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    Francois Roche Mid-Term (A look back)

    By Mark Bearak
    Oct 15, '07 10:08 PM EST

    Hello Everyone,
    Here is a video from my midterm:



    Here are some images from my midterm:





















    I would post my jurors feedback, but I wouldn't want it to sway your opinions



     
    • 16 Comments

    • Becker

      Nice computer modelling. i think thats all the class taught you though.

      if all your concerned about in architecture is "random inputs" and "diameters based in distance adjacencies" you need to take a look out the window.

      Oct 16, 07 4:50 am  · 
       · 
      switters

      good luck with that....

      Oct 16, 07 7:36 am  · 
       · 
      Apurimac

      Really nice graphics and presentation, I just wish what they tought(sp) at Columbia was a bit more down to earth though and not so computer dependent.

      Oct 16, 07 9:44 am  · 
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      two-headed boy

      It seems like there are plenty of schools out there with plenty of different orientations. I never understand why someone would want them all to be the same. The project looks great, Mark. Is everybody using gc or just you? How was the jury?

      Oct 16, 07 11:01 am  · 
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      wangsta

      Very interesting project, nice CG work too.

      Apurimac-
      Why on earth would anybody go to Columbia to do "down to earth" projects. If that is truly a concern, there are plenty of tech-heavy programs for students with this desire. Graduate school SHOULD encourage one to look beyond. GSAPP is not a job placement program.

      Oct 16, 07 12:02 pm  · 
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      l8rpeace

      I checked out your other blog, and I can appreciate the fact that it's difficult to double post. However, I am concerned by one statement that you make:

      Made of invaginations and knotted geometries, life forms are embedded within it. Its growth is artificial and synthetic, owing nothing to chaos and the formlessness of nature.

      Would you care to comment on this? I consider that there is underlying order in this chaos. Too often I find it easy to say that the organic is chaotic and formless. At a certain level, order appears, but it is order of different magnitude and structure.

      Oct 16, 07 12:30 pm  · 
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      l8rpeace
      invaginating, invaginating, invaginating (but only because you asked three times)
      Oct 16, 07 1:43 pm  · 
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      Apurimac

      Well wangsta, as a man who has to deal with the reality of interns not knowing how to do the most basic of tasks in the real world on daily basis, the dispora between the academic and real world only means i get paid like a chump because my boss assumes I know nothing, which is not true for me but it is true for alot of interns. Yes, grad school is for learning, and I don't mind pie-in-the-sky stuff, but what good is knowledge if it can't be applied?

      Oct 16, 07 2:26 pm  · 
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      Mark Bearak

      I truly appreciate the feedback. The scripting has been prepared solely in Rhino. I like GC, but over the summer I spent some time developing techniques that mimic GC in Rhino. That was the easy comment.

      In terms of the nature of scripting or even graphic representation in architecture, it truly is a double edged sword. I had my two year review earlier this month and presented a series of similar projects to the one above. ON my way out the door Laurie Hawkinson warned me not to end up in an IT department... The comment resonated on a VERY personal level.

      This has made me think about control. Who is in control of my projects, the script or me. In actuality I DO NOT BELIEVE IN SCRIPTING AS A RELIGION. It is simply a tool, a powerful tool, that I use when I want. A script, a rendering, a diagram, or a concept does not make a building. I like to think of a project as an orchestra and as architects we simple conduct and make music.

      I'm not sure if that really helped... oh yeah, I don't think Columbia exists simply to find jobs. People who take the program seriously (and most people do) learn more than they possible could anywhere else.

      Oct 16, 07 2:54 pm  · 
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      RAArch

      mark nice segue to what i was wondering...what i see [for a mid review] is pretty incredible, solely on the computational complexity. was this a studio that required you guys to come in with extensive parametric modeling and scripting abilities? or are these techniques that you receive instruction on along the way...and i don't mean in a hand holding way, but a one 12 hour session or something like that? it took me half a semester to get proficient in digital project.
      i look forward to the end of the semester

      Oct 16, 07 4:03 pm  · 
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      Apurimac

      That's a nice response Mark, and understand I do have serious respect for the work that gets produced out of schools like Columbia and the AA. I think the real world could learn alot from the kinds of thinking developed in these kinds of academic environments but I also think these schools could learn more from the real world. Its the dispora that aggravates me personally.

      Oct 16, 07 4:08 pm  · 
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      Mark Bearak

      I COMPLETELY AGREE with you Apurimac. It is such a shame that schools seem to work in such an isolated bubble free of the constraints of reality. That said, I think the concept of putting reality on hold has helped me evolve more as an architect. My undergraduate education was very pragmatic, which is specifically why I wanted to go to Columbia. BTW the AA was my second choice for grad. school.

      In terms of scripting I have been working with algorithmic process generations for over a year, but I didn't REALLY get it until recently (over the summer)

      In terms of workshops, I end up giving lots of workshops to help people get started and I think Rhino.script or processing is the best way to get started. If you would like I could set up a week-end scripting workshop at Columbia this fall. Would anyone be interested? I can set one up if there is enough interest.

      Oct 16, 07 5:27 pm  · 
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      Apurimac

      i actually would be interested in a scripting workshop. I'm currently still finishing up my UG at NYIT, which is a very pragmatic (if underfunded) school which is one reason why I actually am tempted to go to a school like the AA for grad and am interested in the work you guys do as much as i knock it sometimes. But unfortunately financial reality will have more to do with my grad school choice than anything else. After interning with a firm here stateside selling my soul to a business school sounds better everyday (for networking reasons mostly, potential clients).

      Oct 16, 07 5:34 pm  · 
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      LaBoule

      Hey Mark, still me - I answered one of your latest post. I feel we have a really different way of teaching in Europe. I mean, nobody is teaching us even how to use Rhino or 3ds. I know lot of people unable to use them when they are graduated; from this point of view, Europe is late compared to USA, but at the other side we are learning a lot about context, typology, landscape planning in ARCHITECTURE School (not a planning prg). When I imagine how much time you spent on your videos, and as it's well known that american are better in mathematics than us. I believe you must be a superhero to study also what we are learning about landscape, material's workshops etc...
      Are you still sleeping a bit ???

      Moreover about François Roche, is he a good teacher? He comes from my country where he's actually not so famous - I can assume that on a 3d year of uni, we're about 15/150 students knowing him.

      Oct 23, 07 8:23 pm  · 
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      Eduardo

      Great Work Mark, congrats

      Oct 30, 07 1:54 pm  · 
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      Eduardo


      have u used the Rhino explicit history plug in? it seemed to me like a cross between GC and modeling with history in Maya..
      Oct 30, 07 1:56 pm  · 
       · 

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