for the love of god

Just a few more days then I’m in the clear.  So many things to do for before Friday this week.  I really thought I would have had more done sooner, and it’s not like I don’t work.  God knows I work hard, didn’t do anything but work all weekend and before.  I’m super happy that we were able to just have it printed out for today, it took me quite a long while to figure out what I think is a fairly strong story within the board’s layout.  I am not at my computer otherwise I would post it right now, but gives me another reason to blog tomorrow so, I think I’ll just have to pass and wait.  I had a hard time relating the site back into the perspectives, sections, and plans.  The plans, sections and perspectives seemed to work well with each other, at least how I had my board going.  As far as that goes though, my buildings design influenced many design elements and layout of the board itself.  The sheer size of four 1/16″=1′-0″ drawings was enough to lay waste to some design.

 I am super tired, falling asleep just typing this jabber.  Going on a couple hours with no sleep, that is for sure, I got three hours on Sunday night, but other than that I haven’t slept yet. good.

final

Well, shit, so much to do so little time.  I called the firm from back home today to see if I would still have a job when I got back home.  Doesn’t sound like they’re going to have much actual work but a  lot of random small jobs to do.  I.E. clean the office, O’joy.

site

Worked pretty steady on site analysis for about five hours so far tonight. Going to have to wrap that up in order to further my floor plans and sections.
 

back from break, back to reality

This week is going to be the big push week for studio class, considering our final printout is due on Monday.  I do not believe that I have much else work to do for my other classes this week, the bulk of that load will come the following two weeks.  However, I would not be surprised if Norm springs something on us, he seems to be in that type of mood as of late. 

On a lighter note I enjoyed my break a whole lot, and can not wait for winter break. 

tgif

Had lots due today, but really struggled to even complete one thing.  Had our structures bridge due, which turned out really pretty nice in my opinion.  We designed our own bridge and then did all the loads/forces.  Aside from that monster of a project we had some random concrete assignment due.  Which was completely bullshit.  Our sheet isn’t due for another three weeks but our teacher is giving us grades on items assigned Tuesday due Thursday.  Great stuff.  And due to all this I am definitely having a hard time finding time to complete the work.

Anyway, this is my bridge that I designed inspired by Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge in Redding, California.

Looks like crap so click it to make it full sceen and much much much clearer.

long week

If I am not mistaken a hurricane has very strong weather, calm, and then the shit hits the fan.  I think we’re at that first stage right now as far as anything goes for all of my classes.  This week has been a big push in all of my classes with three projects due and then the usual nightly work.  One of the three is now done, concrete sheet was due on Tuesday, so I guess the load is that much lighter.  Good thing Norm is a stroke, and gave us more to do for Thursday.  Something that is not on our schedule, making him a hypocrite.  Studio is always demanding, have floor plans due for Friday, on top of studio the structures project, pedestrian bridge, is also due on that day.  I am more concerned with the bridge at this point, studio can be worked on over break, however the reality of that situation is how much work would actually be done over this much needed break.  Would be nice to just relax for once, hoping break is that calm in the storm.  Making the next two weeks after the break the shitty fan.

On a different note, I have successfully changed my F1 key in AutoCad to *cancel*, which is huge, cause that button is annoying.

floor plans

Have been working on my floor plans now to revise and make them more efficient.  From talking with Shai and sketching the program,  circulation seems to be working better with a more open entry and moving the administration to another story where the gym previously was.  This opens up the entry quite a bit and makes it clear to as what is publicly accessible and what is private.  The core has moved towards the entry more as well, making egress easier along with circulation throughout the entirety of the building.  The paths that are available to take are clear as one enters the building.  The core also allowed for more services, a more centralized sense, restrooms are now clear wherever one might be in the building, a sense of direction.  The other change that occurred with this latest update was the location of the cafe area, and the corresponding storage.  They have been moved to the far east wall, under the administration.  This solution provides greater circulation through and to the cafe area, along with the behind the scenes traffic, storage, loading, etc.  That pretty much sums up the changes that have been made, and the thoughts behind the changes.

bridge design

For my structures class we are designing a pedestrian bridge to span over highway 51, which has peaked my interest as of late. The bridge I am going to design would be a harp bridge emphasizing the large expanse underneath the bridge.  By anchoring the tension members on one side of the road then having the bridge span the width of the highway.  The cables would span from this anchor to the center area of the actual walking path, which then acts as a means to regulate traffic and provide a seating or gathering space.  The actual path will be supported on the bottom by a series of trusses in compression.  On either end of the bridge the paths split turning the walkway into an elongated X.  This would allow for students to traverse to the desired direction of campus they want.  As of now the bridge is more of a Y shape allowing only one means of egress for that half of the bridge.  For those students whom have class over towards Quigley, Woody Hall, or the entire northern side of campus it is not the most direct.  For the side coverings of the bridge so as to protect the traffic below and the pedestrians on top of the structure a system of semi transparent panels with illuminating lights would be used to light the bridge along with a system running along the center area.  There will not be any above coverings like a roof or roof like structure to allow for natural day lighting and to further emphasize the tension members.  The path in which one would walk will also be a system of semi transparent panels allowing a view to the traffic below.

pin up

Pin ups were today, I am disappointed with my board after realizing all of the crucial mistakes that were made in the design.  The layout is nothing short of horrible.  Along with the layout lacking, my interior perspectives came out much darker than expected.  Not the first time something like that has happened, however it did not cross my mind.  For Friday we need to have modified and rethought floor plans. 

On top of studio work and other classes Maria is now finally asking about the accreditation animation that I had been previously working on.  Today I met with her and did a board that took about an hour and a half to modify and make presentable.  In that process I photoshopped six different drawings and made them easier to read, along with putting the board layout together.  I had worked out the room layout and editted the materials over the summer but did not do a finished rendering of the room with circulation.

Narrative

Program plays a key role in building design.  Program essentially governs the overall function of that space.  Likewise a church has many public spaces to where a morgue does not.  Although extreme examples the point is that program can really govern the way a building is designed in order to best facilitate its inhabitants and those that are going to experience that sapce.  Allowing the programmatic elements to possibly govern the buildings own spaces and spacial locations this can create dynamic inviting spaces.  Certain elements can be assumed for different programmatic problems or solutions.  For this particular building, the rural school, seven different categories were subjectively assessed and given a value from one to five, one being the lowest and five being the highest.  Each category had its meaning behind the one to five ranking accordingly.  The building was then able to plot itself two dimensionally using a simple chart and grid system.  The averages of each section of the program were then plotted two dimensionally radially on a grid.  With these seven different outlines spaced according to overall square footage a loft was used to connect them.  This gave the building its shape, and ultimately the design solution to the program.  To make the building more practical the Y axis was scaled to seventy five percent.  The building found itself on the site near the northern border, complimenting window covered south facade.  The site is relatively flat but near the northern border there is some deviation that allows the building to sit snug in its contours.  Some fill is used to completely wrap the building around the first and second floors, allowing light to enter the classrooms.  Light is also brought in through the ceiling on the east side, this lights up the gymnasium and cafeteria area.  The programmatic elements were able to represent this building through a series calculations and then reproduced three dimensionally through the lofting of the data represented two dimensionally.