photography

Macho Minimalism

| mjneal

The Wolfe Den is in it’s final stages. Little details are being completed like the front door handle and the landscaping is being installed. Becca of Rain Lilly Design has dubbed the front stone entry design “macho minimalism”. I really like that! I’m going to steal it;)

Enjoy, I am.

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AIA, Austin Honor Award and Silver Medal!

| mjneal

2008 is rocking for us… I’m posting this way late, but after sending around the newsletter with the big news, I keep forgetting to put it on the blog, finally I get to it! Et voila ici:

MJ Neal, AIA wins Another Design Honor Award… and a Silver Medal as it was distributed on our newsletter, if you want to receive it, go here:

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It’s a cute story!

MJ Neal Architects 

2008 AIA Austin Design Honor Award
and
Tau Sigma Delta Silver Medal
If you can’t read this email please click here
 


vivi is crazy

Photo: Viviane Vives

 

Highest Honor (in town), again!

 

 

We are pleased to announce that, as we did in 2007, we just won the 2008 Design Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, Austin.

It was published on yesterday’s press release:

“AIA Austin is pleased to announce the results of the 2008 Design Awards Competition. The AIA Austin design competition seeks to recognize outstanding architectural projects by members and to promote public interest in architectural excellence. The jury met on April 4, 2008 at the Chapter office and reviewed sixty-eight entries from local firms and made the following selections: 

HONOR AWARDS
(The highest award given in this program)

PILATES STUDIO
M.J. Neal Architects

(—)

And it goes on to list the other Honor Award (the fabulous Concrete Studio by Mell Lawrence, a must see) 3 Citation awards and only 2 Merit Awards… This year there were only 7 awards in total!

The project awarded was the Pilates Studio. 

Ann Arnoult was the client, and Living Art, John Bowyer and Michael Kalish’s outfit, was the builder. They deserve every credit and kudos for making this project a reality.

MJ and I were stunned, this is such a tiny project (at only $40 per sq ft.) and it was competing against such heavy hitters, that we didn’t have many high hopes…

So, at the Saturday Gala, when the Merit and the Citations came and went, and the beautiful Concrete Studio by Mell Lawrence came in as the Honor Award winner, we were almost getting up to go, a bit dissapointed but happy to have seen some good architecture and greeted some colleagues and friends…

Then, on the screen, it appeared: “Pilates Studio.” by… M.J. Neal Architects. I looked at MJ in disbelief, “that would be us!” He had a funny look on his face as he buttoned his jacket in a hurry…

What a jury, Julie Eizenberg, AIA; David Baker, FAIA, Randy Brown, FAIA … they had the nicest things to say about the work, rigorous, sensual, creative… wow, I still can’t believe it, and the last award of the night, how about them apples, eh?

This award is not connected to the AIA National Institute Honor award for the Anthony Nak Project that we will pick up in Boston May 15.


ball

 
Photo: Viviane Vives
 

Silver Medal
viviane vives 

MJ has been awarded the 2008 Silver Medal for significant contribution to architectural design from the Upsilon chapter of Tau Sigma Delta at Texas Tech University’s College of Architecture

He was very surprised and happy, we traveled to Lubbock so they could give the thing to him and so he could lecture them in exchange (not so sure about this barter here now, huh?)

OK, really, it was fun, MJ is a TTech alumnus and the students that hosted us (Adam Reed and Amber Howard) were intelligent, gracious and fun; we honestly had a great time with them and they took us to great restaurants!

Read more here.

 

Publications 

vvivesWe also have a flurry of publications to share with you,

– Farley Studio will be published by Links Books, Sustainable Houses in the USA, 240 pages of full colour, hard cover and worldwide distribution.

– Pilates Studio
will be published by Spa-De 9 issue The book will be published in early
May both in Japanese and English.

– Anthony Nak will appear in Architectural Record

rh

– Slow Home published Twin Peaks, Ramp House, and Farley and our profile

– Our Dun Laoghaire competition project submission to be exhibited in the Architecture Gallery of the RIAI in 2008

– We prepared nine boards and two physical models for the Estonian Academy of Arts Competition

– Publicatios in Serbia and Syria and other national magazines will be coming up as well, details on the next newsletter! project submission to be exhibited in the Architecture Gallery of the RIAI in 2008
I wanted to close with a couple worthy causes, our son Kilean participated in this video to help raise money for the Children’s Shelter. Gary Walker of TX-FX heads this remarkable effort every year! 

kilean by vv

Also, let’s talk about CO2, Offset Your Emissions. Do you know how to evaluate your average carbon emissions?
—

Again, we’re always grateful for all your support over the years. Come by and visit our studio in Hyde Park anytime. We’d love to see you and help you with residential and commercial architecture, interiors architecture, and furniture design.

For more frequent updates don’t forget to visit our blog!
(Hint, it’s moved and it has a new look!)

Our last newsletter is archived here, it’s packed with news, so take a look if you didn’t receive it!

We limit our newsletters to a minimum (four or five a YEAR,) so no worries about us cluttering your inbox.

Still, if you want to unsubscribe, use the safe unsubscribe link below and poof! You can also update your information with the Update Email Address

All my best,

Viviane Vives

vivi is crazy

 

Kiaron

| mjneal

No, this is not becoming a photography blog, but what can I say, I’m in a shooting mood. And we can all use a break from architecture once in a while.

Kiaron works at the grocery store and I’ve been wanting to photograph him for a while, then he shows up with a black eye (from trying to break up a fight he says.) So I ask him if he wants to do a short photo session and he goes, yes, my friends tell all the time me I should do that. So we shot yesterday. He calls me before hand hoping he doesn’t have to smile much because he’s sad. I say that’s even better. In 15 minutes we are in another world. Short session, but we decide to milk the black-eye, street-kid thing I mean, what else…

For what I can see, he’s actually pretty angelic and way sweet, but like I told him, the camera doesn’t know that…

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(Photos and post, Viviane Vives)
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Fashion Teens

| mjneal

This is what I do in my spare time.

What an amazing opportunity:

Veronica, Roma, and Natalie have been getting together for fashion shoots for four years now, they are now fifteen, so do the math. They were joined by EvanA and Aralynne. Veronica is an amazing photographer herself and she chose the setting and orchestrated the get-ups and the do’s. She’s also a beautiful model (she’s the one in the “Kill your TV” t-shirt, a like minded soul!) They all are. Just incredibly talented.

I had such a good time that I’m considering getting back into photography, beyond architectural photography that is. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have shooting them and getting them ready for show. We had so many good pictures that it was quite the task.

Lauren Bard deserves also special credit. She was generous enough to let me participate, as were the girls… Lauren helped me with reflectors and what-not and managed some great shots of her own, on top of it.

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Pilates Studio

| mjneal

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Pilates studio by MJ Neal, AIA

Check the Pilates studio out! It’s open for business. Ann Arnoult is an excellent Pilates instructor and a former dancer at Ballet Austin. This project was built by Living Art, Austin. John and Mike’s building outfit.

Update April 22, 2008

Foda Studio created the three illustrations for the project, I think they are our good luck charm:

We are proud to announce that this project has won the 2008 AIA Austin top Design Honor Award! This makes us the winners of the top local design award for two consecutive years! Stand by for celebration party:-)

Farley Studio Entry is in!

| mjneal

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The Picassa slideshow was working on my Safari browser, but not my Firefox.

We’ve been shooting pics for the Farley Studio and putting them together for a presentation. Pretty intense week and weekend but I’m VERY happy with the pics. I was running around the building like mad at sunset, I think I CAN be in two places at once!

The awesome site plans and exploded axo’s are from fab Jett of fodastudio who is so talented I just want to slap him…

It looks pretty good huh??? I hadn’t been in the finished space and it won my heart. As usual, it felt playful but calming, daring but appropiate, unexpected as always. The good thing about MJ is that he doesn’t stop surprising me, when I think I have him figured out, he goes off in a completely new direction, EVERY SINGLE TIME…

If you don’t believe me, wait until we post the almost finished Pilates Studio and especially the Wolfe Den, which is well underway… I’m green with envy with that project… I want it to be mine!!!

I’m also really getting into the photography part of the studio. I was quite shy at the beginning, but after the success with these, the pilates studio pictures, and a project for another architect using a Hasselblad, I’m starting to get requests to shoot other people’s work too. Bring it on!