Suomi, Here I Am

Hey, it’s been a while, but I’m back on the blog.

I’m on Michael’s computer (we got back together a couple of months ago – shortly after the last blog) in a building built by Alvar Aalto, in a University partially designed by him, in a city that’s right across the bay from Helsinki, in Finland. Yes, I made it to Finland, safe and sound. Travel went fairly smoothly, with just a short delay in Amsterdam due to windy weather; although I landed in Helsinki with less than 15 minutes to the bus departure, I still caught the bus I had planned to take way back in the U.S.A.

When I got to my apartment, I found out that I had one of the smoother trips, as some people had lost luggage, or had to put down a deposit on the supposedly pre-paid apartments, or had significant delays/reroutings in their flights. It took a day to get the keys to the room, so I spent a night sleeping in the hallway on the chair pad from a housemate’s room, but no harm done. Unfortunately, we’re not all at the same site, and some of my classmates have housemates who are from different programs, including Michael. I think that would be great if it were true for all of us, but as it is, it sort of seems like an extra stress for those classmates who aren’t going to be quite as clued in to what’s happening in the program.

A few more quick gripes – really, everything is expensive, it’s no joke. Luckily, there are store brands and a cheap lunch at the University, plus on Tuesday we should be able to get transportation passes so that we don’t have to keep shelling out for each trip.

Also, we haven’t yet gotten internet in our apartment, which we are apparently supposed to have right off the bat and for free. Like many things, we’ve run into bureaucracy in solving the problem, which wouldn’t be bad except that in general, it’s inflexible and unhelpful and everyone’s on vacation.

Now, onto happy things – my apartment (and everyone’s in fact) is quite nice – one big window in each bedroom, and a balcony off the kitchen. There’s a shower room separate from the bathroom that has it’s own heater. That way you can turn off the water as you lather up and you don’t get frozen. Our fridge was a moldy, smelly mess, but we cleaned it today. Unlike in London, there’s plenty of space for everyone’s food in the fridge. Above the sink are the traditional drying racks, which make for a nice clean countertop since you don’t have to have a dish drainer hanging out. My housemates are great, and I think we’re going to head out on the town tonight…which is going to cut this posting short.

That’s probably a good thing, since I’ve got lots to tell about the end of last semester (at this rate it may never get told, but that’s ok, too) and even more about being here in Finland. But right now, I’m going to sign off, and be here.

Now I Know That it's True

Michael and I broke up last week, and it’s hard not to go visit him each time I leave my studio. I don’t know where I stand with the whole thing, so I’m sure there will be a development of some sort in that storyline, but as much as I want to write about the whole thing, I’m not sure that a) there is much to write and b) that I’m ready to do anything of the sort.

So much for a memory a day. Let’s see if I can think of a good one for today at least.

I remember that on the old playground at school – the one that was inside of the U of the back building for Kindergarten – I used to pretend to be a unicorn when we were basically playing tag, and William Barley and Durham Barnes and I would all run around, except that since I was a unicorn, they couldn’t really get me. A year or two later, I learned to do penny drops there, and before that, I learned cartwheels and roundoffs in the part of the playground that we weren’t really supposed to play in. We’d watch the shuttles go off down by the lake, and you could see bald eagles in the trees nearby. I remember those Kindergarten rooms surprisingly well-I bet I could draw a reasonably accurate plan of them.

Good news – we have a subletter for the house, so I can rest assured that I don’t have to pay rent for Eugene while I’m living in Finland. Furniture studio is coming along, and today I felt like I have a chance of making this work for midterms. Not so sure about Product Design class, but I’ll just have to keep pushing on that one.

Speaking of which, I should get back to work, or at least to sleeping.

Developments

Just thought I’d post some pages of my sketchbook with a bit of commentary to give a glimpse of what I’m up to in studio.

(Under the) Table was one of my first ideas, interesting because it encourages the subversive use of the dining room table as an architectural aedicula. I didn’t really want to design an “adult’s” table, though, so it’s the first idea to go by the wayside.

The first sketch for a Parent and Child or Child and Child rocking chair. The new idea is to have nesting Matroyoshka like chairs of mini sizes.

Here’s the dowel that would go along with the Peg Chair. It’s developing steadily – now I’m thinking that it will be a hook at the gripping end. If it’s a hook, then two can link together, plus you could hang things on it, plus it still serves the function of a handle for the peg and for the furniture.

Collage of sketches for this furniture piece. The idea is to have a few parts that add up to make many different furnitures – a chair, a table, a desk, a set of steps, a booster seat, a bin, a fort, a set of shelves. The next development (after the pegboard and doweling development) is to have multiple sizes, just like with the Duck chair. Esther suggested more shapes, so I’ll be thinking about that too.

I’ll take pictures of my little models tonight – the pics of the first thing I made out of wood and the mobile aren’t going to happen since they’re now both dried up.

Oh, and if you would, please tell me what you think of the Snap preview. Is it helpful? Annoying? I can turn it off…

Dazed

I just came across an old draft of a poem that I will now share with you despite the fact that it should probably never have seen the light of day again:

There is a space — within the heart
Where dappled sunlight drifts –
Accumulating dense and thick
Til summer’s burden lifts

And lets the soul once more resume
The comfort of the cold
Alone — enclosed — and justified
of prejudices old

It’s from my recipe book, when I was in the Emily Dickinson class at Oberlin. Wouldn’t be half bad if I could do something better with the last line.

I’m looking at recipes because I’m supposed to make something for the potluck that my studio professor is hosting tomorrow night. It’s supposed to “tell about me.” I could bring ice cream, but I don’t want to make it. Could make one of my fallback favorites, shortbread or peanut butter fudge or lasagna, which come to think of it, I might make the lasagna. Could make the grapefruit cake I’ve been making recently, and just change it around to be an orange cake so that it’s a bit more straightforwardly Floridian. I’ve sort of been thinking that I’ll make the Mac and Cheese that I made on New Year’s, though, since I’ve been craving it ever since. It requires a blender, though, and I don’t have one and I’m not sure I want to attack the cottage cheese by hand with a wooden spoon.

I’ve sort of been wondering about in a daze the last week or so, maybe even further back. When I’m in school I’m pretty focused, but I’m not that focused otherwise. Perhaps it’s in part due to the fact that I’m still up in the air about what classes I’ll be taking this spring. I was originally going to take a Product Design class along with Children’s Furniture (my studio) and Architectural Context (a required class). But then I got into a Daylighting class and had the thought that it would be great because it would be something architectural to balance out the object making in studio. Long story short, I missed the first Product Design class, but then realized that I had missed it and that I really did want to take that even more than the Daylighting class – basically thinking that the studio and product design class would reinforce each other more and the daylighting class would add more to a semester when I was actually designing a building – so I found the prof and begged and I think I’m in the class. But I’m not really sure. In fact, so not sure that I’m still going to the Daylighting class and still thinking that I need to do the work, which is problematic, since the work is done in pairs…

That and the fact that I’m still needing to figure out Finland tickets and travels, and the fact that it seems like Michael and I have very different schedules this semester, and the fact that there are still things like making a portfolio page for last term that I didn’t do over spring break that I sort of want to do, oh, and the fact that studio is still entirely open ended and I have no direction to start exploring yet are all making me feel quite dazed. At least it was a drop dead gorgeous day today and I got to spend a good bit of it outside, running and reading, and wandering around aimlessly in a daze.

So, I should really go to the grocery store soon, because whatever I make probably should be made tonight, but I do want to promise pictures of the little centerpiece that I made in studio yesterday, complete with the story of how it came to be. Good things are going to come out of this studio, I’m sure of it. And I’m definitely making the orange cake. Tomorrow.

Spring Breakin'

I’m currently enjoying the most laid-back spring break I’ve ever experienced. Michael (the boyfriend) and I were originally going to head down to San Francisco, but for many and various reasons, we changed our plans at the last minute and have been hanging out in Eugene doing very little of anything. We’re going to head up to Portland for the weekend, which is particularly exciting since Emily, my friend from Oberlin, is visiting the West Coast and will be my main attraction to Portland.

We just got our studio assignments for next term, which for my little ever-forward-thinking brain is super exciting. I’m in the Children’s Furniture studio with Professor Hagenlocher, which was my first choice. I was a bit concerned to take an Interior Architecture studio for my first studio but it seems really exciting and I’m sure I’ll be able to follow up with a lot of good architecture studios later – especially since I already know I’m heading to Finland for the summer.

Speaking of which, yesterday, I bought two travel books to scope out things to do in Finland and beyond. I’m trying desparately to figure out what travel dates make the most sense, since tickets are going up, but it’s pretty difficult to try to plan for the trip. Right now I’m thinking that if I fly out of Chicago to Finland I can get pretty good prices – then I can get a cheap flight from Portland to Chicago, hang out for a few days there, and on the way back jump down to Florida at the end of the break. Just have to figure out what sort of time is appropriate at the end of the program, which of course means making an estimate of the cost of being there, which of course is very difficult to calculate for one such as I with little to no understanding of what I would like to do there.

Anyway, just a quick update from the semester. I passed with flying colors from my studio, literally, with a Pass Commend. My professor really liked my work, as did I, and I hope you will too. I made a little set on Flikr for those of you who who’d like to see some of the highlights.

Hmm, it’s 3:45, and Michael and I are going to get some lunch. I’m going to see if I can convince him to take a little trip to the hotsprings. Oh, and maybe I’ll get you a picture of him soon…

Excuses, Excuses

Pitiful. It’s the 18th and I haven’t posted yet this month.

Reasons? Despite having “lots of free time” because I dropped my ECS class, I actually have very little free time. Ok, I might have, right off the bat, but things have ramped up. I don’t know how I would be handling it if I were in ECS, actually. But also, I’ve been taking some time to do nothing, which means nothing, including typing on the computer. Oh, and I’ve also been taking a little time out with someone special. Happy valentines day. I have my first boyfriend ever.

Good things are happening – the murmur on the street is that summer travel to Finland looks positive. I’m about to put in my application for a Graduate Teaching Fellowship (GTF), which, if I get it, would give me more teaching experience and would pay tuition for the terms during which I would teach.

On V-day, I helped put together a review for the undergrad studio, and I was very proud, because it went so well. The day before, I rounded up a bunch of friends from around the department and convinced them to be reviewers at 8:30 the next morning. They did, and they were excellent – all the undergrads felt that they got solid reviews, which is more than I can say for myself in many of the reviews I’ve been to.

And yesterday was just gorgeous. I spent much of it in the sunshine, in my tanktop no less. Despite some rearranging, I ended up making the hike up Spencer’s Butte. I went with a bunch of the second year boys, and enjoyed the change of company. It felt like my efforts to get to know more than just the folks in my year were really paying off. The three time a week workouts (with a little gang that goes straight after studio) also seemed to pay off.

So, I’ll post a pic from around midterms, which happened a week ago, because I meant to do it a while ago. This past week I floundered around, trying to make a facade for my building, and had great difficulty. Didn’t get to work much on it this weekend, but I’m sure I’ll get there before the final review. Just have to restrategize…

[The building from Ankeny Street (one block South of the Burnside bridge in Portland). The right is the "wall of action" where all the meeting and training rooms are arrayed. Behind it is the "alley" where bridges connect the wall to the rest of the building. There, a double height volume (blue) houses the shared office space, and a one and a half height volume (yellow) houses the library. All the way to the left, behind the stair tower, is a little pocket garden.]

Oh, and I’ll also say that I’ve been feeling almost constant reminders of various friends from Oberlin and Vermont, wishing I knew what everyone was up to. I think this coming week I’ll try to make a few calls, write a few notes. If you don’t get one, it’s probably not because I don’t love you, but because those best laid plans just never happen.

Something totally random, thanks to Lyrica:
create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

Anywhoo, I’m back on track with the blogging. Ready to go again. Missed it. Happy now.

Time, creativity, nature...

I should be asleep right now, but instead I’m in this weird state of trying to write an essay and instead checking out new music. I’m supposed to be writing essays for my application to study in Finland over the summer, but they’re on such inane topics that they’re hard to focus on.

Good news of a sort – I got my Environmental Controls Systems classes waived. That means that I have one less class of work to do this term, which should help loosen up my schedule a bit, and that next term I can take a different technical skills class. All that work at Oberlin payed off. I’m a bit worried that I’ll be missing out on an essential part of the Oregon experience, but as Alison (the professor) pointed out, I can always GTF for the class.

So, I’m planning as of now to use the time to read the textbook and just refresh my memory a bit, as well as doing more studio work and explorations in the library. I took my first action in that vein today – I made six tiny models that were mostly just about making six tiny models. They explored some of the concepts I wanted to get at, but they are pretty much just objects that I’ll enjoy looking at over the semester. Studio seems to be going very well so far. I’m hoping that my efforts in plan drawing this weekend aren’t getting me too stuck in my ideas, but I’m making a pretty conscious effort to stay loose with the whole thing. I’m getting a lot out of my professor, too, so far.

The energy this semester seems markedly different than last semester. There’s the fact that I’m TAing, which is a lot of fun even though it’s pretty scary to be the person being looked to for wisdom. There’s the Savage Lectures, which have been pretty fascinating so far. There’s the excitement of actually knowing people in other years, and having a little bit larger social circle. There’s a sense of action, better weather, and the beginning of terminal studios for the upper level students. I’m having a good time, and expect to continue doing so…

Tonight I saw Brook Muller, one of our professors, give a lecture presentation of his fall studio’s work. The studio studied how to create infill development in Eugene that would simultaneously increase the density of human inhabitation and create wildlife corridors. After seeing the work, I’m looking forward to taking a studio with him. The thing that was most interesting to me was that he was working with a landscape ecologist. Evidently landscape ecologists study “how spatial variation in the landscape affects ecological processes such as the distribution and flow of energy, materials and individuals in the environment.” It’s funny how I’ve learned many of the principles that come from the field, but never knew it existed as such. Turns out that many of the principles are analogous to architectural principles and can be strong generators of form in architectural applications.

My reaction was that it seemed very much like Second Nature, that moment when we recognize that we must start to garden our wilderness in order to preserve it.

Ok, now I’m really starting to not make enough sense to keep writing. So I’ll add Dan’s blog to my blogroll and go to sleep, and finish my essays in the morning.

Little birds...

In my dream last night, which seemed very allegorical even while I was dreaming it, someone lassoed a raven with a fishing rod that had a lasso tied in the fishing line rather than a hook at the end. It was amazing.

We went to Portland – up on Thursday night, back on Saturday morning – to scope out our site and get a bit of an idea of what the city was like. Highlight of the trip in my opinion was the Weiden Kenedy building. (You can find it under the “projects” link at the Allied Works website.) The criticism of some of my peers that the building was all about selling the image of young, hip workers in the same way that their ads do. Sure, but the space there was actually inspiring to me. It seems like a while since I’ve been outright excited about a space in the way that I was as I walked through that building. 

I didn’t get enough time to explore the site, and I hope I get another chance to head back to Portland soon. I like the city more each time I visit. I did get a few flashes of insight as I walked around and listened to the woman who presented the site to us. I really need to read the program and get thinking about the possibilities. I was on a bit of a hiatus this weekend, though since I came back to Eugene on Saturday to play in Winter Thing. Throws are still questionable, and I do wonder about my future in the disc world, but I had a great time pretending to be a long and pulling down my fair share of points. I’ll need to do some serious work to catch up for spending so much time on disc this weekend, but it feels like it was worth it, even though I came home freezing both days. In case you were wondering, we went 4-1, and only lost to the eventual winners of the tourney. We took the B pool.

And speaking of catching up, it’s back to work for me. Oh, check out the T-shirt I think I’m going to buy. It’s super sweet. (If you buy something, use this link to get to Threadless.)

Back in the Saddle Again

Off to a great start.

I can still run a mile in under seven minutes, and without too much difficulty, in fact. I’ve worked out 2 days in a row.

I’ve flossed my teeth 5 nights in a row.

I am warm underneath my soft new comforter.

The perfume that I ordered from the internet without having ever smelled it smells wonderful all day. The haircut that I got right before school started looks good up or down, styled or unstyled.

I led the undergraduate studio in rearranging their desks and they did a fantastic job. They all, or almost all, contribute something, even in the large (16 person) discussions.

The teaching in my studio is much more to my liking so far this semester. The project is an urban building, in Portland; it’s home to an imaginary nonprofit that coordinates other nonprofits such as Doctors Without Borders and Architects Without Borders.

I had another chat with Tad and Stefan.

I got my first Netflick, the Umbrellas of Cherbourg, and will watch it soon…

I rearranged my studio so that I have fewer peripheral distractions and more pinup space.

I have Human Context of Design and Environmental Control Systems, two classes that cover the exact topics that I find most interesting in architecture: the social/behavioral/relational aspects of architectural space and the sustainable/regenerative possibilities of architectural systems.

Oh, and – it’s on Dan.

Lucky Dog

Hey, it all comes together -
I just read that with 2006 being the year of the dog in Chinese zodiac, I was bound to have a rough year, since I am a dog. Evidently, when your year comes up, you’re in conflict with the god of ominous, so you have an unlucky year unless you take precautions in the first 15 days of the year. So, watch out every 12 years for your unlucky year…

Actually, the year went well overall for me, despite the rough patch this last semester. After all, I had a fantastic time in Vermont, got into grad school, drove safely across the country, settled into life in a new part of the world, and made lots of new friends. This time of the year you remember how many good old friends you have, too. Last night Ryan called, and I’ve recently talked to Hans, Joe, Stefan, and Tad. The list of folks to call is even longer, but I can’t help but feel warm and happy about getting a bit of time to catch up with friends. I guess it’s my fault for not being on MySpace, but I feel a bit old fashioned about that whole thing with the unreality aspect of it all, plus I think I’m a bit squeamish about being too accessible.

Which leads me to a recent two-part revelation: 1) I just want everyone to love me. Therefore, when boys ask me out or make a move, I get nervous that if I go out with them, other people won’t be able to love me as much (an irrational fear, I know). 2) I just really like to spend time by myself and not be accountable to anyone else for that time. That means that when boys ask me out or make a move, I get nervous that they are the type of person who will want to spend significant amounts of time with me and have me think about how I ought to spend time with them.

These two qualities lie at the base of my perpetual singledom, and they’re in my power to change. What a nice Christmas present to self. Yay for overanalysing situations. We’ll see what this revelation means for my future love life…

Ok, and the other topic I wanted to cover today: the rough draft of my playlist.

1. Wayside (Back in Time) – Gillian Welch – Soul Journey
2. Passing Afternoon – Iron and Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
3. Pink and Blue – The Mountain Goats – All Hail West Texas
4. Swansea – Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
5. The Stranger Song – Leonard Cohen – Field Commander Cohen Tour 1979
6. Girl in the War – Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
7. Ship out on the Sea – The Be Good Tanyas – Chinatown
8. Homesick – Kings of Convenience – Riot on an Empty Street
9. Bed is for Sleeping – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Superwolf 
10. Whiskey in the Jar – Belle and Sebastian – 
11. Santa Claus (Instrumental) – Bill Monroe – Bluegrass 1959-1969
12. Train, Train – Dolly Parton – The Grass is Blue
13. Just to See You Smile – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – More Reverie
14. Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show – O.C.M.S

It’s my Countrified playlist, and I’m in the process of cutting down my Citified playlist, which is more ambient/indie. I was going for a mix of traditional and indie folk, but it’s got a bit of tweaking before it’s ready to run – particularly whether I’ll keep “Just to See You Smile” or trade it out for another Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy song.

Coming soon: the final cut of the two volume set of musics that I like very much, plus, reflections on the last semester, and maybe even the whole year.

Always an Adventure

It’s 7:00 in Orlando, and I’m going to slip in a quick post before dinner.

This trip’s excitement was leaving my driver’s licence at the bank in Oregon on Friday, and therefore going through the Airport security on Saturday without an ID.  I suppose that this happens to other people, since they had a whole procedure in which I stepped into a space-age puffer box and had air shot at me, then walked through the metal detectors, then had pretty much everything I owned swiped down with a little chemical detector wand.  All very exciting – I mean it – because it meant that I got to fly home on time despite being the girl most likely to leave her head if it wasn’t attached.  I called the bank, though, and I’m in negotiations to get them to send me my licence while I’m here, so that on the way back I don’t have to get puffed.

I bought a book in Chicago, on my layover, and I’ve been enjoying it.  I had almost finished my new Harper’s and I needed something to ensure that I wouldn’t be out of reading material before I hit the ground.  The book is The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, and I’ll say it again, although I’ve said it before: it’s just so good to read a novel.  It’s getting my head out of architecture mode, just a little, although I’m still thinking about the studio project and dreaming about strange buildings.

A highlight – I spoke with Tad and Stefan on Sunday night, got the news from Brattleboro and shared a bit of my news.  Two hours just barely scratches the surface, but no matter how short, talking with great friends makes everything seem better.  I promised them I would link to my pitiful little website which I plan to dismantle and replace as soon as grades are in.  So much for getting out of architecture mode – that’s one of the many projects I have in mind for this break, including looking into Cinema 4D, drawing and diagramming a lot, and voraciously reading whatever theory I can come across.

Dinner is coming up, so I’m going to run off.  I’ve been adding expensive and wonderful things to my wish list, so feel free to peruse my unreasonable demands…

Are we there yet?

Just thought I’d take a moment while I’m sitting outside of the model shop to write a word or two. I’m waiting to get a sheet of wood laser cut with the title of our project and a scale figure, but I have a strong suspicion that no one is going to be here tonight. Guess we’ll have to do it the old fashioned way.

We’re so close to being done, and I’m so ready. Last night I pulled my first all nighter of grad school. Having spent quite a while making my disappointing web page, I then had to scramble to make a model and draw a perspective for the spatial composition review this morning at 8:00. Luckily, I really enjoyed making the model, and thought it was perhaps the best exercise I’ve done so far at school. We were each given patterns – generally plans, but some less representational patterns, too – and had to transform the 2-D pattern into a 3-D spatial composition. The space had to be architectural and have a program.

I chose to make an art school from one of Tadao Ando’s plans. I used it in section, though, and had a subway stop with pneumatic tubes, and then a lecture hall, a gallery/hallway, classrooms, studios filled with diffuse north light, a pool for studying how things move underwater, and a field for setting up landscapes and large outdoor installations. I’ll post some photos soon – the model really was beautiful, and hopefully it won’t be too destroyed when it’s returned to me.

I saw Johanna Newsom last weekend after all, and I made the right choice. She played Book of Right On, Sprout and the Bean, Bridges and Balloons, the entire new album (Ys), Sadie, Peach Plum Pear, and Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie. It was amazing to see her alone on the stage, but with such presence, and I loved the material from the new album, which she played with a five person band. I managed to be at the edge of the stage because I won a free ticket to the next concert in the raffle before she went on. I had to pee the entire time, but it didn’t matter at all as I sat and listened.

I’d better get back upstairs, since no one has come to open up the model shop. We have one more project due tomorrow, and then we’re done for the semester! Hurray, I’m looking forward to visiting sunny Florida so much, and sleeping and running and eating like a normal person!

Final Review, Finally

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?

Been a Long Time Coming

Woah, back on the blog – I’ve been away too long.

So, lots of developments. I went into a bit of a funk for a few days when I couldn’t get my design for studio worked out. Called mom, talked it through with her, got a few ideas, came into studio and worked out the plan in less than an hour. Woo Hoo. But then again, after worrying over the plan for so long, I lost a bit of what the overall architectural vision of the place is. Recoverable, and that’s the next task, after all, but a little scary to find oneself so unsure of something that is really the basic unit of what makes a plan architecture.

Anywhoo, on to more exciting/recent developments, I voted today, and I hope that you did too.

Sunday night I drove up to Portland with a greatly reduced crew to the Bonnie Prince Billy concert. A bunch of folks bailed on the show, but thanks the power of Craigslist, we were able to resell the tickets no problem. The show was awesome despite the fact that I only recognized about four of the songs, and the fact that we were sitting about 10 feet away from a guy who decided to heckle for the entire show.

The rain in Portland that night was particularly bad – we think that the leaves had covered all of the storm drains, and we actually had to cross in the center of streets because the intersections had become impassable rivers. Also, there was a rumor that there was a small earthquake while we were in the show! The rain, though, has started in a serious way, and it’s impossible to keep dry, although my Patagonia jacket does well for the top half. Gotta get some fenders and some rain pants.

Big brother Dan is visiting, and he helped me set up a new external hard-drive for my computer, so that I can hopefully get my creative suite running fast, lightning fast… He’s also cooking tasty food for me, and we’ve gotten to chat a bit. Tough trying to get time with him while trying to be a responsible student.

Oh, by the way, on Friday, there was a really great lecture by the folks at Lead Pencil Studio. The work was inspiring, and it was fascinating to glimpse how their collaborative creative process worked/how they blurred the lines between art and architecture.

Ok, off I shall go to grab precedents for our little cabin we just designed for building construction – whoops, aren’t the precedents supposed to come first?

An Actual Architectural Musing

So, since we’re designing our studio project in heavy timber, I’ve been thinking a lot about the material. I’ve been caught between two ways of making: the neo-timber glue-lam and steel bolted connections with tensioned cables, and the shipbuilding-inspired Greene and Greene/Japanese Joinery all-wood connections.

Here’s the question. Both are beautiful in their own ways, and both are problematic in their own ways. But, which one conveys more precision?

Is it the steel connected glue-lams, which can be made to have the exact strength and load bearing capacity they need, and can be connected with plates forged specifically for the job?

Or, is it the hand-crafted all-wood connections, which require precise planing and measuring, and a deep appreciation for the limits of the natural material.

Environmentally speaking, I suppose that these days it’s more responsible to use glue-lams, unless you happen to be rich and lucky and stumble across a large pile of reclaimed timbers that are in good enough condition (specifically, not too hard) to remake into the structure of your building. Or, if you happen to be building on a wooded lot, and can mill on site, carefully picking your trees from the stand – the way we did at Oberlin when we built the strawbale farm office there.

Still, I want to repeat the question before I head off: which one – glue-lam and steel or wood-joined timbers – conveys more precision? 

Oh, and I guess, if you happen to know, which one is actually more precise?

****
Part 2:

After a discussion this morning in Building Construction, I gained another related question.

How much is precision conveyed by specificity?

For example, is the reason that the all-wood connections convey precision because you know that not only was each connection designed conceptually, but also that each connection was refined when it was actually made in the wood, and that none of the other connections were the same?

Must get back to class, but had to add that bit in – oh, wish I could keep hashing this out…

October 18, 2006Replies 2

Wish I were getting more (Science of) Sleep

OK, super fast post:

Science of Sleep was amazing, especially since we went to The Sweet Life whose web site looks dorky, but which is actually so frickin good and really hip. We went as a goodbye to our temporary housemate, Karen, who’s going on a Mission to Salt Lake City this winter.

That set a good tone for the past few days. We had a pin-up yesterday in Studio, and I’ll have to get some photos up soon of my two proposals, although I already started to rip into the one that I’m going to adapt for Friday. I’ve done lots of diagramming, which has been good fun, and my next diagrams are going to be of the flows of water, air, light, and heat on the site. It’s a good chance to get some of that environmental responsibility in.

Sunday disc doesn’t seem to be working out for me – it’s just too hard to tear away from the studio at that time. So, I’m going to have to make an even more determined effort to catch another workout time.

Saturday night I went to my friend Jake’s house and played “He Said, She Said” with a small group of folks. It’s one of those write a phrase, fold it over games. The format is

[Male Name]
Met [Female Name]
At [Location]
He Said “[Quote]“
She Said “[Quote]“
And the consequences were [consequences]

Very simple, but absolutely hilarious. We were rolling around with laughter. It is important to limit the names to people that everyone in the group knows, but other than that, anything’s up for grabs.

We had our first exam today in Building Construction, and we’ve got lots going on – precident studies, cube building, and ever more projects for digital media. You can see my Photoshop explorations at my other website. They’re not quite as outrageous as a lot of other people’s, but I think they look pretty good, and a bit more realistic, if not in scale then in how they’re blended.

Ok, that’s some updates as to content of life, even if not any serious musings. I’ll get some photos of work up soon, and perhaps even add more photos to my Flickr account. Oh, and maybe one day I’ll respond to your comments – thanks, btw.

October 17, 2006Leave a reply

Cloudy gray times, you are now a thing of the past

I had a really fun weekend, and I just finished up a new assignment for my digital media class, so I thought I’d pop up a note.

We got our program for studio, and we’ll be designing “Agate Strings Workshop.” It’s “a place for the making of violins and fiddles, teaching and learning how to play these instruments, and live performances. A group of violin and fiddle makers have joined with several teachers to build a facility where they can share workspace and have a shared interior and exterior place for live performances. They imagine holding recitals for students here, performing here themselves, and inviting other musicians to join them.” The program came with a pretty inspiring speech about the process of design, and articulating the spirit of the place.

Lots of work on the table, but I’ve also been making plenty of time for play. I’ve got two leagues going, and even though the Sunday level of play is a bit more chaotic, it’s still lots of fun. I went to the class potluck on Friday night, and to our Denial team party on Saturday night, both of which were relaxing and entertaining.

I’ve got to get to class, which is a shame, because I wanted to write a bit more of substance, but I’m going to post a poem that popped into my head yesterday when we got the program.

Daily

These shriveled seeds we plant,
corn kernel, dried bean,
poke into loosened soil,
cover over with measured fingertips

These T-shirts we fold into
perfect white squares

These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips
This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl

This bed whose covers I straighten
smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket
and nothing hangs out

This envelope I address
so the name balances like a cloud
in the center of sky

This page I type and retype
This table I dust till the scarred wood shines
This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again
like flags we share, a country so close
no one needs to name it

The days are nouns: touch them
The hands are churches that worship the world

-Naomi Shihab Nye

October 10, 2006Reply 1

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

Today my friend Rima died.

I hadn’t talked to her in about a year and a half – last time I saw her we were playing together at Gender Blender, the tournament in Canada that was my stop off between graduation in Oberlin and adult life in Vermont. She got married this summer to her longtime boyfriend, also a good friend of mine. She had cancer, though, and today she died. I didn’t know that she got married or had cancer until one of our mutual friends called me today to tell me the news. The weird thing is, though, that today as I was biking home, I thought I saw Rima, which was strange, because I haven’t thought about her all that much since closing her last email with pictures of that tournament in Canada. I was thinking about a number of friends, folks I wanted to call and get in touch with, as I was biking, but I wasn’t thinking about Rima, and then I thought I saw her. So I just wanted to record that bit of uncanniness, and say that I will miss her.

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I felt so sad and alone as I sat in studio. My design groove is definitely not back yet, and as I sat there being discouraged by that fact, I started to enumerate all my flaws, and feel entirely inadequate and very unhappy. I felt unfashionable, frumpy, clumsy, and smelly. I felt like the one person I had started to really become friends with was angry with for some undecipherable reason. Thank goodness I had frisbee league – as I ate an apple in the studio and tried not to cry I thought about skipping it, but as soon as I set foot on the fields my spirit was lifted and I felt whole again. I was most certainly frumpy and smelly, but it was of no consequence.

I dressed up today, wore my black heels and a fancy sweater and some mascara. I looked at myself in the mirror, and for the effort, I didn’t think I looked appreciably better, but I thought at least I gave it the effort. I made it through the day with significantly fewer negative thoughts, I talked to my formerly close friend, and decided that I will gently work my way back to being friends with him, and I figured out that I do really have some free time on my hands.

I want tomorrow to go well in the studio, because I need some encouragement from actions, and not just from the kind words of friends.

I’m so glad you’re here, dear diary.

October 5, 2006Reply 1

Being Here

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Wish I were getting more (Science of) Sleep

OK, super fast post:

Science of Sleep was amazing, especially since we went to The Sweet Life whose web site looks dorky, but which is actually so frickin good and really hip. We went as a goodbye to our temporary housemate, Karen, who’s going on a Mission to Salt Lake City this winter.

That set a good tone for the past few days. We had a pin-up yesterday in Studio, and I’ll have to get some photos up soon of my two proposals, although I already started to rip into the one that I’m going to adapt for Friday. I’ve done lots of diagramming, which has been good fun, and my next diagrams are going to be of the flows of water, air, light, and heat on the site. It’s a good chance to get some of that environmental responsibility in.

Sunday disc doesn’t seem to be working out for me – it’s just too hard to tear away from the studio at that time. So, I’m going to have to make an even more determined effort to catch another workout time.

Saturday night I went to my friend Jake’s house and played “He Said, She Said” with a small group of folks. It’s one of those write a phrase, fold it over games. The format is

[Male Name]
Met [Female Name]
At [Location]
He Said “[Quote]“
She Said “[Quote]“
And the consequences were [consequences]

Very simple, but absolutely hilarious. We were rolling around with laughter. It is important to limit the names to people that everyone in the group knows, but other than that, anything’s up for grabs.

We had our first exam today in Building Construction, and we’ve got lots going on – precident studies, cube building, and ever more projects for digital media. You can see my Photoshop explorations at my other website. They’re not quite as outrageous as a lot of other people’s, but I think they look pretty good, and a bit more realistic, if not in scale then in how they’re blended.

Ok, that’s some updates as to content of life, even if not any serious musings. I’ll get some photos of work up soon, and perhaps even add more photos to my Flickr account. Oh, and maybe one day I’ll respond to your comments – thanks, btw.

Cloudy Gray Times, you are now a thing of the past

I had a really fun weekend, and I just finished up a new assignment for my digital media class, so I thought I’d pop up a note.

We got our program for studio, and we’ll be designing “Agate Strings Workshop.” It’s “a place for the making of violins and fiddles, teaching and learning how to play these instruments, and live performances. A group of violin and fiddle makers have joined with several teachers to build a facility where they can share workspace and have a shared interior and exterior place for live performances. They imagine holding recitals for students here, performing here themselves, and inviting other musicians to join them.” The program came with a pretty inspiring speech about the process of design, and articulating the spirit of the place.

Lots of work on the table, but I’ve also been making plenty of time for play. I’ve got two leagues going, and even though the Sunday level of play is a bit more chaotic, it’s still lots of fun. I went to the class potluck on Friday night, and to our Denial team party on Saturday night, both of which were relaxing and entertaining.

I’ve got to get to class, which is a shame, because I wanted to write a bit more of substance, but I’m going to post a poem that popped into my head yesterday when we got the program.

Daily

These shriveled seeds we plant,
corn kernel, dried bean,
poke into loosened soil,
cover over with measured fingertips

These T-shirts we fold into
perfect white squares

These tortillas we slice and fry to crisp strips
This rich egg scrambled in a gray clay bowl

This bed whose covers I straighten
smoothing edges till blue quilt fits brown blanket
and nothing hangs out

This envelope I address
so the name balances like a cloud
in the center of sky

This page I type and retype
This table I dust till the scarred wood shines
This bundle of clothes I wash and hang and wash again
like flags we share, a country so close
no one needs to name it

The days are nouns: touch them
The hands are churches that worship the world

-Naomi Shihab Nye

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,

Today my friend Rima died.

I hadn’t talked to her in about a year and a half – last time I saw her we were playing together at Gender Blender, the tournament in Canada that was my stop off between graduation in Oberlin and adult life in Vermont. She got married this summer to her longtime boyfriend, also a good friend of mine. She had cancer, though, and today she died. I didn’t know that she got married or had cancer until one of our mutual friends called me today to tell me the news. The weird thing is, though, that today as I was biking home, I thought I saw Rima, which was strange, because I haven’t thought about her all that much since closing her last email with pictures of that tournament in Canada. I was thinking about a number of friends, folks I wanted to call and get in touch with, as I was biking, but I wasn’t thinking about Rima, and then I thought I saw her. So I just wanted to record that bit of uncanniness, and say that I will miss her.

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I felt so sad and alone as I sat in studio. My design groove is definitely not back yet, and as I sat there being discouraged by that fact, I started to enumerate all my flaws, and feel entirely inadequate and very unhappy. I felt unfashionable, frumpy, clumsy, and smelly. I felt like the one person I had started to really become friends with was angry with for some undecipherable reason. Thank goodness I had frisbee league – as I ate an apple in the studio and tried not to cry I thought about skipping it, but as soon as I set foot on the fields my spirit was lifted and I felt whole again. I was most certainly frumpy and smelly, but it was of no consequence.

I dressed up today, wore my black heels and a fancy sweater and some mascara. I looked at myself in the mirror, and for the effort, I didn’t think I looked appreciably better, but I thought at least I gave it the effort. I made it through the day with significantly fewer negative thoughts, I talked to my formerly close friend, and decided that I will gently work my way back to being friends with him, and I figured out that I do really have some free time on my hands.

I want tomorrow to go well in the studio, because I need some encouragement from actions, and not just from the kind words of friends.

I’m so glad you’re here, dear diary.

Happy Birthday to Me

I had a wonderful birthday today, including a very happy party last night. We had all sorts of desserts, (it was a dessert potluck) and some dancing, and just a nice little group of people that all fit quite comfortably in our little house.

I spent most of the day in the studio today and didn’t get much done – in part because I had long phone conversations with Dad, Dan, Mom, and Ray. I’m definitely feeling very rough around the edges as far as school goes. I did an abysmal job on our assignment on Friday and I feel like the work I did get done today is pretty substandard. I don’t know what it is, but my jive is off, and I want it back. On the other hand, I’m doing pretty well with the reading and writing, so there’s something.

On that note, I’ve been meaning to write a bit more about the Thinking and Making, but I’m not sure it will happen any time soon. We’ve been reading about Existential Space, and I’m guessing that I might have a few thoughts about our Spatial Composition reading every week, since it’s nice and theoretical.

Off I go to do a bit of reading before bedtime. I’m 24!

Long, dark tea-time of the soul

Welcome back to graduate school!

Actually, today was great, and I’m very excited for the term. I just looked at Sketchup (the very easy to use 3-D computer modeling tool), which I bought earlier today, and it’s fun and easy. My studio is full of people I like a lot, and I think my professor is great. We went out to Prince Puckler’s for ice cream and celebrated not having any work yet.

Denial, my frisbee team, didn’t do so well at sectionals – we went 0-4 on Saturday. So our season’s over, but I had a great time, and actually was very impressed with my personal resilience when it came to being able to sprint for 4 games in a row.

My room’s pretty close to being under control, and I’ve got lots of loose ends to tie up, but I think I’ll be able to handle them. I’m getting excited for my birthday (it’s on Friday, I turn 24), and thinking about a lot of parties, since I’m helping to plan our school potluck, and there are halloween parties and harvest parties galore in the next two months.

I don’t know why my “About” page is all of a sudden titling itself differently in the button bar, but I’m going to try to fix it. Also, lots more coming on the wish list, which is fun to make, but somewhat time-consuming to find the analogous things online to what’s in my head.

Off to bed, tomorrow I have class in the morning.