My Day on the Emotional Spectrum of Thesis:
Determined[2am of today] : just finished pinning up my thesis board after a week of living in the computer lab of Tulane University.....jenn helped me finish up and polish my maya fluid animations....determined to get everything finished so that i could actually get a good nights sleep[whatever that is...i forgot] before the final thesis presentation @ 2pm
Hopeful[3am]: i went to sleep with hope for my presentation
Panic[noon]: i woke up in a panic because i had set my alarm for 10am to get to school and plan what i was going to say
Nervousness[1:30pm]: getting to school and hoping to have enough time to come up with something to say...
Unexpecting/Un-Assuming[2pm]: my final thesis presentation
LIVID[2:35pm]: i yelled at a one of the critics during my presentation....apparently my thought process at the time was one of "if i go down, i'm going down in a ball of flame baby....let's rumble"...
Sadness/Frustration[3:15pm]: my thesis presentation ends
Embarrassment[3:45pm]: after smoking a cigarette and playing through the most anti-climactic review in my life...i COULD NOT beleive that i yelled at a reviewer...and no matter WHAT he said i could have stood up for my project without being not only unprofessional but practically homicidal[had he been within slapping distance....]
Apologetic[4pm]: i apologized to my thesis advisor for my behavior, and then to the Dean of Tulane School of Architecture....yes the dean was there and yes i yelled at the critic in front of the Dean
Incredulous[4:30pm]: after swallowing my pride i approached the dean in his office....and apologized.....funny part is this...the dean said that in his 20 years as a professor and dean he had never had a student approach him and apologize for their unprofessional behavior. He was SO IMPRESSED that he offered to schedule a meeting with me next week to suggest firms in and around philly/nyc/boston area!!!! AND when i mentioned that my dream job would be to work with Lindy Roy, and that although she is hiring for 2 positions right now she is looking to hire someone with more experience...he suggested that i apply anyway AND HE OFFERED TO GIVE ME A LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION ON MY PORTFOLIO!!!! At this point i think i said outloud "you do realize that my review went hell...right?" --- i don't even remember if i said this...but i sure was thinking it... i guess not though since he didn't respond...
Happiness and doing the victory dance[4:50pm]: I CAN NOT BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!! Did i enter some kind of wormhole?? THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AT TULANE IS GIVING ME A RECOMMENDATION!!! VVVIIIICCCTTTOOORRRYYYY DDDDAAAANNNNCCCEEE!!!!
from this point i called my mom and dad and told them what happened...and OF COURSE my mom and dad were SOOO disappointed with my initial reaction, but glad that i actually had enough of my wits about me that i went back and apologized....and they were VERY pleased about my new job opportunities...
Closure[6pm]: we are served good champagne in plastic martini glasses and do the "toast" thing to show our appreciation for the advisors, faculty and staff that supported our process...
so yeah...i went back and forth between crying, depression about the review--which counts as 40% of our grade, and relative happiness....if my academic career ends on a low note, maybe my actual career will start better....AND the fact that IT IS OVER NOW, I'M ABOUT TO GRADUATE, AND IT'S MY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEKEND!!!
[ps...i completely forgot that this weekend was my birthday...ALL of my focus has been on finishing thesis without losing my mind...]
so yeah...i went to bed at 10pm after having dinner with some other thesis students....sharing pain lessens it...
went home and was in bed by 10pm...and right now it's 4:31 in the morning!!! my sleep schedule is SOO out of whack....i woke up at 2:30am and felt like i had to do something...
Progress Report: MY THESIS REVIEW IS ON FRIDAY between 2 and 3pm---if you have my phone number and expect to call me....PLEASE CALL AFTER 3:30[just in case]--I WILL NOT PICK UP MY PHONE BEFORE THEN!!! that and it's dead and i haven't been home to charge it in almost a week...sorry.
-we recieved an email on friday of last week that we had to have all of our boards PRINTED and in HAND by 9pm today...everyone freaked out about the last minute notification of this deadline by our advisors...
-all those with alot of digital work[aka me along with many others] have had MASSIVE computer problems b/c of file size causing tulane's computers to crash many many times over...rendering a 3d model is damn near impossible...
-over the last 7 days i've slept 3 hours a day...until the last 2 days where i've had NO sleep and i had been taking a series of 30 minute power naps....basically i've been falling asleep at the computer--subsequently BECAUSE i'm not sleeping i feel all i can eat is crackers and coffee b/c i feel nauseated all the time...SOOOO i go to my advisor and tell him that i'm becoming physically ill...and fall asleep while talking to him...but he sent me home to sleep for 6hrs before coming back again to work....
-when the advisors realized that people with alot of digital work would not be done on time they gave us an emergency printing time of wednesday starting at noon....i'm now shooting to have my stuff done by the latest tuesday night...THEN I GET TO START MODELS for my FRIDAY presentation..
SO TO RECAP: no sleep til friday or brooklyn--whichever you prefer, feeling better now that i've had REAL food and REAL sleep, still alot of work to do...
i haven't done the full on FREAK OUT FEST b/c frankly i don't have the time to process the emotional stress that i'm under right now...
get sleep for me everybody and i'll do another progress report once my board is sent to print...and i'll put some pretty photos up for you...=) have a good week!
-erin
a picture is worth a thousand words, and thesis is a metaphorical pidgeon...this pretty much characterizes my days recently. you might be seeing this kid & bird as one of the scale figures in a rendering on my board....look for it!!
i'm into day 2 of the computer lab watch....if i get up from my computer at this moment then i will lose my spot in the lab...and WILL not get it back until monday night....
the people on computers around me right now have not left their spots in two days....and i'm right there with them.
and to further explain the situation in the tulane computer lab at this time here's a little vignette:
i decide to take a 20 min. power nap[around 13 hrs of sleep in 4 days]....but i don't want ANYONE to touch my computer so i move the keyboard away just enough to lay my head down...10 minutes later--this is NOT A JOKE OR DRAMATIZATION--a girl taps my shoulder and wakes me up to ask me if i am using my computer, which had gone into the screen saver......the computer that i am currently SLEEPING ON!!! i told her that i WAS using it[and i may have used a not so gentle tone of voice....but she woke me up to ask me a DUMB QUESTION]....
so yeah...eu de desperation por computers is what almost every student is REAKING of right now....
so now i have a choice...do i go home to sleep or do i sleep at my computer, mini-power naps and just work straight through.....
mo went home to sleep and lost his computer....and now he's stuck with his laptop and it's having problems.....
i'm going to have to stay here until the computer frenzy dies down a bit....cause I AM NOT LOSING THIS COMPUTER!!!!! whatever it takes at this point....
let the countdown begin: have to have my WHOLE final board done AND sent to the printing queue by monday @ 9pm at the VERY latest......
today is now tuesday....it's probably going to take almost 2 days to do the board so i've got 3-4 days to finish ALL my drawings:
[in]STALLS:
-kit of parts diagram
-kit of parts--all the pieces involved in the stall construction
-close up of the joints-2 or 3 shots
-stall program diagram
-program suggestions-C/V/F/B & the Pod
-configurations of the stalls
-configurations of the pod
SITE APETURE:
-precedent market diagrams:
-french market, nola
-rue moufftard, paris
-site photo documentation
-site diagrams:
-flow
-sectional variations
-historical
-changes over time[flash animation]
-infrastructure added--electrical/water/advert for the market
-market stalls arranged on the site
-pod openings arranged on the site
URBAN LANDSCAPE:
-solid/void
-flows[maya diagram/animation 2d experimentation-pre market]
-neighborhood instigators
-changes over time until present[flash animation]
-flows[maya diagram/animation 3d experimentation-market included]
TIMELINE--market timeline of possible outcomes at 6 month intervals at the stall/site/urban level
HAPPY EASTER ALL!!! The thesis students have to have all their drawings done and on the printing queue by monday april 23rd...and thus begins the countdown until April 26th, the first day of thesis reviews. [whew....getting close.]
i've been working diligently and have some new renderings to show:
the green is a 1/2" thick honeycomb reinforced resin, the gray is hollow aluminum "legs", the cable looking peices are actually long screw dowels that hold the slats in place with washers. the resin is notched exactly to the size of the aluminum "legs" so that the peices fit into each other easily. the screen is intended to act as a boundry from one stall from another.
"clothing" stall
for hanging retail....nested boxes for building supplies and auto part
s
the "veggie" stall[no taller than 3 1/2' high and 2' wide
the "flea" stall mainly to be used for display
the screen around the stalls
beaux arts 2006 :: zaha[hahahaha] hadid
1 long island.....
2 long island....
3 long island....[roboto style]
....dancefloor....
you know you are an architecture student when you don't dream in black and white.....you don't dream in color......you dream in rhino gray.....
a blurb about my project for a booklet given to the advisors before the final reviews. the intent is to give a little preview of the project along with an image:
Marketscape :: Dynamic Urban [re]Generation
Outdoor Market
New Orleans, LA
Erin Keith
Dynamic system studies in architecture are mainly used to generate a form, with program simply injected into the resultant non-linear geometric form. This proposal challenges the extents to which the dynamic system is used, making it produce fluid local zoning and programmatic interaction. The proposal is for an outdoor market that utilizes the area underneath the freeway at the intersection at N. Claiborne and Basin/Orleans Streets. The system is enabled simultaneously on 3 levels of operation: the Market Stall, the Site, and the Urban Landscape. A gaming strategy in the form of rules is designed at each level so that as one level of activity changes the other two must react to the change.SIDENOTE[s]: i was walking around the thesis studio the other day.....and alot of students seemed to be doing projects slightly geared towards aspects of dynamic systems....and i made a joking comment to kile[girl in thesis with me] that it seemed that the professors were sending alot of the students in the same general direction....towards dynamics. Kile's response : "you DO realize that all the people that you just pointed out had KB last semester..."
So this one goes out to Karen Bullis[head of the KB squad]: i've heard alot about how difficult last semester was....from both the students AND professors who were at ASU....but when you are forced to move to Arizona[of all places] and not only successfully teach students who previously thought RHINO was nose surgery instead of a 3d program AAANNNNDDD get them interested enough in contemporary architectural theory enough to where it influences their way of thinking from that one introduction on.....you should KNOW that you ROCK!!! KNOW IT, LIVE IT, ROCK IT KB cause you do!!!!
3:42 am...
_re-designing my stalls in relation to the materials & getting into the details of construction...
1 almost completed...4 more to go...
i've got to finish the redesigning of the stalls AFAP[as FAST as possible], cause i now have to design an infrastructure for the market: water/electrical hookups that clings to the underside of the freeway and signage for the market on the freeway level--so that when the market is going on there is signage on the freeway above indicating that it's on....
i'm giving myself until Saturday/Sunday to FINALIZE ALL STALL & SITE STUFF--then i'm switching to maya....designing in maya for a couple of days--these will be 24 hr stints of learning more of how to do things in maya that EVEN THE PROFS don't know how to do....[my maya stuff might not end up making that much sense to my project...but who would be able to tell....giggle giggle...]
THEN going back and doing some alterations on the urban level....
work some diagrams showing my process...
and by that time i'll have to set up my boards and get to building some PHYSICAL models--switching things up a bit....
i'm so good i can do both digital AND real models...DAAAAMMMNNNNN....[i'm losing it...and watching celebrity poker showdown on bravo...hank azaria was the first to be sent to the loser room]
THESIS {to-do} LIST---fun with word splitting in 6 simple steps
you too can have a cool name for your project circa 1990's -- present
step[1] take a normal word, any word, with a prefix or suffix or even multiple syllables
step[2] break up the word into it's various parts--grammatically, phonetically, etc.
step[3] find a combination of the word that you enjoy, and may in some way apply to your project. at this point think of it as a word game: you can mix and match, add or even subtract and EVEN mis-spell you word with other prefixes, suffixes, word parts to create puns, innuendos, irony, etc....get creative with it!!!
step[4] once you are happy with the combination of the NEW word you have created add a little flare!! now you get to add some kind of a symbol to show where you divided the word. Choose your favorite symbol:
^ & * ( ) - = _ + [ ] : ; "" ' < > ? , . // ! # $ %
step[5] now all you do is insert your favorite symbol or grouping of symbols into the space where you divided you word!!!
step[6] now that you have the name of your project you can create the theoretical framework for your project's name...s[ee] chap-ter 0.04 for theoretical framework
CONGRADULATIONS!!! You have just created the name of your project and YOU ARE NOW SPEAKING ARCHITECTURE!!!
this has been an excerpt from my soon to be released book: How to Fake Until You Make It in Architecture School....
i need to make fun of myself and the profession/school every once in a while...you might as well laugh at yourself, the world already is...ESPECIALLY if you take yourself too seriously!!
---[in]stall....holy shit...i am such a pretentious arch. student... and we wonder why none of us can really spell or are any good in english classes.....my mom[the english teacher] would KILL me if she knew this was encouraged!!!! hahahaha =)
Random Tangent #457: redundency, B or C grade starchitect status, and ciabatta bread....i'm having to layout all my stuff from the review on my desk for a professor walk-through, a post review review...and i really hope that i don't have to have more work other than what was presented at the review....but i think i'm just finding more things to stress about....like i don't have enough already to keep in mind...
i'm starting to plan my life for post april 30th[last day of FINAL thesis presentation,my 26th birthday, and 14 days until graduation....adulthood is getting closer and closer...]i've decided that i want to work for a grade B or C celebrity architect...someone who will not only further my experience and understanding, but also pay me...still don't know where i'm applying but i'm getting closer and closer to knowing what i want from the firm that i intend to work for...progress has been made...
and you are wondering about the ciabatta bread....EVERY TIME i go to the einstein brothers at "the onion" around the 4-7pm time--our little cafeteria set up inside an off-white circus tent-esque enclosure on campus--i order the veg-out sandwich on ciabatta and they have ALWAYS RUN OUT OF CIABATTA!!! you are wondering WHY this is such a big deal...but picture the normal sandwich contents between two halves of A BAGEL...a thick, doughy, jaw-numbing just to chew one bite, filling you up to a post-thanksgiving day level to where you want to purge afterward and not move, usually an alternate favor such as onion because they have nothing else left....bagel. as all of this expresses my opinion upon using a bagel for the bread of a sandwich i would like to now mention that THEY HAD CIABATTA BREAD....so nirvana was achieved on my end for dinner....
so coming to a conclusion on random tangent #457: sometimes it IS the little things that can make or break a day....and ciabatta bread surrounding cucumber, tomato,onion, lettuce, and humus made mine....
song of the day: "people are strange" by the doors...
-6 conceptual guidelines based on regeneration of an ecosystem:
bio-legacies: zoning & formatting of the site as a whole is based on the state of
the urban landscape
seeding: initial insertions are deliberate but over time become more random &
uncontrolled
adaptation: new groupings must react to the existing groupings of stalls and the
permanent pod spaces
variable regeneration levels & speeds: variable complexity of the stalls based on
the programmatic needs of the retail
biodiversity & mutual aid: competing stalls interconnect and grow together over
time
dormant rendered activated: as the site builds up with activity & program, pods
and groupings of pods maintain the open space
-Rules for [re]Generation:
1] when the site gains 21 stalls of any combination a pod is inserted
2] a pod is an open space that is permanent once added to the site
3] new [in]stalls added to the site must conform to the pod spaces and other stalls
4] none of the triple spaced [in]stall combinations can be achieved until the first
14 combinations are achieved
5] a triple stall combination is the maximum [in]stall space allowed within the site-[in]stall types: these stall types are generic prototypical stall pieces yet tailored to the needs of the basic genre of the goods that are sold. the [in]stall parts of each genre can be mixed and matched to create any combination of retail. [in]stalls designed based upon the sectional quality of a forest ecosystem and are designed to accentuate the understanding of the sectional quality of the market and the heights required for storage, display and advertising.
“clothing”—stall mainly intended for hanging clothes/accessories, and display
and limited storage
“vegetable”—stall mainly intended for vegetables/fruits, display and storage
“flea”—stall mainly intended for display, limited storage
“building”—stall mainly intended for storage, limited display
“pod”—a permanent structure intended to ensure open space within the market
-market projections include the programmatic expectations of the market at that time, or what [in]stalls would be most prominent at the timeclick on the photos of the boards to see more detail....
i'm also including close-ups of the smaller peices of the board...
song of the day: gorillaz-dare
it's the monday after friday...of my review!!
how did it go?? WWEEEELLLL....it went really well. the reviewers liked the process, the progress, the proposal in general...i did a little celebrating this weekend by doing something i hadn't done in a long long long time.....SLEEP!!!
funny thing is this, my computer has grown a personality and right now he hates me...i tried to give him the weekend off...but i need to make sure that i can make back-up copies today of the files that were GI-NORMOUS[if giant and enormous had a love-child it would be gi-normous]
so this is the goal of today....back it up before my laptop gets mad at me again....
after all we've been through i really want to name him, suggestions are welcome...
i'll post photos of the files once i back them up[aka later today]
