Farmers market goodies in pocket, I have found a nice piece of park side realestate and flopped down in one of the green and white striped canvas chairs strewn along the bank of the pond to watch the season's first boaters paddle listlessly around the water amongst the honking geese and lonely ducks. There is a wisp of breeze and faltering sun, but it is spring and it is Sunday and there is nothing more lovely than that.
==
that is, until the ticket guy came over and made me move. I'm not going to pay 1pound50 to sit in a chair for an hour.
3.22.2009
3.21.2009
my new loves
I'm almost done with my sketch book. I normally go through two, so I'm right on schedule, but never are they as dense as this one. I always fall in love with my sketchbooks, but this one is particularly special.
The binding is tattered and broken, the black paper corners peeling away. A chunk of the spine is missing. Every inch of every page is packed with a flurry of writing or doodle.. thought process and mental conversations.
I would not mind opening the book to any random page and explaining the work to a stranger.
It has been a really beautiful and mildly productive day. Mike and I walked to school this morning in the perfectly cool sunshine; we had lunch on Bedford Square, soaking up the warmth. I'm moving slow, so I've only produced a minimal amount of work today, but it feels so good to relax and work.
I took a walk to enjoy the sunset, and now it's back to work.
Monia replied to my email this morning with some really great suggestions and advice. I spent the morning browsing for images like this:
KRob Delineation Competition
Someone is wailing on the piano at the music school across the way. Traffic rumbling in the back ground. Honking horns. Chirping birds. Church bells.
My daily symphony.
Blake's friends all had babies this week. It is strange.
The binding is tattered and broken, the black paper corners peeling away. A chunk of the spine is missing. Every inch of every page is packed with a flurry of writing or doodle.. thought process and mental conversations.
I would not mind opening the book to any random page and explaining the work to a stranger.
It has been a really beautiful and mildly productive day. Mike and I walked to school this morning in the perfectly cool sunshine; we had lunch on Bedford Square, soaking up the warmth. I'm moving slow, so I've only produced a minimal amount of work today, but it feels so good to relax and work.
I took a walk to enjoy the sunset, and now it's back to work.
Monia replied to my email this morning with some really great suggestions and advice. I spent the morning browsing for images like this:
KRob Delineation Competition
Someone is wailing on the piano at the music school across the way. Traffic rumbling in the back ground. Honking horns. Chirping birds. Church bells.
My daily symphony.
Blake's friends all had babies this week. It is strange.
3.20.2009
to monia... HELP!
Hey monia,
I don't expect a reply from you about these things any time suuuper soon, but I would like to hear your thoughts before Monday (if possible!) so I have time to react... or to stop thinking.
I know my narrative and original intentions are strong and clear, but this urban planning thing has taken on a lif of its own, and feels quite foreign and poorly pursued on my part. Basically... the low rigor [and resulting uninventiveness?] of just producing without thought drawing after drawing is not enough to keep my interest, and I am questioning a lot of what I have done / am doing. I'm having trouble deciding what should guide my thinking, largely based on my indecision over what the lines and levels on my drawing / model actually signify.
current issues:
-inharmonious with selected site-- existing buildings, roads, programs i'm 'destroying'
-little consideration for how people are actually using this
-unclear about what model signifies-- what is building, should there be building?, landscape? starting to feel like a massive zoo / park
My two thoughts are these:
1. Reality / Fact based;
What is the purpose of this plan? What is it actually doing? What is the initial infrastructure that starts growth of plants? Should the initial infrastructure (like the pavement drawing) be London as it exists now?
What is the inherent value in the project that justifies knocking out such a huge swath of London? Should my intrusion be a -new- city planning tool (clean slate), or something that fits into an existing city (parasitic, Friedman)?
Perhaps it considers something like recycling / waste management
**My issues arise from how people actually function in this space as a city, the materials required to build something like this, what the architecture is / how it is made... It is very REAL.
2. Narrative / Conception based;
Invention of a new world, new city
Perhaps the issue is that this is not an urban planning issue, but simply a planning tool... it's not a solution for waste management or densification or infrastructure design... these are all relics of the cities we know and live in currently [and also are 1. kind of boring, and 2. don't exactly fit with my current narrative or past focus]. This is a conceptual proposal, more of a critical commentary than anything intended to be built.
-References like Yona, Koolhaas 'Voluntary Prisoners' or Peter Cook book?
But where does it go from here? How do I visualize what the space actually is? How do I make it convincing? Do I continue to write and develop the manifesto, as a sort of illustrated written work? Is it collage, firmly based in the abstract, like Koolhaas, Cook, and Friedman?
Do I concern myself with the architectural elements at all? Or maybe, like Cook, roughly design a few funky / absurd bldgs that fit after I've created their perfect landscape?
========
Lots of questions, and apologies.
I know that these are all things I have to answer for myself, and that I just need to accept one direction or the other (the second sounds very freeing)... but I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks! see you monday!
--
- Laura
I don't expect a reply from you about these things any time suuuper soon, but I would like to hear your thoughts before Monday (if possible!) so I have time to react... or to stop thinking.
I know my narrative and original intentions are strong and clear, but this urban planning thing has taken on a lif of its own, and feels quite foreign and poorly pursued on my part. Basically... the low rigor [and resulting uninventiveness?] of just producing without thought drawing after drawing is not enough to keep my interest, and I am questioning a lot of what I have done / am doing. I'm having trouble deciding what should guide my thinking, largely based on my indecision over what the lines and levels on my drawing / model actually signify.
current issues:
-inharmonious with selected site-- existing buildings, roads, programs i'm 'destroying'
-little consideration for how people are actually using this
-unclear about what model signifies-- what is building, should there be building?, landscape? starting to feel like a massive zoo / park
My two thoughts are these:
1. Reality / Fact based;
What is the purpose of this plan? What is it actually doing? What is the initial infrastructure that starts growth of plants? Should the initial infrastructure (like the pavement drawing) be London as it exists now?
What is the inherent value in the project that justifies knocking out such a huge swath of London? Should my intrusion be a -new- city planning tool (clean slate), or something that fits into an existing city (parasitic, Friedman)?
Perhaps it considers something like recycling / waste management
**My issues arise from how people actually function in this space as a city, the materials required to build something like this, what the architecture is / how it is made... It is very REAL.
2. Narrative / Conception based;
Invention of a new world, new city
Perhaps the issue is that this is not an urban planning issue, but simply a planning tool... it's not a solution for waste management or densification or infrastructure design... these are all relics of the cities we know and live in currently [and also are 1. kind of boring, and 2. don't exactly fit with my current narrative or past focus]. This is a conceptual proposal, more of a critical commentary than anything intended to be built.
-References like Yona, Koolhaas 'Voluntary Prisoners' or Peter Cook book?
But where does it go from here? How do I visualize what the space actually is? How do I make it convincing? Do I continue to write and develop the manifesto, as a sort of illustrated written work? Is it collage, firmly based in the abstract, like Koolhaas, Cook, and Friedman?
Do I concern myself with the architectural elements at all? Or maybe, like Cook, roughly design a few funky / absurd bldgs that fit after I've created their perfect landscape?
========
Lots of questions, and apologies.
I know that these are all things I have to answer for myself, and that I just need to accept one direction or the other (the second sounds very freeing)... but I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Thanks! see you monday!
--
- Laura
Rambling snippets
Do not read the following expecting it to make any sense.
Thoughts whizzing too fast to write coherently
should resort to bullets and bubbles
coherence denied
half thoughts full thoughts missing
unifinished paragraphs and sentences
missing all the webpages and other things i was doing
distraction results in unfinished thoughts
======+======+======+======+======+======+======
I came home tonight, intending to blog about the escape weekends provide, and how I'm reminded again and again about the good things in life when I'm doing something pleasant, and that life is more important and satisfying than architecture...
and then I started reading a few new architecture blogs, and became completely consumed and wrapped up in it again that I, inevitably, will blog about it.
Before I get lost in an architectural ramble, I'd like to say that:
1. I had a really lovely evening with Mike and Elora, wandering down to St. Paul's cathedral to catch the end of the Evensong and then fish+chips at a pub for dinner
2. I wore white socks with black shoes today
Now on to the several snippets of archi-babble that have been floating around my head today:
I've been seeing a lot of discourse lately about architects doing non-architect-y things. Some call it "expanding the profession" while others call it "tinkering." Nearly half of the students in architecture school do not intend to pursue architecture as a career. Whether this is a result of schools accepting too many students who really just want to be artists but have to look successful for their families, or that the recession is making 1/4 of us 'redundant' and we need to find new things to do, or that professional practice is just, in fact, plain boring... is all up for debate. I'm not here to say either is bad; I mean... if someone will actually pay you to be a pseudo-philosopher, pseudo-artist, self-professed "Knower of All Great Things" then why wouldn't one pursue such an attractive career?
However, I find these conceptualists similar to the crusaders. While the militia went out with cries of "In the name of God!" to cleanse their land of the unsuitable, so do architects go forth "In the Name of Architecture" banish banal buildings and unsuitable experiences. So many unrealistic, unbuildable, and quite absurd projects are done "In the name of Architecture!" as if Architecture needed saving and you were the only one with enough sense to see it.
[although, in much conversation it is safe to assume that the architect present is more apt to agree with architect:god over architecture:religion ]
As intelligent as we would like everyone to belive, we actually have no clue. "Architects know nothing about a lot. Engineers know a lot about nothing." We fancy ourselves as great philosophers, poets, and artists; we pride ourselves on our conceptual rigor, attention to detail, understanding of human and space; Aaaaaand yet... we are mostly good at [trying to] convince people we have actually researched, actually learned, actually thought... when really. It went there because I felt like it. Because it was pretty. And no, I didn't think about anyone who might live there; and no, i don't particularly care if it's more convenient to put the cabinet there if it wrecks my design!!!
We are an extraordinarily selfish, stubborn people, who enjoy giant puzzles and spent too much time as children with play figures or imaginary friends.
"those ungrateful wretches graffitied my wall?"
which is all funny (and relevant) because i've had the feeling lately that while architecture is assumed to be about drawing, it is largely about writing and communication. And yet, being the art-but-not-art-but-better-because-its-real artistic type of people Architects generally are, we assume that we can get away with being total crap at writing [Or speaking.] because it's "not what we do."
Waving your hand and grunting in a vaguely European way will get you through any tough situation in America [as long as you're not talking to contractors or engineers].
Thoughts whizzing too fast to write coherently
should resort to bullets and bubbles
coherence denied
half thoughts full thoughts missing
unifinished paragraphs and sentences
missing all the webpages and other things i was doing
distraction results in unfinished thoughts
======+======+======+======+======+======+======
I came home tonight, intending to blog about the escape weekends provide, and how I'm reminded again and again about the good things in life when I'm doing something pleasant, and that life is more important and satisfying than architecture...
and then I started reading a few new architecture blogs, and became completely consumed and wrapped up in it again that I, inevitably, will blog about it.
Before I get lost in an architectural ramble, I'd like to say that:
1. I had a really lovely evening with Mike and Elora, wandering down to St. Paul's cathedral to catch the end of the Evensong and then fish+chips at a pub for dinner
2. I wore white socks with black shoes today
Now on to the several snippets of archi-babble that have been floating around my head today:
I've been seeing a lot of discourse lately about architects doing non-architect-y things. Some call it "expanding the profession" while others call it "tinkering." Nearly half of the students in architecture school do not intend to pursue architecture as a career. Whether this is a result of schools accepting too many students who really just want to be artists but have to look successful for their families, or that the recession is making 1/4 of us 'redundant' and we need to find new things to do, or that professional practice is just, in fact, plain boring... is all up for debate. I'm not here to say either is bad; I mean... if someone will actually pay you to be a pseudo-philosopher, pseudo-artist, self-professed "Knower of All Great Things" then why wouldn't one pursue such an attractive career?
However, I find these conceptualists similar to the crusaders. While the militia went out with cries of "In the name of God!" to cleanse their land of the unsuitable, so do architects go forth "In the Name of Architecture" banish banal buildings and unsuitable experiences. So many unrealistic, unbuildable, and quite absurd projects are done "In the name of Architecture!" as if Architecture needed saving and you were the only one with enough sense to see it.
[although, in much conversation it is safe to assume that the architect present is more apt to agree with architect:god over architecture:religion ]
As intelligent as we would like everyone to belive, we actually have no clue. "Architects know nothing about a lot. Engineers know a lot about nothing." We fancy ourselves as great philosophers, poets, and artists; we pride ourselves on our conceptual rigor, attention to detail, understanding of human and space; Aaaaaand yet... we are mostly good at [trying to] convince people we have actually researched, actually learned, actually thought... when really. It went there because I felt like it. Because it was pretty. And no, I didn't think about anyone who might live there; and no, i don't particularly care if it's more convenient to put the cabinet there if it wrecks my design!!!
We are an extraordinarily selfish, stubborn people, who enjoy giant puzzles and spent too much time as children with play figures or imaginary friends.
"those ungrateful wretches graffitied my wall?"
which is all funny (and relevant) because i've had the feeling lately that while architecture is assumed to be about drawing, it is largely about writing and communication. And yet, being the art-but-not-art-but-better-because-its-real artistic type of people Architects generally are, we assume that we can get away with being total crap at writing [Or speaking.] because it's "not what we do."
Waving your hand and grunting in a vaguely European way will get you through any tough situation in America [as long as you're not talking to contractors or engineers].
3.17.2009
monday monday
It was a beautiful day.. one of the best we've had yet. Sunshine and warm. The windows in studio were left open.
Shaping seams is now done! Woo!
Studio was ok.. worked til I went to dance.
Dance was alright... the band was not very good, but I had a few good dances. It was really nice to just get out.
The walk home was perfect.
I'm playing with Wordle again. It's fun.
Leaving for studio again soon. The sun is shining, my roommate is still in bed, it's 200000 degrees in our room... it's spring!
Shaping seams is now done! Woo!
Studio was ok.. worked til I went to dance.
Dance was alright... the band was not very good, but I had a few good dances. It was really nice to just get out.
The walk home was perfect.
I'm playing with Wordle again. It's fun.
Leaving for studio again soon. The sun is shining, my roommate is still in bed, it's 200000 degrees in our room... it's spring!
3.15.2009
Sun Day Sunday!
It is a glorious, beautiful morning, and I have spent it:
-sleeping in
-reading in bed
-going to the farmer's market
-playing outside
-cleaned the room
-working on a hideously unsuccessful (and therefore quite fun) project with Mike.
Death by CNC - our failed Shaping Seams final
Flowers!
I found a shield...
...and started lancing practice!
-sleeping in
-reading in bed
-going to the farmer's market
-playing outside
-cleaned the room
-working on a hideously unsuccessful (and therefore quite fun) project with Mike.
Death by CNC - our failed Shaping Seams final
Flowers!
I found a shield...
...and started lancing practice!
3.14.2009
32000 Lines under the Thames
To be fair, there are actually 36198 line segments in that drawing.
I have clicked over 36000 times in the last week on this one drawing. Awesome.
This will make more sense later.
This Week's Work 08
I missed last week's work, but hopefully summed up what I did in the previous posts.
It's getting crazy, and I find less and less time to write about what's going on, but this week has been pretty good despite the enormous amounts of work quickly closing in on me.
On a personal front, I've gotten to spend time this week with a few new people (Madoka from photography, I'm going to a movie later today with others) and those outside of the AA (last weekend with Justin and Iain).
I was feeling pretty sick at the beginning of the week, and missed dance to sleep and do a bit of work. I generally feel better now, though I'm not in 100% perfect health; I think the dryness of the room has a lot to do with it.
Last night I went to a Burlesque show with Justin; burlesque has been gaining popularity among the swing dance crowd, and I've been hearing lots about it lately. Justin got tickets to the opening of a new Burlesque show because he knows everyone in the troupe- yay connections! I enjoyed all the non-burlesque-y bits a lot; there was a tap dancing juggler, a violinists, a singing comedian (host), and a pair of HiLaRiOuS parody singers. Dressed in Tim Burton-esque faux-punk goth garb, the girl sang over dramatized renditions of pop songs, while the boy wailed / jazzed / old tymed on the key board. It was amazing.
Afterwards, we stopped by a jazz club on the way home to hear the last two songs of a 5 piece band, crammed shoulder to shoulder in the tiniest basement I've ever seen. We only stayed for 15 minutes, but it was a pretty incredible place.
I have lunch at 2 in Chinatown with Studio, and then a movie and dinner with AAers. Oh, the social life I lead!
-----------------Studio-----------------
32000 lines, and more to go.
Last Saturday Monia changed all of our plans, and so I've been working non stop on this drawing. I'm at 32000 lines, and still not done. In fact, after our discussion yesterday, I have to change or redraw a lot of them. I really need to finish it today though, so that I can work on other things (like my white book) for our next big crit. I'm going to start faking the drawing really soon (by using scripted pieces, instead of hand drawing it all), just to get density.
-----------------Shaping Seams-----------------
Our pieces were -finally- milled, and again came out in pieces. Something happened to the geometry when the surface was applied, so half of our pieces have holes in them and the other half are broken beyond use. Monia said it was ok, and to photo and assemble whatever we could.
Hand ins for all Media Studies is this Wednesday, so we've got to get crackin on all the submission stuff.
-----------------The Deep End-----------------
Goswin canceled our final photoshoot "due to exhaustion" so our supplementary work must be printed, bound, and handed in by Wednesday. I'm going to find a place that prints photos for you and somehow put them all together. I really have no idea what format is ideal for these things... and no one seems to want to give me explicit instructions or advice. I'm going to [hopefully] take my final image tonight with my own camera, and get them all printed on Monday or Tuesday. I'm a little bummed that we didn't get to use the large format camera after all, but oh well. He was in a really terrible mood last Monday, so something important must have come up.
-----------------Architecture to Architecture-----------------
Mark Cousins came in again and directed our discussion on the implications of computers. We talked about everything from the change in student understanding, educational culture, expectation... to the differences between Simple, Complex, and Complicated. These discussions have been a really enjoyable mix of intellect and humor.
"The computer seems to become something like a conscious, a psychological prothesis. You start to feel guilty when you shut it, like it has eyes. It's saying things like 'Why haven't you got me open? You call yourself a serious student? Bah!'"
In architecture, there is often simple (like Mies) and complex (like AA academic work). Both are seen as Good in their own respects, but the complex is attractive through its sheer mass of seemingly incomprehensible stuff: lines everywhere, difficult math and algorithms, whatever.
At this time, the students and faculty are beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the pure scripted-ness of the work from the last few years. We are beginning to question the definition, value, and future of the work. What are the implications of doing everything via computer? Have we lost our pre-thought in determining what is good? What is the new language that arises from this kind of design. Does formal design matter? What draws us to working on our computer? How should we really view it? How should a university approach it or teach?
-the simplification of the complex is a tool for communication, explanation. Complex must have a strong underlying rationality, in itself simple. It can be broken down.
-the simplification of simple is impossible. simple is in many ways fantastic. it is qualitative, not quantitative.
The computer has afforded a tool to kick-start the second phase of design; it produces iteration after iteration that we were previously unable to do. This, I believe, will require a shift in critical thinking. While currently, we still reside within the mode of thought that we make choices while designing, while drawing. Our critical thought is at the very beginning, when deciding What to do, and at the end, when we look at How we've done. But the middle stage is the most critical now. The computer punches out hundreds of options, where as before we might only have 2 or 3 or 5, and our eye for understanding what is Good and Why is not yet up to the task to slog through hundreds of options. It is very easy to keep punching out new iterations, without selecting and moving forward, because we do not understand the math or process behind why a shape is the way it is. Our selection is completely arbitrarily based on aesthetic, which many architects struggle with. (Overcoming the "arbitrary is bad" mindset is an incredibly difficult task)
Ok, and before I ramble for hours, I need to stop. I have pages of this stuff, that will stay safely in my sketchbook until I have to write my final paper (which is soon).
I am, however, particularly interested in our discussions around education style, and have laid out rough sketches for "my ideal school" several times. This is probably because I'm still IN school and it's all I know, but...
-----------------Lectures-----------------
Richard Horden spoke this week. He does super small light weight structures, like the micro-compact home:
It was a really good discussion. I felt like he clearly articulated many of the topics I think are relevant and interesting: function-based inspiration from nature, small spaces, relationship with nature, environmental/energy/consumption management. A few things were off, like his attitude towards food [by living in a smaller space, you eat less!] because I think living in a smaller space without easy cooking facilities just makes you buy more premade food in excessive packaging.
I met him briefly after the lecture and want to buy the book.
It's getting crazy, and I find less and less time to write about what's going on, but this week has been pretty good despite the enormous amounts of work quickly closing in on me.
On a personal front, I've gotten to spend time this week with a few new people (Madoka from photography, I'm going to a movie later today with others) and those outside of the AA (last weekend with Justin and Iain).
I was feeling pretty sick at the beginning of the week, and missed dance to sleep and do a bit of work. I generally feel better now, though I'm not in 100% perfect health; I think the dryness of the room has a lot to do with it.
Last night I went to a Burlesque show with Justin; burlesque has been gaining popularity among the swing dance crowd, and I've been hearing lots about it lately. Justin got tickets to the opening of a new Burlesque show because he knows everyone in the troupe- yay connections! I enjoyed all the non-burlesque-y bits a lot; there was a tap dancing juggler, a violinists, a singing comedian (host), and a pair of HiLaRiOuS parody singers. Dressed in Tim Burton-esque faux-punk goth garb, the girl sang over dramatized renditions of pop songs, while the boy wailed / jazzed / old tymed on the key board. It was amazing.
Afterwards, we stopped by a jazz club on the way home to hear the last two songs of a 5 piece band, crammed shoulder to shoulder in the tiniest basement I've ever seen. We only stayed for 15 minutes, but it was a pretty incredible place.
I have lunch at 2 in Chinatown with Studio, and then a movie and dinner with AAers. Oh, the social life I lead!
-----------------Studio-----------------
32000 lines, and more to go.
Last Saturday Monia changed all of our plans, and so I've been working non stop on this drawing. I'm at 32000 lines, and still not done. In fact, after our discussion yesterday, I have to change or redraw a lot of them. I really need to finish it today though, so that I can work on other things (like my white book) for our next big crit. I'm going to start faking the drawing really soon (by using scripted pieces, instead of hand drawing it all), just to get density.
-----------------Shaping Seams-----------------
Our pieces were -finally- milled, and again came out in pieces. Something happened to the geometry when the surface was applied, so half of our pieces have holes in them and the other half are broken beyond use. Monia said it was ok, and to photo and assemble whatever we could.
Hand ins for all Media Studies is this Wednesday, so we've got to get crackin on all the submission stuff.
-----------------The Deep End-----------------
Goswin canceled our final photoshoot "due to exhaustion" so our supplementary work must be printed, bound, and handed in by Wednesday. I'm going to find a place that prints photos for you and somehow put them all together. I really have no idea what format is ideal for these things... and no one seems to want to give me explicit instructions or advice. I'm going to [hopefully] take my final image tonight with my own camera, and get them all printed on Monday or Tuesday. I'm a little bummed that we didn't get to use the large format camera after all, but oh well. He was in a really terrible mood last Monday, so something important must have come up.
-----------------Architecture to Architecture-----------------
Mark Cousins came in again and directed our discussion on the implications of computers. We talked about everything from the change in student understanding, educational culture, expectation... to the differences between Simple, Complex, and Complicated. These discussions have been a really enjoyable mix of intellect and humor.
"The computer seems to become something like a conscious, a psychological prothesis. You start to feel guilty when you shut it, like it has eyes. It's saying things like 'Why haven't you got me open? You call yourself a serious student? Bah!'"
In architecture, there is often simple (like Mies) and complex (like AA academic work). Both are seen as Good in their own respects, but the complex is attractive through its sheer mass of seemingly incomprehensible stuff: lines everywhere, difficult math and algorithms, whatever.
At this time, the students and faculty are beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with the pure scripted-ness of the work from the last few years. We are beginning to question the definition, value, and future of the work. What are the implications of doing everything via computer? Have we lost our pre-thought in determining what is good? What is the new language that arises from this kind of design. Does formal design matter? What draws us to working on our computer? How should we really view it? How should a university approach it or teach?
-the simplification of the complex is a tool for communication, explanation. Complex must have a strong underlying rationality, in itself simple. It can be broken down.
-the simplification of simple is impossible. simple is in many ways fantastic. it is qualitative, not quantitative.
The computer has afforded a tool to kick-start the second phase of design; it produces iteration after iteration that we were previously unable to do. This, I believe, will require a shift in critical thinking. While currently, we still reside within the mode of thought that we make choices while designing, while drawing. Our critical thought is at the very beginning, when deciding What to do, and at the end, when we look at How we've done. But the middle stage is the most critical now. The computer punches out hundreds of options, where as before we might only have 2 or 3 or 5, and our eye for understanding what is Good and Why is not yet up to the task to slog through hundreds of options. It is very easy to keep punching out new iterations, without selecting and moving forward, because we do not understand the math or process behind why a shape is the way it is. Our selection is completely arbitrarily based on aesthetic, which many architects struggle with. (Overcoming the "arbitrary is bad" mindset is an incredibly difficult task)
Ok, and before I ramble for hours, I need to stop. I have pages of this stuff, that will stay safely in my sketchbook until I have to write my final paper (which is soon).
I am, however, particularly interested in our discussions around education style, and have laid out rough sketches for "my ideal school" several times. This is probably because I'm still IN school and it's all I know, but...
-----------------Lectures-----------------
Richard Horden spoke this week. He does super small light weight structures, like the micro-compact home:
It was a really good discussion. I felt like he clearly articulated many of the topics I think are relevant and interesting: function-based inspiration from nature, small spaces, relationship with nature, environmental/energy/consumption management. A few things were off, like his attitude towards food [by living in a smaller space, you eat less!] because I think living in a smaller space without easy cooking facilities just makes you buy more premade food in excessive packaging.
I met him briefly after the lecture and want to buy the book.
3.11.2009
Fear and Phlegm
Both things caught in throat.
Clever, no?
Today is a big day; a stressful one, at least. I have a long tutorial with Monia that I am not ready for, another long day of diving lines, and my final photograph to shoot with my group this evening.
And I'm terrified, because I still have no idea what I'll be doing in the photo, and I have to write a script. Actually, that's a lie. I have a relatively clear idea, I'm just not sure how it will translate into the real photo. I don't know where to position myself or what I should be doing.
My screenplay, in it's pathetic hurried form, will be taken from quick scratches and notes to self like this:
NOTE TO SELF……..
I need to be wearing the suit in order to not take myself seriously… that is only way good photos will come!
Perhaps……….
Black coat thrown over arm of tan chair
Clock strikes midnight, ticking on
Table strewn with remains of a good time
One leg, thrown defiantly onto the back of a chair, pulling the boot on.
Let’s get to business!
And set around a scene somewhat like this:
Thank god there are talented people out there that can pull out artistic miracles; thank god Goswin is one of them.
===============================================================
Evening Edit:
Goswin has canceled our final photo sessions due to exhaustion. I assume that the last few nights have been quite crazy.
However, I had a such great time with Madoka yesterday, playing around the basement of ISH, and will set up my own session tonight with Mike. I think it would be a good shot to have.
Below are a few images from last night... more on the photobucket album.
Thanks to Madoka for the images of me!
Clever, no?
Today is a big day; a stressful one, at least. I have a long tutorial with Monia that I am not ready for, another long day of diving lines, and my final photograph to shoot with my group this evening.
And I'm terrified, because I still have no idea what I'll be doing in the photo, and I have to write a script. Actually, that's a lie. I have a relatively clear idea, I'm just not sure how it will translate into the real photo. I don't know where to position myself or what I should be doing.
My screenplay, in it's pathetic hurried form, will be taken from quick scratches and notes to self like this:
NOTE TO SELF……..
I need to be wearing the suit in order to not take myself seriously… that is only way good photos will come!
Perhaps……….
Black coat thrown over arm of tan chair
Clock strikes midnight, ticking on
Table strewn with remains of a good time
One leg, thrown defiantly onto the back of a chair, pulling the boot on.
Let’s get to business!
And set around a scene somewhat like this:
Thank god there are talented people out there that can pull out artistic miracles; thank god Goswin is one of them.
===============================================================
Evening Edit:
Goswin has canceled our final photo sessions due to exhaustion. I assume that the last few nights have been quite crazy.
However, I had a such great time with Madoka yesterday, playing around the basement of ISH, and will set up my own session tonight with Mike. I think it would be a good shot to have.
Below are a few images from last night... more on the photobucket album.
Thanks to Madoka for the images of me!
3.07.2009
Ha... ha?
Monia emailed last night at midnight with "EMERGENCY TUTORIAL!" to meet today, Saturday, at 1.
So we did; Mike and I went down to the Brick Lane Markets in the morning and met with Monia at a Starbucks where she said "forget everything I told you yesterday; this is what we're doing now"
What we are doing now is producing 2 images and 1 model for an exhibition at the end of May.
"2 months to do three things?" you might say sounds like an awful lot of time.
But it's really not.
Because exhibitions at the AA are no small deal.
Our work will be set up on display for ~3 months, will be reviewed in the AA Files, and will be "kicked off" with our final large-jury crit.
For the next two weeks, we have tutorial every day and another jury at the end of that.
So basically....
======
In other news, today has been pretty enjoyable.
Timeline of events:
2:00 am : Hellen leaves
10:15 - 12:45 : Went to Brick Lane markets for the special Bollywood events with Mike. Great stalls, good food.
1:15 - 2:15 : Meeting with Monia; see above.
2:30 - 6: 00 : Met with Iain to explore Hyde Park, the V+A Museum, and Harrod's. Grabbed a quick bite at EAT and talked about obscure British history, what kind of clothes we like, and how he should tell some girl "i'm just not that into you."
6:15 : Ran to catch my bus
6:30 - 9:00 : Wasted time online "working"
9:00 : New roommate shows up. Name unknown. She's from Spain and doesn't speak English. I think she's annoyed that I'm American and not Italian, like she thought I would be.
=====
After several torturous days of Michael [read: endlessly playing of Flight of the Concords, Jake + Amir videos, and silly walks] last night's brilliance produced:
This perfectly illustrates the singular individual, in every way.
So we did; Mike and I went down to the Brick Lane Markets in the morning and met with Monia at a Starbucks where she said "forget everything I told you yesterday; this is what we're doing now"
What we are doing now is producing 2 images and 1 model for an exhibition at the end of May.
"2 months to do three things?" you might say sounds like an awful lot of time.
But it's really not.
Because exhibitions at the AA are no small deal.
Our work will be set up on display for ~3 months, will be reviewed in the AA Files, and will be "kicked off" with our final large-jury crit.
For the next two weeks, we have tutorial every day and another jury at the end of that.
So basically....
======
In other news, today has been pretty enjoyable.
Timeline of events:
2:00 am : Hellen leaves
10:15 - 12:45 : Went to Brick Lane markets for the special Bollywood events with Mike. Great stalls, good food.
1:15 - 2:15 : Meeting with Monia; see above.
2:30 - 6: 00 : Met with Iain to explore Hyde Park, the V+A Museum, and Harrod's. Grabbed a quick bite at EAT and talked about obscure British history, what kind of clothes we like, and how he should tell some girl "i'm just not that into you."
6:15 : Ran to catch my bus
6:30 - 9:00 : Wasted time online "working"
9:00 : New roommate shows up. Name unknown. She's from Spain and doesn't speak English. I think she's annoyed that I'm American and not Italian, like she thought I would be.
=====
After several torturous days of Michael [read: endlessly playing of Flight of the Concords, Jake + Amir videos, and silly walks] last night's brilliance produced:
This perfectly illustrates the singular individual, in every way.
3.06.2009
Narrative Manifest
The beginning of a longer story:
For a long time we sat at the foot of the machine,
marveling in the feats of mankind, until all we could think
of were robots and flying things and how inconvenient it was
to have to sit on wet grass. And then from a quiet corner of
shady dusk, a fox came out to meet us, and skirted around all
the tourists snapping pictures, too busy or too proud to
notice his wild juxtaposition against the ultimate emblem of
calculated engineering, until he disappeared again into an
unseen crack between his world and ours. And we all sat wide-
eyed and silent, and felt like we were waking up from a dream,
washed in the shadow of a mechanized future.
Philoso-something:
There are two worlds constantly at play: One which we see, and know, and have built up around us; the other nearly unseen, which runs continuously silent beneath the surface, between the cracks. It is fabled that at one time, the other world dominated, and we fitted ourselves into it, piece by piece, until we took over large sections. And, though the other world abated and learned to adapt, it never quite went away. It is the world of life in its most natural, and try as we might to stop or control, it has a force much greater than we, in our machine world, understand. Nature, with its creeping fingers and slow advance, takes back piece by piece of the machine world.
There are moments, brief instances of alter realities colliding, when pieces from the other fall into the lap of ours. A fox takes a tour of the Eye. A wall is consumed in vines. It is rare that our own pieces visit unscathed the world of the natural without adaptation and perversion of form.
But… what if?
We stage a surrender.
A tiny piece is allowed to go… encouraged even! Protected from the machines and allowed to grow until it’s too daunting (or beloved) to remove. And through careful planning, we make it possible to pierce their world, unscathed, into the beating heart of the defense. Two worlds, melting for a moment, into one.
Setting the Scene for a Manifesto
Ruskin's vivid imagery of Venice and light playing off the mist and stone, captivates the imagination and instills a deep hope and longing for the Nature of his words. His captured views, peaceful panoramas, frame a harmony of Human and Nature. “The quiet village… scattered among the meadows beside its valley stream.”
There is a delicate balance at play between the two, an unwritten line of domination that neither cross; Nature has seceded one space, and Human does not reach for more.
But did this place of glorified beauty ever truly exist?
Even in this view, a silent contention persists. Beauty and Nature are a relative ideal, built on observed comparisons. Is tended farmland Nature? Whom holds whom at bay?
In Venice, the war wounds of an ageless battle define its charm; failing foundations of a sinking city. With a tenacity made possible only through the Machines Ruskin disdained, the battle at large has shifted unfailingly in our favor. The perfectly proportioned plots of Nature that dot our modern cities are hostages, feet tied in a sea of concrete.
“The last few eventful years, fraught with change to the
face of the whole earth, have been more fatal in their influence than the five hundred that preceded them.”
The Machine has not yet won over the steady attack, and the fight goes on, beneath the surface, between the cracks. We cannot win; we cannot even truly fight because of something inherently human that calls us to protect the Natural through policy and perversion. Our sense of beauty and morality ties us to it. “All beautiful lines are adaptations of those which are commonest in the external creation; beyond a certain point, and that a very low one, man cannot advance in the invention of beauty, without directly imitating natural form.”
And so we’ve come to a place where habitats are no longer found, but created; a place where policy must be worked into the Machine in Nature’s favor. But, with Nature as our springboard for beauty, is it possible to freeze or contain more than just an abstracted line adapted from nature?
On a piece of London-proper, we stage a battle and let Nature win, only to find that this scripted relationship between the Nature and Machine worlds is a Deluzian rhizome: a multiplicity of structural elements, a dual-dependency.
Without the Machine World, this section of Nature would not exist; without the Nature, the Machine would lose its purpose, its significance, its life. The initial question arises from the irony and failures of current urban wildlife habitats, often proposed as over-tended public parks, neglected “wild” patches, or inaccessible green roofs, which either require a particularly high level of maintenance to function as habitable space or fail to protect the landscape from disruptive human intervention.
Reality?:
Initially, to receive funding from GrantScape and to fit with the Mayor’s “Biodiversity Statement,” the project is proposed as an urban wildlife habitat. It is cleverly delivered as an “urban forest” and the administration goes crazy over it, because the shear novelty attracts tourists to the overpriced café and the site requires little maintenance. Funding and planning are hurried along, eager to peak public approval.
Initial investment builds a modest installment of structural landscape, following the logic of the dividing line and plate one gradation; the spaces progress from an orderly storefront to a wild forest by the manipulation, degeneration, and expansion of Artificial (people) spaces for Nature spaces. To combat the massive waste issues of its site and surrounding context, a clever machine to produce recycled building blocks is erected at the habitat; the blocks provide an easy structural component that fosters footholds and ideal conditions for plantlife to take root and are continuously produced for further expansion.
Over time, the landscape builds itself up, propelled by the need for further inhabitable spaces and availability of resources, so that an expansive mountain and canyon range, initially conceived in the total artificial, blossoms each spring in a wild foray of natural vegetation. Infrastructure to move through the habitat remains in shrinking pockets, decaying monuments to civilization. Some spaces remain only accessible to the most adventurous climbers or children: small holes, vast caverns, sheer cliffs. But always the mountains grow, shift, decay and rebuild themselves; an artificial landscape of excessive (obsessive) Natural-ity.
Summary:
Assuming that previous “wildlife habitats” have failed for reasons related to human interaction, and to illustrate the silent contention between the Nature and Machine worlds, I propose a dense, expanding urban forest and self depreciating
viewing center. The built structure shelters the forest with a barrier of habitable spaces [street-side café, work center, isolation pods, and viewing decks] that expand out as the forest consumes the whole, to expose the anomalies of the relationship between Natural and Artificial.
How it works:
Structure: Geometric bays based on logic of the Dividing Line
Space: increasingly deformed/irregular structural wall panels and building blocks
that define structure and divide space
Materials: native vegetation, local timber, recycled + found objects, deformed
glass
Technology: Hidden support systems that augment experience of “nature” –
smell, sound, etc – an monitor the take over.
For a long time we sat at the foot of the machine,
marveling in the feats of mankind, until all we could think
of were robots and flying things and how inconvenient it was
to have to sit on wet grass. And then from a quiet corner of
shady dusk, a fox came out to meet us, and skirted around all
the tourists snapping pictures, too busy or too proud to
notice his wild juxtaposition against the ultimate emblem of
calculated engineering, until he disappeared again into an
unseen crack between his world and ours. And we all sat wide-
eyed and silent, and felt like we were waking up from a dream,
washed in the shadow of a mechanized future.
Philoso-something:
There are two worlds constantly at play: One which we see, and know, and have built up around us; the other nearly unseen, which runs continuously silent beneath the surface, between the cracks. It is fabled that at one time, the other world dominated, and we fitted ourselves into it, piece by piece, until we took over large sections. And, though the other world abated and learned to adapt, it never quite went away. It is the world of life in its most natural, and try as we might to stop or control, it has a force much greater than we, in our machine world, understand. Nature, with its creeping fingers and slow advance, takes back piece by piece of the machine world.
There are moments, brief instances of alter realities colliding, when pieces from the other fall into the lap of ours. A fox takes a tour of the Eye. A wall is consumed in vines. It is rare that our own pieces visit unscathed the world of the natural without adaptation and perversion of form.
But… what if?
We stage a surrender.
A tiny piece is allowed to go… encouraged even! Protected from the machines and allowed to grow until it’s too daunting (or beloved) to remove. And through careful planning, we make it possible to pierce their world, unscathed, into the beating heart of the defense. Two worlds, melting for a moment, into one.
Setting the Scene for a Manifesto
Ruskin's vivid imagery of Venice and light playing off the mist and stone, captivates the imagination and instills a deep hope and longing for the Nature of his words. His captured views, peaceful panoramas, frame a harmony of Human and Nature. “The quiet village… scattered among the meadows beside its valley stream.”
There is a delicate balance at play between the two, an unwritten line of domination that neither cross; Nature has seceded one space, and Human does not reach for more.
But did this place of glorified beauty ever truly exist?
Even in this view, a silent contention persists. Beauty and Nature are a relative ideal, built on observed comparisons. Is tended farmland Nature? Whom holds whom at bay?
In Venice, the war wounds of an ageless battle define its charm; failing foundations of a sinking city. With a tenacity made possible only through the Machines Ruskin disdained, the battle at large has shifted unfailingly in our favor. The perfectly proportioned plots of Nature that dot our modern cities are hostages, feet tied in a sea of concrete.
“The last few eventful years, fraught with change to the
face of the whole earth, have been more fatal in their influence than the five hundred that preceded them.”
The Machine has not yet won over the steady attack, and the fight goes on, beneath the surface, between the cracks. We cannot win; we cannot even truly fight because of something inherently human that calls us to protect the Natural through policy and perversion. Our sense of beauty and morality ties us to it. “All beautiful lines are adaptations of those which are commonest in the external creation; beyond a certain point, and that a very low one, man cannot advance in the invention of beauty, without directly imitating natural form.”
And so we’ve come to a place where habitats are no longer found, but created; a place where policy must be worked into the Machine in Nature’s favor. But, with Nature as our springboard for beauty, is it possible to freeze or contain more than just an abstracted line adapted from nature?
On a piece of London-proper, we stage a battle and let Nature win, only to find that this scripted relationship between the Nature and Machine worlds is a Deluzian rhizome: a multiplicity of structural elements, a dual-dependency.
Without the Machine World, this section of Nature would not exist; without the Nature, the Machine would lose its purpose, its significance, its life. The initial question arises from the irony and failures of current urban wildlife habitats, often proposed as over-tended public parks, neglected “wild” patches, or inaccessible green roofs, which either require a particularly high level of maintenance to function as habitable space or fail to protect the landscape from disruptive human intervention.
Reality?:
Initially, to receive funding from GrantScape and to fit with the Mayor’s “Biodiversity Statement,” the project is proposed as an urban wildlife habitat. It is cleverly delivered as an “urban forest” and the administration goes crazy over it, because the shear novelty attracts tourists to the overpriced café and the site requires little maintenance. Funding and planning are hurried along, eager to peak public approval.
Initial investment builds a modest installment of structural landscape, following the logic of the dividing line and plate one gradation; the spaces progress from an orderly storefront to a wild forest by the manipulation, degeneration, and expansion of Artificial (people) spaces for Nature spaces. To combat the massive waste issues of its site and surrounding context, a clever machine to produce recycled building blocks is erected at the habitat; the blocks provide an easy structural component that fosters footholds and ideal conditions for plantlife to take root and are continuously produced for further expansion.
Over time, the landscape builds itself up, propelled by the need for further inhabitable spaces and availability of resources, so that an expansive mountain and canyon range, initially conceived in the total artificial, blossoms each spring in a wild foray of natural vegetation. Infrastructure to move through the habitat remains in shrinking pockets, decaying monuments to civilization. Some spaces remain only accessible to the most adventurous climbers or children: small holes, vast caverns, sheer cliffs. But always the mountains grow, shift, decay and rebuild themselves; an artificial landscape of excessive (obsessive) Natural-ity.
Summary:
Assuming that previous “wildlife habitats” have failed for reasons related to human interaction, and to illustrate the silent contention between the Nature and Machine worlds, I propose a dense, expanding urban forest and self depreciating
viewing center. The built structure shelters the forest with a barrier of habitable spaces [street-side café, work center, isolation pods, and viewing decks] that expand out as the forest consumes the whole, to expose the anomalies of the relationship between Natural and Artificial.
How it works:
Structure: Geometric bays based on logic of the Dividing Line
Space: increasingly deformed/irregular structural wall panels and building blocks
that define structure and divide space
Materials: native vegetation, local timber, recycled + found objects, deformed
glass
Technology: Hidden support systems that augment experience of “nature” –
smell, sound, etc – an monitor the take over.
Update on life
My studio crit on Wednesday was relatively good, but as all crits are made out to be far more than they are, it was a little disappointing but still helpful. Though I've been assured I spoke clearly and explained the project well, the two jurors didn't seem to understand what I was saying, and so I spent a good part of my presentation time trying to explain my narrative and background thinking.
The criticsm was good, though, and I'm ready to move on to new developments.
We all went to drinks at Bar Soho after the crit (even though it was only 4!) and I got an extremely overpriced mocktail of frothy deliciousness.
Monia helped clear a few of the more confusing comments made during tutorial yesterday, and for the first time I saw a spark of real interest in her. It's very invigorating, and I'm excited about the next few steps.
My homework is to spend the weekend in Holborn Park and thinking about fences.
haha!
Mike and I went to karaoke last night, and this morning I woke up early and sat in Regents Park, watching the herons make nests and the "Darwin squeakers" honk at one another. I don't know what kind of fowl the "Darwin Squeakers" are, but they are ugly prehistoric-looking black water fowl, with a white face and strange crooked legs. They squeak or clack their beaks at each other, and I imagine that it must have been birds like this that inspired Darwin's musings about the origins of species.
It has been a really stressful week, and I'm hoping that this weekend affords the time and space I need to catch up on sleep and relaxation and sunshiney days. I am going to do touristy things with Iain on Saturday, go to the market and have lunch with Justin on Sunday, and maybe go to a movie with Mike tonight. I will for sure go dancing on Monday; I desperately need to get out and move.
My roommate leaves on Saturday, which I'm actually kind of sad about because she's really sweet and it's been nice to have a GIRL to talk with in the mornings / at night that is not associated with the AA. She laughs at me and tells me to go to bed.
I've been trying to keep my unnecessary coffee consumption down, but it's just so tasty....
I plan on spending some time this weekend, perhaps tomorrow morning, writing letters and postcards. I have a whole stack of funny ones I've been meaning to write on!
I have a lot of thinking to do for photography; our final photos will be shot next week and I'm still not sure what I want to do for my photo.
I bought tickets for Paris! I found some REALLY cheap ones (round trip for 70 pounds!) so I'll be there for 4 days after we return from Russia. Hurrah!
The criticsm was good, though, and I'm ready to move on to new developments.
We all went to drinks at Bar Soho after the crit (even though it was only 4!) and I got an extremely overpriced mocktail of frothy deliciousness.
Monia helped clear a few of the more confusing comments made during tutorial yesterday, and for the first time I saw a spark of real interest in her. It's very invigorating, and I'm excited about the next few steps.
My homework is to spend the weekend in Holborn Park and thinking about fences.
haha!
Mike and I went to karaoke last night, and this morning I woke up early and sat in Regents Park, watching the herons make nests and the "Darwin squeakers" honk at one another. I don't know what kind of fowl the "Darwin Squeakers" are, but they are ugly prehistoric-looking black water fowl, with a white face and strange crooked legs. They squeak or clack their beaks at each other, and I imagine that it must have been birds like this that inspired Darwin's musings about the origins of species.
It has been a really stressful week, and I'm hoping that this weekend affords the time and space I need to catch up on sleep and relaxation and sunshiney days. I am going to do touristy things with Iain on Saturday, go to the market and have lunch with Justin on Sunday, and maybe go to a movie with Mike tonight. I will for sure go dancing on Monday; I desperately need to get out and move.
My roommate leaves on Saturday, which I'm actually kind of sad about because she's really sweet and it's been nice to have a GIRL to talk with in the mornings / at night that is not associated with the AA. She laughs at me and tells me to go to bed.
I've been trying to keep my unnecessary coffee consumption down, but it's just so tasty....
I plan on spending some time this weekend, perhaps tomorrow morning, writing letters and postcards. I have a whole stack of funny ones I've been meaning to write on!
I have a lot of thinking to do for photography; our final photos will be shot next week and I'm still not sure what I want to do for my photo.
I bought tickets for Paris! I found some REALLY cheap ones (round trip for 70 pounds!) so I'll be there for 4 days after we return from Russia. Hurrah!
3.04.2009
Silly model renders
So in prep for my presentation today (which was ok), I spent last night putting together a few silly renders from model photos I had taken the day before.
I actually did not show them during the crit, but I think they are funny and sort of illustrate the intent of my project [right now].
I'll post more about the crit and my next musings in the next day or so.
A fox
Mushrooms in a gloomy cave
Quiet overlook
Swimming hole
Wall Es buildling more!
I actually did not show them during the crit, but I think they are funny and sort of illustrate the intent of my project [right now].
I'll post more about the crit and my next musings in the next day or so.
A fox
Mushrooms in a gloomy cave
Quiet overlook
Swimming hole
Wall Es buildling more!
3.03.2009
Half of my time, I love being here, and the other half feels like self-inflicted punishment. These moods fluctuate daily and are usually dependent on (1) which class I've come from and how the crit went, (2) how much sleep I've gotten, and (3) the quality / quantity of food I've eaten.
Since my last crit was a less than desirable on for studio, I've been eating extremely poorly, and I'm incredibly tired at the moment, I'd say my mood has shifted definitively towards the latter.
With our midterm crit in the morning, the last few days have been long monotonous stretches of homework and no fun. I did have a relatively good weekend. I took Saturday night / Sunday morning off and spent the rest of Sunday doing nothing productive. But now I've hardly slept, find myself assigned to the last group of the day tomorrow (where my project will probably not be talked about -at all- because The Dress is also presenting in my group)
Planning on being in bed within the next 3-4 hours. Sweet, sweet sleep will be mine! muahah!
Since my last crit was a less than desirable on for studio, I've been eating extremely poorly, and I'm incredibly tired at the moment, I'd say my mood has shifted definitively towards the latter.
With our midterm crit in the morning, the last few days have been long monotonous stretches of homework and no fun. I did have a relatively good weekend. I took Saturday night / Sunday morning off and spent the rest of Sunday doing nothing productive. But now I've hardly slept, find myself assigned to the last group of the day tomorrow (where my project will probably not be talked about -at all- because The Dress is also presenting in my group)
Planning on being in bed within the next 3-4 hours. Sweet, sweet sleep will be mine! muahah!
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