cement, acrylic....alpaca?

so in cube class (as i've affectionately renamed it), we've now worked with cement and acrylic as well.
we had to cast and clad cement cubes

made a mold to cast into

mixed concrete

poured into mold

removed from mold after a few days

mixed cement to clad with (concrete proved to be difficult to clad...very difficult)

dried cement clad cube! concrete attempts behind it...

we also had to make an acrylic cube using the laser cutter and joining our sides in at least 3 different ways

top view

made small rope hinges for the top

used a finger joint for one side

made small slits to tie string through on another

cut slits for brads on this corner and wove some string around them

this one was my favorite-i cut strips out of the acrylic and wove some hand-spun wool through

in internship news...

another visit to louise brought me to an alpaca farm! wild rose suri ranch is located in havre de gras, maryland and is an awesome place! we got to meet some of the gang and learned a lot about grading fleeces. 

grading is based on the ratio of primary (rougher, guard hairs) hairs to secondary (finer, softer) hairs. we got samples of various grades of fleece to spin and weave and report our findings as to which were easier to spin, etc. louise and i split the samples and put them into unlabeled bags to see if we could guess the grades by working with them. so far, i've only worked with bag #1 and it was very soft and easy to work with! 

oh, i also made a spindle out of sticks, twine that i made, and wool that i spun!

3 1/2 hours for such a small ball of yarn...

it wove beautifully

i also made a for-salvage loom while at louise's

progress shot

so many parts!

samples woven before the loom was put together to test how many threads per inch i wanted to work with

her workroom has such good lighting...

i also made myself a frame to weave samples on here at home with sticks i found in the local bog garden

i made a pretty big mess, but it was done in the name of weaving!

not bad, eh?

and finally, hannah, my research professor has an abundance of husky hair in her office from her dog (with intent to spin it) and she let me have some to spin! it's probably the best fiber i've worked with so far. she carded it on her drum carder (which i will soon explore) and so i just picked it off of the carder and spun it with my little twig spindle. 

soon to come: i attempt to extract the fibers from some bamboo i came across in the bog garden, a dyeing workshop with louise next month, and weaving on my loom!

also, we're making rotational mold machines in cube class so stay tuned for photos and more progress there.

new semester, new structure

so, this being my last semester, classes are looking a little different. my studio class consists of an exploration of materials and methods. the first week, we explored paper cubes, last week we made wooden boxes, and this week we're tackling cement. it's a lot of fun and unlike any other class i've taken in my years here. here are the results of that so far:

it's safe to say, i'm no expert at either material yet! it's still great to be able to experiment and work with these materials. 

i'm also interning with an extraordinary woman this semester. her name is louise wheatley and she is a weaver, print maker, textile conservator, and much more! she's taught me how to hand spin my own yarn from all sorts of fibers using a drop spindle. she's also taught me how to make twine from locally-grown dogbane, or indian hemp. very soon i'll learn to grow natural dyes and carve wood blocks as well as how to weave! 

my hopes are to one day take my knowledge of craft and the primitive methods i've been learning and go overseas. i think that it would be incredible to teach children and to work with women to set up their own businesses and support their families. there are a lot of fair trade organizations that partner with women and families in their crafts and through them the families have much gain. 

here are some photos from what i've been able to work on so far:

dogbane

the fibers pulled from the broken-up dogbane

the before & after

hand-spun twine

wool straight from the sheep

me carding wool

rolling it off with a pencil...it makes life so much easier!

pencil rovings, ready to go

the drop spindle and some spun yarn!

my first-ever completed skein of wool yarn. proud moment!

learning to spin cotton...yes, that's a honey dipper

first completed skein of cotton yarn!

i can't wait to see where this internship takes me!

full speed ahead...to the end!

after the midterm critique we spent about 10 days on each floor, focusing on each one specifically. from there we had our final pin-up and presented inside the actual building downtown this past friday, december 6. it went well! here is my final board:

my haiku graphic turned out to look like this: 

this project really helped me to think about the potential we have as designers. it made me think about my intentionality and my purpose behind everything. being able to focus my project around bringing people together was so helpful and encouraging and fun! blending truly is beauty and there is much blending to be done in greensboro and around the world. no two people are alike and new people are worth meeting. i'm thankful for this project and for this opportunity. 

now on to the next semester!

modernism at home

last friday i attended a lecture given by patrick lucas on modernism at home. he has been researching (with the help of others, too) the legacy and innovation of edward lowenstein, one of greensboro's most prominent architects. having started his work solo in the 40s, lowenstein did much of his work during controversial times. he was the first to incorporate race relations and design and hired african americans to work at his firm.
patrick talked a lot about how lowenstein "worked things out" in his designs. his buildings just..work. they answer questions you never even realized you had. he also noted that building appearances can reflect the cultural issues of the time.

he talked about modernism and how, at first we don't really get it. but when we live with it for a while we start to understand. I thought that was very interesting and it kind of spoke to lowenstein'is "working things out".

lowenstein layered buildings according to light, needs, and experience. he was also very interested in highlighting the bones of the structure and often did so with lighting.

i'm definitely glad that i attended the lecture and wish i could've done the walking tour and saw the houses in person. when thinking about greensboro it's easy to think of it as old and beaten down, outdated. but now i have a new appreciation for our city. i think that the more that people start to build up parts of it, our city will really come together. whether modernist, traditional, or something in between, greensboro is a mix of creative minds just waiting to be showcased!




side note: lowenstein's "working things out" reminds me a lot of something that jerry told our class the other day while filling in for jo. he said to, "answer the questions first and the design will unfold." this has stuck with me ever since. i think that it's really easy to get caught up in design and keep designing forever without ever really finishing anything. answering the main questions helps set up the foundation for the rest of the design to transpire. and for me, that is unbelievably helpful to hear.

MIDTERM REVIEWS

midterm reviews proved to be insightful, as expected!

jo: suggested that i improve my renderings and add people

lauren: addressed the doors in the back of the building (currently there are a lot!)
she also talked about how i'd have to have a public restroom if i have a lunch counter
she mentioned that my apartment rendering was cold and that it could be warmed up a little

robert: agreed with lauren about the doors and the restrooms
he also addressed front stair travel distance and said it might be too far and should be looked at
also mentioned that there were venting solutions to allow me to have a grill and such in my food area (i was concerned about where it would vent to).
he said that i'd need to close off the bike shop if i want different tenants to coexist in the building.
he said my basement looked good as far as the code was concerned, and that i could use the back stairs for something else since i already had 2 stair cases and ways out.

jerry: had a lot of advice. i think he's quickly becoming my favorite person to talk to by far. we talked about his process because personally, i'm bad about the delivery but i love designing. i asked about his process and he said that he starts where the most life is present and moves forward. for this project, that is the street. start designing for the street view and move in.
he also talked about hand rendering and its importance.
we talked about how design can go for forever and that planning time wisely is key. he said to start with the most public spaces.
overall, the process is better than the product but the product makes you the money.

hugh: another of my favorites, talked all about the front, street experience. he said to go crazy with windows on the street level. he also emphasized sketches and hand renders.

i didn't get my poster printed, but here is what it looks like:

personally, i think that there is a lot of work to be done still! i really want to focus on the experience that one has in the building, i just need to get all of the essentials nailed down first. moving forward, i plan to hammer out the last crucial details and then focus on the experience from the outside moving inward.

FIRST STEPS...3

from our haikus we went on to develop space allocation diagrams. we met with code experts downtown to understand our restrictions and limitations as far as safety and accessibility in this project. we also considered how the 6 tactics (plane, objects, light, opening, surface, movement) we learned about in integral urbanism apply to each of our spaces and filled out a sort of precedent matrix for each space. we combined these together for a gallery-style critique this past friday and had a few guests attend. sidney and his wife ricky, the building owners, showed up as well as hugh, a local architect, lee, head of downtown, and jerry, another local architect and jo's husband!

the feedback was hugely helpful in this stage of the project. at first, feedback this early didn't seem desirable but after talking to the guests many of us realized that it was actually a great time to have outside opinions come in. this early, we're not as committed to what we're going with and are more able to change and develop our projects. overall, it was a success.

FEEDBACK:

jerry: he really got to the heart of WHY i chose my haiku and how that pours into every single thing that i do (even where i put my light switches). we talked about what resonated with me from the tactics. for me, objects and surfaces stuck out. we discussed multifunctionality and depth of objects and he suggested i think about how that can resonate to my design.

jo: jo was able to help me think about the way that i had things laid out and what was effective versus what wasn't. we decided that i had a little too much lounge space and that i could use some more pharmacy storage and display area. she suggested that i reconsider having my elevator in the middle of the building and also that i refine my drawings.

sidney & rickey: being the building owners and not licensed architects, they mainly listened to what i had to say and seemed excited about the project. i can imagine that it was exciting and a little overwhelming to have so many dreams for their building being presented to them at one time!

katie moyer: in looking over her project she really related her designs to her concept and that stuck out to me.

monica browning: we talked about taking our projects to the next level and really getting to the heart of things.

lee: she mentioned that realty in the downtown area is great and that they want to get people down there! she didn't hate my small apartments and thought the more the merrier as far as residents went. she suggested that i keep the existing elements and what gives the building character, but just update them. she suggested painting the tin ceiling to update it. she also suggested that i make the most of the front window display spaces and take advantage as them as my "money shots".

matt weikert: matt definitely spread his concept all over everything that he did. i thought that it was a great idea to introduce more windows along the washington street side to stir interest.

lauren p: we discussed my huge hallways and she suggested that i take advantage of some as small meeting spaces. we talked over my code issues (and i had a bit) and she made some great suggestions.

hugh: words can't sum up how helpful hugh was to me. he told me to think outward and to really consider the people living there and what they do, their life styles, etc. his energy was contagious and breathed a new life into this project for me.

moving forward, i've got a lot of refining and adjusting to do but i think that this critique was so necessary and helpful.