Dominoes & Popsicle Sticks

To set the stage for this little study of what the practice of architecture is really all about, here is a brief autobiographical sketch of the author, Richard Taylor, Jr., FAIA. According to "Dominoes and Popsicle Sticks," the professional practice of this livelihood was probably not foreshadowed in his early life. In a nutshell, he left home while still in high school, joined the Army for three years, then undertook civilian employment in Cleveland, Ohio. It was there that the first seeds of architecture were sown by a somewhat unlikely source. She was his boardinghouse landlady in a factory-class neighborhood. Notions of academia, art, and architecture were all far removed from Taylor's immediate make-a-living ambitions. But this status quo was not the vision of his frumpy, but highly perceptive, boardinghouse mom. The challenging disciplines of civil, electrical, mechanical and structural engineering, plus all of their associated building codes are tasks she probably had no idea existed. And these considerations don't even touch on creating the myriad styles and character of architecture. And let's not overlook art-work of hand-drawings and convincing renderings. But she had read Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and had a dream. She then persuaded Taylor to do the same. His world changed. And hers? Who knows? The second half of "Dominoes and Popsicle Sticks" addresses 14 individual pieces of architecture designed by Taylor. What is unique about this selection is that it is not an appraisal of either the merits or flaws of each building-design, as much as it is an appraisal of the personal relationship of the Architect with the Owners of the buildings. And is not this Owner of the building what architecture is really all about? The architect is simply a translator. Think about it.