Saturday, December 25, 2010

Dear HOK Sport/Populous, thanks for mediocrity!

So after my first trip to the Consol Energy Center last week I have to give it a review. I've been frustrated with the design since I first saw the renderings, and felt like from day one HOK mailed in a design because they had no competition. Even the city at one point was concerned with the generic design HOK was submitting. However, I wanted to wait until I actually went to a game to see if it would somehow change my mind. Don't get me wrong, it is amazing to have a new facility with state-of-the-art everything but architecturally they dropped the ball. You can't go from having the iconic igloo for 40+ years to an extremely generic arena that could be dropped anywhere in the world. Originally when I heard HOK, now Populous, received the commission there was excitement because I know their recent work especially with stadiums/arenas has been spectacular. They also had a unique opportunity with the site just down the hill from the igloo but also adjacent to the historic Epiphany Church which even HOK's Patrick Lempka mentioned: "We thought we had a great opportunity to take advantage of [the church] as sort of an iconic piece of architecture that we could use to actually make the arena even a stronger idea than just a stand alone building." I'd like to hear an explanation of exactly how they took advantage of that building....other than building a stand alone arena that has no tie to anything. Couldn't they have at least tried to match the color of the church with the new masonry? Generic design, generic materials, generic color, and generic curtain wall. Seriously, I'm supposed to be excited about a large glass wall when they have done so much better? When they mentioned incorporating the church into the design I thought it could be extremely successful like their design for the O2 arena in Dublin from 2008, roughly the same time Consol was being designed. And even the interior fails, especially with the roof over the actual ice which looks extremely unfinished. There is almost no sign of creativity anywhere, there are some really nice things they did with graphics but that wasn't anything HOK was involved with. This was a 320+ million dollar project, and I think the main fault was that there was no competition. HOK had a great reputation and were given this commission but failed miserably in delivering on anything creative. Just so people can see what I'm talking about I compiled some images of HOK professional arenas from the last 6 years....tell me which one they cared about the least:

So thank you HOK/Populous, in a city with rich history and iconic architecture you have provided a mediocre building that will not be remembered in another 25-30 years when a new one is needed. The excitement of a new facility will wear off and when the dust settles from the old civic arena we will be left with this beige masterpiece of dullness.

Monday, October 11, 2010

more bondo = more productivity

Bondo moved in last weekend so the house of ABAB is off and running! We have been busy doing some retouching and getting the ABAB name out there. Signed up for a Behance profile, go check it out it's a pretty sweet networking site if you haven't heard of it yet. Also been touching up some old architecture shots from this summer to add to the collection, some of the examples are here. Stay tuned as always, we are becoming one with productivity.







Wednesday, October 6, 2010

casa ABAB


Bondo is officially moving in this weekend and we will finally get this collaboration rolling! I've been messing around in Sketchup with our logo, going to use it for some promotional pieces and our business cards. Here is a scene that I dropped our logo into just as a tease! Stay tuned...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

ABAB takeover starts now!


Two awesome forces have combined: the photography skills of Alex Bond mixed with the design background of Andy Bly. ABAB is up and running with only the next galaxy as our limit, check out below and the title link for some examples of a recent photo shoot. We plan on tackling any idea and will not be limited to just photography. I'm extremely excited about what is ahead and feel like this is the perfect time to flex our creative muscles. Once Bondo moves out to Kent we will be running the sweetest design studio out of a badass house, if you ever have any idea don't be afraid to send us a message!







House of Rock





Back in July I had the awesome opportunity to visit a modern house built in the Catskills of New York. My Dad's old friend just recently had this house finished and it was probably the most amazing house I have ever been through, every detail was handled by John and it is truly a dream house come to life. It is literally built into the hillside and around an enormous rock about the size of a train car. Everything from the railings to the hot tub was handled with such a modern approach it was very easy to photograph....amongst all my drooling ;)

Follow the link in the title to the Picasa album with all the photos.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Dog Days of 2010


Can't believe it's the middle of July already, been pretty busy lately with work, World Cup action, vacation and sweating it out in Akron Ohio. Finally posted some pictures from the beach and the 4th of July...starting to love this Canon Rebel even more and learning everyday. This upcoming weekend I have been extended an awesome invitation from an old high school friend of my Dad's to come check out his summer house which he built around an enormous BOULDER a couple of years ago. I've rented a wide angle lens for the weekend so hopefully I can get some good pics. I will post them when I get back.


Wednesday, June 23, 2010

BEACH!


A few days before Samm and I are off to meet up with the family in the outerbanks. Couldn't be more excited to have a whole week of beach, ocean, beers, great company, world cup and NO WORK! Supposed to be a really great week down in the Outerbanks and I'm excited about capturing some photos with the new camera, I have a new filter and tricks to try out so keep posted for the results... For now enjoy some of the sketches that I did last year while sitting around in Corolla.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I can taste Summer...




Spring is quickly winding down, the weather is getting nicer, windows are kept open all night and I've procrastinated almost all work until the last two weeks of this semester....this can mean only one thing: Summer is almost here! Things are going great and I'm extremely excited for the summer even though I can not make it to Italy with Dr. Medicus. Two weekends ago I adopted an ADORABLE labrador/shepherd puppy from a local rescue shelter and she is great...attached is a photo of her and some random flower pictures to coincide with the great weather. Follow the title link to the flickr photostream as always to see more. Cheers!

Friday, April 2, 2010

The City





Spent an amazing 3 nights/4 days in New York checking out 7 museums and had a great talk with Diana Al Hadid at her Brooklyn studio. Stayed at Jazz in the Park on 106th and Central Park West and met some new great friends from Kent and also from Denmark and Australia. I've uploaded some of my favorite shots to my Flickr page and have even more over on my Facebook page. Really loved having the digital Rebel along with me, and I'm getting used to using Adobe Lightroom which is absolutely amazing for post work. Enjoy the photos!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

New York State of Mind


I'm off to the big city very early tomorrow morning for an Art History field trip. This couldn't have come at a better time, really need a few days away from Ohio to think about everything and nothing all at once. I hate that it takes times like this to reflect on my faults but still believe with all my heart this is where I belong and I can be everything you've wanted and more. Words mean little to nothing at this point, it's about action....regardless of the outcome.

Really excited to explore all of the museums and even more excited to get some great pics with the Canon Rebel XSi. I rented a fisheye lens so keep posted in a week or so when I get back and upload pics. NYC here I come...

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Lauren is 21!




As unbelievable as it is, my youngest sister is now 21 and we all got together in Pittsburgh this weekend for some legal drinking! Had a blast in Station Square and Saturday night we had an amazing time over at the Firehouse Lounge in the strip district...a big thanks to Alana for coordinating our birthday surprise and a thank you to Spencer for the bottle of champagne!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Ice Melt


36 hours of rain, melting snow/ice and crazy fog....wish the cold would stay away forever!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Cavs!


Panorama view from the VIP section the other night against the Grizzlies. Watching the Cavs this season has been a blast, but free food & booze makes it even better!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

this will make me laugh forever

funny animated gif


Thanks Soup for pointing this out!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Akron [at night]

I took a trip downtown after work the other night to snap some night-time shots of some of the great Akron architecture, especially the art museum and the addition by Coop Himmelb(l)au that glows! As always follow the title link to my flickr stream where I uploaded the rest of the photos. Loving my Canon Rebel!



Monday, January 11, 2010

Canon Rebel Awesomeness

Thanks to Santa I am now equipped with a lovely Canon Rebel EOS Rebel XSi....and am loving the quality of pics it is turning out. I'm hoping to find a way to do some architectural photography in my free time as side projects and if you follow the link in the title it will take you to my Flickr pages which I will try to update regularly with new photos. Check it out and Happy 2010 to everyone!