Archinect - University of Washington

Veni Vidi Vici

2011-02-06T17:11:50-05:00

If you're in Seattle on Valentine Day, you could come see four cool UW student projects that were produced at the UW Rome program last quarter. Sponsored by 47N. It should be a pretty casual brown bag lunch.

47N at the University of Washington

Changing the program

2011-01-15T19:58:23-05:00

initial program
to design a (boring) healthcare facility in rural Winthrop Washington.

altered program
to design a healthcare facility that is rapidly deployable, inexpensive, and effective, for use in rural areas OR in response to a natural disaster.

my group though the latter would be more needed, not to mention exciting. HA.

All Renderings No Model :S

2011-01-09T15:58:15-05:00

Happy New Year.

I just finished my exchange with Liverpool School of Architecture, which was amazing in many ways. The only thing that sucked though was that the different semester/quarter systems between the universities. I ended up having to finish my scheme in 10 weeks while my Liverpool classmates had another 4 weeks.

So, in all the time crunch I didn't really make a physical model. It was a bummer for me personally because I like making models. I was talking with my Scottish instructor Douglas McCorkell at the pub after my final presentation. He said that models or renderings or precedents are all a way to convey an scheme. Like there's no check list of how exactly a scheme has to be presented. Makes sense.

So here is my first project that I didn't make a model, the Liverpool Photographic Center. The striped building next to it is the Albion House, designed in 1898 by Sir Norman Shaw. That building is listed, so can't tear it down.

Thanks for reading. Part of my new yea...

Kazuyo Sejima at the Biennale 2010

2010-12-10T16:53:36-05:00

Double post today.

I went to go see a lecture by Kazuyo Sejima at the Venice Biennale. I am sure everyone has seen loads of photos/videos of the Biennale, but here's something you might not have...

(btw I felt like I was at a Lady Gaga concert with the hype of the crowds...)

In all, the lecture was pretty cool. Sejima talked quietly and was modest compared to the other European panelists. From what I can remember she talked about five ongoing projects... one that interested me was a redevelopment of an island in Japan that has a population of less than a hundred, most of them in in their 70s or 80s. With the population soon the be declining and deceased, the future seems bleak. The client wants to make it a small tourist destination in the next decade. I'm wondering how "starchitect" prestige and press can actually develop minor (usually remote) areas, kind of like Gehry and Bilbao. The whole celebrity status of the Sejima, especially at the Biennale, seems plausible and mostl...

drawings get bigger as you get older

2010-12-10T10:29:39-05:00

i'm studying at Liverpool School of Architecture this semester as an exchange student. I remember two years ago I though an A1 sheet was huge. Now this is HUGE.

Final review next Friday. Wish me luck!

Fun with Paper

2010-04-23T16:25:05-04:00

counterbalance

Mole E time lapse

2010-04-09T03:37:46-04:00

UW is building a new Molecular Engineering building, quite annoyingly in terms of construction, right in front of Architecture Hall. Though, I did find fantastic web cam time lapse videos of the construction. Help yourself. (Obviously, choose a weekday)

Webcam time lapse

Thanks to John Stamets, Architectural Photographer at UW.

Arch Hall is the white Classical building in the background.

Spr10/2 - SANAA congrats!

2010-03-31T02:41:14-04:00

Ok, everyone's been talking about SANAA winning the Pritzker, myself included. I really admire their work, and have been obsessed with them since I went to the UW Henry Exhibition in 2007 (where I saw a museum full of their models etc and Seijima talk)

I just wanted to dedicated a post to their achievement and just being awesome.

On a side note, my past studio instructor Ken Oshima went to their office a couple days before the announcement. So cool...

Cheers!

SPR10/01 - nothingness tsunami

2010-03-23T20:34:28-04:00

After a storm of last-minute-design, plotting nightmare, making potluck, and 4 hour beauty sleep for a consecutive 96 hours, it seems unreal that nothing is going on these past few days of spring break.

Really, this feels unreal.

After the end of the quarter I get nostalgic....humm.. what did I do the past 10 weeks.

+turned 21 :)
+ate out a lot
+met cool faculty at our lovely Happy Hour
+got accepted to go to University of Liverpool School of Architecture as an exchange student
+bought a Nikon FM with 28 mm Nikkor AI lens
+got into a relationship
+got sick twice
+learned Rhino
+made an online portfolio
+became immune to caffeine
+became facebook friends with the lead designer of the Tacoma Glass Museum, Wyn Bielaska
+enamored with Unhappy Hipsters
+realized that architecture is not graphic design...
+initiated my interest in digital fabrication

I leave you with my final plot for this quarter.

Win10/03 Shoji Door Continue and off to the next...

2010-02-27T21:15:24-05:00

What I love about this studio with Ken Oshima and Wyn Bielaska is the quantity of production. The past 6 weeks, we've completed 5 projects, and now we're on the 6th. Makes me think of efficiency and time management, something my procrastination nature is having a fit with.

Here's the last project. Ikea representation meets specifically designed sliding doors for a rather bland coffee shop. Continued from this

Original

Design

WIN10/02 - Shoji Doors

2010-02-01T04:11:19-05:00

This studio is fantastic! We are producing so much, with our heads, our hands, photographs, and any other visual and physical means. Unlike last quarter, where we had six weeks to make one "Shelter from the Storm", we now take on projects over the weekend.

Efficiency, Creativity, and Production.

Here's a sketch model of sliding doors for our College of Built Environment Cafe.

In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji (障子) is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a sort of grid of wood or bamboo. (From Wikipedia)

WIN10 - New Studio + Some Stuff

2010-01-26T18:57:17-05:00

I loaded Winter Quarter with 18 credits.

Studio - pretty fun with Ken Oshima and Wyn Bielaska. Also very busy.
Color and Light Theory with Galen Minah. Just visited Chapel of St. Ignatias by Steven Holl.
Computers for Architecture Sketchup, Rhino, Adobe stuff.
Digital Machine Group Seminar Discovering technology on a designer dimension.
Structures Math and Physics

18 credits, but i probably spend 95% of my time and energy on studio.

AUT09/10 - Stick Mania

2009-11-29T07:20:42-05:00

I feel like I present myself as a Stick Mania with all of these images of sticks! And here is more, and it is the final project. I will post more model photos of the project; here's what I got now.

Elaborating on the "Stick Mania" thought, I believe that this course, after all of my initial frustration mentioned earlier, is worth some re-consideration. After all, Sticks and I, we've had our ups and downs all quarter.

Given that...
The system does not matter - which is a simple traditional bypassing system, nothing fancy or theoretical.
The program does not matter- A "shelter from the storm" which has never been built, the course has been taught decades, and we didn't even have a site visit.
The technology does not matter - Home Depot 4'by4' and bolts, come on.

Then...
What becomes important is the process, of complete obsessive compulsive nature (and in my case frustration). The natural outcome is the mastery of a particular system with its particular constraints. This complete m...

AUT09/08 - Stick Studio - Mid Review

2009-11-06T05:03:30-05:00

Mid Review last Friday. I decided on taking the opportunity for some photographs (new 50mm f/1.8 lens!, hence all the portraits). Mind you, I probably could have done a better job had I slept in the previous 36 hours, but here's what I got, more on my flickr.

Things are picking up and we were doing quite a bit of all-nighter busywork. I say busywork because the lack of, as a personal opinion, intellectual challenge. Studio so far...not really feeling it. For Stick Studio standards, I feel like a rebel, pursuing the post-mediocracy, alternative, progressive, avant-garde, and thinktank endeavors. May I call myself creative?

uggggggghhhhhhhhh

Midst all the frustration, I am realizing that my argument against the traditionalists is weak due to the lack of mastery of the traditional.

On another note, I'm doing stuff outside school. Mary Gates Endowment Scholarship application, Architectural Design Collective, Student Exhibits, and Ballard clothes shopping. My new favorite boutique...

AUT09/07 - Design Coalition of the University of Washington

2009-10-22T02:41:31-04:00

Second post today :)

Three ongoing ideas met today.

RB - A student run organization to bounce ideas though exhibits and events across the design disciplines. Students and professionals.
LK (me) - A student run publication with a concentration in design and art at the UW. Student work, interviews, opinions, and miscellaneous. Online and quarterly publications.
AR - A student run team to connect professionals, prospective students, and current students. An idea of mentorship raised.

We all want to be active outside of curricula.
We all feel the lack of recognition as (unaccredited) undergraduate architecture students.
We all appreciate the benefits in the multidisciplinary realm.
We all want to be more connected.
We all are excited.

Any thoughts, ideas, comments, experiences?

AUT09/06 - Stick Studio - Project One

2009-10-22T01:56:02-04:00

My attempt in model photography. Suggestions/tips?

Project Overview

AUT09/05 - 5:30AM! Gonna go see the sun rise

2009-10-14T08:22:30-04:00

and I leave you a half constructed typography site.

AUT09/04 - Things are slow

2009-10-09T20:11:54-04:00

Its a general consensus in the class. And I don't like it.

The prof says, "We don't want you to do all nighters with hot glue guns and x-acto knives...and somehow make it home safely..."

Isn't that the point? Aren't we supposed to push ourselves? Don't they expect us to excel and become better, especially since we're in what seems like a quite a competitive field?

I've finding that UW has its professionals that are really good, and that are really chill. I guess that's the atmosphere of Seattle, now to think about it.

AUT09/03 - Stick Studio - Test Model of the Exploration Model

2009-10-07T15:27:03-04:00

Here’s an test model for exploring "The System"... with a capital T and a capital S. Our own designs will come later in the quarter, so they say.

Stick Studio
First studio for the incoming undergraduates to the Department of Architecture. Previously taught by Frank Ching, yes, from all those architecture drawing books.

The System
The whole quarter follows a building system, The System, of hierarchically layered posts, beams, purlins, and decking in a bypassing fashion. Human dimensions investigated.

Objective
Learn The System
Posts at 8’ by 12’
Table and bench for 4, facing each other
Counter
Bed

Materials
2’ by 4’
4’ by 4’
4’ by 6’
4’ by 8’
4’ by 10’

Reaction
I had frustration with The System last Friday. It seemed so dictating, rules this, rules that. The critiques seemed to lead students to develop an identical structural language, and even identical form, that did not account for individual creativity, ambitions, and interpretations.

I questioned myself if I am d...

AUT09/02 - Orientation

2009-10-04T13:19:48-04:00

With much anticipation, we finally started orientation and school this week. 48 grads, and 48-1 undergrad (a guy decided to ditch arch for computer science). 90% of the 2 day orientation was, in my opinion, rather bland, unrehearsed, and unnecessary. Many people left half-day. But here are some notes from the good 10%.

Professional Advisory’s Council – Supporting the UW as well as being supported by the UW, the PAC is in collaboration with the school.

The PAC talked about the “previously linear” trends that are changing to “integrate design with interdisciplinary” approach, “BIM”, “sustainable design”, and that it is “global process, in which Seattle firms are designing all over the world.” Well…duhh…but they also talked about the lack of firm diversity (white male dominance) and the 2030 Challenge (carbon neutral), which was new knowledge to me.

Talks of a Department of Architecture dates back to the 1890s at UW, and was realized in 1914 with the School of Architecture. App...

AUT09/01 - Pictures...blur out faces or not?

2009-09-28T11:34:24-04:00

Does anyone know the legality of this issue? Would studio or inside an academic institution be classified as "public domain"? Aside from making sure the people are represented as presentable, am I responsible for leaving people anonymous?

I've seen both, maybe some of you can comment on how you feel about this.

That said, I don't plan on posting people very much. The issue would be if someone's head or face or something happened to be in a good picture.

Thanks Archinectors,
Luke

SUM09/05 - Back from the Old World, and Cold Feet

2009-09-27T22:51:40-04:00

This will be the last SUM post, as AUT will succeed with the start of school tomorrow. Actually, the next two days will be Orientation for noobies to the Department of Architecture here at UW. School officially starts on the 30th. Updates on how Orientation goes later this week.

I just came back from a 4-week trip around Western Europe! I saw amazing things, met fantastic people, and acquired extraordinary experiences. I’ll update my Flickr once I get to organizing them. Some personal highlights were SANAA’s Serpentine Pavilion; Vitra Design Museum; Le Corbusier: Art and Architecture Exhibition; Greek statues; getting lost in Berlin 3 in the morning; Tadao Ando; Netherland Architecture Institute; Barcelona beaches; OMA; Belgian chocolate; and no drinking age! (yes, I am 20, unfortunately for living in the States).

Aside from the jet lag and enjoying the last day of summer at a Pacific Northwest Beach, I feel an urge of “cold feet”. Yes, I believe that is how to say it. Basically...

SUM09/04 - Summer Trip

2009-09-05T16:03:57-04:00

It's my first time across the Atlantic. Small differences, surprising similarities.

I've been using MIMOA to guide my way around modern architecture; its a pretty neat setup.

For your non-architecture-school amusement.

More on my flickr

SUM09/02 - Gould Hall, College of Built Environments

2009-08-13T02:46:40-04:00

College of Architecture and Urban Planning became College of "Built Environments" in 2009. I like the broader pluralistic-ness implied, not too fond of the font.

Sorry for the low quality; taken from my phone.

SUM09/01 - First Entry

2009-08-06T03:30:58-04:00

Hello Archinect,

Woohoo, first post. I hope this blog will be an interesting documentation of my experience as an undergrad of B.A. (*ehem, not B.Arch) in Architecture and International Studies. I’m going into my junior year here at the University of Washington, which means that I will be in the Department of Architecture doing mostly studio and ARCH classes.

I was born in Japan, grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and left Alaska for college. I applied to two schools, and between choosing University of Oregon’s B.Arch. program (with a scholarship) and University of Washington’s B.A. Architectural Studies program (without any scholarship), I chose UW because I wasn’t so set on doing architecture when I was 18. Meaning, I could choose my major after junior year, and I was debating what I wanted to study and what I wanted in life; business, engineering, international studies, or architecture. I felt that UW would still give me buffer time to choose. I really admire those who go to a B.A...