locus solus
raymond roussell

in defence of the transience of process in the production of work.

after attempting to model clowns in breadcrumb, he seemed to see a burst of illumination suffusing his whole life. statuary, which he had always preferred to drawing, made the mysterious abilities given him by his favourite subject blossom even further. the sculpting of clowns, he felt, would bring him fame and fortune.

but how was he to progress with only breadcrumb for clay and his fingers for tools-and without even a penny to get himself anything better.

each week he used to attend a botany lesson given by brothelande, a parsimonious bachelor settled in the suburbs and extremely devoted to his science, who put all the superfluous proceeds from his salary and lessons towards the cultivation of unusual plants under glass. finding that even the best engravings were not clear enough for his demonstrations, he would often, regardless of the inconvenience, personally transport from his home to school, some rare specimen that was to be the object of his lesson. † continue reading Locus Solus

construction specs: specifications writing portable handbook
fred stitt

written specifications are where the true fluidity of the construction process lies. it is imaginable that these documents could be written in such a way as to completely eliminate the archaic pictorial mode of representation that we as architects cling to. break yourself off this book and help return the industry to the pre-architect medieval system.

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architectural graphic standards
charles ramsey

merrill elam once called me out to sweat over a seating arrangement i had proposed for a graduation ceremony. my flustered navigation through this book’s arcane indexing supplemented by some numerical doublespeak vindicated my plan. afterword by Philip Johnson.

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