2024-12-22T19:37:33-05:00 https://archinect.com/blog/article/21452161/long-time-no-see-fall-2007 mikilee 2007-10-17T00:55:05-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>Hi folks,<br><br> It's been a while since I've posted, and I am back in full swing of my final year now at GSAPP. <br><br> Summer 2007 engulfed me with travels and contemplations of the professional world within and without architecture- after an academic year of Kurgan, a summer of freelance + relaxation, + overall reflection I am back in the think mode. <br><br> This fall, there were 17 choices for studio- an overwhelmingly large number of choices, an influx of M.Arch II students, and I chose (again) a studio that was able to travel for a bit. Craig Konyk's Historic Preservation studio situated in Casablanca took us (all 25 of us) to Morocco last week for 5 packed days to study the issue of migrancy from Africa to Europe in the city. The trip was fantastically disorganized- students from both the Historic Preservation and Architecture departments combined itineries and travel agendas to visit sites in Casablanca, Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat... all during the Ramadan holiday. Armed with no cellphones,...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21452018/eat-the-eel-sushi-last mikilee 2007-02-01T00:43:25-05:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>this one goes out to one of the founders of archinect. i heard from a good friend who knows you well that you MUST eat the eel sushi last. i know this, but i just wanted to spread the word, because it is a dessert sushi, and maybe prior to that, to eat the flying fish roe sushi which also has a sweet tang to it.<br><br> that's all. hello, goodbye.</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21452017/pecha-kucha mikilee 2007-02-01T00:37:32-05:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>Ah, the beginning of another semester... I am again, in Laura kurgan's studio this semester, and we are doing a redesign studio in New Orleans. While I was initially hesitant to really focus my energies at school, I'm now very excited about the group of 7 that we are, and the work that we will do. Each of us is focusing on a specific institutional redesign, from healthcare, to education, infrastructure, cultural institutions, etc. We are going to N.O. in March, which will be exciting, and will be meeting key players in the redesign effort. I am focusing on healthcare design, and have been talking to people involved on many levels- planners, architects, business developers, administration, to find out pressing issues in regards to the redesign of the N.O. healthcare system. I'm also setting up a lot of meetings with non-architecture people- doctors, medical students, and other healthcare staff to try to figure out the key issues in navigating healthcare in the city, post-Katrina...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451859/halfway-done-with-school mikilee 2006-12-16T00:47:50-05:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>So... I just finished up my 3rd semester at Columbia, and it was a great semester. Towards the end of the term, everything I thought would happen did- the studio became a trashy mess, with models, dust, and half-empty food containers scattered about the studio. Sleeping bags and sleeping cots were all over the place, underneath desks, stored next to the aisle, making walking through the studio a bit of a hazard, not to mention all of the dangerous models with sharp parts sticking out in every direction. The grossness of the end shows the intensity in which students pushed themselves, and one can only imagine the piles of unpaid bills, and dirty clothes that were strewn across each student's apartments in New York City.<br><br> Our Housing projects all ended with a bang at the final housing wrap-up, in which each studio presented work to share and discuss between students and professors. The studios that showed work came from David Turnbull, Laura Kurgan, Michael Bell, Scott Marble, Kar...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451794/almost-the-end mikilee 2006-11-28T22:44:02-05:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>Hello from Miki...<br><br> So there's one week between now and the final review for second year M.Archers. It's hard to believe. The semester flew by, and now we're all getting souped up to present our final findings from the semester. <br><br> I'm pretty happy with the way the semester has panned out... my partner in housing and I are working out really great- if anything, I wish I could collaborate more in the next year till the end, but I know that from now on, it tends to be all about competition.<br><br> I've learned a lot from working with a partner, as have others in the housing studio. It's about stepping down from your instinct, and listening to others. No one in the world is the 'best' at everything. Knowing that, it becomes easier and more exciting to be in school and see how others around you add value, not just academically in your work, but in terms of camaraderie, shared pain, and shared bad/good food. I never thought miso soup could be 'ruined,' but at "Cafe Swish" near Columbia, ...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451731/third-quarter-review-the-general-housing-ambience-and-black-bears mikilee 2006-11-08T22:58:35-05:00 >2011-09-23T13:01:09-04:00 <p>Hello again, after a bit of an absence. Today was our third quarter review, and it's interesting to see how projects are evolving now, as the final review grows near. It's been a very emotional semester for some, having to deal with difficult partnerships or personal disasters, all the while trying to face the day and make something out of being here. The general air carries with it waves of fatigue and possibility, after memories of first year-boot camp have now settled. I myself feel ready again to hit the ground running again, after stepping back from all the delirium. Now I think I know what I want to do.<br><br> Our studio projects are a mixture of 'large megabuildings' and 'small scale, but highly networked interventions' as a response to building housing for a population of 1500 people. In our project, we're developing a distributed system of housing for 1500 people through the identification of specific social, educational, health, and other human needs, which we will priceta...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451431/debates-and-considerations-mark-wigley-s-theory-class mikilee 2006-09-26T17:12:29-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>This semester I am taking Mark Wigley's History of Architectural Theory course, along with a score of other students jam-packed in one of Avery's least-favorite rooms. The course is quite popular, and I understand why- attending the institution of Columbia, being 'fashioned' into one of its students, is one thing. Taking a course from the head of that institution, namely, the Dean, promises insight into that production of mind and thinking. Little secrets, about me and you and where they're going with all this.<br><br> If you look at the GSAAP website, the role of the architect is titled, "the EXPANDED architect." What does that mean? Is it that the architect's role IS professionally-expanded, into other disciplines, or that the role of the institution and goal of Mark Wigley, is to academically expand the way of thinking and producing architecture, so that then graduates might attempt to expand the professional role of the architect. I don't know. Or maybe I do know. The important...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451423/very-good-very-good-response-to-your-responses mikilee 2006-09-24T02:19:50-04:00 >2011-09-23T13:01:07-04:00 <p>Haha- such good comments. I threw out that experience just to see if anyone was listening. Glad to hear some people care...<br><br> :)<br><br> all i have to say, now, is that there is a dynamic between instructors and students in school that is quite interesting. there's a mutual anxiety shared, about knowing and not knowing, about producing and revealing your work. there's something to be said about working on your own ideas, and thinking through problems, and also communicating to the group. some students want to learn, others don't. some want to share, some don't - it's quite like kindergarden.<br><br> i come from a very collaborative background, and find it really interesting how people work in studio. it's a shame when people don't share- but it's human. think about that.<br><br> that's all for now- till my next notorious post.<br><br> M.I.K.I.</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451418/first-crit-day mikilee 2006-09-23T00:24:37-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>So today we had our first pinup review. It was okay- i purposely felt and acted unprepared- not quite ready to give a show of things. I heard the trick is to have a lot of ideas, hide your work, then smash the competition towards the end. Generally it's a good technique, if you know where you're going with things. One of my best friends from childhood who went to UPenn architecture, (and is now getting her license) told me she had a bunch of friends from Turkey who were akin to this notion. They said, "Do a lot of work- then HIDE IT." When it comes to the final review, your teacher is so anxious that you didn't develop an idea, that you didnt' "get it" that when you show it all they are aghast. I know this works, and have seen it in action. It's good to take breaks. Long breaks, and walks around the park, mulling about things alone. Good things happen from leisure time alone.<br><br> My studio is filled with great people. There are also not so great people, and I have to admit ...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451298/good-food-the-finer-grain-design-and-redesign mikilee 2006-09-10T01:28:33-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>I just spent a lovely New York evening saying farewell to a dear friend of mine who decided to take the year off for work. Several of my fellow classmates sat around a dazzling array of delicious japanese/korean bbq down near the Cooper Union, cooking away at tasty dishes, talking about school and life and our interests prior to Columbia and now that we are there. I'm a firm believer in taking breaks from work, meeting over good food and sake, to talk and discuss- isn't that why we are here to begin with? To meet and collaborate over ideas and food? When I first came to Columbia, I had no idea that students don't really team up on projects. If anything, I learned the first year that if anything, the trend is to get students to develop their own way of thinking about design and 'develop personaes'. It's really refreshing that second year, you have the opportunity to pair up and collaborate- though I heard many pairs end up in bitter divorce because egos and ideas collide with n...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451120/first-day-of-studio mikilee 2006-09-08T22:31:16-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>Today was our first day of studio. I think many of us were still in the daze of late summer, so hearing all of the statistics and information that Laura Kurgan gave in her studio presentation made me dizzy. It's all good though- I'm in a great studio with really smart, fun students who I think will all make the learning experience fun and interesting for the semester. Laura is also great- she is the only professor out of everyone teaching housing who is bringing in the concept of grant funding and money in a very real sense. Her current project provides the structure for the studio, though it's very open to expore other interpretations. <br><br> As an architecture student, I've been really interested in the notion of participatory design, which is a relatively new design term. The fact that we're working off the model of more statistically or evidenced-based design is fascinating, because it can go in many ways. It's incredibly political, and I think Laura is going to introduce that...</p> https://archinect.com/blog/article/21450842/first-day mikilee 2006-09-07T23:23:15-04:00 >2011-09-23T13:01:04-04:00 <br> Columbia University (Miki)<br> Hi Just Checking In...<br><br> 2 comments<br> Hi... this is my first entry into the archinect website, and I'm happy to say that I'm the first female to enter into the Columbia GSAPP posts as of late. I'm a practical-minded, sweethearted gal with a heart of stone. I welcome opinions and questions from left, right, up, down, sideways, and elsewhere. (Tsk, tsk).<br><br> When I was navigating decisions to attend this school and that, I took my fellow classmates as a big factor into my decision. My goal(!) is to anonymously report the passions and tribulations of my year as they unfold: the immaturity, the super-maturity, the humanity, the stupidity, the painfulness to the great pleasure, of those attending the institution of Columbia as if they meant it and as they really do mean it.<br><br> Miki<br> mikilee<br> Columbia University (Miki)<br><br> Sep 06 2006<br> Click here to visit the entire blog for Columbia University (Miki)<br> Welcome Miki,<br> How was your first day of studios? Do you already ha... https://archinect.com/blog/article/21451279/hi-just-checking-in mikilee 2006-09-07T00:32:22-04:00 >2018-01-30T06:16:04-05:00 <p>Hi... this is my first entry into the archinect website, and I'm happy to say that I'm the first female to enter into the Columbia GSAPP posts as of late. I'm a practical-minded, sweethearted gal with a heart of stone. I welcome opinions and questions from left, right, up, down, sideways, and elsewhere. (Tsk, tsk).<br><br> When I was navigating decisions to attend this school and that, I took my fellow classmates as a big factor into my decision. My goal(!) is to anonymously report the passions and tribulations of my year as they unfold: the immaturity, the super-maturity, the humanity, the stupidity, the painfulness to the great pleasure, of those attending the institution of Columbia as if they meant it and as they really do mean it. <br><br> Miki</p>