Archinect - Architectural Association (Luis Fraguada)

"DRL is like someone you really fancy, but she's a b*"

2007-01-20T17:26:52-05:00

Tonight, my friend KAtie Trotter said something pretty apt for the moment:

"When it's over, you are going to be really depressed. I mean, DRL is like someone you really fancy, but she's a real bitch"

Laughter . . .

Submitted for your approval . . . DRL Final Jurors

2007-01-18T07:29:53-05:00

The word on the street is that

Hernan Diaz-Alonso
Ali Rahim
Kas OosterHuis
Winka Dubbeldam
Iiona Lenard
Antonino Saggio
Andrew Benjamin
Phillipe Morel

will be on our Final Jury. Very excited, this is a great group, plus there are always AA / Bartlett people that drop in and add a great dynamic to the jury. Back to adjusting my aitplane warning lights . . .

The models are starting to get angry . . .

2007-01-09T19:23:55-05:00

(abs((Today) - (Final Jury))) = 16 Days

On The Road:

2006-09-26T16:50:32-04:00

I had to skip London town for a week to do some administrative stuff in Denver. I would like to divulge more info on my specific activities there, but more will come later . . . some exciting opportunities lie ahead!

Besides that, I took the time (one week) to visit friends and family, as well as eat as much Mexican and breakfast foods as my body could handle. One side note, I got a great opportunity to visit my undergrad program where some friends are still teaching. I sat in and gave some desk crits to students in Marcel DeLange's 3210 (urban studio). The students were working on “slot sites” with a choice between three activation programs. This was a 2.5 week assignment. It was very interesting to see this other side of things. I found myself having great conversation with the students. Some were on point, others were a bit lost, but overall everyone had some good concepts that would undoubtedly go unexplored in 2.5 weeks. Got me thinking about the teaching aspect of o...

Big Models, Projects Review, and beyond . . .

2006-09-06T09:36:01-04:00

Most of this is not news at all, actually, in my mind, probably quite stale. But I thought I would kick things off for “Phase II” of the DRL with a trip down last term's final review. It was a doozy.

Here you see two of my teammates leaning up the base for our site model . . . a 1:1500 of East London. The teammates are there for scale . . . meaning, this thing was a big f'er. Three teams shared the work.

Layer 1: Road/Block/Building profiles etched and river cut.

Buildings starting to be assembled

Working with some cutting techniques as a way to evolve the unit aspect of our project. Deformable surface condition for adaptable housing spaces seems to be the way to go for now . . . how to implement . . .

Trying those cutting techniques on a more urban scale for a continuous landscape->urban negotiation.

The areas in which we are looking to initiate the project, pretty massive, and I am not sure this was the best decision to go so big seeing as there is pretty much nothing ...

Laptop Sessions: Transdisciplinary Experiments

2006-05-19T13:40:35-04:00

Cluster: New Media New Media, Design Systems and Tools
Curated by Joel Newman, Theo Spyropoulos and Vasilis Stroumpakos

There was an open call to display some media works as part of the AA Clusters Week. Research clusters have been set up at the AA in order to discuss a wide range of topics. Clusters also aim to involve various people from within and outside of the AA including students, staff, faculty, etc.

Brian Dale and I had worked on a project as one of our seminar submissions. The project was for the Visualizing Information seminar directed by Vasilis Stroumpakos. The aim of the project was to rewire the way we interpret spaces. The visual is such an inherent part of our ontological understanding of the world, and we wanted to test different methods to inject different ways to augment this understanding. What resulted was CCdB (a name which continues from a previous series of installations dealing with CCTV systems to survey spaces). The aims of the visualization w...

Phase I Team/Project Synopsis: AADRL

2006-05-11T04:51:09-04:00

One Image/Three Sentences

As this is the third term in our course here at the DRL, I thought I would ask for an image and three sentences from each team. This is an interesting time during the DRL in that we are working towards the June 22nd-23rd Final phase 1 jury.

The format for the submission is simple, one image and three sentences. Included with each submission are the names of the team members, tutor, and brief. At press time we have 10/12 teams reporting. Hopefully we can do this a few times before the jury to see how the projects progress.

Teams are presented in no particular order . . .

Team Name
ddis.turb

Members
Deniz Manisali, Dimitris Akritopoulos, Iannis Orfanos, Sylvia Georgiadou

Tutor/Brief
Tom Verebes/Soft Cities

Description
Hybrid commerce through differentiation and adaptability of spaces as a sequential aggregate logic

Image

-------------------------------------------

Team Name
Flotsam

Members
Oznur Erboga, Lillie Liu, Dora Ntatsopoulou, Victor Orive

Tutor...

"...like the Native American Indians used every part of the buffalo..."

2006-04-20T11:51:15-04:00

I want to take a second out of writing this essay to share with you something I ran across a few seconds ago.

747 House

apparently old news to Archinect:
On Archinect

I find it very interesting whenever I see a piece of news which covers an architectural venture. Just the quality of the architecture is usually grandiose or just bizzare. At first I was really interested by the idea when I came across the headline. Woman plans to build house from 747 jet. SWEET! I thought to myself.

I just hope we start to see some better renderings soon! Especially for the price tag. Oh and by the way, I do appreciate the whole using of recycled material, especially something like a 747, but the quote:

It seemed to make more sense to acquire an entire airplane and to use as many of the components as possible, like the Native American Indians used every part of the buffalo David Hertz

goes a bit far for me. It's nice, but its not as if the woman NEEDS a $2M home!

I told myself I wouldn't do it . . .

2006-03-31T11:32:38-05:00

I would be such a keen school blogger . . .
I would not skip a week . . .
I would not write the cliche school blogger entry . . . but here it is.

In all of my ambition to bring you my experience of China, I let it become an easy way to post something. The truth of it is folks, Term II is now over. A lot has happened, and I would like to share some of that with you.

First of all, after taking some sweet ass night shots at a busstop, I left my camera on the bus. Therefore, the pictures included in today's entry will be a bit dated, if not completely ripped off of google. Ok, I won't do that to you anymore.

But what has happened since China? Well, 2 papers, a trip to Valencia, a trip back to the states (Minnesota and Colorado), and a whole 'nother term at the AADRL.

The papers. One was about Attention Span, the other about Information Events. I found at times I was writing the same paper, but they eventually needed to be two. I was much more interested in the Attention ...

CHINA: Day(s) 4,5

2006-02-19T16:45:33-05:00

I hate to do this, but it is seeming like the recounting of my trip to China is dragging on. There are other things I want to write about, but I have not finished posting about China. Lots of things have happened since China. So, the rest of the China posts will be primarily image based, grouping a few days in at a time.

Day 5: Shanghai

CHINA: Day 3 . . .

2006-01-30T10:44:36-05:00

Hmmm, big holes in the ground, big models, construction sites? Why? I want to see Beijing. It was interesting to see Lab Architecture's SOHO development, but there was too much time there. What did we learn? Well, I am still in love with scaffolding and the building scrim. But also, manual labor is cheap in Beijing. Working conditions are dismal at best. The developer giving us a tour laughed at the fact that the safety codes are much looser in China. If they were building that in America, his workers would need steel toed boots . . . so they can save a lot of money by endangering his workers. And he laughed. Hmm. Other things I saw at the construction site were workers temporary living quarters where their family would also live. Oh, and I cannot forget to mention the rotten rice and dough the workers ate.

So, after some time there, it is onto the Temple of Heaven . . . or is it the Kingdom of Heaven? Either way. It was a place with very interesting energy. I kno...

CHINA: Day 2 . . .

2006-01-15T17:59:16-05:00

This image has nothing to do with introducing this day, but it was a camera prominently placed at the suitcase house

Oh man, still lost, but the swarm keeps me sheltered. People walk backwards. For now, I do not understand why, but if I figure anything out from this trip, it will be why people walk backwards.

This was a long day. Began by visiting a large Chinese Architecture group. Not necessarily what I had hoped to do in China. It was interesting, but I wanted to be a tourist. This was basically a precursor to a visit to the Villa by the Great Wall at Badaling.

On the way to Badaling (North of Beijing about 60 minutes) I started ot notice the Great Wall all around me. But it would be a few hours before we could visit this.

The Villas by the Great Wall are basically the closest thing to an architecture museum.

While most of the villas seemed to me to be some sort of modernist interpretation, the Suitcase House by EDGE HK was impressive.

Impressive because the ...

CHINA: Day 1?

2005-12-26T13:29:40-05:00

China: Day 1

What day is this? Somewhere between the 24th and 25th of November . . . in the year 2005. Lost within symbols I cannot even begin to understand. Maybe context is a clue, but I am not even sure I can assume that either.

We arrive at Beijing International, go through customs . . . CHINESE NATIONALS and FOREIGNERS . . . I feel welcome already! Eventually everyone goes through and we finally emerge from the multi-temporal (or temporally void, take your pick) space of the airport to real time China. Beautiful day, sunny, warm.

The bus arranged by Chi takes us to the China Academy for Fine Arts, where we will be staying. This is a pretty impressive place. Not because of the architecture, which is fairly stark, but because it is a massive campus for fine arts.

We find our accommodations, and some set out to find beers. They do. 4 Yuan each. If that is any indication to the price of the alcohol around here, this group, and possibly some of the Chinese we come ...

CHINA: Somewhere between London and Beijing on a 747 . . .

2005-12-18T10:48:12-05:00

. . . waking up . . . did I ever go to sleep?

[not me]

Somewhere south of Siberia . . . not quite to Beijing . . . we pass above some incredibly frigid looking mountains, this land is uncivilized . . . now it looks like a dusty chocolate truffle, continuous . . .

Within this field where uncivilized reigns, civilization rears its head in the most ordered ways. Ridges cut, lengthy rectilinear traces that tell us someone has been there, someone owns that. The biome is baren moving from elevation above the tree line to forest lined mountain slopes. This land has no roads that I can see, but I am sure there are known ways. Every once in a while I can see small communities basking in the morning sun. What language do they speak? It looks damn cold down there.

We become exceedingly untransparent and homogenous amongst the infinite bifurcation of the mountain ridges. Where does this “self-organization” come from?

An hour and 42 minutes left till Beijing. And now we are fl...

CHINA: An introduction

2005-12-11T11:19:37-05:00

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a sort of diary detailing the day by day experience of my recent trip to China with my DRL classmates. This trip occurred from Thursday 24th of November through Sunday 4th of December and during this time we primarily visited Beijing and Shanghai. I say primarily because a few of us ventured to Suzhou, about an hour train from Shanghai.

While the day by day diary format might not be favorable, I feel it will work best to develop my thoughts throughout the trip. Not to mention that I took over 2,000 images, so I want to develop the experience through images as well.

Please know that most of all, I understand that my time in China was wholeheartedly tourist. In no way am I attempting to claim that I understand this place. In fact, I understand it much less now that I have tasted it for 10 days. And I think tasted is a very good way to describe it, as food was just as much of an experience as the cities themselves. What I understan...

An Iranian, an American, and a Japanese walk into a bar . . .

2005-11-19T06:54:18-05:00

Well we actually walked into the Chinese Embassy in London. Three radically different results. For me, it was not too bad, other than Americans and Brtis pay 30GBP, while *most* other nationalities pay 20GBP . . . so some bad relations and we pay an extra tenner. But who knew Japan and China were so cozy? My teammate Yoshi did not have to pay anything, and he got his visa back the same day. I had to return 4 days later to pick up my passport with a nice page full of visa complete with Great Wall of China icon. But the most f'ed up thing . . . Sara, from Iran was denied a visa on the spot. No ability to talk to someone, no ability to get her plane ticket refunded. Apparently, if someone from China invites her, then she can go. So she returned to the embassy with 2/3 Chinese people that we have in our class in order to represent her. Still no go. Really puts in perspective the current state of our world.

Bonfire Night

2005-11-07T11:55:28-05:00

So I recently had the pleasure of being in London during Bonfire Night - AKA Guy Fawkes Day. For those of you not too familiar and are curious go to bonfire.org.
I thought Americans were crazy about fireworks, but British folk light a crapload of fireworks.

To commemorate this holiday, the AA has a personal fireworks show that pretty much breaks any and all fire code laws . . . brilliant! The AA Bedford Square building has a courtyard where some bigger models can be made, I believe this is where the fireworks were lit off. Hundreds of people gathered at the terrace and other outdoor landings. Brett Steele could be seen taking many pictures of the fiasco. It was quite a turnout. I don't think I have seen that many people crowd onto a build out terrace before!

I also don't think I have ever had my face that close to flashing fireworks. A damn good show was seen by all, but I could not help but wonder, "aren't these fireworks landing near my feet dangerous?"

Not to mention...

Godspeed #38, godspeed . . .

2005-10-27T04:42:27-04:00

It may have already been written about in this here arena, but in case you missed it, those big red icons of london, the 1950's British made Routemaster, will be no longer as of Saturday 29th of October 2005. At least on route 38. In my short time here in London I have been able to experience this machine through all that London has to throw at it. I never thought jumping on and off a moving vehicle into traffic could be so healthy for me.

#38-you will be missed.

Hello brand new friends!

2005-10-15T13:04:57-04:00

The DRL Phase I has completed workshop #1 and made the quick but important decision to form teams. It took about 15 minutes to sort out the teams that will ideally be together for the next 16 months. Seems pretty nuts really. A little background for you all, my friend Brian also got into the DRL. Brian and I have known each other for about 5-6 years. We did our undergraduate together in Colorado, and have also collaborated on a few competitions. Add to that that we are currently flatmates, it would seem that perhaps we should consider being on a team. This was a tough choice, but really, wouldn't we learn more from creating a team with the other 40 people who we have never met? We decided not to be on the same team.

I am on a team with Nantapon and Yoshimasa, from Bangkok and Tokyo respectively. We have been camped out in the same room for about a week, and saw each other work through workshop 1. Since we also have a pretty sweet space, we decided to make a team. The f...

It's On . . .

2005-10-07T05:59:05-04:00

Deep Inside AADRL Studios on John St. . . .

Yesterday we had our first introduction to the DRL. Yusuke Obuchi, Theodore Spyropoulos, and Tom Verbes gave short introductions and gave us a better idea of what this year's (and possibly subsequent years) agenda will be. Parametric Urbanism.

--36 Bedford Square Lecture Hall--

--DRL Phase 1 migrating over to John Street--

We were also informed that we will be traveling to China. Wow. I guess since I have never touched foot on the Asian continent, you could say I am very excited. It isn't like I will be able to pick up a guide book and find my way around. No way. I think I will be totally lost, and that really excites me. The trip will be looking at the current developments in Beijing and Shanghai. Our three Chinese DRL students were not as excited as I was, but did offer their "tourguide" skills at a fraction of the cost because we were now all classmates. I can't help but wonder if their joke was actually not a joke at all....

First Entry: Introductions

2005-10-01T12:16:31-04:00

A lot to catch up on, I promise to keep subsequent entries at a more readable scale)

About my life at the moment . . .

I am 25. I was born in Puerto Rico. When I was 8, my family moved to Minnesota, where my father was working for 3M (scoth tape, sandpaper, etc . . . 3M=Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing). So yes, you can imagine a bit what it was like to be a beach loving Puerto Rican 8 yr old, and then having to move to Minnesota in January. Fast-Forward . . . Eventually I became old enough for university, and I moved to Boulder, CO for 7 years. For four of those years I attended the University of Colorado - Boulder College of Architecture & Planning. Just last month, I moved to London to do a Masters course in the AADRL.

I live with another AADRLer and longtime friend, as well as two other lovely ladies who are amazing designers in their own right. We live in an old converted school house on the north end of Victoria Park in East London, between Bethnal Green and Hackne...