The Move:After making the 26 hour drive over three days with Pops, I became a Seattle resident in May. Stops before Seattle included Mitchell, SD; Butte, MT; Billings, MT; and Coeur d'Alene, ID. In a way, I've made myself my own experiment by renting a 400 SF apartment in the Cascade neighborhood (associated with South Lake Union to most). After having worked on several micro units in Des Moines and at ISU, I'm pleased to report I've rearranged my apartment once in the last six months. More studies to come... The Job:I started as an Intern Architect with DLR Group in June. I've been assigned to projects primarily in DLR Group's corporate and retail sectors. So far, this includes the Seattle office's first mixed-use project, University Place, and Google's Kirkland campus. You can find a few more details about the mixed use project here: University Place. The link also gives you a glimpse of the design review process here in Seattle, something I continue to be most curious about. The studio has a great vibe composed by artist's lunch lectures, cross-office design shares, renewed emphasis on making with the introduction of equipment like laser cutters, 3D printers, CNC routers, drones, etc., in-house construction 101 sessions, an in-house mentor program across all disciplines, and public events and projects that directly engage the development of the waterfront (where DLR Group is located):
The City:Over 40 cranes are currently operating in the city, and I feel as though i have small construction lessons daily. I'm fortunate to be able to walk to and from work, something that keeps me engaged with what's going on around me almost all of the time. However, it's also a bit daunting to be contributing to a city undergoing such extreme transformation daily. With 15,000 people moving to the city each year since 2010 (charts), several neighborhoods are subject to intense development. I'm constantly conflicted as I morally identify with those working to preserve the identity of the neighborhoods, yet I'm one of the 15,000 causing the shift. A development map for your reference: original 'cool' map, the city's version of said original 'cool' map A good portion of my daily commute on foot includes a series of hills that could challenge any Bay Area native on a good day. I've learned two things. It is impossible to scale these hills, whether ascending or descending, in a graceful manner. What once were shoes suddenly become flippers, and often times hands forget how to work parallel to one's body. I have a new appreciation for how buildings meet the ground. How these projects manage to uniformly adapt to a near 37 degree angle along an entire city block is something I continue to be most curious about (waiving my Iowa flag here). I have a restaurant list rollin' 68 locations deep, I've started to uncover the jazz scene bit by bit, I don't have a car, I compost as it's required (which is great), my trash can officially became my recycling receptacle my second week here, smoked salmon is EVERYWHERE, I've gone kayaking, I've watched all of Grey's Anatomy to better understand the city through aerial shots circa 2005-2015, I became an official REI member, I've graduated from Starbucks, I'm reading more than ever, and I'm officially addicted to the Netflix Fireplace 4K: Classic Crackling Fireplace for your home. 2016 is already BIG. More updates to come.
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Arch 431: Drawing (Rome Style)I had the opportunity to study several spaces in Rome, however few recent works resonated with the same strength in comparison to Renzo Piano's Parco della Musica. Under the direction of Professor Francesco Mancini, I was able to develop a study starting with human movement and it's progression through both historic and modern space in Rome. Using the Parco della Musica as a modern piazza, I was able to map and compare user navigation of a historic piazza on the Tiber Island. Together, the drawing series investigates human interaction with the public setting, and attempts to map human progress across the space.
Find the entire series, including initial sketch work, in the Rome: Sketch and Studio tab. “The most fascinating adventure for an architect is that of constructing a concert hall. It might be even nicer for a violinmaker to make a violin; but (given all the differences there are in size and time) they are similar activities. Ultimately, the objective is always to make instruments that are made for playing or listening to music.The sound is what rules. The harmonic chamber must vibrate with its frequencies and its energy. Music has always been the focus of my attention: working with acoustics, working with musicians. The Roman Auditorium, however, is not simply an Auditorium, but a complete City of Music: with three halls, an open air amphitheater, large rehearsal and recording rooms. The Roman adventure, therefore, has been enriched by an important urban dimension: The Auditorium is not simply a musical establishment; there is also a square, Santa Cecilia, people who work there, there are shops, bars and restaurants. All these activities add an additional dimension to the project: to give an urban sense to an area that needs urban participation. Cultural locations, just like musical ones, have the natural ability of enriching the urban texture, stop the city’s barbarization and give back that extraordinary quality that it has always had in history. Musical instruments, therefore, are submerged in the Parco della Musica’s vegetation, which rolling down from Villa Glori, surrounds the Auditorium’s large lutes and two architectural gems such as the Flaminio Stadium and the Palazzetto dello Sport (Sport Palace) and ends up on Viale Tiziano. This gives the City of Rome a large twenty hectare Park inhabited by Music.” Renzo Piano - Fondazione Musica per Roma Today, we woke up to the sound of the market taking place just below our balcony, once again. The market below takes up about 2 miles of street, with vendors stacked in about three rows --- a bit larger than the Des Moines Farmer's Market! However, last week brought some of the most exciting days I've had in Rome yet (which is exactly the way it should be, right? Each day getting more exciting than the last and such!) BUT - Thursday was, by far, the most entertaining day I've had yet due to the man in the image directly below this post. Jan Gedayne teaches at several of the American University programs in Rome (RISD, Cornell, Minnesota, etc.), and is known as the "Rockstar" when it comes to understanding and communicating the layers of history that exist in Rome. On our 3 hour morning walk with Jan, we covered almost 7.5 miles of built history from early BC to just a few hundred years ago. Walking around with Jan is easily one of the true experience types that makes one understand why study abroad is so essential to students today. In a way, 3 hours worth of information from Jan embeds years of knowledge that some Romans will never know about the city in which they live. Power of knowledge is truly an understatement once one truly understands the context where we now live, study, and continue to embrace. It's not necessarily the "power you feel that you suddenly have" once equipped with said knowledge, rather the "power of the impact" upon your perception of your surroundings. A list of a few things I saw this week! - Roman Forum and Palatine Hill - Alle fratte di Trastevere (free food for us -- "we're regulars") - La Basilica di San Vitale - Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore - Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli (Michelangelo's final architectural restoration work -- preservation and scheme for the Bath's of Diocletian) - Quattro Fontane - Gelateria Valentino - Trevi Fountain - Cappuchian Crypts - Borghese Gardens My new favorite places exist in the Borghese Gardens. Everything about the land (architecture, gardens, people, dogs, vegetation) is absolutely gorgeous! I could have named this post "Summer: 2013," or "A Day in the Life of Jill Maltby: Summer Intern," or maybe even "The Internship: Part I" -- however, this summer, I just grooved thanks to ASK Studio. Where might my groove status have taken me, you wonder? In just about every piece of the architecture industry an intern could hope to test run. Over 600 hours later, I've been able to document time in:
- construction documentation for projects in Des Moines, Ames, Urbandale, and Spirit Lake - competition graphics for eventual award submittals to three major organizations - construction phase observation on three different sites - evaluation and observation of conditions within affordable housing projects - research on current and projected trends in affordable housing and net-zero options - observation of architectural photography shoots - touring famous works by Herzog & de Meuron otherwise unable to be toured - studio travel to San Francisco - business operations with open houses of ASK Studio - taking a piece of the Walker Johnston Shelter House through schematic design, design development, and construction documentation, Fortunately, I was required to document EVERY DAY of this summer. Check out what life as a ASK Studio intern looks like: CLICK HERE Besides the countless new artists I'm excited about, I also became a fan of "cupcake culture" with surprise trips to Scratch or Crème. However, with the recent completion of the AIA Iowa Convention, I am pleased to report that ASK Studio received the Excellence in Design award for the Walker Johnston Park Shelter in Urbandale, IA. I primarily worked on signage and competition graphics for the FEMA-rated shelter. As Rob Whitehead so eloquently stated, "working on projects with recognition like that really make you think, I CAN do this." Indeed. The Kid President "pep talk" has been the cause of severe smiling in the studios since last night.
Take a word or two from the kid. This video is the best way to start off this week, continue into this semester, and be inspired to get after 2013 in a big way. Society offers hundreds of videos like this, probably one for every day of the year five times over. SoulPancake has managed to put out the first of this kind which actually makes me want and DO something. "you've just been peptalked." |
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February 2017
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