
Louisiana, Lincoln Parish Corridors http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/index.htm



I have ever heard students comparing that there is not enough space to work on projects in studio. Students need more wide desks, individual working spaces, meeting rooms, etc. In addition, students want to have a vending machine, beds and even shower rooms. Our wish lists of studio may never blank. I agree with them partially. I want to have wider desk for multi working like working on laptop and on making model. I want to have a quiet meeting space to discuss some group projects.
But, is it true that we do not have enough space to work on projects? How can we make studio better?
I found some studio pictures on flickr.com.
The GSAPP studio (flickr.com)
I can clearly see that their paths must be so tight. They may have other working spaces in different room, but our studio is BETTER. We have definitely wider pathways and BETTER individual desks. I am not saying that it’s the best, and not saying that they are bad neither.
How about a wider or bigger desk?
(Flickr.com)
It looks nice, but same time I can see what will be happened if we have a desk like them. Some may never clean up own desk until the clean-up day. I think wider or bigger desk is nice if each student have an attitude of cleaning-up. It will be great that if we have a desk like they have, so we can put our model “in progress”, “ready-for-critique”, laptop and extra snacks.
How about if we have a studio which can have all year like 1st to 5th like an image below?
It is wide opened space, but looks a busy factory to me. I would rather choose a studio we have even though this studio can have all students we have.
So do we should have better studio like a professional one?
Like red nice wall with red conformable sofa and table?
The Hyperbody studio (flickr.com)
Or like a nice office in the nature?
"office in the woods," designed by Jose Selgas and Lucia Cano (dvice.com)
I would not mind to work on project in such nice places. But I may miss the school-like environment I have. These studio and offices must to be looked good for magazine shoot; clean, professional and neat.
I believe that studio culture may not be changed by what we have within such as big desks, well designed rooms, and cozy sofas. But it may be changed by attitude we have. I mean there are so many things we can improve situation by ourselves. If we do not have enough space around, why do not we clean up around? If we need extra food, why do not we buy extra bags of chips or something else from store before we come to the studio and stock them under their desk? If we need a relaxation, why do not we just go home one hour and make mind and body fresh?
However there are still things we need to be changed and had in the studio. First, we definitely do not have enough additional large group working desks around individual desks. At few situations, we can solve it by simply cleaning up our desk or by respecting others like sharing the large desk with other students. But the most of time, we want to have more large desks to work group projects (or fighting with another student like an image below).
(jonography.blogspot.com)
Second, I wish we have more walls at 3rd floor to have critiques and display our projects like 2nd floor beside the studio. It is sometime a fight how Interior design students can get a movable whiteboard or pin-up board from architecture students. We understand that they need those for group projects, but also we wish that they can understand our situation. All interior design major students from 2nd to 4th year share 2 and half blocks of desks. We have small square build-in boards for display and critiques and they are not enough for all of us. Also I sometime see that 4th year architecture students need more display area to discuss their project at distance. I think this can be better if we have movable large displays more like in an image below.
It can be used for critiques, group discussion, and even a partition between year and year or group and group. It creates little private area we may want to have. There is no space to make an extra wall or an extra room, but if we have some of these, it may help.
Our needs seem not enough, never end, and never enough. What do you think?
On the image above, this is a chart of family members drew by my younger sister. From top left father, mother, bottom left, me, younger sister, and younger brother. (Family website: http://sugarsfamily.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index.htm). My family has strong bonds and we go out everywhere together.
(drew by Rena.S)
Because of that, I have a strong feeling toward first floor at home where includes kitchen, living room, dining room, family room, and father and mother’s offices. When my parents decided to rebuild our old house, they wanted to have huge rooms instead of individual/private room for each. So at the first floor, we only have the main room, a bathroom and entrance. At the second floor, we have a small kitchen, a small bedroom, and a huge bedroom. All of my siblings share the huge room. My family has less privacy than any other families typically have.
A significant furniture piece is the ping-pong table to my family. Because father, sister, brother and I play table tennis, my mother, who plays tennis, desired to have it to share family time. Unfortunately for the ping-pong table, we mostly use it as parent’s extra working station, family meeting space, studying desk, and dining table for more than 7 guests. It is useful.
Japanese household typically have a family Buddhist alter and a household Shinto shelf next to each other at home like the photo above. Without exception, there are a Buddhist alter in my house which enshrine my grandparent, father’s younger sister, and a dog my grandmother had. We also have Shinto alter to worship. Whenever I leave home like trip, or coming back to
Left:old home before destroyed, Right:memory is gone?
I had similar feelings with the sentiment toward grandparents when our old house was broken down to build the house we have now. The old house was owned by my grandfather and I have lived there since I was born. We have so many memories are both good and bad. The house was like grandparents themselves to me. I went to kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and high school from the house. I played games and many things with my sister and brother. We had great family gatherings. My father locked me out to shed once to punish me and grandmother rescued me soon after. I felt a lot of loss when the old house was destroyed to build new one on the same site. The feeling was similar to a loss of a family member.
It has been about 8 years since my family lives the new house. We have new furniture, events and memories there. It seems different from the old house because the most of surroundings are new and different; however, I can think the new house as my home. I believe that because all of my family members share same memories and events, the house becomes a simple shelter than the symbol home. I can say that if my family moves to the
As I have done last time, I want to introduce each topic at first in short.
(Image left from: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MrAndMrsSmith)
This is an American action comedy film directed by Doug Liman and
Rose for Emily
A Rose for Emily by American author William Faulkner is a short story of Miss Emily Grierson’s mysterious life and death which is viewed by several townspeople who serve as the collective narrator. It is first published in 1930. The town which is Faulkner’s fictional city, Jefferson, in his fictional county of
William Faulkner’s Image from: (http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib/english/orwell/primary_sources/faulkner.jpg)
LED lights
LED Christmas light (flickr.com)
According to the website of Energy Star (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=lighting.pr_what_are#what_are), “LED stands for light-emitting diode. LEDs are small light sources that become illuminated by the movement of electrons through a semiconductor material”. LED lighting is believed that more efficient, long-lasting, versatile, and durable than other existent lightings. One can use energy and light efficiently. More people start to change their light bulbs to LED and/or Energy Star qualified lightings ever due to Green actions and saving money.
LED Video panel (flickr.com)
Pizza
Pizza is … PIZZA. Should I have to define this? Pizza is believed as an American popular food by many people worldwide including Americans themselves. According to
To complete the game “the ‘four’ degree of Separation”, I begin with the organization Make It Right. This was created by Brad Pit to help the survivors of Hurricane Katrina at the lower 9th ward by building housed with lower costs for them.
In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Mr. Smith…Mr. Pit carries guns for his job to complete his task. Unlike the film, he uses construction tools to fight to wrong situations in
(http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/famecrawler/archive/2008/04/03/brad-pitt-on-american-idol.aspx)
(http://bridalbird.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/ushouseproblem.jpg)
Mr. and Mrs. Smith own a great rich house. In
The most of houses are modernized by high quality design. Because
left image from(www.makeitrightnola.org/)
Using new techonology to make our life better and efficient is not bad thing. Like LED light, people has recognized changing typical light to LED light can save their money. Even thought it costs at the beginning, it will be paid back. This investment is sustainable. Since people want to save money and the earth, it is a good example of use of technology.
What healthy is another question. Fully organic food is believed healthy, but it costs much higher than normal life. An egg contains good protein but it could be bad to people who are allergic to. I know some people believe that pizza as healthy food to eat vegetable and meat in a piece, but they also know that they should not each pizza too much because it has high calories.
So what makes things right? I believe that there are nothing right as a meaning as correct. If one like to paint a house all red, it is right for the person. If one wants to have a house like Archigam or vernacular architecture, it is right. I do not mean that it is right for others. Community may not want to have the red house. Neighbors may not want to live next to the vernacular house. The important task of an architect will be how one can find the midway in issues surrounding architecture. Michael Sorkin says in More or Less that “the house must respect sustainable practice…and accommodate our social and individual differences”. I believe it is true and important.
Hurricane Katrina has brought up “a problem of landscape design” according to Geoff Manaugh and Nicola Twilley in What is a City. What will be the solution? According to the dictionary, the word right means that “morally good or acceptable”, “truth or correct as a fact”,” in a normal or good enough condition”, and so on. SO WHAT MAKE IT RIGHT?
This blog is for ARCH 361-001 which is the special topics of theories of architecture at Louisiana Tech University.