Charrette

Charrette: Derived from the french word for cart, legend has it that French architects at the Ecole de Beaux Arts would have professors come by with carts to collect their drawings and people would jump in the cart to finish them because they had so much work

That's what I've been doing.  Basically it's spatial and conceptual explorations for our site.  We built a large site model in the CNC Router and then did quick design ideas.  I'm gonna do what I always do and post a lot of pictures.  As always, ask questions if you're curious.

The router at work (video should work)

The large site model

Different mobilities

User experience densities

Plugging in to paths

Router

Site insert base, with the train station

Current site conditions

Voids and spaces

Here comes the sun do-do-do-do

I also applied for some externships, 4 in MA, 2 in NY, and one in Philadelphia.  So we'll see if I get any positions.

Thanks for reading

Quick Photos

Just wanted to add my final models of the childcare center.  These don't look as awful.

Phase 01 Review: Potentialities

A quick recap of the final review for Phase 01: Potentialities.

My presentation was fine; they didn't have too much to say.  I think this means that my work wasn't bad, but it wasn't good.  Not talking usually means one's project isn't interesting enough to explore further.  My final composite map took a base map of Charlottesville etched into chipboard.  Underneath hung a cutout extrusion of a 1907 Sanborn map, and above that a changing 1994-2011 parking lot on our site.  On top of the map I made acrylic cuts of mobility interfaces: the train station, bus station, and greyhound station. Green dots are bus stops.  Congestion is modeled with T-pins and yarn shows areas of congestion are the two centers (the Rotunda and the Downtown Mall).  The tall, middle T-pin with the vortex of yarn is a potential congestive area.  Thin acetate walls separate commercial from residential districts.  Groups of green marker dots are also congestion.  Anyway I can't type well cause of my finger, but I'll post some raw pics to look at.  Phase 2 begins tomorrow...here we go.

Yup.  This worthless map cost me a sliver of finger.  Oh the top ones are spatial sketch models that are really bad.  Thanks for reading.

Well It's Not My Lung

So I sliced open my finger last night and was in the ER for a bit, but I'm alright.  Took a chunk out but they were able to fix me up.  I just have pain and inconvenience now, and since I can't type quickly, I'll just say a little.  

Work has been busy, as always.  I'm currently working on a 3-D map of Charlottesville.  I'll post some pictures of the map that I laser cut and then some acrylic plastic buildings I cut as well.

Pics of my cut up finger available upon request.

Phase 1 Complete . . . Almost

So on Monday I will have my review for Phase 1 of my studio class, which involved the mapping and the case study.  I have a few things left to tidy up, but it's getting there.  I also have a presentation and project due for my building integration workshop, so things are quite busy.  Also it was Yom Kippur and I got to experience pray-Skyping from studio.  I don't have much to say, but I figured I'd leave some pictures of the model I've been working on.  I haven't gotten to Photoshop them yet, so they're still pretty raw.

Thanks for reading!

Come to the Refectory, Children

The Childcare center I'm working on is the deluxe package.

It comes complete with a gym, a painting room, reading rooms, resting rooms, child kitchens, a theater, and a refectory.  A bit overkill for small children who won't remember it, most likely, but the architecture is really cool.

Just wanted to do a quick update with the work I've done tracing the plans, sections, and site plan, which I will present in that order.  The images should be higher quality, so if you want to see one in more detail, click on it and it should re-load a better image.

 

We learned a lot about building codes and zoning laws today.  There's a reason everything here is a nasty combination of brick and white columns...

Case Study 2

Hello all!

Sorry for not posting in a while.  It's been hectic, of course.  I'll go into a little more depth about what I've been working on.

Let's start small.  For Key Buildings of Modernism, I've been assigned the case study of the Lovell Beach House, a beautiful modern house done by Rudolf Schindler, an early modernist.  But that project is mostly a historical presentation.

In visualization class, I will be making a model of this in Rhino.

Sites, Systems, and Buildings is a course I pretty much audit, but we're learning about the various ways to deal with the sun when designing, and how to integrate that into complex systems.

For the building integration workshop, I've been modeling an office in the architecture school in Rhino, as well as taking measurements and trying to figure out the construction methods of the office.  In class we've mostly talked about various ways to deal with water and heat, so we spend a lot of time talking about things like the correct way to install a vapor barrier or how to use insulation to prevent thermal bridging.  It's really interesting to start learning about the practicality of architecture.

Lastly in studio we're repurposing a site by the Charlottesville train station and the past week has been about diagramming and mapping research information about the area.  I was assigned mobility, and I'll try and upload some pictures of the maps that I made using research and GIS.

However, now I am working on another case study, a childcare center in Switzerland by a more contemporary firm, Giorla and Trautmann.  I'll be redrawing their plans, sections, elevations, and site in AutoCAD, making a model of it in Rhino, diagramming it, and making a physical model as well.  So it looks like this week is going to be pretty busy, since I assume I'll be getting some more complex work in my other classes as well.  

The work is picking up and so is the difficulty so I'm doing my best to keep up.  In the meantime between posts I'll leave you with some pictures of the childcare center.  Thanks for reading.