors made sure we had plenty of studio projects in downtown and the adjacent neighborhoods.

Well, if downtown was our playground. Prairie Avenue Bookshop was truly our library. You see, while other college majors bought their books at the college bookstore, we did not. We were prescribed our tailored list of architecture books, usually in some off hour, deep in a studio crit. Typically, after a professor had a chance to evaluate our standing and competence. Then, we were whispered, “Hey, you should check out Morphosis’ latest or maybe Steven Holl…” After receiving the “suggestion” we automatically knew where to go, Prairie Avenue.
What can I say. Every visit was met with some incredible find. That one book to mold you into what you are, or aren’t, today.

I owe a lot to that bookstore. And, I read a disturbing story from the Chicago Tribune today.

It seems that Prairie Avenue may be forced to close soon…too soon.

So, here’s where I come in with the pitch: Okay everybody, scratch your head and see if you can help make a diference!

Any ideas??

Posted by: matt | July 6, 2009

I Want It

First off, I apologize for the extended leave of absence. I have no good reason, just took a breather.

firehouse

So, who wants to buy this old firehouse for me??

Okay, I’ve been eyeing this place for the last…well, it’s been a really long time.

When I was in college, I stumbled upon this gem.  It’s located in an industrial area of Chicago and still has all the old-school charm entact. It just needs a little creative TLC.

Many days I thought how cool it would be to have a cafe on the ground floor, spilling out onto the sidewalk. Of course, the upstairs would have to be reserved for an office/studio…

But, all the planning has to stay in a daydream. It looks to still be used by the department for some other purposes.

Have any cool old buildings to share?

Posted by: matt | May 28, 2009

Endurance

So, I had the chance to get away for a few weeks and truly disconnect.  It was scary at first, no cell phone, e-mail, facebook, twitter, txting…

My good friend Dave recommended this book, Endurance to me.  A story about some guy and his crew sailing somewhere cold, or something.

Well, the book was great! I started reading it one night, thinking I would fall asleep within a few minutes. Next thing I know, it’s four hours later and I’m almost half way through.

The highlight for me was finishing the book in the middle of the night all alone with the family in a scary castle, now hotel, and I mean we were all alone…

I won’t get into any of the story’s details. But, I do highly recommend reading it! Alone, if you can.

Posted by: matt | April 29, 2009

mobile office

cafe

There’s no way around it. I spend way too much time in coffee shops. It’s where I go to get things done, for meetings, or just to read.  

I’m amazed at how much business actually occurs in a cafe.  As I look around, I see people in business mode as well as high schoolers doing homework.

I’ve wondered, besides wifi, what else should a great coffee shop offer it’s customers??

Any ideas?

Posted by: matt | April 6, 2009

sketchcrawl April 11 2009

This coming Saturday is the next Global Sketchcrawl. You might be wondering why you should care.

Well, I have no idea…  Actually, I do. 

It’s an opportunity to be part of something much much bigger. People all around the globe will be going outside and sketching what they see.  Creating a graphic documentation of what was here on Saturday, April 11, 2009. And, you can be part of it. Just go to http://www.sketchcrawl.com to learn more about it.

Now a little history, I have been promising myself since college, like over 10 years, that I would get back into sketching. And, if you’re looking at this post on my blog, you’ll notice my flickr badge to the right with a link to some of my sketches.  They’re not pretty. But, they are a start. I’ve learned that the best teachers are practice and studying others. I hope to keep up with the craft and get more sketches online.

But, I encourage you to get out there Saturday and use this event as an excuse to get in, too. Heck, you can blame me if you want. I don’t care, just get out there and sketch!

Any thoughts or words of encouragement you would like to share with the class?

Posted by: matt | March 24, 2009

hold that thought

Have you ever been sick before? Ever been really sick while running your own business? 

If you are your staff, how do you make it work? 

Have you ever had one of those days where you just can’t get out of bed, or at least, can’t get any work done because you’re sick?

What do you do? Do you ask for an extension on that looming deadline? Do you tell your clients? Or, do you just tough it out?

I just had a round of the stomach flu fly through the family, including myself. And, I was wondering what’s the best thing to do.

So, please share your thoughts? (This question applies to everyone.)

Posted by: matt | March 16, 2009

watch your step

There’s a story I wanted to share for a while now. It happened a few years out of college, while working at my first REAL job in architecture.  

It was around this time of year, maybe a few weeks earlier. There was still snow on the ground, but everything was starting to melt. I worked in a small practice, mainly myself and my boss. We were a little slow in the office, but pretty normal for that time of year. My boss took on a project from a real estate friend to measure an existing building. 

The building was an old warehouse in a far northern suburb of  Chicago. I believe they built boats back in the day. So, it was a big open warehouse and an attached office. 

What was odd about this measuring project was what you didn’t see from the outside.  The office building was gone, sorta. The first and second floors were demolished, but the basement and sub-basement were left intact. A feable attempt at sealing the basement ceiling from the elements led to the lower levels being flooded. There was a small hallway that was left to access the levels underground from the warehouse. 

Our job was to measure those basements. Dark. Cold. Wet. Did I mention dark?

If you’re a fan of Resident Evil, you’ll know where I’m going with this one. I’ve never been scared to measure a building, but as we climbed down the concrete stairway and through the vault door. Oh yes, did I say the basements were used as vaults?? And down the next set of stairs, down and down until we got to the lowest level. Alone. Just a flashlight, that sucked. We made our way through this maze of concrete measuring what we could see and feel. 

Realizing that there were electric generators sitting in water, that we were standing in, a few feet away, made me realize how stupid I was. Thankfully, they weren’t on. 

Driving back to the office, I came to grips with that I was most scared of, was so cool.  I love old creepy buildings.

Have any similar memoirs to share?

Posted by: matt | March 11, 2009

jiberish

So, I just overheard a definition on Word Girl that I found really intriguing.

Well, it wasn’t as much of how they defined “Jiberish”, but how they used it in their example.

A person was asked to describe their business in five words. That’s all…five.

Can you do that?

Posted by: matt | March 6, 2009

did you hear

Hey, wouldn’t it be great if you could know what people are saying about you? Good or bad??

Well, you can and it’s really easy to setup.

Google can send you an “alert” on what it’s hearing about whatever topic you like…even you!

I use it to listen for my name and my company’s name. Then, once a day, I get an e-mail with whatever it finds.

Check it out for yourself!

http://www.google.com/alerts

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