Discovering Perspective

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Help settle my curiosity.

My roommate and I were just talking about the way people inhabit space which reminded me of something I've always wondered about.

How many people actually unpack their bags into the dressers in hotel rooms? Are they actually there for that purpose or there for the purpose of fulfilling the expected image of bedroom? How would people react if there were no dressers in the room other than being disappointed that they couldn't steal the bibles and hotel stationary that are usually inside?

Please let me know what you think. And a warning that other such odd questions might appear over the next year as I try to determine what to pursue for my Master's thesis.

posted by Sarah at 10:44 PM |


Over one year of blogging and back where I started

I was just looking at the archives list and realized that I started this blog just over a year ago, March 15, 2004. Here I am, a year later, and back where I started... in bed sick, trying to do work regardless and getting distracted with various procrastinations. It's easy to get distracted when sick. It's easy to get distracted when doing work.

I made the mistake of getting up and going to the little girl's room when I was on a role with my essay. Only 250 words to go but they are nowhere to be found. It's actually a pretty interesting assignment, using Marshall McLuhan's writings to critique the writings of Toyo Ito. Again, I'm back where I started. Marshall McLuhan.

Now, if only I were back in Italy.

posted by Sarah at 3:26 PM |


Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Now I'm mad

So one of the points of yesterday's crit was that my building is too small. That I'm just replacing a cramped tiny museum with a new craped tiny museum.

I just finished the rough area calculations:

current gallery, 1162 square metres
my design, 3114 square metres
recommended, 3584 square metres

There is a net difference of 470 sq.m between my design and the recomendations which works out to a grand total of 2m additional width, making the footplate 20x46 instead of 18x46. Yupee!

Explanation, same as always. Everyone else is way off scale making my project look small when it is in fact the closest to the project recommendations.

"Everyone's lost but me." - Indiana Jones

What is most frustrating is that I know my design needs work and that there are a billion things that I have overlooked and I got zero useful feedback from my crit.

Mekki is right. I hope I remember all this frustration when I am put in the role of the critic.

posted by Sarah at 1:46 PM |


Monday, March 21, 2005

I hate critting sick

Crits are frustrating and torturous enough without nearly collapsing every few seconds from a fever.

I was hoping that they would go easy on me given that is probably looked like I was about to burst into tears beacause my eyes are watery and I was turning bright red from my body's internal thermostat issues and that I was continuously all choked up from my sore throat.

No such luck.

I've already gotten a fair share of ranting out on Mekki so I needent express all that frustration here, only that I hope we won't be treated as idiots in grad school and that they might attempt listening to us and actually looking at our work before forgeting that criticism doesn't explicitely mean negativity. Maybe they might try to make the criticism, even if negative, productive instead of a four hour waste of my time.

posted by Sarah at 7:15 PM |


Sunday, March 20, 2005

Mekki wasn't just being a suck!

This bug really is horrible. I'm figuring that if it follows the same timeline as Mekki I should be voiceless in time for my crit tomorrow afternoon. Who needs to talk anyways? My drawings can talk for me.

But it is especially draining. I was planning on staying at school til 10 or 11 working on my project. By 8:20 I was done, every little bit of stubborness I had was gone and I couldn't taugh it out any longer.

My throat is scratchy and swollen which makes my ears ache and neck stiff causing massive amounts of head aching.

whine, whine, whine...

I want to snuggle into the cuddliest, softest down matress mummified by equally cozy comforters and soothed by the world's biggest Ibuprofin.

posted by Sarah at 9:48 PM |


Thursday, March 17, 2005

Happy Guiness Day

yum, yum, Guiness!

Unfortunately I had class this morning so I couldn't make it to the LCBO to ensure my Guiness supply but, luck o the Irish, there was still plenty left after I was done school.

I also enjoyed looking like a leprechaun again today and even more amused by the moment it took people to realize why on earth I would wear four different shades of green.

May the roof above us never fall in.
And may the friends gathered below it never fall out.

posted by Sarah at 7:44 PM |


Saturday, March 12, 2005

Why do we do it?

I had my mini-crit yesterday with the structural engineer to help me with my studio project. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I expected a never-ending laugh when I told him that my design involves "floating" a 120m long, 10m wide, 10 storey high condo building above the existing buildings on the site by supporting it on one side by a colonnade that had to fit in the 3m gap between the existing buildings.

This was my attempt to be a bit more realistic. Originally, I just wanted to step the entire thing over the buildings, supported by one 'foot' on either side.

Turns out my original concept is more realistic. Go figure.

So the plan is two massive trusses (which contain the elevator shaft and services) 75m apart supporting a now longer 144m even more massive truss from which the entire 10 storey building will be suspended. The great thing about massive trusses is that they become usable spaces and not wasted space.

It should do the job of expressing the billboard-like concept I was going for, placing everyday life on display as a work of art to announce the art gallery below.

Luckily Prof Salinas is used to working with us crazy architecture students. I think he enjoys it and pushes us to be crazy and to push the engineer to find a way to make the crazy ideas work. (They prefer to be lazy when they can and find simple, boring solutions).

Crazy architects make the world interesting.

posted by Sarah at 9:44 PM |


Sure! Now they want to pay me.

After four years of paying them to go to school, they finally want to pay me to go to school. Grad school is funny that way.

From the quick calculation, it will work out that my Masters will pay for my Bachelor (not including living expenses). Not a bad deal. Plus it helps that I'm super excited about going into Masters and working on a thesis project.

Yay!

posted by Sarah at 9:21 PM |


Wednesday, March 02, 2005

The letter will be in the mail

I had a short chat with Steve the other day (director of the school) and he happened to mention that my letter will be in the mail soon... and it is positive. So yay! I won't be a bumb next year, better yet, I won't have to face the real world for at least another two years. Also sounds pretty good for a few t.a. positions so that I can afford to avoid the real world.

Now I just need to find a place to live. But that will come in time.

posted by Sarah at 8:02 PM |