Isopop » Architecture

So you want to be an architect?

rich — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:19:36 +0000

This is pretty much exactly my experience, although I did work on amazing projects, not strip malls.

Dogpatch’s new trick: high fashion

rich — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:58:45 +0000

In my day life, this is the project I’ve been managing. My responsibilities included design, drafting, code, permitting, coordinating with the contractors, owners, engineers, lighting designers, kitchen designer, etc. the project was recently mentioned in the SF Gate.

Dogpatch is going high fashion.

Chris and Ben Ospital, owners of Modern Appealing Clothing (MAC) in Hayes Valley, recently partnered with restaurateurs Margherita Stewart Sagan and Sheryl Rogat of Piccino to convert an 1840s stable house on 22nd Street and Minnesota into a destination spot for fashion-forward shoppers and those who

In Progress: 8 House / BIG

rich — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:07:50 +0000

8H – The 8-House from BIG on Vimeo.

This is a bit long, and not about hooping at all. BIG (the predessor of PLOT) is one of my favorite architecture firms. When I lived in Copenhagen this firm was the inspiration for the way I started thinking about architecture and even space for that matter. I still aspire to convey my concepts and intentions with the clarity that they achieve. I apply it to architecture and also to my approach to hooping. In this video they’ve taken their diagrammatic methods to a new level, incorporating interactive 3d rendering. This is next level stuff. Bjarke Ingels isn’t just an architect, this guy is performing here and he’s making himself a rockstar. I’m not sure if I think that’s great for architecture but I’m impressed regardless.

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Hoop Structure – Yes We Can Architects

rich — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:13:01 +0000

The installation was in the courtyard of the 18th century Hotel d’Aurès music school as part of the Festival des Architectures Vives :In(Side)Out in Montpellier, France last summer.

Original post: here

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Blue Bottle Coffee: customer takes design into his own hands.

rich — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:21:00 +0000

The Blue Bottle Coffee kiosk beneath my architecture office is constantly busy, sometimes with lines exceeding 30 minutes in our Hayes Valley back alley. This morning as I approached our front door, I notices a new street addition across the street. Desiring more table space to set his drink, one of the regular customers took matters into his own hands. Across the street there have been two metal poles that sand about 40″ tall, the kind normally reserved for protecting building from people backing into them in a car. This clever customer decided that one of the poles would be the base for his new mobile table, seen in the photograph above. His plan is to bring it over to Blue Bottle everyday when he gets his coffee. His table top takes advantage of the sunny side of the street, where customers often just lean against a wall while drinking there morning coffee.

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Poppin all over the world…

rich — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:52:29 +0000

This image show the top 500 cities that visited Isopop.com in March 2009. The diagram was generated using Google Analytic.

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Sharna’s 5-beat weave

rich — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:00:31 +0000

I didn’t think this was physically/conceptually possible but then Sharna goes and posts a video of it. I’ve been drilling this all weekend and I’m getting close to having it smooth but it’s a serious test of my co-ordination. I love moves like this that really stretch the boundaries of co-ordination.

-Sharna Rose

Here is a description of the process from Sandra Safire:

Here’s a breakdown of what happens. If you try to keep your hands on the hoop the whole time it’s stupid awkward and the can’t stay completely opposite of each other and flow is lost while crossing in front of the body. When you bring the hoops across your body you have to roll one over the back of your hand in order to even move out of that position.
Try it with surface switches. (I don’t even know if that’s a good name because you actually let go of the hoop, I usually use this term for switching from the outside to the inside of the hoop or vice versa)
With service switches: Do the 3 beat and then reach over as if you were going to add the next beat only instead of breaking your wrists, grab both hoops into one hand and spin them in infinity (Infinity: two hoops held to look like an 8 or infinity symbol.) This will give you time to bring your free hand around to snatch it’s previous hoop and flow to the opposite side.
When the hoops are on my right I carry both hoops using my left hand and vice versa on the opposite side. I support the carried hoop with my thumb”

Hmm, I’ve been doing it with a little throw. Back to practice….

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aRose by Random Rab

rich — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 19:20:50 +0000

Grant used to say that “The Riddle” by Random Rab was the soundtrack to our lives that no one knew. He said that because he played it all the time, everyone loved the song, but no one ever really payed that much attention to it. If you don’t own “The Riddle” by Random Rab, I highly recommend looking it up on iTunes. It’s in my top ten favorite tracks of all time.

The new album just released by Random Rab is amazing. It makes me long for a sunrise on the playa.

So far, “For my corpse” is my favorite track. I’d been listening to it off Rab’s myspace profile for the last two months trying to figure out where I could get a copy.

You can find the album on iTunes here.

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Sign of the times

rich — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:47:48 +0000

A restaurant I was working on has been put on hold.

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Business Cards

rich — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:40:57 +0000

Just received my new business cards. The cards say, “isopop, hoop performance teaching research.” I’m particularly fond of the research part.

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