Put and Call

I gave a presentation this week to our studio about the trading floor building type and the New York Mercantile Exchange, so I didn’t get very much design work done. However, I was glad for the additional research time and for the chance to explain some of the complicated issues of my project to the class. Topics I covered were the history of trade buildings, energy and the west coast, the New York mercantile exchange history and operations, and a “special feature”, the hand gesture language of open outcry trading (that was everyone’s favorite).

Contacts: Since I began this project I have periodically been contacting folks who seem like they might be interested in the project or able to lend some insight, and I heard back from two of them this week. Professor of computer programming W. Bradford Paley has some suggestions for me. Filmmaker Jon Else, who created the documentary Open Outcry in 2002, told me he would send me a copy of the film if I send him postage and an envelope, and he will also look for additional footage of the pacific exchange in San Francisco for me so that I can have some images of the inside of the space as it was. I have found that people who are able to help me generally will do what they can, and I have received plentiful help in the last few months simply from cold emails. I don’t know what I would do without the help of the many people who don’t know me from eve yet have shared knowledge, ideas, and resources with me. Thanks to all of you!