A post card to Jay Lennartson

Dear Mr. Lennartson,
My thanks for your taking time to come and speak with the Interior Architecture studios. I found your lecture albeit cut short to be show the true beauty of the earth. The images taken from space really were amazing to look at and I think gave a lasting impact to how we will design in the future.

Friday Sketching

Anohter chance to work with perspectives, this time back in the EUC just like last term. Took a seat in the food court and set to work sketching, the people I took very gestrally I think not really illustrating the details as frankly, they were very far away.. Overall I'm happy with it.. enough to add some color.

Prècis

Having finished our charettes for the shelter|bus and bus|shelter projects I give you my prècis of all the information. Use this in conjunction with other students work to give you an indication of what our studio is all about.

Sketching Away

Right So, been sketching over the past few days trying to get some practice with shading, thicker lines to show depth and just perspective in general that we've been covering in Jake's drawing lecture. So below you'll see 2 of my better results.


This first one I shamefully did while jake was going over perspective so while I guess its bad I was sketching, it was relevant. I think the hatching really helped with this as well I think it looks pretty good and alot better than some of my past work.


This image I did quickly and small because it was shortly before my psycology lecture and thusly I had to make sure that I didnt miss it when he began to speak.

Just a quick post for now, will have a few more things to post shortly though. Patience is a virtue, even if I lack it.

A room with a view

I've decided that I'd attempt to start another drawing series, hopefully this will have better success than my last attempts... but even still one day while looking out the window of studio and listening to eddie izzards "room with a staircase with a view and a pond" I got the inspiration to draw the building that stands out side of my window..

Advertising Charette

In our final charette we have the oportunity to come up with all sorts of guerilla advertisements to publicize our projects. My group seemingly made some rather silly ideas that actually might be really interesting.. One such idea was the idea of a protest in which the protesters are protesting against iArcs involvment in the community. As highlighted in the image below

Over at the blog of Lily Glover you will find another idea of a viral video

Also at Katie Reynolds blog you will find our idea of a series of seemingly random words strung togehter into an attention grabbing system on a bus.

Finally on Kurt Huizenga's blog you'll find a rather humorous example of our fake arrest idea.

Table Saw (Jupiter)

The table saw’s origination is based on the invention of the circular saw, which is believed to have been invented in the 1700’s or the 1800’s as lumber mills began to appear. The Table saw has since become a staple of any wood shop due to its variable uses. The table saw uses a circular saw blade as well as a motor which spins an mandrel which results in the blade spinning at high speeds to cut through wood. The table saw is used to cut wood in straight lines or at an angle. Many table saws of the 20th century have similar features including a fence to keep wood straight as well as having many safety features. Specifically the Rockwell Model 34-400 was made of cast iron. It also featured guide holes so the operator could cut the wood at a 45, 30 etc. degree angle The table saw has over time become the main feature of a wood shop and is the most common saw type in small wood shops.

Comparisons:
Much like the library table both appear very heavy and share a relatively flat top. The library table appears heavy simply due to its box like shape with few voids similar to the table saw which has few voids beneath the tabletop. These characteristics also give the two a very similar shape and scale.

Contrasts:
The table saw is made of cast iron and is therefore very heavy however the fire screen by W.A.S. Benson is also made of metals (copper and brass) but is designed in such a way to appear very light and therefore appears to be almost made of something completely different and yet it does little more than its designed function similar to the table saw.

Adventures in Advertising

It just speaks for it self, watch it and find out

Codes +

An ergonomical analysis of the Bed systems in the shelter bus
An Erognomic and Proxemic view of the bench in our bus stop
An ergonomic layout of the operating theatre on our medical bus
A layout of the drivers seat of the buses illustrating the various measurements that would be optimal for our design
Quick analysis to see if anything was really within good reach of the desk for doctors on the medical bus.

Following our experiments with codes, ergonomics and proxemics a few issues of our designs have been revealed but I believe we have also learned something new about the way people are thanks to the research we preformed. For example we discovered that people are generally comfortable having a space of about four feet between them and people they do not know which interestingly enough has effected our original estimates as to how many people could use the benches provided in our bus stop. Proxemics also helped us to realize that in a counseling situation the distance between where the doctor and patient would normally sit may in fact create a little tension between them due to the discomfort felt. In codes themselves we saw a number of handicap accessible features are not built to code to better allow the mobility of handicapped people.
I would recommend to designers that one should never be opposed to any sort of change. In fact I would go so far as to say designers should embrace it, it may ruin some sort of element you sought but it could also create the possibility of an even better element to your design. Codes may seem like a burden but they exist to help make sure that no one is left out and if you have a great design would you really want to leave some one out really? I believe we will all be effected by codes at some point or another, at some points we will mash our teeth and react bitterly over it and other times I think codes will help us form a better connection with the people we are actually designing for, everyone is different and your architecture needs to be able to react to that, other wise it will be a failure and it will lose its intent.

Container Charette

My Group decided to focus for our charette for a shelter bus on shelter and Medical Care. I was more interested in the Medical Care aspect so I was really involved in that design. We selected a bus made by Motor Coach Industries due to its size and various modifications they allow to be preformed while the bus is actually being produced. Below are some renders and photographs of some of the work of this charette.



Our idea focuses on literally a mobile hospital complete with triage, phramacy, couciling, an ambulance and even an operating room.



A break down of the space from a plan view, the operating room is in the back and is located near the medicines of the pharmacy, this operating theatre is designed for common surgical procedures.



A perspective view of the operating theatre.



Since we anticipate that people will likely need access to counciling we added a design for a councilng center and doctors private office so that, doctors may have a space for administrative duties but will also have a private place where a counselor may help those who need counseling get the help they need.



A side view of the bus shows the division of the surgical section from the office.



An idea we enjoyed was the idea that their should be some kind of vehicle that could be dispatched to retrieve those people who were unable to make it to the bus. We were able to actually find a bus that had enough space to store a small vehicle as well as the tents needed to set up the recovery and triage area



The bus/hospital after everything is set up, the tent on the right represents a recovery and triage area where a multitude of paitients can be kept until they can be released. The Bus takes on a headquarters roles in a disaster situation in which only the major operations need take place while giving the resources to the doctors and nurses who work to help those who need it.



A plan view of the entire complex once fully set up, this sketch was actually a jumping off point for the whole unit. Heather Link worked with me on the medical bus and she has some more information present on our design on her blog.

Our second bus was literally catering to sheltering victims of a hurricane and that information can be found at Katie Reynolds blog as well as Kara Petrisko's blog.

Kings Group Charette Interviews

The interviews from the charette started on friday

As apart of our research for the bus/shelter client charrette we were sent out to get the opinion that matters the most. The city bus riders. Our group set out for the nearest GTA bus stop and when we got on we asked the lady sitting next to us if we could interview her. She said "yes." but she wished to remain anonymous. Thinking she was about to get off at the next stop, Kara quickly sketched her. She had short gray hair, glasses, and appeared to been in her sixies. We found out that she rides the bus everyday to and from her job as a Gulford County School teacher. She said it takes a about an hour of waiting and riding the bus every morning. At first she seemed a little shy, but as the ride she opened up a little bit and started talking about her children. When it was time for her to get off we thanked her for her time and went on our way to the depot.

So much work but worth it!

I drew the ceiling the other day I suppose really because it looked intresting and I thought I might as well do a drawing, what more reason could you know.



I went ahead and drew out my final model of the bus shelter, we were discussing it and so I drew it out to I suppose stroke my own ego.



Another idea for a bus shelter I had, it mimics the 3 stained glass windows from the church across the street and is very sculptural to fit into the context of being nearby a museum.



I drew some peoples projects as well and I also having read through "Color Drawing" book I tried to draw the foliage as they recommened and I'm actually pretty impressed with how it turned out.



Quick sketch of what our site looks like from a birds eye perspective. Just so when I went back to work on my models later I could remember about the size things could be before they were running into buildings or streets.

Thats all I really have to show right now, Maybe I'll go out and do some more since everyone I know seems to be off doing something else this weekend.. but then again I can surely use this time to get fully caught up with some of the other million things I have to do in second year. Exhausting but worth it in the end, at least thats what I'm telling myself this for now!

A post card to Jenny Paige

Dear Jenny Paige
I was excited to learn that the University dining services has switched to a compost-able type of plastic. While I was working at Duke University this summer they had also begun to switch over to compost-able plastic. I believe its made from some sort of corn product. One thing I was wondering about the council of students and faculty I didnt really get a clear understanding on what it was they do. Do they help come up with the initiatives or are they the ones strategizing how to bring all these sustainability ideas to other Universities? Thank you for taking time to come and speak to our department.

Adventures in Public Transport

3.36 PM as I wait in the sun at one of Greensboro’s bus stops. Which I feel is not really a bus stop so much as it is... a street lamp with a sign no seating and no shelter from the 91 degree heat in the middle of August. With a bus scheduled to arrive at 3.45 PM I was honestly not expecting anything special. I’m no stranger to public transport because I actually find that public transport can be a very easy way to get to work or school in the summer especially when the price of petrol reaches a $4.15 peak as it did this past summer. I took this time to read through some of the reading placed online. Segregation is often taught in school and it seems if you dont know what’s going on you’ve probably been living under a rock.
Finally at 4.05 PM my bus arrives and I can join the masses enroute to the bus depot. Its crowded, I choose to stand as I am not one to really enjoy having my personal space. However inevitably I was told to sit down and found myself in the midst of society.

People of all walks of life. On one side I was having a pleasant conversation about why people who are quite wealthy have begun taking the bus to avoid paying the high prices of petrol. While on the other side of me I was being lectured on how crack cocaine was safer when it was a powder and not the new kind which comes in stones apparently and how every cop in greensboro was taking bribes. Such interesting people you can meet on public transport. However the ever looming sign was just how many non colored people you dont see on public transport. At the front of the bus sits a sign in memory of Rosa Parks, and this is on every bus. But in all on a bus with 27 riders 6 were white. Most were black, many seemed to be quite content and were having a merry time.
However having read the reading I couldn't help but see how segregation was really just still around today, an unspoken part of our society. For example the people on the bus seemed to segregate themselves, many of the white people crowded together while many of the african americans took up seats nearby each other and didnt really talk to anyone. The Bus is a prime example of misconception, the stereotype of public transport in the States is dirty, unclean and something only the poor do. But in fact public transport seems quite clean, its cool in temperature and all around is a comfortable ride and surprisingly quick.
The reading was I felt to be a bit of another statement of just how segregated we really keep ourselves however I also feel that by constantly pointing it out we continue to lay the ground work to continue such behavior, almost as though if you hear something long enough you begin to think that it actually is normal its almost phycological.

Time is a factor

So following our first week of lectures I think that if I have learned anything from this project it is the importance of time and that if, a majority decision is reached that you should not wait until 10 minutes before it is due to ask to re vote/redo the project. I feel that if something is voted on and a majority rules then it should be stuck to and not constantly criticised as it only leads to problems. The other thing I've probably learned is that in 56 designers their are way to many chefs working in the kitchen and not enough cooks.