Yes, I have followed all of these to some degree, if not just reading about them, but also following live updates online when not asleep.

As I come to grips more with the idea that yes, I have moved (back) to Paris, I am struck by these things — insignificant in and of themselves — that add up to a great deal:

Yesterday, I saw the final “quarters” of both the Manchester City-Arsenal match and the Saracens-Clermont Auvergne match. (That latter one is rugby — a sport I know little about which is starting to make a wee bit of sense.)

When will I know I’ve been here too long? When I check the handball standings.

Aujourd’hui, nous sommes allé au Jardin des Plantes pour visiter la petite ménagerie. Ça n’est pas une ménagerie très moderne! Mais, comme toute l’architecture dans le Jardin des Plantes, ils sont en train de rénover chaque bâtiment sans que ça jure avec le style et l’esprit originale. Ç’est une approche antagoniste de la conception des “zoos” aux États-Unis, où les cages d’animaux sont complément transformés en habitats «naturels». J’ai trouvé les ménageries un peu tristes mais je me demande si les ménageries moderne ne sont pas mieux que les anciennes? En fin, ç’est extraordinaire de voir des panthères à seulement 2 mètres!

XO,

Richard

Mondayon
Tuesmeh
Wednesdayump
Thursday
Fridayête
Saturdolf
Sundayoff

I was torn on Thursdour — thinking of my Thursday Happy Hours. Some things are best just left alone.

The accent circonflexe is important for Fridayête, it being a blend of Friday and fête, the French word for a celebration (literally feast).

-olf is not a typo. It’s a nod to those who play golf. It’s still pronounced “off” though — why anyone spoils their weekend with such an endeavor I will never understand.

The image comes from a slide show of what in my Twitter stream was titled “Stunning homes in Washington”. Stunning is one word for that.

The vacation class* which Joseph is attending is at a school we were looking at for next year which happens to be in newer building in a neighborhood of newer buildings. A number of housing projects are underway — these images are not from one of them. I came upon this project a little further afield and, having just passed a number of projects which were unqualified disasters — ranging in dates of completion from last year to 40 years ago — I was happy to rumble upon this. Even with some evidence of progeny from the train wreck that Postmodernism foisted upon architects toward the end of the 20th century, this project gets so much right.

You might be wondering if I am crazy to write about a project which is about as exciting as, well, a pile of bricks — which is nearly all that this project is — but sometimes simplicity really is a trump card.

• Windows are large, simple and regular, making for sensible, functional rooms. That they are regular shapes and sizes makes them easier to live with and “furnish”.
• The selected building materials come from common sources, will age gracefully, and  are easily maintained. How many buildings in Paris were the dream of an architect upon their completion only to suffer with age — and rapidly at that. Even some of the grands-projets of Paris met this fate. Common materials carry a keen advantage — should repairs or modifications be required, these are easily accomplished with materials close at hand and trades with the skills to match.
• While ordinarily, a gap in the street wall would be a negative, here the space is well defined and undoubtedly well used as a public park. Paris is not known for its overabundance of play space.
• Lines, patterns, and rhythms are regular, effectively echoing the dominant building type of Paris, the Haussmannian block.
• Window shading and window shutters are both incorporated nicely. Earlier, the Boy had seen a building with rolling shutters which caught his fancy. How long will those remain trouble free, if they are even as I write this?

Some quirks:

• There is one odd thing about this project. Some of the windows are single hung. This might not seem odd to an English or Dutch speaking reader but hung windows are not common to France and few things are available here which would commonly accompany their use. (I’m looking at you window air-conditioner and you half-height window screen.) Indeed, the most common window accessory in all of Paris is a french casement hold-open — squirrelly as they can be  these are essential for partially opening an inward-swiging casement window to allow a draft but not allow the window to swing wild about. The proportion of a hung window also does not match the Parisian standard. Worse yet, the hung style of window is known to be the leakiest of all operable window offerings, making the choice questionable as contemporary architecture moves toward a net-zero future.
• While I appreciate the desire to have a sloped zinc roof, also quite common in Paris, the little mini-Mansard cornice line comes off as a bit odd — the one element which suggestive of pastiche.

My apologies for the lack of effort in my photography. I'd already been out longer than I planned.

As I was review the photos one more time to try a trigger my impressions of the project as I stood in front of it, I am struck by how plain the architecture is. But it’s still okay. It might not look fine in a photo (or, importantly, a rendering for a client) but the overall effect is still a positive one, even on as gray a day as this. One other thing makes it work that is not shown here nor which can be shown: the overall context of the neighborhood and Paris beyond. It is a vibrant place, rich with a variety of architecture and urban detail. This was, after all, just down the street from this.

*Joseph’s vacation class is covering photography and light. He’s enjoying it more than he ever does school. Maybe we need rename school.

Years ago, thecampmobile.com — or what I had as a website — was hosted on a shared server. Funny, I can not even recall what the domain name was. While a plethora of hosting options are available, I will stay with WordPress.com for the time being. It served me well in the Route 230 blog. Perhaps I will start writing in notes longer than 140 characters again.

Sharing for this blog as of this moment (unlike Route 230) is straight through WordPress. I’ve been using dlvr.it. WordPress allows direct sharing to Facebook & LinkedIn as well, although if I recall correctly, I have Twitter feeding those other places. Perhaps a direct feed to each is better?

And no, I am not moving away from Apple products; just moving onto the iCloud. The cloud has been good to me. I am a big user of Dropbox, occasionally user of SugarSync, and a big fan of Google Docs for collaborations personal and professional.