Following the previously mentioned gifs, I made a book documenting residential architectural styles in Austin and Houston. The idea came to me after visiting East Cesar Chavez, where I realized that the homes there had a similar style to those I had seen in gentrified areas of Houston and Miami that I hadn’t seen elsewhere in Austin. Though I eventually ended up cutting Miami from the book due to my inability to visit within the allotted time, the book became a study of the history of East Cesar Chavez in Austin, and Houston’s Linkwood communities explained through the architecture of the areas. My research consisted of residential home styles that were popular from the mid-1800’s to now, how they were built, what influenced their design, and what materials used. Next I photographed homes within the communities and determined what style of home it was using my research. I then found the homes on Google Maps or Street view to get more information such as floor space and when the house was built or remodeled. Using this data I created a profile for the house. The book is designed in such a way to look like an artist’s sketchbook, as if the artist was drawing the homes they had come upon while walking around those neighborhoods in the moment, much like I had come to my realization about the architectural similarities during my own walks through the neighborhood. As such, I used a pencil like brush to digitally draw the homes, serif and script-like typefaces (Garamond and Gabriola), recycled paper for the cover, newsprint for the pages, and saddle stitch binding, to give it a handmade appearance. The book measures 5 x 7 in, a perfect size for being carried around and to jot notes in.
The original design of the book had a much more modern, refined look, but this slowly changed to its current craft look as I began to think of it as a journal for the purpose of documenting the homes.