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!