Hello all,

The summer has been going well; not much of excitement though. Mostly it's been books, soccer, friends, art museums, and family. I'm working... at an architecture firm as always. Besides a roadtrip or two, work has offered the most blog worthy adventures. I helped design a few small projects. Now, I'm redesigning their website. The guys there just moved into a 109 year old building. they purchased and renovated it back in the spring. I helped move in and clean the decades worth of dusty abandonment. The theatre next door is slated for demolition; it's a shame because the rooftop tree cover provides us with a beautiful privacy screen from the oceans of asphalt and horizons of steel and glass. The trees grow because the structure was been empty for half a century. Soon only the delicate and ornate facade will remain. My city, youngstown, is interesting in a peculiar way. There's a rich urban fabric from the steel industries' hayday. I watch helplessly as it is left to decay. More frightening though is the erasure. Officials think they can bring renewal through growth; they raze gem after gem, clamoring for tabula rasa. But the growth never comes. The city is shrinking, left to be emptied. At best drab and mediodre buildings replace the terracota queens once lining our boulevards. Such are the battles we wage from our ancient, dusty office, saving only the occasional historic refugee.

... this is what has occupied my summer (along with fun and relaxation).

matt