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What is trace paper?

strugs

Hey --

OK, I'm headed off to a yet-to-be-decided M.Arch program next year (see every other school-related thread on this site), but I don't really have any background in design. I got into several great programs, but only one school was wise enough to accept me on the condition that I take a summer program.

So, if I decide to go to a school that didn't require one(suckers!!), which would also save me a few thousand dollars and allow me to work during the summer -- how screwed am I going to be? Were there people during the first year in your programs who were just starting to draw? If I don't do a summer program, are there certain things that you would recommend I do? Should I take a drawing class, or would a digital design course be more helpful?

In other words, what can I do on my own this summer so I don't annoy you to hell if I end up at your school and I keep asking you what an axonometric view is (I think that is something, right?)...

Also, I already went to Target and bough Magic Markers, the 64-color set of crayons w/ sharpener and a Trapper Keeper, are there other things I should pick up on my next trip and learn how to use asap?

 
Apr 2, 06 4:26 pm
gillespie

you need construction paper. lots of costruction paper. your plans go on the yellow sheets, while your elevations are on green. some say that your perspectives must be on cream paper, but others advocate blue. its a tragic point of contention in architectural academia. sad, really.

and those large pink erasers that are the size of hershey bars. those come in real handy. the trapper keeper is essential. its reusable too, because you can use it to hold your portfolio when you apply for an intern position in a couple of years.

...

seriously, i would hunker down with some on ching's books ... building constuction illustrated / architectural graphics ... to familiarize yourself with methods of representation.

Apr 2, 06 4:56 pm  · 
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gillespie

*of

Apr 2, 06 4:57 pm  · 
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Josh Emig

Don't forget finger paints and a big tub of paste. Oh, and colored tissue paper. You'll need that to make stained glass windows for your first gothic cathedral project.

Apr 2, 06 5:04 pm  · 
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khmay

you know those pens that have the vibrating mechanism in them? get lots of those, lots,
also like 2000 popsicle sticks and a hot glue gun with various colored glue

Apr 2, 06 5:05 pm  · 
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manamana

you guys are forgetting the big one...

LEGOS

Apr 2, 06 5:16 pm  · 
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THuh

go ahead and drop the Crayolas.....must invest in the ever expensive Prism Markers!!

Apr 2, 06 5:27 pm  · 
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strugs

You would be jealous though if I showed up on the first day of school with the huge LEGO pirate ship, an Erector set, Robotix AND Capsela!

----

seriously though, will a regular visual arts drawing class be helpful, or should I try and find an arch. drawing course (I ask b/c the former is easy to find nearby, the latter may require a bit more money / travel)

Apr 2, 06 9:23 pm  · 
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va bene

glue sticks and glitter pens...

Apr 2, 06 9:39 pm  · 
 · 

Actually you need a pack of 12 Rotring Rapidographs - not sure they will let you draw without them, and you are going to need practice. Oh and buy the gold leaf too - got to be able to apply that stuff on your models of the cathedral. BUy a couple hundreds of boxes of black foam core too

Apr 2, 06 9:42 pm  · 
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buenobro

sweety, you don't need any of the above mention BS. all you need is a bank account and a 40 pounder of your favorite hard alcohol......

Apr 2, 06 10:02 pm  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

what about Playdoh or Plasticene????

how can you forget that?

oh, and an easybake oven, definitely an easy bake oven...

Apr 2, 06 10:15 pm  · 
 · 
Hasselhoff

Honestly, I have a butt load of equipment and totally could have gotten by with a roll of trace and a mechanical pencil. They gave us a huge list of stuff we needed, but we used very little of it. I did hand drawings because I wanted to for fun. You might want to take a drafting class so you know how to draw a section rather than just cutting in Rhino. They didn't teach us how to draw sections here, but I knew from Career Discovery and a drafting class I took in HS. Oh and reading Ching. You know what, buy Ching and like, just do some stuff at home. Maybe buy a drafting text book and do the assignments. Someone at school can bitch about your line weights. I don't know where you are going, you might just make blobs in Maya. Who knows?

Apr 2, 06 10:30 pm  · 
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sheri25

Get this book

Architectural graphics 4th edition

Apr 2, 06 10:37 pm  · 
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adso

Ching's books are a good place to start, but by no means should you consider them definitive. Form, Space and Order includes some great precedents, which you should dig a little deeper into, but when he lists five or six kinds of entries, don't accept that those are the only kinds. Like all other books about design, it is dogmatic, although subtley so.

Architectural Graphics as well presents a specific view towards architectural media and I think some of his explanations (particularly of line weight as well as isometric/axonomteric projection) can be a bit muddy. Get a few books on the subject to see a wider range of views.

Don't worry too much about catching up, after a month or so of studio, everyone will pretty much be up to speed.

Apr 3, 06 11:09 am  · 
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mimo

-An xacto and about 500 blades
-Metal ruler with cork back
-Super glue & accelerator, lots of it
-A white water based glue like Sobo or Elmer's

Apr 3, 06 11:23 am  · 
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8888

this thread is reassuring. i'm going back to school for my M.arch and i was convinced all everyone needed now was a fast computer and a big monitor. its nice to know people are still thinking about drafting and model building. ohhhh zap a gap and zip kicker. how i miss theee.

Apr 3, 06 11:30 am  · 
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dml955i

As your attorney, I recommend that you get a very fast car with no top. And you will need the cocaine...

Apr 3, 06 12:12 pm  · 
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mdler

knee pads...

Apr 3, 06 12:23 pm  · 
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levasser

don't drop a wad of cash on a summer program, since you're already into schools, unless you have to. but if you wanted to take classes in cad, some 3-d programs, or basic adobe creative, you wouldn't have top play catch-up first semester (like i did). some schools, like columbia, offer the prereq digital design classes over the summer, but they're not cheap.

Apr 3, 06 12:42 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

Oh yeah, 8888. We don't really do any hand drafting. When I said draw sections I meant applying the same rules to CAD or Illustrator.

Apr 3, 06 1:15 pm  · 
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8888

hasselhoff can people draw or make models if they WANT to? are there studios where you have the option? i feel like i'm not going to like penn when i visit...

Apr 3, 06 1:20 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

No, you totally can. I'm just saying we don't really hand draw anymore. Some critics are open to anything and are cool with it and others are totally digital. Like first year (at least the last two) there was pretty much no hand drawing other than some weak visual studies assignments. As far as your actual buildings, no, there was no hand drawing. I was the only one to hand draw out of 80 students last semester for final review and students were confused why the lines were fuzzy and slightly messy. Totally make models. We make models, just a different type of model than I was expecting.

Apr 3, 06 2:11 pm  · 
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JohnProlly
Apr 3, 06 2:19 pm  · 
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JohnProlly
Apr 3, 06 2:20 pm  · 
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8888

like sketch models and study models? not finish models but exploratory models made out of garbage and leftover junk from other projects?

Apr 3, 06 2:20 pm  · 
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JohnProlly

some people did this, not me however...

Apr 3, 06 2:21 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

Again, sure, you can do whatever you want. But each critic is different and will want different stuff.

Apr 3, 06 2:39 pm  · 
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snooker

Work a Construction Jobduring the summer, show up at your fall classes with your carpenter belt strapped around your waist, fully loaded with a framing hammer and lots of nails. Everyone will be impressed cause you now know if it can really be built, and you will not be pissing away a year drawing things which are not possible.

Apr 3, 06 2:39 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

Also, my first semester I had an ex DS+R guy, so he was totally down with hand drawings and weird concept models. Then there are some dudes that are just into laser cut stacked plexi BS and white lines on black backgrounds and dogmatic about plotting on mylar.

Apr 3, 06 2:42 pm  · 
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strugs

I can't believe I forgot about Construx -- Decades later, I still find those little blue connector pieces scattered around my parents' house....

Apr 3, 06 2:43 pm  · 
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JohnProlly

Assuming that because you've worked construction, you'll know what can and can't be built is a load of garbage. What can you REALLY learn in 3 months time? Besides, most contractors will have you sweeping and digging footings if you're just summer help. All you'll be doing is translating Architectural Jargon on framing plans and decyphering what "kinda dash is that!?!!?"...

Work in a cabinetry shop. You'll have a better experience working with smaller connections and details. A lot of the time, contractors will limit your scope of "what can and can't be built".

my 2 cents.

Apr 3, 06 2:43 pm  · 
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JohnProlly

Those blue connector nodes made good slingshot ammo as well Strugs!

Apr 3, 06 2:46 pm  · 
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strugs

Whoa -- construx just brought a wave of tinker-toy-esque nostalgia -- can anyone remember the name of a toy that you could build with using these accordion-like tubes that made a neat croaking noise when you expanded them (I think they were called poppel or something, but I can't find them online)...they were brightly colored, bendy, plastic...and would compress down like an accordion...

Apr 3, 06 3:06 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

I think they were called Poppels. I remember there was a Happy Meal with them in it and they frickin' ruled.

Apr 3, 06 3:09 pm  · 
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8888

yes! and they had shared nodes with circular ports that the ends of the accordion tubes would snap into?

Apr 3, 06 3:10 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

Wait, this shitty thing is a Popple:

Shitty Thing

Apr 3, 06 3:11 pm  · 
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AP
tinker toys

were always my favorite.

Apr 3, 06 3:19 pm  · 
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AP

seriously, don't buy all the stuff they tell you too...I used those damn $70 Koh-I-Noor pens once. disposable Micron pens work just fine.

I agree with prolly on construction vs. cabinet making.

otherwise, fine arts drawing would be useful. I did that prior to starting arch in undergrad...IMO, basic technical drawing is easier to learn than basic freehand (unless you're graphically inclined, in which case go the cabinet making route...)...

Apr 3, 06 3:23 pm  · 
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8888



popoids

Apr 3, 06 3:29 pm  · 
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8888

yo that picture looks like shit.

Apr 3, 06 3:44 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

YEHAHAAAAYYY POPOIDS!

Apr 3, 06 3:52 pm  · 
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PetePeterson

I'm wit snoooker.
I worked construction last summer, was a total bitch slave labourer, but still learned a ton. Just being on site all day you pick up a lot, even if you are sweeping, digging, and doing all that stimulating stuff. To a degree, it's what you make off it i think.
It helped me get my first job in an arch firm and I'm glad to have the technical knowledge upstairs before starting my MArch this sept.

Apr 3, 06 3:57 pm  · 
 · 
strugs

I am dying here -- that first popple thing Hasselhoff linked to made me lose me shite (mostly b/c I remember those "shitty things" too) -- they were like uber-marsupials that could stuff up insidem 'emselves...

...and hell yeah! Those popoids things are exactly what I'm talking about! I knew somebody here would remember those! Boy, they sure are ridiculous looking. I remember they were way fun to play with though.

Apr 3, 06 4:05 pm  · 
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8888
toys in the 80s

who remembers armatron?

Apr 3, 06 4:05 pm  · 
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JohnProlly
I am dying here -- that first popple thing Hasselhoff linked to made me lose me shite (mostly b/c I remember those "shitty things" too) -- they were like uber-marsupials that could stuff up insidem 'emselves...

...and hell yeah! Those popoids things are exactly what I'm talking about! I knew somebody here would remember those! Boy, they sure are ridiculous looking. I remember they were way fun to play with though.

Seriously! Some hyper-evolved critter who really DOES have its head up its ass!

hahaha
Apr 3, 06 11:49 pm  · 
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trace paper

= toilet paper for architects

Aug 3, 07 1:34 pm  · 
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xtbl

trace paper = rolling paper, when you're in a pinch.

Aug 3, 07 1:37 pm  · 
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soleil

AP - - --
those drawings were done w/microns?!?!
wtf?



heh.
kidding ;)

Aug 3, 07 2:10 pm  · 
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TED

trace = bumwad -- thats what we called it

Aug 3, 07 2:12 pm  · 
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soleil

the most important thing, however, is to work in studio not at home

Aug 3, 07 2:14 pm  · 
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