it's been a while...thought i'd give an update..i've been crazy busy, and an entire 3 week studio project has passed since my last post...it went really well and i'll post images tmr.

Recently we had the dedication of the now aptly named Paul Rudolph Hall, formerly A+A building...The festivities were quite entertaining not to mention being the Oscars for architecture. It was quite an illustrious cast that attending the ceremonies. Here's the recap.

1. Thursday began with Open House. Unfortunately I didn't get to attend as I had to fly back home. However, we had a record turnout this year which is great to hear. I was excited that Peter Eisenman was lecturing this year, because not only is he an extraordinary teacher whose taught at many architecture schools he is also one of the few persons whom I've met who will give you the straight answer. My experience of open houses diluted me in the general process of considering schools, a testament to the fact that I feel many schools attempt to compare themselves against each other [us included]. Personally, I think it ridiculous to compare graduate schools since the aim of attending a school is to build a body of theory within your class. All schools are different, none is better or worse and it's far more important to find a school you know that you will work well within the system as well as students whom you will be able to work well with. That said, I hear the lecture wasn't that great...that usually happens when peter gets tired and he can hide in a linguistic game a bit. Irregardless, I hope many of you had the chance to speak with him because he's incredibly sharp and really knows what he's talking about [both about architecture and architecture schools].

2. Friday began the building dedication affairs with a lecture by Timothy Rohen, PhD. He was a superb lecturer and gave a very poignant lecture titled 'The Enigmatic Architecture Of Paul Rudolph' addressing the development of the monumental nature of Paul Rudolph's work along with a historical account of his life. I appreciated his scholarly understanding of Rudolph's work in how it fits into Rudolph's search for a regional modern architecture explored through contemporary technology and his relation between the old and new without mimicry. Paul Rudolph is an exceptional architect and I hope that continued scholarly research can show the importance of Paul Rudolph's as well as [borrowing Rohen's point] the renevated building can demonstrate the flexibility of his work and they need not be torn down. If you get a chance check out our Paul Rudolph exhibit at YSOA...Of course we had a great reception after.

3. Saturday began more discussions concerning Yale in the Paul Rudolph Era with the morning being host to two simultaneous panel discussions. Unfortunately we had a huge and very illustrious alumni turnout and students lacked the blue dot on name tag requriements to attend said panels. The morning session had Stanly Tigerman '61, Allan Greenber '65, Alexander Tzonis '63 discussing Yale and The Architectural Academy moderated by Paul Goldberger '72. That afternoon was the big panel discussion that was simulcast with a panel of Lord Norman Foster '62, Lord Richard Rogers '62, and Carl Abbot '62 discussing their time here at Yale in the 60's with Paul Rudolph [also hosted by Goldberger]. Their panel discussion was great, and it was just really interesting to listen to their experiences in school and what YSOA was like back under The Rudolph.

4. Great Reception followed this one as well. Jerry Seinfeild was supposed to be here, but he was a no show. Ralph Lauren stopped though.

Needless to say, didn't get that much work done although we've started a new and final studio project [i'll post my previous one tmr] although my initial idea went over well with my critic...

i wanted to be pretty diligent in posting,,,but i've been lax...i'll try and be better.

_ks