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Sep '06 - Oct '07

 
  • long time no see... Fall 2007

    By mikilee
    Oct 17, '07 12:55 AM EST

    Hi folks,

    It's been a while since I've posted, and I am back in full swing of my final year now at GSAPP.

    Summer 2007 engulfed me with travels and contemplations of the professional world within and without architecture- after an academic year of Kurgan, a summer of freelance + relaxation, + overall reflection I am back in the think mode.

    This fall, there were 17 choices for studio- an overwhelmingly large number of choices, an influx of M.Arch II students, and I chose (again) a studio that was able to travel for a bit. Craig Konyk's Historic Preservation studio situated in Casablanca took us (all 25 of us) to Morocco last week for 5 packed days to study the issue of migrancy from Africa to Europe in the city. The trip was fantastically disorganized- students from both the Historic Preservation and Architecture departments combined itineries and travel agendas to visit sites in Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat... all during the Ramadan holiday. Armed with no cellphones, different hotels, and students with varying degrees of cognition of group travel, we embarked on a short, but intense visit to our site and the surrounds...

    The trip was interesting, whirlwind, to say the least. Our first day, (after a flight of no sleep) we visited our site in Casablanca, to discover that the modernist Team 10 site had been completely filled-in. I guess we knew this, from Google earth satellite photos, where the site appeared completely built-in. Since our studio is supposed to deal with historic preservation, the big question that faced us, was the meaning of preservation on a site that has so dramatically changed, and shifted due to local economics and incentives.

    While I am tempted, upon return, to design our site as an architectural project, I am also ridden with a factor of reality that- given certain architectural and urban design master planning, people will adapt and build what they want to build. My project this semester will try to deal with these local desires- and their relation to the architect as the planner of infrastructure. Political, social, and economic infrastructures, + the exciting possibility of ongoing relations between project design, local populations, and the interaction between both users and developers.

    In addition to studio, I am taking the prerequisite Building systems II class, Graphic Narratives with Michael Rock (2x4), and Pro Practice. I'm enjoying the Graphic Narratives class, which is allowing me to exorcise the graphic design bug in me- if anything, it's a great class to help articulate some of the narrative interests I have in my work.

    More saucy stuff to come...
    ML

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  • eat the eel sushi last

    By mikilee
    Feb 1, '07 12:43 AM EST

    this one goes out to one of the founders of archinect. i heard from a good friend who knows you well that you MUST eat the eel sushi last. i know this, but i just wanted to spread the word, because it is a dessert sushi, and maybe prior to that, to eat the flying fish roe sushi which also has a... View full entry



  • Pecha Kucha

    By mikilee
    Feb 1, '07 12:37 AM EST

    Ah, the beginning of another semester... I am again, in Laura kurgan's studio this semester, and we are doing a redesign studio in New Orleans. While I was initially hesitant to really focus my energies at school, I'm now very excited about the group of 7 that we are, and the work that we will do... View full entry



  • Halfway done with school!!!!

    By mikilee
    Dec 16, '06 12:47 AM EST

    So... I just finished up my 3rd semester at Columbia, and it was a great semester. Towards the end of the term, everything I thought would happen did- the studio became a trashy mess, with models, dust, and half-empty food containers scattered about the studio. Sleeping bags and sleeping cots were... View full entry



  • Almost the end

    By mikilee
    Nov 28, '06 10:44 PM EST

    Hello from Miki... So there's one week between now and the final review for second year M.Archers. It's hard to believe. The semester flew by, and now we're all getting souped up to present our final findings from the semester. I'm pretty happy with the way the semester has panned out... my... View full entry



  • Third Quarter Review, the General Housing Ambience, and Black Bears!

    By mikilee
    Nov 8, '06 10:58 PM EST

    Hello again, after a bit of an absence. Today was our third quarter review, and it's interesting to see how projects are evolving now, as the final review grows near. It's been a very emotional semester for some, having to deal with difficult partnerships or personal disasters, all the while... View full entry



  • debates and considerations- mark wigley's theory class

    By mikilee
    Sep 26, '06 5:12 PM EST

    This semester I am taking Mark Wigley's History of Architectural Theory course, along with a score of other students jam-packed in one of Avery's least-favorite rooms. The course is quite popular, and I understand why- attending the institution of Columbia, being 'fashioned' into one of its... View full entry



  • Very Good, very good- response to your responses

    By mikilee
    Sep 24, '06 2:19 AM EST

    Haha- such good comments. I threw out that experience just to see if anyone was listening. Glad to hear some people care... :) all i have to say, now, is that there is a dynamic between instructors and students in school that is quite interesting. there's a mutual anxiety shared, about knowing and... View full entry



  • First Crit day

    By mikilee
    Sep 23, '06 12:24 AM EST

    So today we had our first pinup review. It was okay- i purposely felt and acted unprepared- not quite ready to give a show of things. I heard the trick is to have a lot of ideas, hide your work, then smash the competition towards the end. Generally it's a good technique, if you know where you're... View full entry



  • Good food, the finer grain, design and redesign

    By mikilee
    Sep 10, '06 1:28 AM EST

    I just spent a lovely New York evening saying farewell to a dear friend of mine who decided to take the year off for work. Several of my fellow classmates sat around a dazzling array of delicious japanese/korean bbq down near the Cooper Union, cooking away at tasty dishes, talking about school and... View full entry



  • First day of studio

    By mikilee
    Sep 8, '06 10:31 PM EST

    Today was our first day of studio. I think many of us were still in the daze of late summer, so hearing all of the statistics and information that Laura Kurgan gave in her studio presentation made me dizzy. It's all good though- I'm in a great studio with really smart, fun students who I think... View full entry



  • first day

    By mikilee
    Sep 7, '06 11:23 PM EST

    Columbia University (Miki) Hi Just Checking In... 2 comments Hi... this is my first entry into the archinect website, and I'm happy to say that I'm the first female to enter into the Columbia GSAPP posts as of late. I'm a practical-minded, sweethearted gal with a heart of stone. I welcome... View full entry



  • Hi Just Checking In...

    By mikilee
    Sep 7, '06 12:32 AM EST

    Hi... this is my first entry into the archinect website, and I'm happy to say that I'm the first female to enter into the Columbia GSAPP posts as of late. I'm a practical-minded, sweethearted gal with a heart of stone. I welcome opinions and questions from left, right, up, down, sideways, and... View full entry



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