Archinect - Undecided

Ayyyeee

2006-12-04T03:33:55-05:00

So I majorly suck for not posting anything for a month or so. Got bogged down in this whole applications business, then holiday travel, and now back to applications.

During that period, I:
- took the GREs
- figured out where I am applying
- sent a packet of information to my recommenders containing
mini-portfolio
draft personal statement
resume
checklist
applicable forms

I'm still in the process of editing the statement and the resume, but have been showing both to as many people as possible to get feedback. Edit, rewrite, edit, rewrite.

I spent this weekend researching color management and workflow, as my current setup is quite uncalibrated and therefore left to the whims of the color imps. Ended up springing for a ColorEyes setup to calibrate an old LaCie CRT and a new Dell widescreen LCD. Since I'm printing my portfolios myself, I want to have everything as controlled as possible. I'm also considering getting a custom printer ICC profile made for my printer...

Lizardtecture at UPenn

2006-11-09T23:51:12-05:00

About 5 years ago, Columbia was infamous for churning out a specific style referred to in the common parlance as "blobitecture." Well, Penn has taken over the cutting-edge reins, and they're all about what might be termed "lizardtecture," "puzzletecture," or perhaps "borgitecture." Some call it algorithmic design, generative components, scripting, etc. I think it's certainly an interesting development and a fascinating approach to design, but is it THE approach to design? I'm not so sure.

First, some caveats: 1) I'm not yet trained as an architectural designer, so it's quite likely that my reaction stems from a lack of in-depth exposure. 2) I woke up at 5:30 am to get the train to Philly from NYC the day I visited Penn, so I was particularly cranky during the open house. 3) Whatever else I have to say, it's just my opinion, and you may have a completely divergent and equally valid opposing argument.

That being said, I'll admit that I had a viscerally negative reaction to UPenn's...

5 Down, 2 To Go

2006-11-05T15:49:53-05:00

So it's been an insane week, with much amtraking, commuter railing and running about madly. I visited Penn on Monday, Columbia on Wednesday, Yale on Thursday and Harvard on Friday, with more Harvard on Saturday for the education symposium. I met a bunch of great people- faculty, students and fellow hopeful future MArch I candidates. Every institution challenged my expectations and helped me gain a better sense out of what I want from the grad experience. So despite the cost, effort and general lack of sleep necessary to pull it all off, I'm glad that I've attended the open houses so far. I'm seriously bummed I didn't think of putting together an East Coast Open House Tour bus earlier, though. I'll try to post pics and a more detailed response to each institution in the coming days, so keep posted. Princeton is on Monday, and I think I'm going to RISD on Tuesday.

Crazy Angles and the Levels

2006-11-01T03:24:08-05:00

Given that the purpose of this blog from the outset was to provide a glimpse into the school application process, I suppose I should get around to actually talking about schools and my impressions of them. So without further ado, I bring you:

My visit to the University of Cincinnati Department of Art, Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture and Interior Design (whew) aka, UC DAAP SAID. Given how much architects seem to love acronyms (anyone know the first firm that went acronymous?), these folks are really pushing the boundaries. I eagerly await the next vanguard- the quadronym. Please tell me that there is a firm or academy called POOP. Otherwise, I call it. In reference to the aforementioned, UC DAAP SAID is far from it.

I was attracted to the program by its reputation and because of the COOP system. I'm from the Midwest, so the location isn't such an issue, although I'll admit that New York has rubbed off on me, and the prospect of leaving gives me pause. Plus, I know...

How many Deans does it take to...

2006-10-27T23:57:29-04:00

On Sept. 20, 2006, I attended the Deans Roundtable at the Center for Architecture, here in NYC. Thought you might be interested in hearing what they had to say.

Deans present: Alan Balfour, RPI; Judith DiMalo, NYIT; Urs P. Gauchat, NJIT; Thomas Hanrahan, Pratt; Mohsen Mostafavi, Cornell; George Ranalli, City College of NY (CUNY); Mark Robbins, Syracuse; Robert Stern, Yale; Anthony Vidler, Cooper Union. Also included Michael Bell, Director of Core Studies, Columbia; Sarah Whiting, Director of Grad Studies, Princeton

I was disappointed that the Deans from Columbia and Princeton were absent, as those are two of the schools I'm considering. The reps from those institutions didn't get to sit at the Big Table, for whatever reason.

The ostensible topic of discussion was Architecture and Public Policy, moderated by Ray Gastil, the director of the NYC Dept. of Public Planning Manhattan office and founding director of the Van Alen Institute. The main theme was quickly overshadowed by each ...

Rem in the House of Mies

2006-10-26T02:15:25-04:00

Though I was born in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mntns in Virginia, I grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago. So the Windy City always holds a special place in my heart, even if my memory is of the consistently gray and dismal winters, and even if I now feel more at home in New York City.

Somehow, in the 13+ years I lived in the Chicago area, I never made it down to the Illinois Institute of Technology to see Mies van der Rohe's master campus on the South Side. Even after studying it
in college as part of a Modern Architecture class, I never took the opportunity to visit. So at the tail end of a recent trip visiting family, I took advantage of a few hours of free time before my flight back east to check out the campus, especially the McCormick Tribune Campus Center by Rem Koolhaas (his first building completed in the US).

My first impression of the IIT campus- it's urban, but not dense. The busy thoroughfare of State Street runs through the heart of it, and when I was ther...

Goldsworthy & Evermor

2006-10-25T16:09:19-04:00

Backposting a bit here, but I wanted to include some items from a recent outing to Western Wisconsin- land of cheese and beer, brats and Walleyes.

I went on a fishing excursion with a bunch of crazy Chicago artists to an area west of the Dells. We played horseshoes, climbed trees, smashed pennies on railroad tracks, ate lots of meat, and went fishing as much as possible. A Chicago-based fashion photographer and I made an Andy Goldsworthy-esque tree mustache out of pinecones. I gathered and sorted, while he placed with care. I think it turned out quite nicely. I wonder what the squirrels will think.

On our way back to Chicago, we stopped in Prairie Du Sac, WI to check out the Land of Evermor, containing the world's largest scrap metal sculpture, the Forevertron. It was beyond awesome. If you ever find yourself near Madison, WI, make a detour to check it out. The instrument birds are worth the trip alone.

Our fine excursion was capped off by a delicious feast of fried chicken, mash...

An Introduction

2006-10-23T00:49:49-04:00

Hello world. Unlike the rest of the school bloggers, my viewpoint will be somewhat different, in that I am not yet in school. I completed an undergrad degree in Art History a while ago, worked for a bit at dot-coms and freelanced in NYC, and have now made the unfortunate decision to apply to grad school for architecture. I'm quite psyched about the whole thing, actually. After using the school blog project extensively in my school search, I proposed to the archinect folks that I blog my experiences as a prospective student- and here I am. I had the opportunity recently to check out the Koolhaas student center at IIT in Chicago, IL and just got back from the DAAP SAID open house at Univ of Cincinnati, so I'll post some thoughts and photos from those in the coming days. I'll also be hitting the East Coast circuit in about two weeks (yikes).