Boston City Hall (part 1)

Boston City Hall, 2007

There are many voices saying that the Boston City Hall is one of the ugliest building in Boston. I heard people talking about the Boston City Hall is ugly. Even Charles, he told me before that he thinks it’s a bad design. Some people say the Boston City Hall doesn’t look like how a city hall should be. It’s dirty, it’s dark. They don’t know what is the purpose of the building to occupy such a big piece of land.

The coffers and the architrave above the concrete columns

Charles and I have been talking about our viewpoints on various buildings, including the Boston City Hall. One Friday, for some reason, our business partner said he also sees the Boston City Hall an ugly building. Then, we had a conversation about this building. Then, I started to defend for the Boston City Hall, telling them that it’s in fact an interesting building. The building itself serves as a government building which is part of the Government Center complex. It’s a modern architecture built in the 60s when it was symbolizing modern and urban redesign. This Boston City Hall was built after the era of the Old City Hall in the Downtown area. I believe that it’s because of the new building is totally out of the traditional European building style which the Old City Hall resembled, that’s why most Bostonians don’t see the beauty of the new Boston City Hall. Besides, if there was a figure of an authority had expressed an idea of the new City Hall is an ugly building, then most people would agree that it’s ugly because it’s already a “mainstream” viewpoint. No body would like to be regarded as a deviationist. That’s why it’s very difficult to tell the general public that the Boston City Hall is actually an interesting building. The combination of the concrete and the brick creates a modern feel of the 60s.

The Boston City Hall is in fact named among the list of the Great Buildings Online.

Boston City Hall, with partial view of Faneuil Hall, 1981

so you think you can design a logo

It’s actually not easy to design an effective logo which conveys strong message about a company. I have just got my client finalized the logo for their trading company few days ago after a 5-week work. The first thing I did for the logo was to combine the two initials to indicate it is a partnership between two business partners. At the same time, I use the san serif for the symbol which has a modern feel of the company. The star I later put between the connection of the initials creates an image of an American trading firm. This trading firm is doing global business, and the geometric shape of  the circular icon implies the shape of the globe where the businesses are. The color has to be something solid and a bit subtle. I had Pantone Reflex Blue for the logo which conveys the solid nature of the company. The client basically likes the idea of the modern look of the logo and the ideas behind it. However, there are times the client wanted to see “new” stuff on the logo. That’s why we have been “struggling” to come to a final decision. The client was expecting to see some more modifications or alternatives. However, one of the suggestions is way too much that it was driving to a different direction. I explained to the client where we were standing. The client finally agreed to what we have is already very good, suitable and effective for the company.

The following article about logo design is very inspiring. An effective logo doesn’t have to be very complicated. Simplicity is the key.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/28/logo-design-creative-skill

Religious Items

I am a Catholic. And I was baptized when I was a baby.

Naturally (I guess), I have received prayer cards and holy cards from my parents, God mother and friends. I especially like those with traditional designs. I don’t know why, but maybe I am a pretty nostalgic kind of person, I prefer historical and traditional designs when I am picking up a Mass card or a prayer card.

One of my current design projects is coming up a few baptism Mass card designs. I was searching for references from the website of Liturgical Publications, Inc. and allposters.com. Good thing about allposters.com is, they have very nice traditional images and paintings for reference and purchase.

baptism lace holy card from the Catholic Company

The Baby Baptism Lace Holy Card from the Catholic Company is probably one of my all-time-favorite styles. I like the lace around the card which gives a warm, feminine and delicate feel of the card. Another characteristics is that these kind of baby baptism cards are all in pastel colors.This kind of design matches the warm and tender feeling of a new born.

However, I was fascinated by the modern design from zazzle.com. The baby sheep creates a very good symbol for a baby baptism card. I guess it’s coz zazzle.com is not a religious company. They have all kinds of gifts and apparels. Their designs are more modern. Although I am a big fan of religious items in traditional designs, I enjoy the witty, modern images applied in the religious items.

I am going to make a church program cover design for my God-daughter for her wedding in the church. The young couple is expecting a taste of modernism.

dancing living house

'dancing living house' by a.l.x. in yokohama, japan

(left) drive way, (right) street view

At the first glance of this Dancing Living House designed by A.L.X. Junichi Sampei in Yokohama, Japan. The pure white caught my eyes. The modern style displayed by the house reminds me Villa Savoye designed by Le Corbusier, a French architect, who was renowned with his idea of a house is a machine to live in.

The minimal design streamlined the shape of this dancing living house. It looks like a cube with a corner being cut out. There are no long strip of ribbon windows in this house, as those appear at Villa Savoye. However, the cropped corner and the glass floor create a good source of sun light from outside to the interior. Besides, the pure white color throughout the house plays an essential role in reflecting the light.

Take a look of Villa Savoye, one of the famous design from Le Corbusier. Then, you’ll see the similarities and the beauty of simplicity from both buildings. I’ve cited the key ideas from Boston College here.

LeCorbusier — Villa Savoye

exterior of Villa Savoye

• modulor design — the result of Corbu’s researches into mathematics, architecture (the golden section), and human proportion
• “pilotis” — the house is raised on stilts to separate it from the earth, and to use the land efficiently. These also suggest a modernized classicism.
• no historical ornament
• abstract sculptural design
• pure color — white on the outside, a color with associations of newness, purity, simplicity, and health (LeCorbusier earlier wrote a book entitled, When the Cathedrals were White), and planes of subtle color in the interior living areas
• a very open interior plan
• dynamic , non-traditional transitions between floors — spiral staircases and ramps
• built-in furniture
• ribbon windows (echoing industrial architecture, but also providing openness and light)
• roof garden, with both plantings and architectural (sculptural) shapes
• integral garage (the curve of the ground floor of the house is based on the turning radius of the 1927 Citroen)