Duo Dickinson

New York

Architect, Author, and Blogger at Freelance

Contributing Writer at Common Edge

I have built over 800 things, written 8 books, write now about architecture, homes, families and the human condition for 5 publications - come visit!

Articles

Where Does Architectural Design Work Come From?

1 week ago | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson

In the boom-bust rollercoaster of construction, it’s clear that this year’s ride is hurtling downhill, with demand for design services (once again) waning. As architects experience the end of a post-pandemic construction boom, we’re reminded once again that “being busy” can have less to do with skill and more with availability. We’re only as good as our last performance in any climate.
In the name of the father…

2 weeks ago | savedbydesign.wordpress.com | Duo Dickinson

My father was born on December 29, 1909. I have come to know that my grandparents were married on July 12, 1909 (not 9 months before his birth as my father thought). The only other hard fact (now verified) was that my grandmother and my uncle or aunt died on January 26, 1911 in an “illegal operation.” She was then buried by my grandfather far away from New York City in a manner that prevented anyone else from ever being buried next to her.
A HOME With No AC?

2 weeks ago | savedbydesign.wordpress.com | Duo Dickinson

LIVE! Noon! Wednesday June 18! WPKN 89.5fm STREAMING: wpkn.orgIts getting warm. Soon HOT. As the world warms, now (and more in the future) we can either add to that heat by creating more carbon to generate electricity to create the air conditioning we need to be comfortable in our homes, or we can use less AC. Changing buildings can be technological, but it can also just be turning off the technology. But comfort and safety from the elements is why we have buildings.
The Translation Generation

3 weeks ago | savedbydesign.wordpress.com | Duo Dickinson

Reading David Zahl’s amazing trilogy: “Seculousity”, “Low Anthropology” and now “The Big Relief” https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00R0ZTPWM?ccs_id=f6904d6e-c5ca-47cd-b381-d567818abf99 I was struck by the intensity of translation his works evidence. These books are uniquely targeted to each human, rather than the World of Church. David Zahl applies a rigorous lens of clear expression focus, organization, language and cadence that is conversational, direct and humorous.
When There Is No Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence

1 month ago | commonedge.org | Martin C. Pedersen |Duo Dickinson

When architects talk about AI, it triggers me into a Groundhog Day–like reliving of the dire warnings against computer-aided design (CAD) in the 1980s: The field would be decimated, rendered obsolete. But just as CAD was not design, artificial intelligence is not intelligence. Some architects decry the darkness of impending technology to explain the bland buildings that are carpet-bombing our landscape. This design malaise is not due to how these buildings were drawn.
The Tendonitis of Faith

1 month ago | mbird.com | Duo Dickinson

Creaking Bones, Blurring Vision, and the Giver of Life Growing old, you have two choices. First, you can accept the decay and degradation of your body. Second, you can “rage, rage against the dying of the light.”Is it faithless human hope that causes rage against death? If we are living to join God in our death, why should we, I, care so much about pushing death as far away as possible?
Sacraments

1 month ago | savedbydesign.wordpress.com | Duo Dickinson

Why isn’t death a sacrament? Defining the human acts of Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Anointing the Sick, Marriage and Holy Orders as connections of/following God is this essence of religion. As organized religion changes from definition to discovery in the world of explosive understanding perhaps the only cultural sacrament left is Marriage.
Losing Our Selves…

1 month ago | savedbydesign.wordpress.com | Duo Dickinson

This is not about politics. Politics, like architecture, simply reflects humanity. The culture we create and the architecture we build is not caused by the politician, or the architect. The wave of our collective generation uses the people who “lead” as embodying who we want to be. The obvious center of who we want to be today is the figure who dominates the world in both support and loathing – and not much in between.
The Unique Intimacies of Designing a House

1 month ago | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson

When you design homes, those who live in them are your circumstantial intimates. And, sometimes, far more. After about 700 residential projects—some new, others recreated—many of my “clients” became people I love, and who in turn love me and my family. If we’re lucky enough to live long enough, both the clients and the designer change. There is nothing magic about aging.
Spiritual Craftsmanship in the Sunshine

1 month ago | livingchurch.org | Duo Dickinson

Spires in the SunThe Carpenter Gothic Episcopal Churches of FloridaBy Johnathan Rich and Phil EschbachSt. John’s Cathedral Bookstore, 572 pages, $75Spires in the Sun is a five-pound masterwork. Technically, it is extremely focused, limited to the 39 small, wood-frame churches built in the 19th century, by Episcopalians in Florida. But the book also offers a window into universal truths. Humans have always sought ways to draw closer to God. We also know how to build things.