Ryan is a Registered Architect who earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kentucky in 1998. His experience in a broad spectrum of architectural projects includes design and project management in multi-family residential, general commercial, and institutional projects. This architectural experience is balanced with a background in general contracting of residential and light commercial construction projects. Ryan’s knowledge and ability as both architect and builder enable him to address both the technical and practical sides of the comprehensive body of construction knowledge.
Soldering copper pipe, commonly referred to as “sweating” pipe, is a job any homeowner can do. As with any home improvement or DIY project, it is important to understand the basic skills before starting. After a little planning and ensuring that you have the right tools on hand, soldering copper pipe should be simple. Join our host, Jeff Wilson, as we learn the basic skills required to make one of the most common connections in plumbing.
Installing or replacing a kitchen faucet is a job any homeowner can do. As with any home improvement project, a little planning to ensure that you have the proper faucet type and the right tools on hand will make for a smooth job.
At first glance, Cincinnati, Ohio, appears to be a typical Midwestern city. A closer look reveals a sophisticated community of architectural trendsetters. Beginning in large part with a transformative vision for the University of Cincinnati campus in the late 1980s, Cincinnati is now home to a major concentration of signature contemporary architecture. One of the architectural treasures of Cincinnati is the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, home of the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC). Designed by Pritzker Prize award winner Zaha Hadid and opened in 2003, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art allows CAC to serve its organizational mission to unite art and people in a provocative architectural environment.
By now you have probably heard that Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, partners of the Japanese architectural firm SANAA, have been awarded the 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize. Renowned for their elegant compositions that emphasize transparency and lightness through explorations in material minimalism, Sejima and Nishizawa have emerged with an impressive body of work that includes the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion. Inspired by the news of the Pritzker award, I scheduled a trip to see the Glass Pavilion so that I could experience the qualities of design that prompted such an honor.
The NCAA Basketball Tournament begins this weekend; some call this the best sporting weekend of year (a sentiment this sports junkie completely agrees with). But what does basketball have to do with the On Site channel? The University of Louisville’s new downtown arena! Not only are Cardinal fans eager for March Madness to begin, but they are also anxiously awaiting the completion of their basketball team's new home.
If you have been following the Go Green channel, you've probably read about Vancouverism and the eco-density of downtown Vancouver. Below are a few snapshots of one of the newest contributors to the towering skyline that caught my eye while we were out exploring Vancouver. Right across the street from the Vancouver Convention Center, the Media Center of the 2010 Winter Olympics, is the Fairmont Pacific Rim.
Most buildings are content to be four walls, a floor, and a roof, existing only to provide shelter and warmth for their inhabitants. A few, though, endeavor to be tools, ready at a moment's notice to serve the changing needs of their constituency. The new Wyly Theater at the Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas is a facility that embraces this subservient role to the point that it was designed as a ‘theater machine.’ The facility, opened in October of 2009, was designed by Rem Koolhaas | OMA and Joshua Prince-Ramus | REX and provides a new home for the Dallas Theater Center. Literally an assemblage of moving parts capable of transforming seating arrangements and orientation, the Wyly Theater redefines the meaning of "flexible space."
Records are made to be broken. Most are unexpected, like the 100m world record shattered by Usain Bolt in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the world could see this one coming. Yesterday, in an unprecedented display of ceremonial hype usually reserved for major social goodwill events such as the Olympics, the opening of the Burj Dubai tower in the United Arab Emirates made it official. It is the new tallest building in the world, stretching more than a half mile into the sky. The Burj Dubai measures over 2625 ft (800m) and stacks over 160 floors of residential, hotel and office suites into a space-age, missile-like structure.
The Burj Dubai is the latest skyscraper from the prolific neck-bending designer Adrian Smith and his former firm SOM. The official website - Visit the Burj Dubai — The Tallest Building in the World - offers a glimpse into the vision, outlines the features and provides a comparison with the world's other tall towers.
Conceived to be one of the focal points of Dubai at the height of the massive construction boom, the tower opens in the midst of struggling world markets and stalled construction at other major Dubai projects. While certainly eliciting a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the average citizen, the project teeters on the ostentatious, especially taken in context of its immediate environment of Dubai. However, I would venture to say that among the design and construction community, the physical structure garners much curiosity and respect - never before has man reached this far into the clouds.
While we aren't quite through the first decade of the 21st century, The LA Times is running an Arts & Entertainment series tagged 'Notes on the Decade.' Architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne checks in with, “Architecture: Star architects emerge, but even they find limits,” a commentary on the status of early 21st century architecture.
The article hits most of the highlights of the last nine years: the advancement of BIM design and modeling technology; the effects of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks; the building boom in China; and the momentum of the green building agenda. Hawthorne also singles out a few worthy contributions to our built environment, most notably the CCTV Tower in Beijing, China, a top contender in The Huffington Post's Best Buildings of the Decade poll. But what resonates most for me is the final thought on the influence of architects and the power of architecture.
Climate change is a topic that, unlike the polar ice caps, won’t be disappearing from the newspapers, televisions and websites that deliver our news. It’s no surprise then that the Copenhagen Climate Conference is the center of attention this week. As world leaders meet to debate the rate of climate change and the degree to which it should be controlled, design professionals continue to lead the way in implementing methods for reducing the effects of building construction and operation on our planet’s resources.
