Daily Archives: March 19, 2020

Friday, April 10, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm – Mass Timber: Beyond Instrumentality and Technology – Cancelled

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Wood is a material that has garnered many innovations over time including its original use to construct fire, providing two functions simultaneously, light and warmth. Similarly, wood has the agency to propel the social and political forward as seen in the deployment of controlling territories, crossing bodies of water, and the invention of the wheel. Additionally, no other material elicits such a Pavlonian or immediate response to warmth, beauty and aesthetics in the built environment. Fast forward several centuries to the latest cyclical innovation relating to wood—mass timber. From cross laminated timber blanks to glulam slabs, beams, and columns, topics on mass timber tend to center around sustainability and industry advancements. The aim of this symposium is move beyond default topics of instrumentality and technology in mass timber by collecting unique positions from a group of architects, engineers, developers, and manufacturers in contemporary design, while also underscoring the value of intellectualizing these topics from within academia.

This free Harvard Graduate School of Design event acknowledges the recent acceleration of mass timber technology within the industry, coupled with the unprecedented challenges faced by human kind at the global scale, yet, demands new pedagogical approaches to learning and teaching design. For these reasons, we seek to combine research questions on mass timber within the context of an option studio with the format of a symposium. A public display of questions from within the studio will be combined with positions from invited professionals. Complete details may be found at https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/event/mass-timber-beyond-instrumentality-and-technology/

Sunday, March 29, 10:15 am – 3:15 pm – Macro Photography Workshop – Postponed

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The close-up world is a magical place full of pattern, color, and abstract imagery. This Tower Hill Botanic Garden course on Sunday, March 29, from 120:15 – 3:15 will show you ways to use your existing camera gear to make spectacular macro photographs. During this workshop you will learn to sharpen your awareness of light on the landscape. If you are an intermediate to advanced photographer looking to fine tune your skills and expand your knowledge of photography then this course is for you. This course is ideal for the photographer with some knowledge of manual camera settings that want to take their abilities to the next level.

Instructor Steve McGrath is a professional freelance photographer and photography teacher who has been creating images for 20 years. Steve first began by shooting sports photography for local high schools, then weddings, and stock agencies. Then his love of the outdoors led him to focusing more on his true passion, “nature photography”. Steve was an active member of the Gateway Camera Club for many years, and has won many ribbons and awards at fairs and competitions through the group and on his own. Several of his images have been published in school text books. His favorite places to shoot are Acadia National Park in Maine, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the Cape Cod National Seashore. THBG members $60, nonmembers $75. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.