Architect vs. Engineer : Design Meeting

A structural engineer is a part of the design team for all my residential work in the studio. In this video you'll join me for the kick-off meeting with my engineer as we begin developing the structural design for the Outpost project. You’ll see how we choose a foundation strategy, work through framing + detail ideas, and understand how lateral loads are transferred and how they affect the materials we choose to build with. The professional tug-of-war between engineer and architect isn't adversarial, rather it's collaborative and makes for a better, more efficient project.

The most interesting part of our dialogue begins around minute eighteen where I ask Albert to comment on one of the most common objections I hear from contractors in the field: "This design is way over-engineered." His answer illuminates how a structural engineer can complement the architectural design process in ways you may not have anticipated.

If you enjoy these videos, you can support 30X40’s work on YouTube by investing in a course, a toolkit or a digital tool. Many thanks!

Learning to Sketch

I spend most of my day in a digital work environment and I’ll often find myself tweaking the smallest of details just because I can. Digital space is without limitation, yet creativity thrives on constraints. It’s the boundaries that we’re forced to work within that shape our work. There’s no question digital tools are an integral part of how we realize our architecture today and in the 25 years I’ve been practicing, those tools have changed and improved the way I work significantly. Digital tools are for executing ideas. I turn to my favorite analog tools - pencil + paper - to birth those ideas.

Sketching is thinking. Sketching is seeing. Sketching is learning. With pencil in hand, I’m a child. I think that’s part of the magic of learning to sketch, it allows me to see problems with a child’s mind, the mind of an amateur.

I designed the BLANK sketchbook because I know how transformative establishing a sketching habit can be. Buying a pair helps to support my educational mission on YouTube.

With gratitude

/Eric @30X40

Model Build: Outpost Project

Although many architects today default to digital renderings and virtual modeling, I still use physical models in my practice. I spend a lot of my professional time in digital space and perhaps that’s why I find making tangible objects so satisfying. Cutting, gluing, revising and thinking with my hands surfaces ideas I’m not able to access any other way. Equally, when you build a scale model you’re forced to confront the physics of reality.

This build is what architects call a study model. It’s essentially a three-dimensional sketch, intentionally imperfect and slightly messy. It’s an iterative design tool rather than made specifically as a presentation tool. This one was approximately a 2-hour build from start to finish, of course, that doesn’t include any of the setup or filming time necessary to make the video!

Check out the video for a behind the scenes look at my process.

I use basswood for many of my models because it’s dimensionally stable, easy to cut, takes paint without warping and has a thickness that’s appropriate for the scale I’m working with (3/32” = 1’-0”). To fasten the pieces I use a combination of hot glue and white glue. The hot glue is used more for connections which are concealed and don’t require a high degree of precision. I use white glue for components that may need to be repositioned after they’re set in place, ones that are tiny or fragile, and for parts of the model that are subject to scrutiny by clients. White glue takes longer to set but it has a nicer finished appearance.

Materials + Tools list:

  1. Basswood sheets (1/16” thick) 2” x 24”, Skinny Sticks 1/4” x 6”x 1/16”, 1/16” square sticking (see my Amazon page for more)

  2. Self-healing cutting mats (12” x 18” + 18” x 24”)

  3. White PVA Glue

  4. Fine-toothed saw (cutting dowels + square sticking)

  5. Olfa L2 + utility blades

  6. X-acto + #11 blades

  7. Wire cutters (metal details) + nippers (for flush cuts of wood sticking)

  8. Pushpin, hat pins, + T-pins (for inserting metal details in wood + making holes in cork)

  9. Forceps/tweezers

  10. Guitar string (details)…piano wire works too

  11. Kuru toga mechanical pencil

  12. Scissors (bonsai scissors are great for tight areas), I also like these Allex ones.

  13. 1/4” + 1/8” wood dowel (chimney)

  14. Hot glue gun (not pictured)

  15. Coir mat (not pictured) for landscape elements, shrubbery, green roofscapes

  16. Cork backed metal rule (6” + 24”) + Squares

  17. Cork underlayment (more info. on the site model here)

If you enjoy these videos, you can support 30X40’s work on YouTube by investing in a course, a toolkit or a digital tool. Many thanks!

Architecture, Design + Photography (podcast interview with Trent Bell)

A conversation between two architecture school graduates with similar approaches to work + life who followed two very different paths. This video is an excerpt from my conversation with Trent Bell an award-winning architectural photographer (Trent Bell Photography) as we chat in my studio. You'll also join us behind the scenes as he photographs one of my residential projects. For the full interview be sure to check out Trent’s Architecture, Design & Photography podcast, (video here) a project he’s launched in cooperation with Maine Home + Design magazine. See all the photos we captured that day here.

An Incredible Resource for Architectural Inspiration

With more than 581,000+ architectural drawings, photos, and documents to download and use as you please, I couldn't keep this incredible resource to myself any longer. The HABS (Historical American Buildings Survey) along with HAER (engineering), and HALS (landscape) are a collection of building surveys from the American architectural, engineering, building and landscape culture maintained by the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. In this video, you’ll peek in the collection and see how I use it in my architecture practice.

The program was born in the 1930's during the Great Depression as a means to put unemployed architects to work with a mission to preserve and document the architectural heritage of America. Since then, the archive has catalogued more than 43,000 individual structures and more are added each year.

I use it for: creative inspiration, precedent research, to improve my architectural drawing, graphics and delineation techniques, and to study details from some of America's most famous works of architecture.

If you enjoy these videos, you can support 30X40’s work on YouTube by investing in a course, a toolkit or a digital tool. Many thanks!

Architectural Model Making Tips

Architects build two fundamentally different types of models: presentation models and study models. Presentation models are often used in client meetings to convey a finished design in miniature while study models are used by architects as part of the design process. Study models are the equivalent of a three-dimensional sketch and allow us to explore and iterate design ideas quickly. We often begin these by collaging ideas using planes of cardboard and wood.

In this video, I share my best tips for building architectural models something I’ve done professionally for close to 30 years.

Building models remains an important tool and part of my personal process for making architecture. And while many have moved to completely digital forms of modeling, I’ve maintained the habit of building models. Here’s why: there’s a sensory feedback loop between the hands and the brain known as embodied cognition. It’s been shown that our motor system influences our understanding and cognition in much the same way the mind can influence our physical actions. I build models to unlock creative inspiration I can’t otherwise access (they’re also pretty fun to build).

architecture-model-making-tools.jpg

Making Architecture Models (a tutorial)

I've always found satisfaction in turning scraps of wood and cardboard into a tiny model, but I haven't always loved the finished product. If you've struggled with this too (or if you’re just curious about model making) you'll appreciate this week's video where I share my model making techniques.

I'll show you the materials I chose, why I chose them and a few - less expensive - alternatives. I discuss why you would choose one modeling style over another, how to conceptualize what to model and how a few simple tweaks can make a big difference in the esthetics of your architectural models.

If you enjoy these videos, you can support 30X40’s work on YouTube by investing in a course, a toolkit or a digital tool. Many thanks!

NOW

I’ve been wanting to make a “Now” page for a while and I’m posting here to introduce it. A “Now” page is just a collector…a place to post all the things that are inspiring my work + thinking in the studio right “Now”. My Instagram page used to be the place to do that, but fighting with an algorithm took some of the fun out of it for me. I found I wasn’t posting some of the pictures and work that I really wanted to…like the one below for example. I hope you’ll head over there to check it out (and maybe start your own).

Smoked Whitefish, Christmas Eve 2018 [ Photo: Eric Reinholdt, 6DMKII 100MM f2.8L ]

Smoked Whitefish, Christmas Eve 2018 [ Photo: Eric Reinholdt, 6DMKII 100MM f2.8L ]

A Gift in the Making

Sharing a side project of mine and a holiday tradition I have in the studio. Side projects - for me - are a reminder that my entire creative life isn’t wrapped up in a singular project, rather who I become as a designer, as a person, is the result of a long winding path as I travel from one idea to the next. I’ve found it liberating to slip between definitions of what I am professionally. I’m an architect, yes, but I’m also a typographer and a filmmaker, a paper cutter, a UX designer, a writer and a photographer.

And this is why I love side projects so much, they allow me to be any or all of these things. There’s no pressure to perform or even to share the results, the lessons can be all mine. As the creative director, I set the constraints, the budget, and the schedule.

Your side project may be as simple as making a holiday card or it could be as life-changing as my YouTube channel has been for me. That too started as a side project. Side projects add dimension to your creative life and at some point you may discover that your side project has transformed into your main project. This jockeying for attention amongst opportunities means you’re always left with fulfilling, interesting, engaging projects to take on each week.

Materials List *:

30X40 2019 Holiday Gift Box

Cheers my friends…wishing you happy holidays and a prosperous 2019…!

Travel Habits of an Architect

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling lately so in this video, I wanted to share some of my architect travel habits for sketching and photography. These tips apply even if you’re not an aspiring architect and will help you wring the most out of any trip you take, near or far. (And, be sure to stick around at 4:46...wait for it...)

GEAR

My travel kit is as lean as it’s ever been, just a sketchbook, a few drawing tools, my camera gear (more details here) and a small laptop. You don’t need an expensive camera or special tools though to do what I do. The DSLR is an intentional choice for me as it forces me to slow down when I'm traveling. It makes me think about lens selection and composition, the subject, the lighting. It’s probably the single best investment I’ve made in the past 10 years (aside from travel).

**MY UPDATED DAILY CARRY CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND HERE.

For lenses on this trip I brought a wide zoom, a medium zoom, a telephoto and a macro. And this was way too many. Lenses are heavy and to lug these things around in a backpack in the tropics is…well, sweaty. Of the four I brought along, I used the 24-70mm and the 100mm most of the time. The zoom is great because the 24mm end on a full frame camera is wide enough to capture landscapes or interiors and the 70mm is perfect for details. Then you have the right around 50mm is great for portraits. So this one lens covers a lot of situations.

You'll learn why I reject guidebooks in general, my process for observing, documenting and then cataloguing my travels and you'll see what I do in the downtime between destinations.

Time Stamps:

  • 0:22 Start Now. Don’t wait until you arrive at your destination to start taking photos or sketching.

  • 0:42 Follow 30by40 on Instagram: http://thirtybyforty.com/instagram

  • 0:49 Travel Essentials.

  • 1:28 My Routine (Shoot then Sketch)

  • 1:55 Subjects. Not everything has to be architectural.

  • 2:53 Details + Materials = Experience. Learn to observe the world this way.

  • 4:46 Wait for it…

  • 4:55 Has this ever happened to you? Relaxing on the beach and out of nowhere…!?

Sketchbook - 50pages from Strathmore (trying something new…I quite like it)

White pen - ink isn’t semi-transparent, but flows nicely, not gummy at all

Copic Marker Set (grays) - essential (this is a set of 5 and includes a non-smudging Multiliner pen too)

Blue + Tan + Green + Yellow Copics are from the blending trio sets (they’re cheaper to buy as sets)

Mechanical Pencil (a personal favorite)

White colored pencil (wood-free)

Hallway Light + Room Numbers at The Williamsburg Hotel

Hallway Light + Room Numbers at The Williamsburg Hotel

SIDE NOTE: The Williamsburg Hotel (at 3:16) in Brooklyn, NY was designed by the London Architecture Firm: Michaelis Boyd and completed in 2017. We actually had no plans to stay here, but we arrived in NYC to an early season snowstorm and our connecting flight back to Maine was canceled. Our flight the following day wasn’t due to leave until 10pm, so at my better half’s urging, we traveled from JFK airport to Williamsburg in Brooklyn and spent the next 24 hours exploring the neighborhood and staying in this fantastic hotel. Completely worth the little bit of extra effort to get there from JFK.

Railing Study at The Williamsburg Hotel (clever design, but, man it really whistles in the wind!)

Railing Study at The Williamsburg Hotel (clever design, but, man it really whistles in the wind!)

Client Meeting + Site Visit - The OUTPOST

Tag along on a client meeting and site visit to a very special location on a small island miles off the coast of Maine. Together we walk the site, sketch and discuss the strategies for building in such a pristine environment. You'll hear the questions I ask, the ensuing discussions and discover the ideas that shape the design process and ultimately our architecture. And, perhaps surprisingly, it's more than just a solving of functional problems.

This is a side of the architectural design process rarely seen and a wide-ranging discussion that questions local architecture and building traditions, how to design for experience. We cover everything from the mundane and practical to the conceptual.

Architectural Sketching (techniques + tips)

Inside My Sketchbook - An Architect's Essential Tools

A look inside my sketchbook as I start a new project and review my current favorite sketching tools. See my go-to paper, pens, pencils, markers; everything in my everyday carry kit for sketching.
Instead of the chronological approach I've used in the past, I now dedicate entire sketchbooks to individual projects, tasks, or idea categories. I've found this helps me to organize information and find it quickly when I'm searching for it later.


Sketchbook

BLANK Sketchbook - Custom designed + manufactured by 30X40

Pencils

Kuru Toga .5mm - I use this for sketching currently. If you prefer a chunkier lead, try this lead holder clutch made by E+M

Colored Pencils

Pens + Markers

Pilot Precise V7

Signo

Sign Pen

Markers

Accessories

Pencil Case

Eraser

Eraser Pen

Desk Brush

Chop Stamp

Modern Practice Series - Ep 2 Eponymous Architecture (cont'd)

After more than two decades of working for other architects, John decided to step out on his own. In part 2 he recounts the move from moonlighting to starting Eponymous Architecture and his early client work. He shares the difficulties he’s faced along the way, how he’s structured his life and practice, where he’s been finding new projects, and even a few unexpected advantages of going solo. This is a window into the early days of starting an architecture firm from nothing.

Topics discussed: 
1:01 Testing the waters
1:59 Making the leap
3:51 The Lean Startup – Software + Hardware
5:37 Challenges of Sole Practice
8:30 Material library (in a small space)
9:47 Becoming a Better Architect
11:49 Your Portfolio (of someone else’s work)
15:21 One Year. Enough time?
17:02 Why Eponymous? 

**Did you miss part 1? Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/yOAIf6WX6mY