Fall is probably the most wonderful time of the year [with the exception to hockey season ;) ].

I was walking on campus today, pretty much unhappily since I was “blessed” with the worst spot on campus [if you can still call that part of school campus] when it hit me… I love fall. The color of the leaves were brilliant reds, stunning burnt oranges and golden yellows, all dancing in the wind, some wildly blowing around on the ground, and some still attached to the limbs that would soon shed them along with the others. I couldn’t help but to stop and just breathe deep, as deep as we did in yoga class. I sucked in as much of that fall air as my lungs would allow. I felt completely satisfied, at peace with every aspect of everything, even Seaton hall.
Things have seemingly gotten better in recent days. My design for studio is making progress and I am actually feeling the urge to scribble on paper more and cut bits of chipboard and assembling them to represent an idea that might, just might be a good one. For our second project this semester we have “been given the opportunity” to design a temporary structure that is to house the International Textile Exhibition. Basically we are creating and exhibition area and gallery to house the fashion trend setters of the world, and showcasing how textiles are progressing into the future. This might be kind of interesting, but how does this link to architecture? Good question and maybe in my next post I will have a more developed answer. But so far my link deals with unraveling and the urban fabric that exists in Kansas City, Missouri.

[Warning architectural theory approaching]

Think of it as this way, a woven piece of fabric has warp and weft, horizontal and vertical members, infill and structure. These are all ways in which to describe the nature of the piece of fabric. Not unlike a piece of fabric the city has a natural pattern of buildings and streets i.e. infill and circulation. The way that I am arguing it, the circulation of the city is the structure of the city while the buildings represent the infill the meat of the city. [this point is supported by various architectural theory essays of past civilizations and the way they structured their citied based on temples, dwellings and business…i.e. ports.] The buildings rely on the circulation paths to support the function of the city not unlike the warp to the weft of a woven piece of fabric. While the city is the strongest at its center where both infill and structure are heavily integrated it doesn’t behave like this consistently. A city, like fabric, becomes unraveled and frayed at the ends. Circulation still exists but the density of the city changes as it becomes more spread out and less dense. The city is no longer tight knit; it becomes pieces and elements, not one cohesive unit. This is most noticeable upon entry and exiting the city, where you can see the build up, or the weaving of the city take place right before your eyes. One can experience several roads coming together and can watch the landscape transform from low lying planes to towering structures soaring over head. In a dualistic relationship the exact opposite will happen when leaving the city. The structures that once were reaching for the sky begin to come back to earth, they begin to spread out, circulation paths begin to diverge into several different directions and soon one finds themselves out in the middle of the rolling hills dotted here and there with farm structures, completely unlike the tight knit fabric that was the urban context. Now the trick is, turning this idea into a building…. Yeah about that.

Ok that is enough architectural metaphor for now, and knowing me that will probably change 100 times before Friday. So how does that relate to fall, it doesn’t but I think that is ok. Oh an before I forget the image bellow was taken from a friend of a friend on facebook who recently traveled to Minneapolis for some Landscape architecture conference…I guess that is part of a sculpture somewhere in the city.

[feet]

[this is long over due]

Remembering.

Memories of my childhood are scarcely recounted without mentioning two wonderful people in my life. Two people, whom knew me since before my birth, saw me off to school until I was in second grade, taught me how to spell [didn’t stick to well], eat oat bran, and sat me on the steps for the one or more occasions I broke the rules [wink wink].

Bunty and Popsie were more than just babysitters they were family, a third set of grandparents and an integral part of my childhood. Every morning I would ride with my sister over to their house and sit at the round oak table for breakfast and sing blessings like Johnny Apple seed. Every weekday was filled with different actives like climbing trees, fishing, coloring and stretching our imaginations to its furthest. We learned so much and received so much love and joy from them that it is impossible to convey with any in depth description or explanation just how much they changed and influenced my life.

Two years ago we lost Bunty after a long hard battle against cancer. She was a strong woman and gave me the only idea I had of what a grandmother was all about. It was then that I realized that despite seeming as if they could go on for ever, that they were mortal and that life was not eternal.

Not to long ago, about the same time I was finishing my first project, I heard that Popsie was diagnosed with bone cancer. At 81, he had faced many heath problems before but always seemed to overcome them with great strength. However this time was different. Not even a week had past when I heard the news and planned a trip to home to attend the funeral with my family.

As we drove the two hours to Columbia, MO memories filled my head, and a feeling of loss filled my heart. Soon my family was recounting stories of times spent with Popsie. Most of which sounded like this… “Remember when we…. And then Laura was sent to sit on the steps.”

Kenneth “Chick” Hartwig one of the most caring, gentle spirit I know. I am incredibly happy that I had him in my life. He taught me to try, try, try again, to use my imagination to its fullest, to fish, to love nature, and to always play fair. These and many more lessons I carry with me today.

I miss you and love you.

My project is finished! After four days of three hour sleep-filled nights and countless times of watching the sun rise for the second time in one day, my model is complete and my drawings are printed, bring on the grading!
So for this short four week design project, we were given the opportunity of create a park pavilion in City park, downtown Manhattan. Our instructor placed a few restrictions on our design scheme. For one, and most importantly, we could only use one of the following structural systems: lattice, cable structure, fabric/masted, and pneumatic. And out of these choices I picked to exploit the nature of a fabric structure.
Basically through numerous study models and sketches, I settled upon a wishbone shaped steel tube arch system and positioned them in opposite directions of each other to create a artificial canopy. The artificial canopy reflects the context of the park, by creating an overhead plane and boundary that springs from the ground. Under the fabric clad arches there is seating for 3,800 people, a stage, storage, restrooms, an ice rink and small administration building. To further the metaphor even more, buildings wave themselves in and out of the sprawling fabric structure.

how do i feel about this project... rushed not really all that happy with it, but given more time i think i could discover it more and develop it further, possibly making a better stronger design project.


on and entirely different note... we have a new cat at the Knoxberry house! Deeply saddened by the departure of Milo [he went to go live with my sister :( ] my roommate brought her brothers pet cat up to the Knoxberry house [I guess the brother can't have the cat where he is living]. But so far so gooooooooooooooooooooood! I love this little guy, Sam. He is completely black with a few white hairs on his tummy. He is the most snuggly cat ever. I was sitting on our couch last night and all of a sudden Sam jumped in my lap and asked for a lot of attention. He is Milo’s polar opposite, he wants attention all of the time and follows everyone around everywhere. After dinner Monica headed back to studio and I was the only one in the house. I headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth and soon enough there was Sam sitting in the bathroom watching me clean the ol' pearly whites. He is adorable!

Oh yeah hockey season starts today! And the blues play tomorrow, get ready it's going to be a good year [hopefully]!