Venn: Notre Dame, Architecture, Manhattan, and 9/11

Who stands at the center of a Venn diagram including the University of Notre Dame, the profession of architecture, a student newspaper called The Observer, the humor of a cartoonist, sketchbooks of a globe-trotter, Manhattan, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, CodeX, and 9/11? 

I know of only one man who fills the bill: architect, cartoonist, and lecturer Michael Molinelli.

 

"As you know, Michael Molinelli is a talented artist who worked for Notre Dame's OBSERVER daily student newspaper and received his degree in Architecture. He was the creator of probably the most beloved comic strip on campus, a daily must view for all of us Domers when the paper came out just before lunch. The strip was called "Molarity" (morality with the "l" and the "r" switched). He presents an interesting perspective about the Twin Towers from an architect's point of view. CAUTION: while one particular scene has been seen millions of times since that tragic day in 2001, it is still shocking and disturbing." --Eduardo Magallenez, ND '83

 

This 15th edition of Michael's CodeX project describes the design and construction of the Twin Towers and the force that brought them down on 9/11.

Before reading Eddielalo's post, I was not familiar with Michael's CodeX Series. After watching this one, I was inspired to watch more and wound up subscribing to his channel. The videos (currently about 24) are fantastic explorations of interesting and influential architects and the buildings they have given us. You need not be an architect to love these videos. 

Michael Molinelli, AIA, NCARB, LEED Accredited Professional holds a 1982 Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Notre Dame. Michael was best known to his fellow Domers as the creator of Molarity, a comic featuring the antics and exploits of fictional student Jim Mole and his friends. 

Since graduating from Notre Dame, Michael has built a successful architecture practice. He is an award-winning licensed architect, an award-winning cartoonist, humorist, lecturer, author, inventor, volunteer firefighter, husband, and father.

Visit Michael's websites:
His architecture practice 
The official website of Molinelli's cartoon strips including Molarity and Molarity Redux.
A site about the book he co-authored with his wife, Gina 
The YouTube channel for his ongoing CodeX series 

These websites about Michael are also worth a look:
His Amazon author biography featuring a nice pic with an ND hat

The Wikipedia entry describing his Molarity comic strip