Jonathan Ochshorn
@jonochshorn.com
Architect, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Architecture, Cornell University
Marxist, singer-songwriter, author of: Building Bad, OMA's Milstein Hall. Structural Elements for Architects and Builders (all open-access and free at https://jonochshorn.com)
Marxist, singer-songwriter, author of: Building Bad, OMA's Milstein Hall. Structural Elements for Architects and Builders (all open-access and free at https://jonochshorn.com)
Pinned
Jonathan Ochshorn
@jonochshorn.com
· Nov 17
Happy to begin the inevitable migration from Twitter/X to Bluesky. A reminder that my books are open-access and available on the web or as free downloads (also as low-cost paperbacks).
Find links to the books as well as my original music videos and other writings and calculators at: jonochshorn.com.
Find links to the books as well as my original music videos and other writings and calculators at: jonochshorn.com.
Not crazy about BYD's logo, screen-captured from www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/b...: Really confusing as the steering wheel turns, or in a rear-view mirror (where it reads as CYE).
December 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Not crazy about BYD's logo, screen-captured from www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/b...: Really confusing as the steering wheel turns, or in a rear-view mirror (where it reads as CYE).
I'm performing at the Cortland Coffeehouse Plus, 3 Church St., Cortland, NY, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, 7–9 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM).
Song list includes live "unplugged" versions of Ode to Fluff, OMA's Milstein Hall, and more. Listen to studio versions at jonochshorn.com/music/
Song list includes live "unplugged" versions of Ode to Fluff, OMA's Milstein Hall, and more. Listen to studio versions at jonochshorn.com/music/
November 30, 2025 at 3:45 AM
I'm performing at the Cortland Coffeehouse Plus, 3 Church St., Cortland, NY, on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, 7–9 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM).
Song list includes live "unplugged" versions of Ode to Fluff, OMA's Milstein Hall, and more. Listen to studio versions at jonochshorn.com/music/
Song list includes live "unplugged" versions of Ode to Fluff, OMA's Milstein Hall, and more. Listen to studio versions at jonochshorn.com/music/
Rereading Banham's Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment (1969), seems like Wright's Larkin Building, which Banham discusses, shares some formal qualities with @fosterandpartners.bsky.social Hongkong Shanghai Bank, including articulation of exterior mechanical and stairs, central open space.
October 30, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Rereading Banham's Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment (1969), seems like Wright's Larkin Building, which Banham discusses, shares some formal qualities with @fosterandpartners.bsky.social Hongkong Shanghai Bank, including articulation of exterior mechanical and stairs, central open space.
“After two centuries of ‘energy transitions,’ humanity has never burned so much oil and gas, so much coal and so much wood. Today around 2 billion cubic metres of wood are felled each year to be burned, three times more than a century ago.”
Interesting review:
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
Interesting review:
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
The Myth of Clean Energy
Is all the hope placed in renewables an illusion?
www.thenation.com
September 28, 2025 at 6:25 PM
“After two centuries of ‘energy transitions,’ humanity has never burned so much oil and gas, so much coal and so much wood. Today around 2 billion cubic metres of wood are felled each year to be burned, three times more than a century ago.”
Interesting review:
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
Interesting review:
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
Four "that"s within a 5-word span in this New Yorker interview:
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
"I think [that that suggests that that] person is more likely to back Republican congressional candidates..."
Not much an editor can do, I suppose.
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
"I think [that that suggests that that] person is more likely to back Republican congressional candidates..."
Not much an editor can do, I suppose.
Texas’s Gerrymander May Not Be the Worst Threat to Democrats in 2026
Nate Cohn, the New York Times’ chief political analyst, on a consequential Supreme Court case and why Republicans are registering so many new voters.
www.newyorker.com
September 11, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Four "that"s within a 5-word span in this New Yorker interview:
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
"I think [that that suggests that that] person is more likely to back Republican congressional candidates..."
Not much an editor can do, I suppose.
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
"I think [that that suggests that that] person is more likely to back Republican congressional candidates..."
Not much an editor can do, I suppose.
To mark the seventh anniversary of my prostatectomy, I wrote a two-song cycle about my experience with prostate cancer. Both songs cover much of the same ground from slightly different perspectives. And both are embedded on my blog: jon.ochshorn.org/2025/08/two-...
On YouTube: youtu.be/3zH9SXUzzwE
On YouTube: youtu.be/3zH9SXUzzwE
Jonathan Ochshorn — PSA Blues
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
August 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
To mark the seventh anniversary of my prostatectomy, I wrote a two-song cycle about my experience with prostate cancer. Both songs cover much of the same ground from slightly different perspectives. And both are embedded on my blog: jon.ochshorn.org/2025/08/two-...
On YouTube: youtu.be/3zH9SXUzzwE
On YouTube: youtu.be/3zH9SXUzzwE
I wonder if Trump knows that the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building was designed by architect Adolf Cluss, "a leading revolutionary, an early card-carrying Communist, a close associate of Friedrich Engels and an intimate member of Karl Marx's circle."
www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/u...
August 15, 2025 at 2:58 AM
I wonder if Trump knows that the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building was designed by architect Adolf Cluss, "a leading revolutionary, an early card-carrying Communist, a close associate of Friedrich Engels and an intimate member of Karl Marx's circle."
www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/u...
www.nytimes.com/1984/02/18/u...
Construction trash from McGraw Tower renovation at @cornelluniversity.bsky.social. On the one hand, I'm impressed that someone on the jobsite makes use of their knowledge of trigonometry; on the other hand, I'm wondering why such ad hoc on-site calculations are required in the first place.
August 1, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Construction trash from McGraw Tower renovation at @cornelluniversity.bsky.social. On the one hand, I'm impressed that someone on the jobsite makes use of their knowledge of trigonometry; on the other hand, I'm wondering why such ad hoc on-site calculations are required in the first place.
Amongst this serious crowd, there must be some Madonna fans.
@madonnatribe.com
Here is my cover of Papa Don't Preach (1986)
youtu.be/jlYjGfSybT0
@madonnatribe.com
Here is my cover of Papa Don't Preach (1986)
youtu.be/jlYjGfSybT0
Papa Don't Preach
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
July 28, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Amongst this serious crowd, there must be some Madonna fans.
@madonnatribe.com
Here is my cover of Papa Don't Preach (1986)
youtu.be/jlYjGfSybT0
@madonnatribe.com
Here is my cover of Papa Don't Preach (1986)
youtu.be/jlYjGfSybT0
My new song is an inquiry into the nature of happiness in relation to certain quotidien activities of daily life.
youtu.be/6aLQILbM7_g
youtu.be/6aLQILbM7_g
Jonathan Ochshorn — Baby Are You Happy (Basketball and Sex)
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
July 21, 2025 at 11:19 PM
My new song is an inquiry into the nature of happiness in relation to certain quotidien activities of daily life.
youtu.be/6aLQILbM7_g
youtu.be/6aLQILbM7_g
This is a live version of my song, Adaptation, "adapted" from the movie, Adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and others. The movie was written by Charlie Kaufman, who inserts himself into the film as the screenwriter, played by Nicolas Cage.
youtu.be/jBxf-PQJZXw
youtu.be/jBxf-PQJZXw
Jonathan Ochshorn — Adaptation — at Center for the Arts of Homer Open Mic
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
July 10, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This is a live version of my song, Adaptation, "adapted" from the movie, Adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and others. The movie was written by Charlie Kaufman, who inserts himself into the film as the screenwriter, played by Nicolas Cage.
youtu.be/jBxf-PQJZXw
youtu.be/jBxf-PQJZXw
From OMA's Milstein Hall: "...there is also an implicit conflation of a type of performative athletic movement—whether featuring trained dancers, "free runners," or skateboarders—with the type of movement in and around buildings that constitutes useful circulation."
jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall...
jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall...
July 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
From OMA's Milstein Hall: "...there is also an implicit conflation of a type of performative athletic movement—whether featuring trained dancers, "free runners," or skateboarders—with the type of movement in and around buildings that constitutes useful circulation."
jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall...
jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall...
I sang three songs at the Nocturnal Cafe Open Mic in Ithaca, NY, on July 2, 2025. Here's one of the songs I performed, "Just Another Bad Dream," which I wrote in 1980 thinking about the trauma of the Vietnam war: youtu.be/xybdyaB5AFk
Jonathan Ochshorn — Just Another Bad Dream — at Nocturnal Cafe Open Mic
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
July 4, 2025 at 9:05 PM
I sang three songs at the Nocturnal Cafe Open Mic in Ithaca, NY, on July 2, 2025. Here's one of the songs I performed, "Just Another Bad Dream," which I wrote in 1980 thinking about the trauma of the Vietnam war: youtu.be/xybdyaB5AFk
File under: don't quit your day job...
July 1, 2025 at 8:21 PM
File under: don't quit your day job...
My cover of Dire Strait's 1985 "So Far Away" is also a tribute to Rand Hall at Cornell University, whose 1917 industrial-loft design—before the building was architecturally destroyed ("renovated") in 2017—serves as an imaginary setting for the performance: youtu.be/76CQYo2vayA
So Far Away (cover of the Dire Straits song) — J. Ochshorn
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
June 27, 2025 at 4:41 PM
My cover of Dire Strait's 1985 "So Far Away" is also a tribute to Rand Hall at Cornell University, whose 1917 industrial-loft design—before the building was architecturally destroyed ("renovated") in 2017—serves as an imaginary setting for the performance: youtu.be/76CQYo2vayA
I talk about wayfinding in OMA's Milstein Hall in my open-access book of the same name. Here's a video update showing the continuing deterioration of floor-mounted signage for the auditorium (see ch. 6 www.jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall... in the book).
June 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
I talk about wayfinding in OMA's Milstein Hall in my open-access book of the same name. Here's a video update showing the continuing deterioration of floor-mounted signage for the auditorium (see ch. 6 www.jonochshorn.com/milsteinhall... in the book).
Three reasons to wear a mask today in Ithaca, NY, not even including COVID:
1. Bad day for pollen
2. Dust kicked up by trucks that are entering and leaving construction site
3. Canadian wildfire smoke
1. Bad day for pollen
2. Dust kicked up by trucks that are entering and leaving construction site
3. Canadian wildfire smoke
June 5, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Three reasons to wear a mask today in Ithaca, NY, not even including COVID:
1. Bad day for pollen
2. Dust kicked up by trucks that are entering and leaving construction site
3. Canadian wildfire smoke
1. Bad day for pollen
2. Dust kicked up by trucks that are entering and leaving construction site
3. Canadian wildfire smoke
I played two singer-songwriter sets at the Coffeehouse Plus in Cortland's historic Universalist Unitarian Church last Saturday, May 31, 2025 — the first set with guitar, the second with digital piano. These are unedited iPhone videos of 2 songs (with iPhone audio).
jon.ochshorn.org/2025/06/live...
jon.ochshorn.org/2025/06/live...
June 3, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I played two singer-songwriter sets at the Coffeehouse Plus in Cortland's historic Universalist Unitarian Church last Saturday, May 31, 2025 — the first set with guitar, the second with digital piano. These are unedited iPhone videos of 2 songs (with iPhone audio).
jon.ochshorn.org/2025/06/live...
jon.ochshorn.org/2025/06/live...
A sneak preview of my upcoming benefit concert at the Universalist Unitarian Church "Coffeehouse +," 3 Church St., Cortland, NY, on Saturday, May 31, 2025 (7–9 PM):
Here are two songs I performed two days ago at the AKE Gallery open mic, also in Cortland...
youtu.be/sPn9MQByZTE
Here are two songs I performed two days ago at the AKE Gallery open mic, also in Cortland...
youtu.be/sPn9MQByZTE
Jonathan Ochshorn — "Ticonderoga Moon" and "If I Could Sing Like That" — at Ake Gallery Open Mic
YouTube video by Jonathan Ochshorn
youtu.be
May 17, 2025 at 2:13 PM
A sneak preview of my upcoming benefit concert at the Universalist Unitarian Church "Coffeehouse +," 3 Church St., Cortland, NY, on Saturday, May 31, 2025 (7–9 PM):
Here are two songs I performed two days ago at the AKE Gallery open mic, also in Cortland...
youtu.be/sPn9MQByZTE
Here are two songs I performed two days ago at the AKE Gallery open mic, also in Cortland...
youtu.be/sPn9MQByZTE
I'll be doing a benefit concert of original songs (first set with guitar, second set with piano) at the Coffeehouse+, Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, NY, Sat., May 31, 2025, 7–9 PM.
More details: jonochshorn.com/music/music-...
More details: jonochshorn.com/music/music-...
May 15, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I'll be doing a benefit concert of original songs (first set with guitar, second set with piano) at the Coffeehouse+, Unitarian Universalist Church of Cortland, NY, Sat., May 31, 2025, 7–9 PM.
More details: jonochshorn.com/music/music-...
More details: jonochshorn.com/music/music-...
When I designed and built an addition to my house, I took some pleasure in not only matching but also in lining up the red oak floor boards across the threshold between old and new.
April 18, 2025 at 5:33 PM
When I designed and built an addition to my house, I took some pleasure in not only matching but also in lining up the red oak floor boards across the threshold between old and new.
From my photo archives, age 11: Freewheeling Bob Dylan for Christmas in 1963: supplemented by Google search and Photoshop's transform-distort mode.
April 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
From my photo archives, age 11: Freewheeling Bob Dylan for Christmas in 1963: supplemented by Google search and Photoshop's transform-distort mode.
A short and interesting account of the building code logic underlying air-tight buildings from my favorite mechanical engineer (Joe #Lstiburek):
youtu.be/MEvcIj8ko-s?...
youtu.be/MEvcIj8ko-s?...
What Does "Build Tight and Ventilate Right" Mean?
YouTube video by BuildingScience-com Corporation
youtu.be
April 6, 2025 at 3:11 PM
A short and interesting account of the building code logic underlying air-tight buildings from my favorite mechanical engineer (Joe #Lstiburek):
youtu.be/MEvcIj8ko-s?...
youtu.be/MEvcIj8ko-s?...
I posted two songs performed live at the Cortland Coffeehouse Plus on Feb. 22, 2025. These are piano-based, rather than guitar-based, and the audio is taken directly from the iPhone video clips, for better or worse: jon.ochshorn.org/2025/02/more...
February 26, 2025 at 4:25 PM
I posted two songs performed live at the Cortland Coffeehouse Plus on Feb. 22, 2025. These are piano-based, rather than guitar-based, and the audio is taken directly from the iPhone video clips, for better or worse: jon.ochshorn.org/2025/02/more...