Backpack Update - The Final Steps

These are the last parts to be attached onto my backpack. These are the various connector pieces that will attach the shoulder straps. This being my first time working with this kind of hardware I have learned many lessons. Namely, brass and leather sure look good together. The next post will feature pictues of the final piece.



Backpack Progress + Laptop Sleeve

Work continues on the the backpack prototype. The actual bag portion is almost complete. The next steps will be attaching buckles and straps, the detailing of which has yet to be pinned down. This weekend will hopefully prove fruitful.

 Here are images from my latest completion. This is a laptop sleeve that I made for my new 13" Macbook Pro. This is the prototype, and I am quite happy with the outcome. It is much like making a large wallet. This spring has proven to be filled with new projects. There are a few more on the drawing board now.



Work in Progress

 I have started my greatest endeavor yet, in relation to working leather; a backpack. I have been documenting most of my steps and will be posting them as I go. The bag is made of chap leather and suede and is being hand stitched with waxed nylon thread. Below are the front pockets, and then the front panel. Below that is a detail of the stitching of the pockets. The dimensions are 12"x14"x3" (W,L,D).  

Indian Point + Eagle Creek

Pencil+Pen Pouch

For all who are looking at going back to school this Fall, like I am, I have just whipped up a handy little pouch for your most prized writing utensils. This is hand stitched suede with waxed linen thread.

Chicago In Parts - Part 4 (The Final)

Ferris Bueller House

             Pilsen Neighborhood   |   Wicker Park Neighborhood

While driving through Chicago neighborhoods, I found it odd that there was so much stuff out on the streets. Buckets, chairs, stools, and other household items seemed to be strewn about the sidewalks and streets. Remnants of post-blizzard debris?  Alas, this was no wreckage and instead an understood system of rights and ownership between neighbors. Where those chairs now stand there used to be many feet of snow. As residents shoveled out a niche for their car, they now held the rights to that space. The items scattered along the streets, therefore, were placeholders. I was fascinated and impressed that residents, without direct dialogue, had respected this code of shared public space.

Trains are an integral characteristic of Chicago's urban fabric. As a hub of industry and commerce, the city has long been a major destination for goods en cross-continental route. While most of the industrial rail lines run on the grounds surface, most of the commuter lines run above ground; with the exception of the two lines that run beneath the city. In theory, elevating the rails would allow the space below to remain uninterrupted by the impeding trains. In practice however, what has resulted is a dead zone that follows the entirety of the commuter-rail system. The disproportionate structure looming overhead, paired with the amplified sound of the trains, has generated a public space that is oppressive to its users, and neglected by its neighbors.

                                                                      Mies Van De Rohe   |   Anish Kapoor

I will end my segment on my trip to Chicago with these architecturally iconic structures. As previously discussed, Chicago respects and supports innovative design. This has lead to a flourishing art culture, as well as numerous buildings built by some of the most renowned architects. Mies Van De Rohe has a strong presence in Chicago's built environment. The building above is the School of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology. The building's structural simplicity allows for a bold, graphic impression on the setting while also allowing the interior to be expansive and unadulterated with tectonic elements. It should be noted however, that when analyzing non-structural systems within the building, it becomes obvious just how inefficiently the building functions. The exposed I-beams are freezing to the touch, and although there are a line of heat vents pumping along the perimeter of the space, the closer the user is to the window, the more buttons they snap on their jacket. The other photo above is of the iconic "bean" ; a sculpture located within Millennium Park. Its scale is impressive, however its site placement allows it to remain accessible to the multitudes of visitors who flock to it on a sunny day.

Chicago In Parts - Part 3

Garfield Park Conservatory

An oasis within snow-covered Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory was one of the most impressive places I visited on my trip. There are several rooms, such as the one pictured above, made entirely of glass and metal, and each containing a unique ecosystem. There is a room with a desert, another with spring flowers, another with tropical fruit trees. Stepping from below freezing slush covered street and into a humid rain forest is a truly remarkable experience. Hopefully the multitude of imagery collected from this visit will find its way into my upcoming designs.

 IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center by OMA

With my friend and I both having acquired degrees in architecture, there was a great deal of architectural nerding-out that took place. Chicago's architecture is extremely diversified. The city seems to have long held a high regard for the relationship of meaningful architecture within a dense industrial context. This relationship has resulted in an impressive architectural conglomerate. Above are photos from our visit to Illinois Institute of Technology's campus. Rem Koolhaus's design of the student recreation center is truly impactful. While the structure, spanning a section of the campus beneath the elevated rail line, has a strong exterior presence, it is the detail of the interior that really holds the impact. Above is an example of the greater effect, the warm glowing hallway that readjusts your eyes color perception, and when you walk up to the window you notice the above detail. The use of this honeycomb patterning within the window pane creates an interactive movement between the reflection of the sunlight and the location of the inhabitant. The circular streak shone above is the reflection of the sun on the window plane, this circle would move with you as you walked down the hall, while also growing and shrinking in diameter depending on your distance from the surface. The care given to detail and experience is remarkable, while the overall gesture is bold and distinctive.

Chicago In Parts - Part 2

Myopic Books

William Morris Pattern

The blue line of the "L", the city's rail system, dropped me off in the neighborhood of Wicker Park. While wandering into different used clothing stores and stores filled with knick-knacks, I stumbled onto this little gem - Myopic Books. It seemed as though someone had taken all of Powell's Books from Downtown Portland and crammed it into a skinny, tall storefront in Chicago. All of the books are used and entirely uncatalogued, although quite organized. After hours spent tiptoeing through the various maze-like hallways of towering books, I came out with a book on the works and writing of William Morris. For those not familiar with the name, he was an artist and designer who worked in the late 19th century on patterns and typographic work for textiles and books.

Chicago In Parts - Part 1

Lake Michigan

I spent last week visiting a dear friend in the wind swept city of Chicago. In lieu of dropping the hundreds of photos taken onto this site, I will spend the next few posts focusing on specific aspects of my trip, and the city, that I found most intriguing. So to start, here is a view of Lake Michigan from the Chicago Harbor. Having arrived just after a massive blizzard, much was still covered in heavy snow, and the harbor itself was completely frozen. I saw my first ice-fishermen here. As both my friend and myself hail from the tropical south, we thought it odd that so many people were walking atop the icy harbor water. However, after watching a ten-year-old boy struggling to use an ice fishing jig, and then realizing that everyone was dangling miniature fishing rods into small punctures into the ice, logic put it all together. I wonder what all of this must look like from the fishes' perspective. Skylights? Impending doom?

Good Morning

Eagle Creek

Spent Sunday with Jackie on the fuzzy, furry mountains at the Columbia Gorge.

Micro Journals

Yes, that is an almond, and it is there for scale. These journals measure at about 1 1/2" x 2" and are made of dark suede, recycled paper and waxed linen thread.

Recent Projects

In the last few months I have been working mainly on journals and wallets. These are all hand cut, and stitched using waxed linen thread, recycled paper, and local leather from Oregon Leather Company.

Teddy Cruz Lecture

Re-purposed San Diego modular house in Tijuana. 

Land-use analysis at San Diego - Tijuana border.

Last night I attended a lecture at Shattuck Hall put on by Portland State University's Department of Architecture. A personal friend of my former professor Sergio Palleroni, Teddy Cruz presented an incredible breadth of work. Starting with his analyses of the San Diego - Tijuana border, then traveling to Barcelona, South Korea, and Argentina, Teddy's work, through varying lenses of art, architecture, and urban planning, dives deep into the complex relationships between opposing sides of a conflicted border. This conflict materializes in the ways residents relate, the ways communities function, and the ways in which cities evolve. I found the work that Teddy presented to be not just inspirational in its beauty and depth but also sincere and on-going. It served as a true testimony to the bountiful ways which design professionals can apply themselves so that their work can not just benefit their clients, but also their surrounding communities.

Fog Town

My bike ride to work this week has twice consisted of riding through dense nebulous fog. The city's sounds were entirely absorbed, and all things distant were desaturated into ghosts.