I've really got to do better about keeping better records. I am going to want to look back and remember what my school experience was like.
Quick update:
I finished my Theory of Landscape Architecture paper even though I didn't feel like it was possible. i have reached a point where the mention of sustainability irks my nerve. Do not take this as my not caring about environmental sustainability, but rather interpret my eye rolling as being tired of hearing so much talk about the problem and very little serious discussion about possible solutions. I am amazed that we are still discussing whether we truly do have a problem with planetary imbalance. In any case, I got through the paper and learned a good deal.
I rocked my Regional Studio final presentation. I pushed aside my feelings of inferiority in the studio and presented what I felt was a good design and I was rewarded with a very good and encouraging critique. I think I have broken my self imposed creative jail. Yes!
My Landscape Construction class got pretty difficult toward he end. We ran ut of time and were forced to put together a model, a presentation, and study for a final all at the same time. I've got all of my limbs, so I have to say I got out of that pretty unscathed.
I started summer school expecting to work on my Furniture design certificate. Unfortunately, there weren't enough students signed up for my Advanced furniture class and it was canceled. I had to reconcile with the fact that I ha begun something that I was not going to finish. However, i cannot beat myself up about something that was completely out of my control. As it stands, the two classes that I will be taking in the summer are Theory of Plant Design and Visual Notation. I'll do my best to stay up to speed with my progress.
Oh I am being so dramatic, but I do have a case study that is worth thirty percent of my grade looming over me. The due date is Tuesday and I've got bubkiss. I didn't intentionally slack off on my paper for Research methods, but I cannot say I pushed myself whole heartedly into it.
Don't get me wrong, the class is fantastically interesting. it is taught by a fellow Panamanian, Gianno Feoli. I was terrified of taking this man's class. My first introduction to him was by way of a critique for Site Studio that did not go so well. So when I saw that he was teaching Research Methods in the summer, I cannot say I was too thrilled. BUT, this man is brilliant. His mind works in such a logical, step by step manner that I am mesmerized by his words. I never am bored or do I feel like my money is being wasted. So why isn't my homework done? Well I went away last weekend for two weddings (I'll post info about that on the other blog later) and since I've been back, I have been focused solely on my Furniture Design class which TOTALLY ROCKS. Rocks so hard I have to say it ROX!!!!!!!!!!!!! My first chair was a smash hit and I have lots of pics of it, but not right now as I fritter away time in a lab when I should at least be working on my SECOND chair. I will not leave my Landscape Architecture program, but furniture design has me totally intrigued. We are creating real scale pieces of art that we can be proud of. I know my pink and green lounge chair called "Reverie" is my prode and joy. I am hoping this Wild Lotus chair trumps even the first one.
So there you have it, I am unbalanced because I am more focused on my studio than anything else. I want to get a good grade in my Research class because I want to show I have learned...and I also want to make a fellow Panamanian (my teacher) proud.
I have Analysis Methods in a little minute, so let me get ready for that...
Officially, studio is OVER!
Oh my goodness I cannot believe the day finally came. On Thursday I had my final critique which went just fine. It wasn't super spectacular like one of my classmates, Anwar, but it was fine. In fact, the professor and our guest critic, a man from a design firm in the area, both fawned over one of my boards as unconventional and going for something different. I liked that because I had spent the bulk of my time working on that particular board.
I told my friend Courtney yesterday that from now on we should treat the rest of our studios as an extension of Formative Studio from our first semester. We coud view our designs in an abstract sense and imagine we had to defend our ideas without any of the usual conventions such as doors and windows. Rather we'd concentrate on directing space, controlling trajectory, and creating activated spaces. AT the very least, it should make the process easier.
In a few hours Courtney and I will be taking an exam for our South Florida Landscapes class. The exam is scheduled for Tuesday, but we were determined to get it out of the way. besides, we are both going out of town. We should breeze through this exam and keep our hard earned As :). I will also be turning in a book report that is due next week. I really do not enjoy writing papers, but after lots of hemming and hawing and wining, I sat down and threw it together in a few hours. Now only two more projects - creating a powerpoint presentation for Studio and creating one for my computer class. Then I will be done with my first year in grad school! Woot!
Here are my boards from my presentation:
______________________________________________________________
What the worst thing that can happen if you bomb the final presentation?
You'll still have the support of your family
Still have the support of your surrounding friends
Still proceed onto the next semester
Still have to present again
Still have learned something
After all we are all here to have a good time RIGHT?!?!?!
I wish you all the best in your endeavors and see you next week.
______________________________________________________________
This was part of an email that one of the Architecture students sent to cheer us up I guess. I don't plan on bombing the final presentation. In fact, my midproject review went pretty well. I do have a good amount of graphic work to put in. However, I am in a place where I am loving design again (web and graphic design to be exact) and I have all of these ideas to work on other website, but I REALLY need to do work for my final project this Thursday. The is what is expected:
______________________________________________________________
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:
1. SITE PLAN: Proper Scaled, Rendered, and Responsive to the feedback I
have given you thus far. This should NOT be the same drawing that you
pinned up on Tuesday of last week. Quantity 1.
2. SECTION-ELEVATIONS: Proper Scale to make regions/areas visible &
understandable. Give ground a depth so that it doesn't look like the
topsoil layer is floating in midair. Quantity should be driven by what
you want and need to show to the panel so that the distinct areas of
your design are well communicated. Minimum 2.
3. SPECIFIC FEATURES & VIEWS: If you talk about an important idea, but
can't point to how it looks and works on the wall or a model CLEARLY,
then it comes across as not being that important, and you can't be
upset if the feedback that you get isn't helpful. If you want/need to
show a specific feature in more detail (all of you do), these can be
shorter sections and smaller drawings that you can show at a larger
scale so that a person is more discernible than they would be in your
sections--like the photomontages that were shown on Thursday that were
a combination of drawings and photographs, and communicated the spirit
of the space. Spend time on these. This is often what best
communicates a project's qualities--especially one like ours. Minimum
3.
4. PLANT & MATERIAL PALETTES: Textures and materials are an important
part of your projects. Find a way to communicate how these fit into
your designs. Look at the ASLA examples for good ways of showing these
without just spilling a bunch of pictures on a printout. Compose well
so that your ideas come across clearly.
5. MODEL: It needs to fit inside the insert opening on the large model.
6. DIAGRAMS: Use to communicate things such as Project Phases (if you
envision your project evolving over time), Concepts (such as
visibility/buffering to/from highway), Project Areas (different
uses/activities), Regional relationships (of the site to other areas in
the quarry), etc. These should be quick and to the point. Don't dwell
on them, although you need to make sure that what you diagram is
accurate with respect to your ideas.
7. PROJECT TITLE & WRITING: Give your project a catchy title, and write
a One paragraph description of your project. Use bullets as needed to
summarize important design ideas. Print out onto no more than ONE PAGE.
Prepare as a handout for Thursday's crit. 16 Copies.
IMPORTANT ITEMS:
-SCALE FIGURES: Your drawings should have them, and they should be done
from actual photographs of people, and/or accurate tracings of their
silhouette--no stick figures. Refer to winning ASLA projects discussed
on Thursday for good examples.
-TREES & PLANTS: Refer to winning ASLA projects and vary according to
the situation when used in your drawings..
-COLOR: Avoid bright and/or shocking colors except for accents here and
there in both drawings and models. Bright Yellow-Greens, Bright Blues,
Bright Pinks and Magentas, should be avoided.
-MODEL MATERIALS: Abrasive pads of different colors can be used to
depict dense vegetation, Sand paper and textured papers can be used to
depict paths and landscape textures
-ARCHITECTURE: Use SIMPLE shapes and volumes to show where buildings
and shade structures go or they will dominate the discussion.
-LABELS: Use minimally and discretely. Your drawings & models should
be clear enough so as to make these almost superfluous.
________________________________________________________
You see how much is expected? I just reread this assignment and realized I have to use labels in AutoCAD. Goodness I forgot some of this stuff already.
To top this week off, as if the final project wasn't enough, I have a final exam in my South Florida Landscapes class that I am totally rocking :). But my professor sent an email this morning informing us we have a paper due by the end of class which for me is Saturday.
I've got to stop procrastinating and just work. Tata!
I must say this before I start complaining. I am fully aware that I am in school for a reason. This too shall pass. yadda yadda yadda (wink) and all that jazz. With this said, I am counting down to April 20th. April 20th is the day that I will have my final critique in studio for this new design - a wildlife preserve for a limestone quarry. The project isn't proving to be the most fun, but I did work on something for SOOOOOOOOOOO long that I will post images just on G.P. This is a representation of the ground conditions of the site - one composite image and 5 layers in total:
This mini project took me over 8 hours because I don't have enough RAM to really run these heavy multimedia programs. I need to just install more RAM and cure myself of the headache. In any case, I do like this mini project. I only have 2 more to do by Tuesday. I'd like to be done tonight, so coffee is right by my side.
So back to being tired of the semester. I just feel burnt out. I am trying to come up with innovative ideas for studio, still doing web design, and learn latin names for South FLorida Landscapes. I know it isn't going to get less difficult, but I just feel in a disarray of sorts...like I cannot quite get organized. So like I said, counting down to 4/20.
These semester has been a touch one so far. I just recently had my midternm critique which wen OK, but by no means was it spectacular. I received a grade of a C which hurt my heart because I know myself to not be just average. I am vowing to work harder and take more risks.
Ok this is what we have been doing in studio. We were given the task of transforming a garden for a coursthouse into a place of gathering, contemplation, and general enjoyment. I flip flopped so much on this project that I didn't have a clear idea until two days before the work was due. Consequently I didn't get a chance to really look into my idea and realize that witha few tweaks, it could have been great. Instead I actually ended up doing the exact opposite of what I se out to do. Not exactly the smartest plan, eh? In any case, after feeling really crappy yesterday, I have resolved to start my projects earlier and damn if they are crazy and "out there," I am at least trying and not being scared.
My other two classes are South Florida Landscapes, which TOTALLY ROCKS, and I am taking my second semester of Computer Applications in Landscape ARchitecture. I received and A on my first assignment and an A- on my second. There is no reason for me to have an A-, so I will redo the second assignment, wish for the best on the thirst that has already been turned in and I will OWN the 4th :). In the South Florida Landscapes class, I am busy impressing my professor with my ability to identify plants by their Latin names. I really enjoy going on the field trips that he has scheduled so that we may experience Florida plant life in the flesh so to speak. This Sunday we are headed to the Everglades and I have the perfect pink golashes to wear for the trip. Agirl must be stylish as well as smart :).
I will post some pictures of my work soon.
Tata.
