Empire State Building Project Gantt Chart

You would think that growing up in southern NJ means I have had plenty of opportunities to go visit NYC and all of its attractions. But somehow I have never made it to the main ones just about every other NYC tourist have seen, such as the Empire State Building.

I finally had a chance to make it there on a weekend trip to NYC, and is immediately greeted with this large display in the lobby.

It was completed in 1931, at that time, at 102 stories high (1454 ft), it was the tallest building in the world. It stood as the tallest building in NYC until the World Trade Centers were built. It was once again the tallest building in NYC after the twin towers came down during the 9/11 attacks.

So during my visit, it was the tallest building in NYC.  I did attempt to go out to the viewing deck a few times. But the weather was stormy so I couldn't stay out there long. It was too windy and the visibility was almost none.

What I found most fascinating, however, is the project schedule showing the progress of construction.

I know, what an interaction design geek.

I was in awe! To see a non-computer generated project Gantt chart! This is pre MS Project and if you look closer, you'll notice it's all art deco font as well.

An original data visualization! You hardly ever see any of this nowadays, not ones that were not generated digitally.  This format of presenting information is obviously very successful for the type of information it is communicating, which is why we still see Gantt charts today for communicating project schedules and progress.

What a gem for the UI/UX eye! Ok, enough geeking out, back to being a tourist. ;)


So as I made my way up toward the top, a mom with 3 kids were in front of me.  We came across a guy in a safari outfit who said to the family that they should feel free to go up and take a picture with the King Kong (and that it doesn't cost anything).

The mom saw no harm in it and sent the 3 boys up. They got into position to take the picture, and the King Kong said "Boo!" sending them screaming. :D

Of course, that means I absolutely had to have my picture taken with King Kong.  He does look a lot like a statue instead of a person in a King Kong costume. He certainly stood still enough earlier on that you really thought he was just a statue. What great fun!

After I made it to the top and had my fill of being blown around by the gusting rain and wind, I made my way down. In the elevator was this marble silhouette of the building. Really classy!

3D Puzzle - Pearl of the Orient

I had a chance to put together the 3D puzzle of Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower this afternoon. The box said 180 min or so, and I finished in about 2 hours.

I wonder if the puzzle designers modeled the building first, and then found a way to "flatten" it into puzzle shapes, or if they actually thought in terms of these construction pieces to begin with and figured out a way for all of them to fit together to look like the final product.

It's very intricate, and I can't imagine someone designing this without some sort of CAD program.

Now that I work in the 3D modeling industry, I can't help but wonder if the process of making these puzzles are similar to that of our customers who does design for sheet metal, where a part gets flattened into metal sheets that gets bent into the final product.

Falling Water

So I had the chance to visit the famous Falling Water by Frank Lloyd Wright in Pennsylvania. I've always heard about this great architectural feat, but didn't think I would be in the area to ever see it.  Good thing my best friend got a job at the University of West Virginia recently, and I had the excuse to go visit.

Unfortunately, since it's winter, the inside was closed from tours.  The grounds are open, however. So I got a chance to check out the outside.

The story goes, the Kaufmann's asked Wright to build them a summer cottage back in the 1930's. The Kaufmann's were the local grocery store chain owners, and were obviously well off enough, that this enormous place could be commissioned for construction by a famous architect, and still be called a "summer cottage".  Much like those mansions in Lenox out the Berkshires. But that's another story.

It is very beautiful to see. Though the interaction designer in me shuttered at various things. 

For one, though it's "neat" to build a home "on top" of running water (the original request was simply to have a view of the creek), it just seems to position itself for future problems.

In this particular case, the idea of being able to walk straight down into the creek is certainly nice, but there's no where to go. It's not deep enough for someone to bring a boat around. The bottom isn't smooth enough to sit in. So I guess you can wade it to calf deep water, and then wade out. Perhaps dangle your feet over the edge into the water at the bottom of those steps. But that seems to be it. Seems like a lot of effort for not that much enjoyment.

Another major issue is that apparently Wright didn't believe in drainage. That's right, drainage. Seems kind of important. So the builders somehow negotiated these gutters so that some drainage can happen.

The net results is there's giant icicles waiting to impale passers by.  It's rather alarming really, that an architect can simply "not believe in drainage", therefore not design in any, and then the builders had to negotiate them in. 

Makes me think of how sometimes things look really good from a high level power point presentation, but when you get to the details, some pretty important elements are missing. And often times executives are totally bought in to the high level concept animated out in power point, but fail to understand more detailed work is necessary before you can really call it a complete design. 

Otherwise, you would just end up in situations like this, where the design failed to account for drainage, and the builders had to work it in some other way. And ultimately, I can't imagine this is desirable. If Wright had actually designed with drainage in mind, I'm sure there would have been ways to deal with it where it doesn't form dangerous daggers over head of passersby.

Art Deco Hotels

Art deco hotels on ocean drive. just hopped off one of those hop on hop off tour buses to walk around a bit. The architecture here is very cool and i certainly can't complain about the weather. :-)

Rental!

This is a rental and apparently have been featured in many movies and music videos - though the guide didn't say which ones. Really cool looking for sure. Wonder what the going price for it is...

Towers Along Miami Beach

another cool building in miami, this time on miami beach, view from the cruise boat. Love the curves on the roof.

Cool Building in Miami

Snapped this through my car window while in stopped traffic waiting for the draw bridge to come down. It's not terribly clear from this pic, but there's a rainbow coloring going across the building in each of those dots. I thought it was pretty neat.