So, another long time coming post. It’s been hard not to write more here, but clearly not hard enough – I’d say stressed is the word of the month.
We had our final reviews yesterday, and I thought it went surprisingly well for me, perhaps surprisingly less well for everyone else, based on what others have said to me. I was pleased that the reviewers generally liked my scheme, despite the fact that part of it was aptly described by the first reviewer as looking like a double-wide. I felt like my insistance on exploring a few ideas was reinforced, and the reviewers had helpful ways of how to make some decisions more readily in order to push the ideas to the forefront. Primarily, one reviewer explained to me a process of diagramming that seemed like a revelation, and I’m excited to try it next term.
I have to admit, I was pretty depressed about my scheme before the review. Adding the landscaping definitely regained some of the cohesion of the scheme, and brightened the outlook a bit, but I was still not as proud of my work as I was this summer. In considering why, I started to think about what I had learned in the semester, and realized that this course seemed much more about editing – about floating an initial idea and then sticking with it to sculpt it into something viable – than about exploring – questioning, coming at the project with a deep curiousity, trying many different approaches, and then settling on one. I’m sure I’ll be thinking about that more as I have my exit interview, but my hunch is that I’m of the second school, dispite how valuable it is to learn this method.
Ok, lots more to say about personal life and other bits of school life than I can really digest right now. I’m getting excited for the break, since I still have three more projects to push through. Those projects should be lots of fun, though – a website and brochure, a small cabin for a camp, and an abstract transformation from a 2-D pattern to a 3-D building.
I’ve got to keep writing, it’s amazing what this does for the sanity level…expect to see more soon.
Oh, and weigh in if you have an opinion – do I go see Thom Mayne lecture or Joanna Newsom sing on Saturday?