Archinect - ArcheWorks

What I learned from Archeworks...

2006-05-19T01:09:37-04:00

Here's the Archeworks Alumni survey:

1)Please indicate how your obtained initial information about the Archeworks program (check all that apply):
__ From friend of colleague
__ Radio or print advertisement
__ Poster or catalogue at college/university
__ Attended Archeworks lecture or student project critique
__ Other: I did my own research

2) What factors influenced your decision to apply to Archeworks? (check all that apply):
__ Interest in obtaining knowledge/skills in socially responsible design
__ Interest in networking
__ Reputation of program
__ To gain experience in design
__ To gain experience in social service field
__ Other: Interest in getting into verbal arguments with people I have never met

3)Did Archeworks influence a change in your career or academic focus?
___ Yes ___ surprisingly NO
If yes, how?

4)Please indicate what action...

Archeworks is over...

2006-04-26T02:19:21-04:00

Well almost. Tomorrow or today (Wednesday) is our final presentation and critique. Boxes, Books, and Bookmarks; that's our approach. And a bunch of cool crap. So here's some images, I really can't think clearly enough to type much. Powerpoint has actually become very addictive. Soon there will be a link to our book as a PDF from the Archeworks website, you can read all about it there.

-pamela

Just to dispel the myth...

2006-04-10T23:51:06-04:00

...Archeworks isn't really about great design ideas...it's about playing around with a bunch of crap. It takes alot of work to make well designed crap...usable crap...

good globalization or bad globalization?

2006-03-28T18:48:14-05:00

Tonight's class with Eva is addressing the Future of Globalization...I did my time on Wikipedia and Google, and instead am more fascinated by NPR...

I heard a story on NPR a few weeks ago, that the UN had taken out an insurance policy against Drought in Ethiopia...which is currently in the grip of a deadly drought. If the rainfall totals measured from multiple stations throughout the country drop below a certain level between March and October, then the payout of 7.1 million can begin...

I am going to try to link this to our discussion tonight...One thing brought up in the NPR story is that a partial reason for the drought is the farming techniques used by the local farmers are not in harmony with the land being farmed. Instead of working with crops that can survive and are of value to the inhabitants of the area, they are instead farming crops that support faraway nations and communities. Globalization allows African farmers to sell their crops to the highest (low) bidder who ...

Stanley said he has become Jaundiced...

2006-03-04T13:58:25-05:00

...With Archeworks.
That aside, things went really well. Our group ABC'd our presentation and I'm sure some people didn't like it, but at least was different, we stood out in that respect. We really ended up with a good dialogue after our presentation. Stanley was telling Victor Margolin that he was wrong, and Ben Nicholson was in the middle of it I think trying to bridge between the two. He said we need to pay attention to the entire world that is in the stutterings, the silences the (...).

Stanley said that our project was the best in the 12 years of Archeworks, I personally take that with a grain of salt. I've said it before, he can be your best friend one minute and the next take your head off. Our group is really excited to do our own thing though, right now it feels like we could re-write Archeworks..we kinda told them that in our presentation too.

In our presentation, M was for Mimic...and once one person gave the feedback that we should write a book, (even thoug...

midterm critique time...

2006-02-28T10:52:59-05:00

Our midterm critique is this week. We've been working like crazy. One of our ideas is creating an ABC that relates more to Chicago but not the usual Chicago highlights, of Bears, Cubs, Wrigley...It's hard writing your own ABC.

We went to a pre-K class last week with the "tools for schools". That was pretty wild. You know it went over really well when you get invited by a 4 year old to jump rope after class...

I think going into classrooms full of pre-k kids, or sitting at our bay in Archeworks it's easy to think that all have to do tone down our thinking, our designs, our attempts so they'll work for little kids. But then I read a quote regarding Mr Rogers,

"He [Mr Rogers] got a hold of concepts so throughly that he could transmit them to six-year olds ! Do you know how much you have to get a hold of a concept to transmit it simply? His idea of simple-but-profound (has had) a profound influence..."

Makes me realize that one school year is in no way adequate to get mu...

Artist in Residence...in prison?

2006-02-15T12:22:48-05:00

Our topic this week for Eva's Future Studies class was the Future of Crime/Terrorism...

It's harder than I thought writing for this class, actually coming up with possible design solutions for future issues that don't even exist yet.
Some the future situations that were discussed were:
-having an artist in residence in a prison
-being able to purchase peace of mind, maybe a peace of mind store?
-architects specializing in protecting buildings

I was thinking about how it seems warfare/crimes have changed from fighting because there are haves and have-nots. Alot of the clashes you hear about now seem to be for a want to return to "what was" before we had to so closely interact with eachother, worldwide. Now we just want to get the hell away from eachother. "Leave me alone, I'll leave you alone..." I really don't see that being an type of solution, just a thought. Instead of voting left or right, could we vote based on a poltician's pledge to either build enclaves to prote...

I'm not sketching, I'm taking notes...and Jesus plays hide-and-seek.

2006-02-01T20:33:24-05:00

This is a picture from a lawn in my hometown in Texas...I had no idea Jesus had such a playful side.

There's been alot going on with my group's work here at Archeworks. We're trying to protoype as much as possible as quickly as possible 'cause we are heading into the classrooms in a few weeks. We need as much crap as possible to throw at these kids and see what happens...

I have been breathing in way too many rubber cement fumes over the past few days, too much cut and paste. Making these items:

We as a group have tossed around the idea of making some sort of school tool that is so big you could wrap up a small child in it. I think the teachers would appreciate it.

I went to a student project viewing at the Graham Foundation tonight. It was students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, school of Architecture and Urban Planning. Their project was titled "Dialogue + Heritage: Contradiction?" and was to theoretically relocate the Graham Foundation to the first and se...

Absolutely nothing to do with archeworks...

2006-01-04T21:33:26-05:00

I believe I've had the worst week of my life...

Last Thursday while I was home in Texas I came in the house to find this cat dead.

Attacked and killed by this dog

and this dog.

This dog was bitten by both dogs and the cat

Both dogs were put to sleep because not only had they killed this cat

but along with another dog

they attacked and killed this dog a year ago last christmas eve

Tuesday I got a phone call that another cat was killed after climbing up underneath a car

Today I got a phone call that this dog died

I had taken him to the emergency vet the night before I left because he was having trouble standing and hadn't eaten

He died of kidney failure and heart failure

Two pets Thursday
One dog Monday
One cat Tuesday
One dog Wednesday

My heart is broken

-pamela

"Knocked my socks off..."

2005-12-22T13:54:10-05:00

Actually I liked that crap...(what I could imagine Stanley thinking)

That's what you want to hear from Stanley after your presentation...
Our group was awesome - we even got Ben Nicholson to start talking about being the Oracle at Delphi...

Stanley even admitted that he came to the critique that night sure that we were going to fail miserably, but we took him by surprise. Surprised by design I suppose.

Here we come Dual Design!

The other two groups (community schools and stroke survivors) had a little tougher time. I think our group was funny enough and distracting enough (we were hoping in and out of boxes) that not too many questions were raised.

The community schools group went last and got ripped by Stanley...I think it's the curse of going third. That's where our group was last critique. They are proposing a fence project for community schools in Chicago, Stanley had mentioned something earlier in the semester; why not work with a fence? Now that they are it ain...

Developing the Mind as an Abstract Concept...

2005-12-12T12:02:09-05:00

...I am working on the opposite of this statement. Children in school are generally educated not as a whole being, but instead the brain is seen as an independent object to enrich. Instead of developing a single organ (the brain) in hopes of a student succeeding why not develop the whole person, engagement of the body-mind?

So how do you design for this concept?

I wanted to ride the bus to school everyday inside a box. Not because I was afraid of the bus ( I had 2 big brothers riding with me) I just wanted a different environment I guess.

Can I design a box for kids to ride the bus in? At Archeworks maybe, but who knows.

I went back to highschool last week. You couldn't pay me to go back as a student though. This school was huge, somewhere around 4000 + students. The teacher we observed has been out of school and teaching on his own for about 2 years. It was strange to see him go from talking to us to teaching. He adopted a different personality at one point, eit...

"Berlin was much more interesting when the wall was up..."

2005-12-01T00:16:57-05:00

...because it was dangerous."

This came from Stanley when a discussion unfolded on fences. The group presenting the dialouge is working on a community schools project with Pat Saldana Natke and Helen Grimes. Some of the photos passed around to illustrate their points were showing puppies behind fences...which got my mind wandering to my dogs back home in Texas who keep breaking out (and one dog in particular) keep biting people...

This past Tuesday's discussion was actually the first time where I felt a renewed sense of hope for my project after enduring the usual Tuesday roundtable. I felt like I was back in Design School, the good times, the challenging times, the reason I signed up kind of times.

Enough with the feel good though, Stanley was able to throw in the following comments on Tuesday night:
-Architects and designers aren't reasonable and logical - if they were nothing would get done...
-how do you start with less than nothing?
-real live AIDS HIV positive peopl...

John Kurtich...

2005-11-16T21:28:29-05:00

So after watching Chicago Tonight on WTTW I was depressed. There was a news story about a mansion up for auction in Hyde Park whos sale will be benefiting The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (from where I just graduated)

The house ends up being John's. I wasn't prepared for this, I was under the impression that John's house was going to be restructured into a resource center for students...that was the going rumor when I left the school. A sort of Roger Brown but a la Interior Architecture...

John was one of my favorite instructors. The day we learned he had died I was in the middle of giving my midterm presentation. I just stood there silently, then walked out the door. From downtown Chicago I walked to Wrigley Field. I got there, realized I was there and turned back. I don't remember a single thing about that walk except at one point sitting out in front of a hospital somewhere along Halsted...John died March 2004.

The proceeds from the auction will be used to ...

"Fucking Williamsburg..."

2005-11-08T23:44:19-05:00

...Stanley Tigerman's comment, not mine. Among other topics breached, words spoken tonight during our discussion of WABI SABI and how it could or should pertain to our projects...
Things that came up during the discussion:

"most people with disabilities aren't nice people..." (they are like that because they have to deal with people like you and me)

while not significant, it's beyond insignificant (very yogi berra)

Are you building character or are you building shit?

Poor southerners with no air conditioning, they appreciate the environment

move slowly and drink tea - you'll be very comfortable

you can take patience and shove it up your ass

japanese people sitting around in the evenings rubbing wood furniture to polish with their body oils...gives ownership

goddamn community center

fucking williamsburg - absolutely american.

yeah, so that was class tonight, very wabi sabi right?
-pamela

*Heidegger Here We Come*

Did that just happen?...

2005-10-27T23:07:34-04:00

So...Archeworks had its midterm critique this past Wednesday evening (10/26) and while I can say we as groups did recieve interesting, at times useful constructive criticisms, there were some: holy crap, did you just say that? moments.

The first group presented their project dealing with responding to Stroke victims, survivors, and such. After the presentation there was a comment that went like this:
STROKE -> CHARITY -> EROTIC -> TRAGEDY...
Yes, erotic + stroke in the same chain of thought...

The point was made that the medical community is working to rename "stroke" They are looking towards:
"Cerebral Vascular Attack". Interesting...

The second group presented their project dealing with Chicago Community Schools. They are working on bringing the community to the schools, outside of the schoolday. THe comment was made during the questions : If you are trying to bring the community to the school - take it to the community, not take them to it...confusing.

My group "T...

Stanley Tigerman's Storytime...

2005-10-24T13:46:08-04:00

So, during last week's debate which dealt with the title: "Hebraic Thought Compared with Greek" the majority of the time was spent listening to Stanley's stories...
First off he compared one group with the golf balls from the movie Tin Cup...
The other stories consisted of : AIDS Patients, working in his Office, a trip to Japan and a baseball game (the Japanese team was better), and a story about co-founder Eva Maddox. There were more but I lost track...

Of course our group failed to win the favor once again. I don't think any of us actually care about the "winning", it's just frustrating to put alot effort into an excercise and realize it wasn't really necessary...

Tomorrow's paper needs to deal with "goodness" I am going to try my hardest to fit cannibalism in somehow. I watched a really interesting show on cannibalism on the History channel last week, lots of ethical implications there...

Last week we also had a talk with Thomas/Tommy/Tom Hirsch. I was really impressed ...

"The Ethical Function of Architecture"

2005-10-18T12:03:13-04:00

"The Ethical Function of Architecture" by Karsten Harris...
This is the title I plan on using as some sort of textbook for Stanley's ethics class. Today's paper is supposed to be a response to the text "Hebraic thought compared with Greek" Our group is the only group that hasn't "won"
We'll see what happens after tonight.

I don't evan want to talk about the ASTROS...GRRR...
-pamela

Archecrap...

2005-10-15T01:38:50-04:00

...and I mean that in a good way.

The fact that someone actually reads this (As compared to my blog for SAIC) should make me post more often...and the fact that it's one class...

So the last debate went not as planned. Our group didn't win. Stanley liked how my paper was written, didn't agree with my ideas, and preferred someone's paper with a more autobiographical slant. So I've stocked up on books to prepare myself for the rest of the semester. I have bought (or checked out ) the following books:
-On Bullshit, Harry G. Frankfurt
-The Pleasure of Hate, William Hazlitt
-The Ethical Architect, Tom Spector
-Architecture and its Ethical Dilemmas, Nicholas Ray
-The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis

The readings we are on now aren't Stanley's, but they are chosen by Stanley. SO currently we have to respond to a stack of photocopies from "Hebrew thought compared with Greek" by Thorleif Boman. I have zero idea of how to advance on this...so no comment for now.

We had an ethics lec...

"...secular asymetrically oppositional architectural couples..."

2005-10-02T23:48:09-04:00

...I quote Stanley Tigerman's paper we are reading for our ethics class he gives once a week. This week's paper is titled "Creativity, Melancholy, and the Divine" I have huge issues with assigning an ownership to the idea of creativity as has been presented to us. Especially being a divine or religious ownership. I heard a quote the other day, and I wish I could just say it, and have everyone understand my stance:
"We need other human beings to be humans - I am because other people are"

I have no right to claim mass or space based on my religion, I have no right to claim predestined creativity because of the culture I was born into. Just the same, I expect no one else to claim that ownership...but I need to re-read Stanley's paper before I can make my point clearly...

We were debating last week's paper that stated: "PRESENCE
vis-a-vis MASS is HEBRAIC : ABSENCE vis-a-vis SPACE is HELLENIC/CHRISTIAN"; my group didn't win...we also didn't stay within the one page doubl...

welcome to the bible...

2005-09-17T01:25:52-04:00

...via Stanley Tigerman's Ethics class. Our design group needs to respond to a paper Stanley has written regarding the treatment of MASS and SPACE within religious context...the goal is to WIN. I won't reveal our game plan until after the results are given...

Our project "Tools for Schools" is moving along. Sometimes I feel like we're playing ping-pong with our heads...I was the note taker last week(and have a bad feeling I am going to be the note-taker for good) and trying to follow the conversation from underpriviliged schools, to Frank Gehry, to Martha Stewart, to Oprah's World Domination Schedule...was taxing

We are hoping to visit some schools here in Chicago, possibly the ACE Charter School. Also some of our group may be heading to Cincinatti (sp?) to visit the Crayons 2 Computers program...

Anyone in the Chicago area have kids in Chicago Public Schools? Anyone care to take me on a tour?!
FIELD TRIP!!!

I will try to get some pictures to liven up this blog...I know ...

...and here we are

2005-09-11T20:43:53-04:00

*HOW DOES THIS EFFECT AFFECT?*

So studio and class begin this week. Here's a recap of the overnight retreat/orientation that took place last week.

There are about 20 of us or so...I didn't get an exact count; and there's a really excellent mix of people from all different backgrounds. There are of course the design backgrounds, but also present are students from:
Anthropology,
Philosophy,
Geopgraphy,
Graphic Design,
Social Theory,
Environmental Design,
Environmental Studies,
Biopsychology,
English Lit,
Advertising...

The three projects for this year are:

-Design of Products for Stroke Survivors for Improved Work and Home Life

-Design of Ideal Chicago Community School Prototype

-Design of a "Tools for School" Store

I am in the "Tools for School" Store project. I specifically chose this project for the reason that it isn't an obvious architecture issue...I felt I would be apt to fall into...

Here we go...

2005-08-16T00:53:35-04:00

Acheworks via The School of the Art Institute...
So, I got accpeted to Archeworks and school starts about the second week of September. We have an overnite orientation/retreat in Indiana before hand to figure out projects and stuff. I am really excited and looking forward to moving beyond the circle of art school, and "design-field people" that I've been surrounding myself with for the last 4 years. There should me an interesting mix of students...I do know that one student is a PhD in Religion...

It's time to get out and work with the rest of the world...although I would say working at Border's has put me in intouch with quite a variety...

-pamela

bytheway: as graduation gifts I gave out a few "Architecture Sucks" t-shirts to my friends. I love wearing that shirt around Chicago...such venomous looks!

woo-woo (as woo woo would say...)

2005-08-03T18:09:39-04:00

So...interview went really well, although really quick. they say they want me! Archeworks here I go...
-pamela

interview Wednesday...

2005-08-01T22:04:17-04:00

so Wednesday I have an interview for admissions at Archeworks
http://archeworks.org here in Chicago...Does anyone here know anything about Howard Alan Architects? I'm interested in the firm, but I have limited info on them...http://www.howardalanarchitects.com/
thanks for any info

long hot summer...of Chicago

2005-07-25T19:51:05-04:00

So, I am still waiting to hear any response from Archeworks...I applied to the school early this summer. That's it really, resume sending and messin' around in the city...

yes, my apartment is this much fun...

Westward...

2005-06-21T12:32:33-04:00

So, I came home (houston Texas) for a month after graduation. A week ago I got back from the family road trip...Not your usual road trip in that half the people who went with us were not family...
anyway, here's the awesome pictures of West Texas. There will be more later.
-pamela

-big bend national park

-the awesome texas horny toad

-this is on a building Donald Judd bought and worked on. His father Clarence Judd always wanted to be an architect but never was able to do so. So Donald printed Clarence Judd, Architecture on 2 buildings in Marfa for his father

-The 100 boxes...all are different, made from aluminum from the Reynold's Wrap company...Not welded, but fitted together...it's amazing how perfectly seamless every single box is

-The Flavin lights are a permanent exhibit. They have been working on installing them since 1996 and finished in 2001. Turns out Judd and Flavin used to be best friends, but after a falling out they decided they hated eachother. Chinati Fo...

I am here...

2005-06-01T17:50:23-04:00

Umm yeah...I did sorta kinda really go away after the final week of classes and graduation. But here I am in, in Texas. Eventually I'll post something of my thesis project, I am really happy how well my final critique went, and and SO glad school is over...for a little while. Next week I will be driving west. I am going to West Texas to unwind (hopefully). I will be going to Marfa to see the Chinati foundation, I am excited...The 50th anniversay of Giant the movie will be happening in July in Marfa, wish I could go, but I'll be back in Chicago by then. Hope all went well with everyone's school stuff, and life stuff I guess. I will start an intense job search when I get back, but for now I will be pulling my horse up off the ground, and teaching one of our dogs not to bite people...
-pamela

Final Week Countdown...

2005-05-07T23:08:56-04:00

So...I blame all evil in the world on Kinko's...they are the devil. I was at the end of the line the other day, I broke down and cried at kinko's ...how shameful is that>? I did however make sure to tell them I hated them and that they are horrible people before I stormed out...

.
this is how my brain feels right now...but this is also an image from my final layout...go figure

Everything is due this next week, I have a huge ass model to finish and I have to finish casting my stuff for my mold making studio. Nothing exciting beside that my brain is fried, I will update after final crits with pictures and interesting stories
-pamela

I was having a conversation with the drafting dots...

2005-04-26T01:12:37-04:00

Yes, I know I have been missing for so long. So here's a slight explanation of what's been going on:

earlier this month I installed work at the MaxMara store on Michigan Ave. as part of the ArtWindows competition...here's some pics of that. Lunch anyone?

Last week I started pouring urethane for my Mold making and casting final project. Alot of milk cartons.... here's the first go at it.

then this week and last week I've been rendering and AutoCadding like crazy...I will not be an autocad monkey, I will not be an autocad monkey, I will not be an autocad monkey... (repeat daily for best results)

-we also need to make an artist's book of our final design/presentation for possible inclusion in our artist's book library here at school...my how the 2 weeks will fly by.

also last week I got to see alot of dead animals, but I didn't take pictures of that. At my internship at the Field Museum I wanted to see "behind the scenes" so I went to see the Animal research labs...did you kn...

SPRING BREAK WOO-HOO!!!! all two days of it...

2005-03-24T23:51:18-05:00

Um yeah...good ol' SAIC has given us two whole days of Spring Break, Thursday and Friday. I better slow down and not spend my fun time all in one place...I went to a cool concert last night at some little hole in the wall at Division and Milwaukee, when I can figure out what their name was I'll post it b/c they were really great.

Then tonight I stumbled across this website: WoosterCollective
link
I seriously think architects need to promtote their art like this...Street Architecture, I can see it now.

What else? Try this link too, Crooked Fingers
link
awesome music AND they'll be playing at Abbey Pub here in Chicago on April 6th..anyone up for an ArchiConcert event? I wanna go...

I am model building all weekend, I 'll post pictures of the eventual result.
Good luck with life-
pamela