The last week in studio has definitely been a bit of a struggle. Getting this demolition idea to work out is no small feat. I have been having a hard time knowing where to begin. Luckily we had our first desk crits on Thursday with our TA and he was very helpful. I am going to try looking at... View full entry

We had a bit of a slow start to the week because studio was cancelled on Monday. which was a bummer because we actually did a good amount of work for class. We are currently working in groups on all the early stages of our casino project. Luckily I have a really good group and we are investigating... View full entry

it is very quiet in studio today as the city is being blanketed by a substantial snowfall. it is actually kind of pleasant in studio, at least you don't feel like you're missing out on anything by being stuck inside. we are working in groups to start dealing with the programatic requirements of... View full entry

Ahhh back to school. Well sort of, we are at the start of our second week, but it is always a slow start at the beginning of any semester. I have to say this always makes me very anxious because I just know what is coming in the weeks ahead. Down time can be such a curse! We are basically just... View full entry

Wow, I just finished my first semester today! It felt like it would never actually end. After final reviews, which were on the 14th, we have all been trying to catch up and finish with our other classes...papers, projects etc. It has really been dragging on and I haven't done any Christmas... View full entry

I got to experience the joys of camping out for the laser cutter this morning. I wish I could convey the amount of anxiety flowing through the school right now as virtually every student needs to get slots of time on the laser cutter before final reviews, which are a little over a week away. I... View full entry

As promised, in the spirit of a more comprehensive view of some of the things happening at Penn, here are some examples of work from some of my other classmates. Of course, this represents just one studio here in the 600 level, and there is a wide variety of work going on here. Oh and the four of... View full entry

Again, everyone, sorry for not posting in a while, and also for the random Billy Dee Williams post, but hey, he is a bit of a hero around here... One thing that has been on my mind a bit for the last few days is an issue that seems to come up pretty often on archinect-the grad school dilemma. Now... View full entry

Long time, no post...sorry about that. I had a major brain fart with my project last week, so I was pretty frantic. Seems like things may be back on track now, but it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is almost here...the semester is going by so fast! Nothing too exciting to report. Our... View full entry

As promised... Here is some work from another member of my studio to give you a broader view into what we have been working on. I am still working to get more up here soon! Also latest school news...our open house for prospective students was on Friday, so if any of you were there I hope you... View full entry

Well, we made it through mid-review, which was on Wednesday. About a week before the review, David realized that we were all struggling with transitioning between the intensive algorithmic/geometric investigations that we have been working on to the architectural solution. To try and combat this... View full entry

But it is! Our mid-review is approaching way too quickly. We are scheduled to present on Wednesday. I can already feel the rising tension in studio...everyone making trips to Pearl. Although I thought I could avoid the dreaded Pearl visit, it looks like I will have to build (gulp) a physical... View full entry

First just an update on the squirrel situation, which I was reminded of after reading the Harvard blog about birds...just to put all of your minds at ease, the squirrel was safely rescued from the clutches of the studio by a brave student. She basically was able to catch him in a blanket and then... View full entry

Being in studio on a Saturday morning is actually one of the best things. It is so quiet...except for the fact that we have a squirrel running around in our studio. I feel so bad for the little guy. He can't seem to figure out how to get out the window. Somehow I think this could be a major... View full entry

we made it through our first visual studies assignment...it actually wasn't too bad at all. we used rhino/autocad/illustrator to work between 2d and 3d. basically we took some of the diagrams we have been working on for our studio projects and then converted them into a 3d model by combining our... View full entry

It seems like we have already been in school for weeks, but yesterday was the first day that we had any classes beside studio. The seemingly slow start is nice, but makes me anxious, because I know it is only a matter of time before things really heat up... Anyway, yesterday was our first Theory... View full entry

While we have still not started any of our other classes, studios officially kicked off today. I will be in David Ruy's studio, which is called “Agora.” We will be investigating new possibilities for the program of the marketplace. The market is to be in the form of a flea market... View full entry

Studio selections were held today, and I am sure it is the first and last time that we will see our future critics in the role of candidates trying to win our votes. There is something satisfying about this, I guess, it makes you feel like you are spending all of your money on something worth... View full entry