Notes from a Dirty Render Boy | Entourage Celebrities

Stockholm Train Station Proposal

As I sit there on a Thursday afternoon, with the taste of last night’s ridiculous amounts of wine and even more ridiculous amounts of pizza still in my mouth and/or gut, anxiously awaiting feedback on some images we just finished for a client, I find myself excited to write for the first time in a long time. Okay, for the first time ever.

Lately I have been reading a lot of blogs, really reading them instead of just scanning them for pretty pictures, and it has actually inspired me to get off my ass and do something. Instead of just looking for clever writing tones and authors actually being honest, not just with their words but to their readers, I have decided to become what I was in search of.

Rough and Uncut.

I wish I had the timing and wittiness of Bukowski; instead I just have the drinking habit (which I’m not calling a problem). Back to me sitting here—while waiting for these damn comments I find myself doing what any young designers does when they have a spare second and a steady Internet connection. I skim the usual suspects: designboom, Dezeen, ArchDaily, the big hitters. I stumble across a couple of architecture renderings where I see a familiar face in the crowd—not familiar in that I personally know them, but familiar in the sense that I have seen this person in another architecture image. To me this is odd, this idea of an “architectural entourage celebrity.” Not only is this person quasi “famous” because they get to be in the new LA Union Station before its ribbon cutting, but the funny thing is that this person probably has no idea they’re in printed in magazines, posted on blogs…hell, even in books. These “architectural entourage celebrities” have the uncanny ability to live a double life and not have the slightest idea. This is what interests me, this bizarre connection I feel toward these people, comparable to one you might feel toward your favorite movie character or TV star. It’s been a while since I have been blessed by Tom Hanks’ manifesto “That Thing You Do!”, but what I can certainly remember about this movie is its emotional connection to its characters. To the extent that when I would get home from school before my Airwalks were unlaced, I was sitting on the couch joined by the company of The Oneders. When I didn’t have the opportunity to hang out with my bandmates I felt this almost depression or even longing to be around Guy Patterson, as I’d long for the company of a good friend. Years later I find myself in somewhat similar connection to these architectural entourage celebrities. Unlike the life of a movie character, which is literally projected in front of you, much of the backstory of an entourage celebrity is completely made up. When you go to your local coffee shop and see people with whom you’ll never talk, you create names, stories, even problems for them. Why not create stories for the daily lives of those captured in an architectural snapshot? Better yet, imagine meeting that man sitting on his suitcase, waiting for his train to Stockholm to surprise his girlfriend. The stories he would be eager to tell about how they met, or how shitty his new job is; or maybe he’s just a huge asshole and ignores you sitting behind him.

That’s all for now.
Back to real life.