Thesis Presentations are over...

Happy Saturday everyone!

I feel really bad because everytime I post, I feel like I am apologizing for the delays. Anyway, we turned in our projects earlier this week then my class and I presented our Thesis on Wednesday April 23rd and Friday April 25th. I was so nervous before I presented on Friday. I practiced with my Advisor twice on memorization/clarity/eye contact, practiced with my boyfriend for clarity, and practiced by myself about four times for time. I know that's over doing it but I didn't want to go overboard like I usually do...basically rambling to the point were I rush on the important information or freaking out to the point were I forget what I was talking about. Our presentations had to be 15mins of presentation and 15mins of questions and answers, so after I practiced to the point of perfection, I realized that I was right at 15mins! So the little movie I wanted to show was out of the question. Either way, after I panicked for about a week, sweat through my curls and makeup (lol), I took a deep break and did it! :-) Go me!! Lol.

Here are the images from all 12 presentations:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2055055&l=eb8e1&id=41000057

As far as Best Thesis...that's going to be a tough one. No matter what the results are, I think everyone did a great job and I'm just so proud of everyone. So all I have to do now is finish the book that goes along with our Thesis, finish the report for my ReVironments class, go to a job interview on Monday, go to a couple of Award Ceremonies/Banquets, then Graduateeeeeeee!

...And since I am free (for a little bit since I still have to finish my last reports in order to graduate) I finally can do my laundry at home!!!! So Cyaaa!

....14 days till May 11th, 2008!

Ohhh and don't forget that the Bemis Awards are on Tuesday April 29th @ 7pm!

4 weeks till presentations

Hi everyone. As the countdown continues for 5th year, I am working on my last bit of testing and my graphics. Here is an example of a picture for one of my boards and abstract....enjoy!:





























43 days till May 11th!

Schedule for the rest of the semester!

Sorry for the delay everyone. I will post more after this last investigation (due on Wednesday) but here is our schedule for the rest of the semester:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31386176&l=234a0&id=41000057

More to come...

54 more days till May 11th, 2008! :-D

Oh...My...Goodness

Happy Wednesday!

Sorry for the delay. Now starts the countdown for midterms and I only have till next Friday to finish everything...sothis will be a short blog.

Since my last post, I have received my advisor, FINALLY organized my thesis to the point where my analysis and investigation makes sense, and finished redoing my portfolio. Here are the images from my classes (these are just what I presented last week and are not updated and is not ALL of my work). I present my thesis on Feb. 18th, so pray for me and I will post more after crunch time! Enjoy:

Thesis Studio:
I organized my thesis to answer questions and to complete a timeline from 1947 (when Newport News was vibrant), 1970 (when it started to tear down) to 2008 (currently) I am trying to come up with a narrative to complete the timeline for the future revitalization.

1. What was communal life for downtown Newport News?

2. How was heritage lost?

3. How does urban space affect the cultural patterns given by Newport News and the Hampton Roads Area?














4. How to revitalize West Ave.? (I will start this investigation after Midterms)

Theory III
Do a portrait of myself and my Thesis











Virginia Prize
I sucked this year compared to my design last year that made it to finals:

94 more days till May 11th, 2008!

Week 2 Begins...

Before I begin my blog, I would like to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Instead of recognizing today as "a day out from school," recognize it has a day that a great man was born (even though he was really born on Jan. 15th). Here is a biography of his life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.


Week one of school has finally ended, the snow has come and gone, and it's freezing outside!!! I love Hampton Roads, especially being a native, but snow is rare. Sunday afternoon I took pictures and was so fascinated. It went away quickly after I realized I had to scrape all the ice and snow off of my car. Ten minutes later; I was still scraping, my finger tips were frozen, and my right hand was cut up.

Outside my dorm











Bush outside my dorm











Closer look











To recap last week, I guess what I love about this semester is that for the first time, all my classes relate to my studio class. No more Honors College classes and Art electives, yesssss!

Thesis Studio, Mon., Weds., Fri.
Even though class time was cut short through out the week because of adminstrative/staff/Studio Culture meetings, we still had a productive week. For Wednesday and Friday, we had two 1,000 word papers to write:

-Critiquing process (writing about our argument, Midterm/Final presentation in the 3rd person...almost like a book review)
-Reviewing, updating the research proposal, and providing detail on process (further defining our design proposal)

After writing the two papers, I felt a little more confident about my thesis. Here is an example from my Critiquing essay:
"During the final review, Chela gave insight on the current conditions of historical districts devastated by man-made disasters. These sites ranged from European historical sites to local sites. In her presentation, she stated that “when many historical districts recreate, they miss pieces that create the
coherence of a district; these elements include the cultural patterns. Cultural patterns are not stated as a component of a historical district. Cohen states that the components of a historical district only contain structure, urban pattern, and communal life. Edward T. Hall contends culture is the relationship between humankind and his environment. The experience is a “behavioral system in which a district is based as expressed by earlier life forms.”[1] While urban patterns are the codes that tell the size, character, context, and concept of its urban morphology; Cultural patterns are the individual activities, core values, and characteristics that are held in the given morphology. Without these two elements, communal life can not take place. Communal life is the interaction between public and private urban spaces. Communal life is shared memory that is social, economic, and political. Its relationship is similar to that of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid Structure. With these statements, she provided diagrams from both the Deoxyribonucleic Acid Structure and the structure of the district. "

So now I am waiting to talk to my Professor about my proposal a little more. It seems okay but I think it needs a little more investigation to make it a sound design.

Homework: Continue to work on our Proposal. Also Wednesday we find out who our Advisors are! By Friday we turn in what we currently have (Material Investigations), sketches, and start the VA Prize.

Theory III, Tues.
This class is really nice. So far we only had one meeting with our professor but the subject is intense. To me, I think it's going to be a recap of Building Science while showing us non-traditional detail designs. What I like about this class is that we get to apply our thesis to the details.

Homework: Analytic Juice Assignment
"Draw a plan at ¼’=1’-0” of the entire room and stairway - as depicted in Velazquez’s famous painting, Las Meninas.Include all persons, easels, mirrors, objects, ceiling and floor patterns, wall patterns, etc. that are
shown or implied in the painting.Include indications of the perspectival systems at work in the painting, e.g. vanishing points, frames, mirrored perspective, etc. The perspective system is useful in determining dimensions, proportions. Draw a tectonic detail from the room as it exists relative to your plan."

Revironment: Domains from Disaster, Thurs. & Sat.
I love this class! The main focus of this class is using relief products to recreate something that could be helpful for recovery after a disaster. In groups of two, we will research data, assemble and find quick and simple connection pieces to the product, and test for durability and energy efficacy using the Engineering Lab called Virtual Parts Engineering Research Center. Our professor told the 5th year students that we could relate this class to our thesis. To use this class to my advantage, I think I will use the Lab portion to test my space designs after midterms.

Homework: Read Ch.1 of The Laws of Simplicity.
(if you want to learn more about this subject go to: http://www.lawsofsimplicity.com/)

Anyway, that's all I have...have a good day everyone!

110 till May 11, 2008!

Thessssisss

Hi everyone,

I'm Chela and I'm one of Mark's representatives for his Bemis blogs. So I guess you will get to view fifth year through my eyes :-P. I will try to post when I can, but I can't promise you anything because of my busy schedule about to come.

For the MArch program, Thesis is broken into two semesters: Fall - Research and Spring - Design Research. Our syllabus states "Thesis II: ARC 602 continues the process initiated in ARC 601, a year-long self-directed architectural inquiry aimed to generate a personal, visionary and meaninful interpretation of architecture. In ARC 602 the inquiry shifts mode into the design process as a form of research." I won't get into details about my thesis (because I am still writing my 1,000 word paper that is due at 1pm!) but for my Design Research portion, I am working on a site in Downtown Newport News. After interning there, I didn't realize it was so bad. So now I am finishing my map analysis (SWOT, PESTEL, Kevin Lynch, Interviews, etc) before the week is over so I can finish the rest of my proposal. Second semester also means early Midterms (Feb. 15th) and early Finals (late April)...oh well, we can do it 5th year!

Anyway, more posts to come!

115 days till May 11, 2008!