First Day

So.... my first day was a bit frustrating and quite a lot less than I was expecting.

I didn't get into the studio I wanted; I was one of two who were "randomly selected" to switch because of over-interest in the Redesigning London section. This was incredibly disheartening, because not only am I uninterested in my studio's brief, I'm not sure if IIT will accept the work / product as a studio project. This sounds harsh, but I came to the AA to have brilliant people critique my thinking; I would rather have them critique something of real importance to me (how to use what we have already built instead of building new, using recycled materials and creating local economy) rather than my solely aesthetic taste.
The brief is to develop shapes based on aesthetic judgment. It's supposed to be fun, lighthearted, non-traditional. I'm just not sure IIT will look at the final 13 panels I've created (as artwork, essentially) and say "why yes! Mies would certainly understand that as proper studio work! A+!" even though I will work incredibly hard.

We'll see. There is a chance it might become more serious.

There's also a chance we might not go to Russia because of visa issues, but we should know more about that by the end of the week or early next.

My media studies course on architectural publications is not at all what I expected, and I'm not sure if I'll get as much out of it as I wanted. I have to write a manifesto by next monday. I think I will either write about whole tree architecture (and base it off my recent research for EcoStructures), the digital revolution in public institutions (and use my studio project from last semester), or my more recent musings for urban habitation (which I was hoping to pursue in this term's studio.. before my dreams were thwarted!).
The only small problem is that I need images... and a lot of them... and none of those projects have many (or any) worth publishing.