Landscape

Landscape is not just plants and outdoor spaces, but air, sky, and earth. (Haha, sounds like Captain Planet.)

Landscape is the in-between spaces. Landscape is the built and natural environments. Lanscape is weather patterns and the unique qualities of a city. There are levels of landscape, I think, that begin to shape for us the differences between urban and rural.
In nature, there is NATURE. In the built, there is edges, boundaries, nodes, etc. If it wasn't for the built, we wouldn't have more definitions added to how we interact with our environment. Also, these "definitions" is what makes each geographical location unique. If we preserve anything in cities and countrysides, we should preserve their uniqueness.

 

joshspear.com

landscape-photo.net

meetup.com

 

  

 

The French Alps (!!!!!)

We fly all over the world to see this uniqueness. We live around the good, the bad, the ugly. It IS our daily lives, it IS life. (I'm sooo poetic, lol) But it's what makes us find our identity. So many other people talk about landscape based on what landscape they identify with!

We need to find ourselves getting jobs that help improve our communities not our egos. That may sound like a pretty harsh statement, but I am a huge believer in community first, then ourselves. With our attention pointing to our landscape as a showcase, you see more occupations that have to do with technology then those that promote local business success. Like James Howard Kunstler says, "The days of the 3, 000 mile caeser salad is coming to an end!"
To elaborate on this idea, James Howard Kunstler says it best. Watch this link where Kunstler talks about "dissecting suburbia!"

Reminiscing....

So,

I was returning some tests to Kevin Stevens from the Office of Disability Services, and snuck a peak at the other Theory class' "documentary" video.

I became so nostalgic all of a sudden.Yes, I did, but I'm glad I saw it. At the end, Brandon "B-Nice" Watkins was asked if he was gonna miss studio. He said, "Oh, yeah!"
It got me thinking on my walk back to Wyly.  It was the first time this whole school year that it hit me: I won't have this for much longer!
What an opportunity we have as students to be a part of the studio culture unique to LA Tech and Hale Hall!
The ironic thing about it all is that I'm gonna miss every frustration, every person who encouraged me or pushed me, and every terrible moment I experienced, because I have grown as a person as well as a designer!

I am very grateful for all the pizza, the conversations (both intellectual and delirious), the arguments (lots of different perspectives), the critiques (Yes, I said it!haha), the thinking...and the list goes on. But for me, I've learned more than computer skills, design criticism, partis and concepts, I have learned more importantly that I have lots to offer to my community and I have learned a lot of humility through that. I believe that my education here was more about working through my character flaws than if I can get a job right out of graduation.

Personally, these past four years has had the most growing up for me to do.I was able to recognize my comfort zone and learn to embrace and adjust to the tough problems. I learned problem-solving. If there is a problem, small or BIG, I can sit and figure out a solution to the problem. I learned it was okay to be different! To get even deeper (haha), my time here has only added to the diverse background of mine....in other words, it has added to who I already was. I can say that I have been there and that I am "running with it!"


I can remember being a sophomore and having Mullikin as my studio professor. It felt like yesterday we were  talking about partis and such. But even more vivid in my memory was the talks outside of class when professors and other students shared chili and cornbread and talked about the meaning of life.

I am going to miss it. All of it. (well, not the lack of sleep)

To be continued....

Code of Ethics

In theory class, we talked about the obligations, responsiblities, and expectations we have as architecture students. As a class project, we were to determine a code of ethics for our school. When discussing as a class what the School of Architecture's code of ethics could be, these thoughts came to my mind:

What do I expect of others? What do I expect of myself? What do I see as valuable within the school to hold it as an attainable value for future, prospective students, not just my current peers? As architecture and interior design students, we should be able to not only talk about our world views, our studio culture and its values as designers, but we should be able to talk about our standard of excellence. The relationships between students and other parties, such as other students, teachers or even the facilities of the school, is the basis for having an ethical statement and a conversation about what we expect and also what we are responsible for.

I believe we have obligations to ourselves, to our university, to our community as our environment, and to our profession.  We have an obligation and responsiblity as students to learn as well as to have expectations and hold obligations toward the School of Architecture and it's academic resources.

First, we have an obligation to ourselves to take advantage of all the resources around us. And in doing that, we "push the envelope" on our quality of work. After my first year at Tech, my motto was as follows:
To the measure of greatness I put in is how much I will get out. 

Also, we have an obligation to our university. Should architecture students have the responsibility to apply their education to the campus' physical environment, like a journalism major publishes a piece of writing? I believe that to a certain extent it is a valuable lesson of humility and reality.

I believe the university has the responsibility to give us an ultimate vision on what they think an architecture/interior design student should acquire to be, besides just guidelines to drafting and AUTOCAD skills.Don't get me wrong--I believe we have an obligation to the university to learn and absorb the vernacular and the educational skills required to work out in the field one day. But, ultimately, more students would stay knowing that this program is more about our ambitions to others, to the university as a whole, to something bigger than themselves than just gaining all the best computer software skills because you want to make good grades. There should be a balance, I think.

Also, I think we have an obligation to our community and its well-being. We are probably not the only major who studies on improving the "world around us", but I wouldnt' know. I had an engineering class this quarter and I gained another perspective; I had a environmental psychology class, and I gained another perspective. Who wouldn't want a well-rounded student working with them? I know LA Tech would be proud to have them represent the school.

The Ruston environment is our back yard. The community of Tech and of Ruston should be our study, research and application on improving the environment, whether its green implications, landscape and site studies on how to preserve as much original "earth," or becoming the go-to for professionals or business owners on how to apply a greater shopping experience so their profits go up. I don't know, we should have the opportunity to come up with what part of town we would make connections with and maybe what city events we could volunteer for. All in all, our responsibility to our profession won't seem so separate from the previous obligations stated. I mean, we shouldn't we blur the lines between those and what is expected of us in our community, in our school, in our classes (to ourselves) be the same for the profession??


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8dSQE74uL4 this video is in two parts and it's called The Good The Bad. it's about the difference between one student who follows the code of ethics and one that doesn't. (after the first couple of minutes, i think you get the point...the music choice is hilarious!)

http://www.grewdesign.com/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=17 this is a blog by a licensed architect. in this entry, he talks about ethics in the architecture profession. I found it very interesting!

Studio Culture

No sleep.
What to eat.
What's phenomonology?
13th floor.
It's 5 o'clock.
Got a sec?
No more dots.
What do you think?
Energy drink.


Studio.
It's a concept.
It's a culture.
A library floor.
It's a language.
It's a night club.
A storyboard.

It's Cane Sauce.
89 cent tacos.
Gas Station coffee.
Sunset reminds.
Another day.
Sucked in.
Computer screen.
Studio Culture?
What ever do you mean?

What Makes a House a Home

One sentimental object of value that has gone with my family no matter where we moved growing up was my grandfather's glasses. He passed away when I was about seven years old. My dad is one of nine kids, and they were all given one of their father's personal items. My dad came back from the funeral at his hometown in Puerto Rico with his dad's glasses. After all these years, my dad still has it in a case in his dresser drawer.


So, growing up in a very unique log home, one significant piece of furniture to my family is the dining table my parents bought for their first apartment after they were married in Hinesville, Georgia. My sister and I are using it as our dining table in our apartment in Ruston today. Growing up in a military home, the table has been in every picture and now is part of the new memories with me during my college years. 
I grew up in a construction zone. For the ten years we lived in the 1-1/2 story log home, I can remember always having my parents take on a project to renovate the old 70s decor. The living room had red carpet, a petrified wood fireplace that reached all the way to the 16' ceiling loft, and a mural on the opposite wall. The furnace in the kitchen was wood-burning and the kitchen and living room could be seen from upstairs' balcony. The upstairs bathroom was all blue and the downstairs bathroom was all pink: the entire bath tub/shower, the sink, the toilet, the countertops, etc. That and the velvet wallpaper had to have been the hardest things to deal with in changing the home to fit our taste. After all the paint, new flooring (got rid of all red and pukey-green carpet), bathroom renovations, our log home, interior and exterior make-over, was definitely part of all my greatest memories there. Because of the work, I knew every inch of our home. My sister and I had the best hide-n-seek spots and the best time making our "forts" out of the dining room table chairs we have now and large bed sheets.


I am not gonna lie, seeing the log home when we were first moving in was not love at first sight. It smelled like cigarette smoke in every inch of the house. The wood-burning furnace, the mural behind the cast-iron staircase, and the petrified wood furnace were the only things I fount fascinating at the time. My parents' hard work worked in their favor and after a year of trying to move closer to my dad's job, they now live in a home that needed no interior or exterior work. My parents took up gardening because of the large back yard with no fencing and no pets to draw paths in the grass. Now, my favorite place is the garden and the large french doors that lead out to the back patio. My greatest memory in the new home is the night we moved in: it was the Wednesday night the Boston Red Sox won the World Series!! We heard it over the radio as the four of us moved in all the furniture and boxes in all by our lonesome! I slept on a mattress with no sheets, but I slept like a baby that night.

Architect as Inventor. Unlimited connections.

Hmmmm. Do you believe that everything can be eventually related back to architecture?
Maybe, to a certain extent?

How about the Matrix Trilogy? Who's behind this madness? An architect, the inventor and "ruler" of all things Matrix. *evil laugh*

Well, let's take a few steps back and chat about a way to see architecture beyond it's denotation.

Here's a scenario (based on true events):
A group of second year architecture girls and I went and saw the movie, Leap Year (yes, a chick flick).  We were determined to have a whole day away from any school conversation or responsibilities! After striking up a conversation over sushi about the book The Kite Runner, I noticed one of the girls fiddling with her Ipod Touch. Instantly, in a flashback, I was at work the day before reading an article about how Apple Apps have reached over 3 billion dowloads:

"Three billion applications downloaded in less than 18 months--this is like nothing we've ever seen before," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "The revolutionary App Store offers iPhone and iPod touch users an experience unlike anything else available on other mobile devices, and we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon."


iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 countries worldwide can choose from an incredible range of apps in 20 categories, including games, business, news, sports, health, reference and travel.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.


[www.redorbit.com/news/technology...]

Talk about innovations today! But how about the unlimited possibilities it gives us? I wonder if it can only go so far or maybe if it does, will it be pulled back? I don't know. What I do know is that after so much thought of exactly what architects do and how their work sits within any and all societies and culture, I have a more enthusiastic view.

I flashback to the dinner table at the restaurant and cannot help but picturing myself right where the book The Kite Runner took place, the Middle East. I don't know where to place myself physically or visually but I can almost assume that the once bubble of unlimited possibilities just busted.

Watching the movie Leap Year, a young women wants to control and plan every aspect of her life and finds herself taking a risk in finding love across the globe. I had phrases like "take a risk", "be a go-getter", "you only get what you work hard for", and "stay motivated" rotating around my head like a halo at the sushi restaurant. That has vanished in the uncertain life I could have in another culture and another area of the world. Not saying, only us Americans know and understand hard work and success, but I wonder does it diminsh because their aspirations are more about survival or do I need to be educated so I will not take for granted exactly the possibilities I have here.

Any one who knows me, knows I am obsessed with cooking and trying new types of food. That's why sushi is so attractive to me and my taste buds. It's so many new and exciting combinations in one roll. (Plus the dinner conversation is so nice when you can critique the entree and also talk about culture and languages...that might just be me, hehe).

In the same way, we feed off of new, exciting choices, unlimited possibilities, risk-taking, and a motivated and grounded society in America. That's how it goes. That's all we know. As architects and perspiring designers, we have technology follow our ideas. For example, Avatar took almost a decade to make because they were waiting for the technology to catch up to what they wanted to do accomplish in the end.

That speaks a lot about the goal of Make It Right, to me. Basicly, they are meeting (connecting) challenges and innovative possibilities and making the first steps in understanding where Architects can make a difference and the manifestation therein.

I just wonder like the architect in Matrix, is it to feed our own ambitions (whatever they may be) and do what we want or is it about the betterment of all of us and the people who make up our grand and endeavering society.

Inspirations & Expectations

ray lamontagne
audobon park

saints going undefeated
the sound of music

now, interestingly enough these are all interests of mine. the first one grouped is some what of conversation pieces for me and my friends. the second group is ones randomly chosen through a look-away-and-draw method.

Based off of Geoff Manaugh's question, "Is all architecture?" and my own perceptions of the world around me, there must be one common denominator between all four subjects that can be surprisingly established.

Well, here goes (just bear with me).
I was talking to a fellow classmate during design/build studio and they mentioned (meaning to be somewhat secretive, so their name shall remain anonymous) that they have a very unique way of coming up with a design: closing their eyes, sitting back, and listening to Phil Collins. Hmmm, wow! I would have never thought of that, I thought.

So, as usual my analytical self began to think about it some more. What makes us more sensitive to the world around us? What makes us link with certain spaces more than others? Is it really just our personal preferences? I believe that how you feel and how you desire to feel in any space can bring you and move you toward manifesting that feeling through design, writing, art, etc.

Just like we have perceived things to be there, we have also perceived things that are not really there. I can interpret what someone said differently then everyone else and attach a "vibe" to what they said, even though that was not the intent of the speaker. (Have I lost you?) Ok, another example, someone writes a song that hits a heart string in you, but really the meaning of the song was originally meant to be interpreted another way. How i design compared to someone else in my studio class is how i translate things in my pattern of thinking and how i form it into reality. How interesting!

Also, what is it about music that allows us to be responsive to our known world? (known world being our minds and our physical worlds). Ray Lamontagne is a very soulful musician, but an even more, a very rare singer and song writer.

When I listen to his music, I often times wonder how he comes up with them all? Does he sit on the couch and just sing out his feelings to his guitar? Usually, it must be that he walked through something, not necessarily a space, but a space in time and it provoked an array of emotions.

When i visited uptown New Orleans and walked through Audobon Park, an array of emotions, mostly content, ran through me. In the same way a song provokes an emotion just by listening to it (maybe an image of a part of your life that provoked a good orbad experience), this place provoked me to the place where i stopped and was very much in touch with how it was impacting me.

I stared at the people who rode their bikes along the bike path while i walked a long a pond that hid behind large trees and its canopies. What i didn't realize until later is that that feeling came with me and didn't stay on St. Charles Avenue. I have designed in my studio classes based on the feelings i bring back from places and experiences like that.

Speaking of absolute content, i think there are levels of them. The Saints being 12-0 is no news to anyone in Louisiana, just news to those who never really believed in the football program for...well...ever. Why not? Well, because, every person EXPECTS to be content. Just, in the event of the Saints being undefeated, gives us more to talk about. I mean, I don't know about you, but I am talked out. But, hey, when they win again, I will do it all over again. WHO DAT??!

American people love sports and its arenas and its hype. It's big and we expect the best of everything. Our buildings reflect that attitude. Most sports arenas are the most stand-out arenas in large cities. They are placed by massive expressways and interstates. We love BIG!
These players are playing with skills they know and work hard for and love. They just happen to be on ESPN, while our accomplishments may be in small communities or large skyscrapers in Dubai or Shanghai or Dallas.

I have always been curious about the lifestyles in other countries, especially in that of decades before us. What did they expect? Did they expect Saints to win? or the Yankees? (bluh). Or did they expect peace? Did they expect kindness? Did they expect Hitler to shoot himself so then they can rebuild? I loved the film, The Sound of Music, because its setting was mostly a Captain's home in Austria during the 1930s.

Even if you think that you would have punched Julie Andrews for being too peppy, the film was a perfect example of music and contentment in life. The setting of the movie was very interesting in that it spoke of a hope within dictatorship and society's expectations of you.

Is our architecture promoting what they think Society is demanding or is it what they really want? Is Society a she or he? Are we personifying it? I mean who says what is good or bad for us anymore? Like for cuss words, who says what's a good or bad word? A friend of mine told me cuss words were words that explained a person's situation as over-the-top, a tad of an exaggeration on their part. it sounds worse, it sounds big and 'WOW'!

What do we expect? We are society. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.