Not Built in a Day

Years ago, I don't remember exactly when, I learned about redlining , disinvestment in America's cities, and how African American families were denied the opportunities given to white families to buy homes in new suburban neighborhoods throughout the early to mid 20th century.  But I thought these racist practices were pursued by individual banks and maybe local governments; I didn't think much about the widely-heard statement that de facto segregation (that is, individual or socially-enforced segregation, not government-enforced segregation) was the common practice during the Jim Crow era (1870s-1960s) .  But it turns out I was wrong, as historian Richard Rothstein persuasively argues in The Color of Law (2017), and it was actually de jure , government-sponsored and enforced, segregation that afflicted American cities across the country.  It was not just the racism of specific banks or bankers that created redlining and white flight, but government policies, at the ...

In graduate school, we took mandatory courses in "Building Technology" that covered structural and mechanical design, with some general information about other building systems thrown in.  The focus was on understanding how to select appropriate systems, in general terms, so that we could work well in the future with engineers and other building professionals.  Architects typically rely on structural engineers, MEP engineers, sometimes even building envelope consultants, and others, to complete the technical design parts of the project (produce structural calculations, fixture calculations, etc), but we are expected to understand this work well enough to properly advise our clients, ensure that the project meets all of its objectives, and is designed as a coordinated whole. That said, I am not too surprised that we did not spend any time learning about building failures, except in a vague and anecdotal way.  I think most architects are familiar with the famous Frank Ll...

Hello from Virginia, our new, albeit temporary, home! As part of a program through J's work, we will be spending the next four months in Hampton, Virginia, a town in the Virginia Beach - Norfolk - Newport News area, also known as Hampton Roads .  J will be teaching first-year computer science at Hampton University , a historically black university (HBCU), as part of the Google-in-Residence  (GIR) program.  As for me, I have left CAW, and will be taking a sabbatical while I figure out what's next.  Our plan is to return to the Bay Area in January, and move to San Francisco. We vacated our apartment at the beginning of August, put everything into storage, and left for DC, where J had training before starting at Hampton.  While we were sorry to leave our great apartment in Mountain View, I think we were both ready for something new.  We also said good-bye to my beloved 2006 Pontiac Vibe, which went to a new home. During our week in DC, I took the...