Sketching

Today for work I was required to attend a public hearing for proposed building alterations in Georgetown, DC. I had to present a design concept in front of this architectural review board. Even with arriving after lunch and I still had to sit through 7-8 presentations before getting the opportunity to present the project. So while listening to the presenters ahead of me and figuring out how to present our design intent and stand up for its integrity, I whiled the time away sketching fellow architects and public citizens waiting for their turn to present the projects they were working on...

All were completed in my hardbound Cachet sketchbook, using sepia ink in the fountain pen my husband gave me for Christmas 2006.




This guy on the left page was really concerned about the garage addition he was proposing to build, in the end he was required by the board to resubmit his design because they did not like the idea of have a painted CMU (concrete masonry unit) facade in a private alley, because potentially this accessory building may be seen by a person walking down the alley... Sometimes these boards do get very picky about little things, considering that it was presented that 2 other garages are built of the same materials and would be adjacent to this proposed garage, in this very same alley. Poor guy, he has to pay his architect to re-draw and re-submit the design concept to be re-reviewed by this architectural board before he can ever attempt to submit to the city government for a building permit to build his garage...

Here was another thoughtful observer...