Archinect - Texas Tech University

Home Sweet Home

2005-05-21T01:18:29-04:00

I've officially moved out of Lubbock and am back home with the parents for a few weeks. I think I'm actually going to miss the big blue skies of Texas.

I'm trashing all the models I've kept from the past 5 years. There's quite possibly hundreds of hours lying on the floor here.
Its sad, but not that sad. I'm moving on to bigger and better things.

If my blog is still up in a few weeks, I'll try and post some pictures from my trek across the states to Maryland.

Fantasy

2005-05-04T16:46:47-04:00

Here is the last painting in the series of adaptive use in art. Let me know what you guys think.

Before

After

So long classroom.

2005-05-02T20:47:20-04:00

It's done. I've completed the classroom phase of my life. Although I fully expect to continue to learn throughout my life, I think I can confidently say that I'm finished with the classroom grind.

Tomorrow is the last official day of classes here at TTU. Dead day is Wednesday, which will be spent at Crickets Bar & Grill. Finals start on Thursday, but I lucked out this semester and don't have any.

I'm finishing my last painting in the Adaptive Use series this week. I'll post pictures soon.

Am I the only one that likes to Google obscure phrases just to see what pictures pop up. I think this one bellow is appropriate.

Making the BIG move!

2005-04-17T18:09:56-04:00

The job search is over. I'm leaving Texas and heading to the East Coast. In a couple months I'll be driving 1700 miles to Baltimore.

From this:

To This:

04.05 The junk is about to hit the fan

2005-04-05T13:30:24-04:00

The semester is really speeding up right now. Next week is going to be one of those weeks that seems like everything is due. I have to write a paper for my Strategic Mgt. class over Strategies for Business Growth. I am also giving a 45 min lecture to the school of architecture over my recent research in adaptive use and its application in art and architecture. I have a test in Production Mgt. and some group work due in Decision Theory.

To top everything off, I'm heading up to Maryland this week for one last interview. I've received numerous job offers so now I'm in the process of narrowing them down. This semester has been fairly laid back compared to my Thesis last semester, but it seems like everything is piling up at the end. I'm just ready to walk the stage and get out of Lubbock.

As a side note, the United States Post Office will be releasing a series of "architecture" stamps in May. I thought they would be appropriate to use on my graduation announcements.

Here i...

Architecture Sucks

2005-03-30T20:20:01-05:00

We decided to raffle off Archinect's famous "Architecture Sucks" shirts. All proceeds are going to help fund "The Knights of Architecture," a student organization focused on recruiting and retention. We also had students vote for their favorite faculty/staff member. It's nice to recognize those professors who go above and beyond.

On a personal note, I'm gearing up for a trip up to Baltimore next week. Should be fun.

How are the Kids in Thesis?

2005-03-23T17:32:13-05:00

Ok...well I ventured into the thesis studio today to see how everyone is doing. They had their qualifying crits last week so most of them are either laid back in the home stretch, or frantically trying to get there.

Marco's chatting it up on the phone in the hall...he's probably talking to an academic advisor about switching majors to Restaurant & Hotel Mgt. Just kidding Marco.

Jay likes to put a bunch of complicated Max stuff on his computer as his screen saver so people think he's working. He's actually 30 mins into his 2 hour mid day nap. Sweet dreams Jay.

Cameron is leaving for LA this weekend. He's got a sweet interview for a position as one of Bob Barker's Beauties on The Price is Right. Good luck bud...

Choosy people choose Jiff...Right Matt?

"If I can't hear my studio mates...then they're not there" Nice Muffs Robert...

Ryan likes to sport his skull hat so no one suspects that his Ipod is filled with Clay Akin's newest hits.

If these guys don't kill me, then ...

Renfro and processed cotton

2005-03-21T21:09:02-05:00

Hey gang. Well, I just got back from a week full of interviews. Not the most fun way to spend spring break, but it could have been worse. Anyhow, it seems like everyone is hiring. I got my first offer in the mail today. Hopefully I'll see a few more this week.

On the way back home through Sweetwater TX I came across this roadside oddity.

Charles Renfro the somewhat new partner to Diller Scofidio gave a lecture today. It was decent. He gave a little spill about Advertecture then described 3 recent projects.

03/04 What a Rush!

2005-03-04T17:29:27-05:00

Just finished a full day of back to back interviews. I interviewed with 10 out of the 27 firms here for the TTU Job Fair. Out of the 10 I've had 9 requests for second interviews. Overall, I'd say that's not bad. Well, I guess I can look forward to a week full of interviews over spring break.

Its been a long day, and I intend to make it a long night as well. Have a good weekend.

03/01 Interview Portfolio Complete

2005-03-01T00:45:54-05:00

I just finished my interview portfolio. I'm pretty happy with it overall. I chose to go with my same old format that I've been using for the past 4 years, but its been good to me. ie. numerous scholarships and graduate school acceptance. I've skimmed it down to the best of the best projects. I chose a hot pressed watercolor board for the cover. I left the ragged edge on on side and cut a large square out of the front cover revealing my name in a field of blue. Behind the front cover is a sheet of plastic (found in the fabric section of your local hobby shop. This sheet protects the the title sheet from scratches and nasty hands. I used a Tektronix Phaser 850 to print front and back pages. The phaser is a wax based printer so the 32 pound pages have a nice weight and luster to them. I've also added a fold out 11x17 appendix in the back for my thesis plans and elevations. There was so much detail in them that I just couldn't get them to look right at a smaller scale. I ha...

02/21 1st Painting in Nihilistic Nostalgia Series Complete

2005-02-21T11:06:41-05:00

I just finished Father Time my first painting in the Nihilistic Nostalgia series. I'll have my final review for it on Monday with Jaddo. I'm thinking of adding a tear on his right eye and a drop on the web in the middle. I'll see what Jaddo has to say about that.
Original

Final Painting

My next painting is "Modern Woman" (title in the works). I bought some plastic army men and am about to start photographing them and sketching them. They will replace the small men standing on the maze holding the lights up to the face of the woman. I'm also working on penciling in the maze at the bottom and making sure the perspective comes out right. My first step in the actual painting process will be the sky. I'm working with the existing aged look of the canvas and blending in darker areas to define the thunder head in the right side of the painting. I'm a little scared about starting on these clouds. I'll probably have to do some experimenting first.
Original Painting

Photosh...

02/16 1st post thesis late night

2005-02-16T01:54:08-05:00

This being the first night all semester that I've actually stayed up in the ARCH building past 11 pm I thought I should post an entry.

I'm up to my eyeballs in job applications right now. I've been making packets to send out to some of the places I'd like to work most. So far everything looks pretty good. I might even have an opportunity opening up at a Korean firm in Seoul.

The first painting is going great. I'll put the final touches on it this weekend and post a pic then.

02/7 Painting Begins

2005-02-07T00:54:05-05:00

As I mentioned before, I'm working with the concept of adaptive use and applying it to art. The idea is that there exists a category of artifacts that have reached a certain age to which they are no longer useful in their existing state. The value in these objects comes from their age rather than their actual materiality. My intention is provide an alternative to preservation. Restoration is not the answer. Do we really want to live in a make believe atmosphere of the past? In addition, preservation is in effect simply slowing down the inevitable process of decay. My argument is that age itself should not be regarded as a determination to historically preserve every artifact that has been lucky enough to outlive its peers. In fact, by preserving only those things that have reached a certain maturity are we not creating a false picture of the past? On the other hand, the past can not be wiped clean to make way for the future. A progressive layering system must remain intact i...

02/01 Its all smiles in thesis

2005-02-01T14:48:19-05:00

Today I decided to make a quick run through the thesis studio and snap some quick shots of the students. So here are the top reasons you can tell it's early in the semester here at TTU.

Snow is falling in the English/Philosophy courtyard

There are "live" plants in studio

Marco's swamped in schematic sketches

Matt's working on what appears to be a site model

Allison doesn't seem to be concerned about anything

Grace has yet to decorate her tiny space

Jay's playing with clay

Steven...well, he's actually here so it must be early in the semester

I'll revisit these students at the end of the semester to see how they are hanging in there.

01/22 workspace and shiner

2005-01-22T15:51:10-05:00

Ok guys. Here we go again. Finishing thesis has been one of the best feelings in the world. I'm basically just floating through this semester. I'm taking my last 3 business classes that I need to complete my MBA. In addition, I'm working on a series of paintings for my grad. Arch. elective. I'll be posting more about that later. Today I thought I'd just show a pic of my working space this semester. I've got a pretty nice set up here this semester on the 3rd floor. I'm camped out in the student organization office overlooking the art/architecture courtyard.

view to an empty campus on a Saturday

You can't beat a Shiner!

01\04 Outstanding + TECH crushes CAL

2005-01-04T15:18:45-05:00

Well guys, after several weeks of sitting on my butt at home I'm back in Lubbock gearing up for my last semester of college.

I'm happy to announce that the professors and alumni selected my thesis along with 3 others for the outstanding thesis award of Fall 04.

In other news...in case you haven't heard. The Tech Football team crushed CAL in a 45-31 pt win in the Holiday Bowl. Now let's just see if ole Bobby (Knight) can make something of the men's basketball season this year.

And finally, Laura and George stopped by to say hi Christmas Eve. They were kind enough to pose for a photo with me and my brothers in the family den. I decided to make thank you cards from the picture and send them to family and friends. (Please note that Photoshop may have been used to touchup this photo. Therefore it may or may not depict actual events that took place.) Happy New Year.

12/17 Christmas Greeting

2004-12-17T18:42:06-05:00

Well guys, I'm back in Pampa Tx. I guess that means my semester is officially over. Good luck to all of you who still have a few days left.

12/14 Now What?

2004-12-14T12:59:15-05:00

I decided that I owed at least one more blog so I tooled around the ARCH building today and snapped a couple shots.

Info board:

In the elevator lobbies of each floor there is a posting board for all the need to know info. A few years ago I started a silent protest against the extremely graphically lame posters that had become common on the boards. I spend about an hour every two weeks making funny or eye-catching posters for knights meetings. This week someone did a decent job on the scholarship posters.

Worm's Viz class has crits today.

the shop:

several students are in the shop today rushing to finish their work for product design class

Design 1 made dog houses this semester. I'm not sure some of these kids even know what a dog is, much less how its house should look.

12/5 The Afterbirth of Nihilistic and Nostalgic Irrationalism

2004-12-05T21:20:15-05:00

6'x9' Layout

Bryan/Pearl St.

As some of you may know from my previous blogs, I chose not to model anything in 3D for this project. This image was composed entirely in Photoshop and took about 9 hours to create.

SubLevel

The sublevel of the building houses numerous quick meal food vendors. In the top part of the plan you'll see the receiving/main mechanical area. There is an atrium in the center that opens to all floors above. Each floor has a bridge that crosses through the atrium. The Two left most stairs serve as the fire stairs. In order to meet code requirements these existing stairs were chosen because all other stairs have entries into the building on the first level. A wine bar is located in what was the boiler room bellow the main entry to the original school.

FirstLevel

The first level is the main level of the grocery facility. The Fresh Meat and Fish counter is in the upper left. The wing on the right is the Dairy section and the lower portion of the p...

11/30 Pinned up! Sleep here I come.

2004-11-30T18:34:12-05:00

Well, It's finally here, the grand finale of my architectural education. I've pinned up my thesis and completed my final review. Everything went great. I'm so high on life right now I feel like I could fly. I finished my presentation at 4 yesterday and went home for what I thought would be a short nap. Instead I slept from 5:00PM to 8:AM straight through. Hmm is my body trying to tell me something? Mom sent some Thanksgiving leftovers so I had my first non-fast-food meal in over a month today for lunch.

I'll be posting pics of my presentation, and comments from my Profs soon, so stay posted.

For tonight, I'm going on a much needed and anticipated date to the movies.

11/17 model construction animated gif

2004-11-18T02:48:19-05:00

The final model is now 90% done. I created a simple animated gif that shows it being built. The animation is somewhat deceiving considering that the images were taken over the past two weeks. Some images had several days of work in-between them. I've got a pretty good routine down now. I work from about 2:30pm- 7am. I go home and take a shower then go to work in the print lab from 8:30-10:30. Then I sleep on a hammock in my studio from 10:30-2:30. My body is actually getting used to only getting 4 hours of sleep per night. Its 1:43 in the morning and I'm wide awake.

This week I'll start producing collage perspectives and finishing up my elevations. I hope to have all the drawings done by next Tuesday, so all I have to do over Thanksgiving is work on the layout.

I have a lot to be thankful this year. My friends and family have been super supportive through this whole ordeal. Thanks a for the "care package" Hearne. I've been putting it to good use. Well, I better ge...

11/13 light wiring test, model progress

2004-11-13T02:15:53-05:00

Hey guys,
Besides the fact that I'm averaging 4 hours of sleep a day, things are going slow but good. My models are taking me longer than expected (isn't that how it usually goes). I'm working on two models. One is a lighted site model. The other is a sectional model with exposed structure.

For the record, I usually consider models with lights a bit tacky. However, my professor was joking around and mentioned that it might be cool if I put blinking red lights in my site model. So, I thought what the hell. It's really turned out to be more of a chore than I thought. I started out using LED lights powered with 12 volt batteries. I got the brightest ones radioshack had but they just didn't cut it. Then, I decided that using Christmas lights would be a cheap way to get the blinking effect. I bought a couple kits and messed around with them, but there were just too many bulbs and wires for the little space I had. I wanted something a little brighter. So I went to Lowes and...

11\7 chalkboard chick

2004-11-08T03:03:44-05:00

Chalkboard chick says "10 days till pin up."

The model building is going extremely slow. Its hard to believe you're looking at 3 days work, and 60 bucks of Museum Board. I'm busy cutting out windows right now. I'm pasting cad drawings on the front of museum board, cutting out the windows then pasting the elevations printed on velum on the back. This way I'll get some light into the model, and a little bit of depth as well. It's 2AM Monday Morning, I think I'll be here till 5 then sleep till 9. that's the plan. stay tuned for more.

It's 2:31 AM - I just stabbed the shit out of my hand. Some how a #11 blade was sitting on my chair. As I went to sit down the blade inserted itself halfway into the joint of my palm and middle finger. After the profuse bleeding stopped I sealed it with wings and things glue. Ahhhh what I wouldn't give for a 9-5 job right now. No blood was spilled on the model!

11/4 And So the Rat Race begins

2004-11-04T18:51:50-05:00

I'm in the home stretch. 98% of the design decisions have been made. I've completed 2 mock up study models that I will combine into one final model. Both are at 1/16" inch scale. One shows the interior, the other shows the exterior. The final model will be constructed so that it breaks away to reveal the interior. I'll be using Museum Board (shit this stuff is expensive) to produce a clean white model. Brown chip will be used for the Metal Shards of the tapeworm. I'll be sacrificing my study model soon so I snapped a few pics of it.

I'm going to attempt to take a series of sequential photos showing the erection of the final model. I haven't decided if I am going to blog them all at once in stills or piece them together in a movie.
Before1:

After1:

Before2:

After2:

Sorry about this bad photo:

11/1 "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

2004-11-01T23:31:14-05:00

Well, Beulinckx came in today and started hacking at my study model with a pair of scissors. I've got a lot of work to do the next couple of weeks.

Being my last weekend of freedom for awhile I decided to make the best of it. We went out to a pumpkin farm and picked a truck load of giant orange melons. That's Bella in the picture. She kept us entertained by fetching some of the smaller ones. I dressed up as Jack for Halloween. We went up to Whataburger and messed with the employees and the people in the drive through. ok, back to the model.

10/27 Qualifying Results (new pics)

2004-10-27T16:22:41-04:00

The good news is I passed qualifying. The last two days i've been finally getting into 3D max. However today Prof. Beulinckx adamantly opposed any further digital 3d work. I've got some more design work to do on the steel plates and their connection to the steel tubing. She's suggesting (really demanding) that rather than producing 3d perspectives in the computer that I make detail models on a scale larger than the 1/16th inch scale that I'm currently working in. We talked about rendering photographs in a collage type manor. I feel that there is a possibility for some really great images here, but was also looking forward to constructing a model in Max. She's not against computers, however she doesn't feel that they are going to help solve any of the design decisions I have left. I'm not sure what to think. While I am perfectly comfortable with my ability to produce physical models and render them via photoshop, I was hoping to work on improving a different skill set. Anyho...

10/22 Emergency Food Rations

2004-10-23T02:44:32-04:00

It's 1:30 am and I broke into the emergency food rations. Sure wish that sushi guy that walks around sciarc was here.

I got a good reaming from Buelinckx today, but its all good. I think I should be ok for qualifying review on Monday. I'm even going to take a little time off and go to the football game against UT. If I can get a seat! There have been students camping at the gate for 4 days now! Obviously restaurant and hotel management majors.

10/20 "I think I Can....I think I can..."

2004-10-20T20:41:55-04:00

I'm just about to crack today. Sleep deprivation is kicking in hard core. All my classmates are about to reach the breaking point. We're all on edge. It's funny what childhood memories you recall when your delusional. I'm thinking of a book I had when I was a kid..The Little Engine That Could. I think I Can...I think I can.....aaaaahhhhh I'm officially going insane.

That clown on top of the train always freaked me out.

10/18 "itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s actually exploding out of the center"

2004-10-19T11:44:17-04:00

What's new in Lubbock? Not much. The halls of the Architecture building are filled with freshman delineation students drawing the traditional hallway perspective. The big news according to the University Daily was that a guy got shot with a BB gun from a fifth floor window of the University Plaza Apartment complex. Ah... life in a small town.

Yesterday I had a crit with buelinckx. We looked over some sections I had attempted over the weekend. She's basically pushing me to continue my design into the entire project. We discussed the need to bring the folded plates that are on the exterior into the interior in some way. For inspiration I googled tapeworm images (that's what we are calling this intervention). I found the purple image below and envisioned a circular viewing platform at the center of the pedestrian bridge on the roof. From the circle there is a series of fins that radiate out and frame different views to the city. The circle forms an oculus that is centered...

10/14 Thesis Statement and Abstract

2004-10-14T18:55:01-04:00

Well, I realized that I have yet to post my Thesis Statement. So for what its worth, here are the statements that back up my thesis along with my abstract.

Topic: Articulation of significant residuals

Project Statement: Adaptive use of the historic Dallas High School into a market place with emphasis on significant residuals.

Thesis Statement: Architecture should not petrify forms, nor should it deny their existence. The existing context and its character should be encouraged to evolve and transform, thus establishing a connected sense of being and a management of environmental change.

Facility Statement: The synergy of a traditional market can be infused into a contemporary mixed use facility and exploited via the use of transparency.

Context Statement: By unfolding the landscape, and through careful exploitation of the existing circulation networks, the current void in the Dallas Central Business District will be transformed into a vibrant place of commerce.

Scope...