Eric's Metamorphosis

While reading a chapter from Materials Architecture by John Fernandez for my materials class, I felt moved to blog. After a satisfying two-week break back in the Portland area, spent with friends and family, especially my niece and nephews, I was recharged to start my first full semester of grad school.

The first day was rather disjointed. Much of the time was spent deciding where my group’s desks would be place and how they would be organized. After at least a dozen iterations, we settled on sort of a “U” shape with multiple desks joined in the middle as a large, common work area for our craft projects.

First off was the Environmental Controls class taught by a man with at least three masters degrees and a 28 page curriculum vitae. I’m mostly excited to learn about acoustics in the class, but the other supreme element will be our participation in the Net Zero Energy campaign in the School of Architecture. It has been decided that our building will become net-zero, in other words it will consume less than or equal to the energy it produces. The dean is apparently set on photovoltaic panels (read: solar) to offset power consumption, but the students will have an active roll in achieving the goal. Some other ideas we’ve heard so far are wind turbines, a green roof, and improved HVAC systems. The class was split into nine groups, each dealing with different facets of the process. My group will be dealing with “Education” or, in other words, the task of showing what the Net Zero project is and what was done to achieve it within the building. We will put together 8-10 minute videos that will be eventually presented at a charette or forum of sorts in November for 150 or so members of the community. Luckily in my group I have a perfectionist, a graduate of cinematography, and a former exhibition designer that has dealt with educational displays extensively.

Next was a history class. I almost wanted to try and opt out of it because I’ve studied architectural history quite a bit already, but probably not as much as they would like in order for someone to be exempt. I’m mixed on how I feel about that class.

Lastly was studio. The same professor that railed on me last semester and then was receptive of my repentance for the final juries is now my studio professor. That means he, as my studio professor, will have the most holistic influence on my design education this semester. So far, everyone in my group is alright with that… in fact, the classmates I’ve talked to actually felt like he has our best educational interest at heart, that he is very smart, and that we are going to learn a lot. Part of it is probably that he has a doctorate in education, so he’s actually studied the art of teaching. I’m looking forward to our final project that could actually be built in Torrey, Utah. It will be a Zen Retreat and later in the semester we will all go camping there and experience the site.

Today was the first time in Materials. This class should be really interesting, especially with at least half a dozen field trips.

The last class, which we won’t have until Thursday is Intro to Theory. I have no idea how I feel about that yet.