Eric's Metamorphosis

I know there are certain of you who take serious issue with my Christmas addiction: a few of you in particular and you know I know who you are. You probably despise the fact that with Halloween over a month and a half away, places like Costco have already put Christmas decorations out. For me, however, this has the value of a non-lethal crack cocaine overdose. Not only did my students loans come through this morning (like a Christmas present in itself), the meaning of my Costco visit to replenish my flax granola and Diet Coke supply with these new funds took on a different nuance when the twinkling lights of both tannenbaum and crèche peppered my bloodstream with joy and bliss.

I could potentially turn this post into some agenda of my last couple weeks, but instead, I’ll do a digest of things that have come to my attention lately: for better or worse.

My classmate Laura’s boyfriend Lance has ownership in both Urban Lounge and Kilby Court. In the past couple weeks I’ve seen several bands at Urban Lounge and while I’ve rarely sought out indie rock, the groups I’ve seen there aren’t the avoiding kind. First and foremost, Band of Annuals is now one of my favorite bands of all time. I realize I’m late to the game on this one, but Salt Lake culture is still new, but ultimately exciting. Make sure and listen to Don’t Let Me Die on their MySpace page; when it was played, the whole crowd seemed to be singing a long and a highly enebriated couple was falling in love before my very eyes. The band actually reminds me of the now defunct Everybodyfields I once saw in concert. Coming up at Urban Lounge will be Yo La Tango and Blind Pilot, two bands I’ve been falling in love with in recent times.

A lot of experiences in the past six months of so have thrust me into adulthood quicker than I would have liked and one of the most difficult pieces has been student loans. The system is jacked up and there’s no other way to put it. At one point this week, a website told me my federal loan was ‘denied’. This sent me into a bad state of mind, and it very realistically took a toll on my schoolwork. During studio presentations of a study of walls, it was hard to even get out my explanations and settled for blunt words. Luckily my professor is understanding, albeit politically incorrect and powerful, but the way he handled my display of disdain for the world was surprising and helpful. A trip to the financial aid office and a 45 minute wait in line told me that my loan wasn’t actually denied, but rather was ‘in process’ and it’s just protocol to put denied. To this moment, I’m still baffled how it was chosen to use a word that means the exact opposite of what it’s supposed to mean when dealing with my ability to pay tuition and have enough money to pay for rent and living expenses. Horrible, horrible system. And I know many can relate to this.

To end this post on a positive note, I emailed Band of Annuals and got permission from a band member to take pictures at their next concert in October. I haven’t been using my camera much lately, although anyone who knows me is aware that I’ve taken thousands upon thousands since I got it in December. So be looking for some certainly high ISO pictures of bands in the near future.

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.

It’s funny because it’s true. I’m not posting this with the same level of disdain hipsters would have for me because of my non-indie-ness, but partly because I’ve seen Art Historians do the same thing with crappy art: “They don’t get it because they aren’t deep enough” or whatever. The truth is that most of these bands I hear suck. Artistry is gone and tinny, tone deaf voices are in. There are some exceptions to these groups as I have big respect for Blind Pilot, Yo La Tengo, The National, Beirut, Antony & the Johnsons, along with Sigur Rós, but only because I enjoy their music and they’re actually talented, not because I enjoy engaging in some obscurantist pissing contest with my peers, throwing out band names that could only be thought up by anal-retentive half-wits attempting to look homeless while maintaining a college-level vocab.

My first semester of grad school is officially over. It was a journey that I didn’t expect and couldn’t have predicted. So far I’ve made some great friends and learned a ton. Although, it wasn’t numbers and facts we learned so much, but rather concepts, the ability to take criticism constructively, and introspect, among other things. Final presentations went relatively well, at least for me. The jury wasn’t 100% supportive of my drawings and some other elements, but the overall impression I got was “you f’ed up A, B, C, and D the first time… we complained… you accepted our comments, reworked things and fixed A, B, C, and D satisfactorily and good for you.” I thought it struck a good balance between encouraging pats on the back and cautionary, yet nurturing advice for the future.

Here are my boards:

From Project 2: UrbEx

From Project 2: UrbEx

From Project 2: UrbEx

From Project 2: UrbEx

From Project 2: UrbEx

Every holiday break we’ve had, there was a standing assignment to take pictures of architecture to see it in different ways. For this final holiday weekend of the semester, I spent a lot of time with family.

This first picture is a building at Snowbird near Salt Lake. I have a great love for concrete, especially when it has organically derived patterns left from its forms, especially wood. I think its bland color gives an appropriate foreground for the saturated, green background of trees and other vegetation. I also really liked the resort’s logo cast into the material, avoiding the need for an unnaturally tacked on sign of a possibly mismatched material.

The other two pictures are from Dawnata Hot Springs near Downey, Idaho. For me, these pictures are important because my extended family has met there for our annual reunion for nearly half a century. What’s most impressive for me is taking something that has become so familiar to all of us over the course of our various lifetimes and capturing it in a way that left even some relatives going “now, what building is that?”

This first picture encapsulates almost the entire aqua-chute/blackhole area – the largest slides at the resort. The ‘black hole’ as a child scared me. This year, while I waited in line, I took time to think about its actual construction and mechanics. The slide has a rather small interior radius, probably no more than 12 or 16 inches as opposed to the aqua-chute that is more like 24 inches. The black hole also has a 45 degree drop I estimate, which doesn’t seem like so much when measured, but it feels a lot steeper. Once you get to the end of the decline, the tube is covered in earth and it is black inside. I, however, use the shoulder blade and heel only technique, mixed with copious amounts of sunblock, resulting in ridiculous speeds and some of these elements are of little consequence. What I like most about this picture, though, is the prominence of the sky. This is a place where the wide-openness is to be appreciated, a place that, until recently, had terrible cell phone reception and almost forced you to give in to a more pastoral lifestyle for a day. As a child, this was a big playground, as an adult, it’s an excuse to leave everything behind and appreciate this oasis in the desert.

The second picture focuses just on the aqua-chute. The black silhouette of a rider is seen – something that was referenced several times during the day by people around me to tell how fast the riders were going and to know how close they were to other riders in the tube. The simply curves of the slide interact nicely with the slope of the hill and the dirtiness of the slide’s exterior makes its inorganic green fiberglass blend better with the muted tones of this semi-arid landscape.

As part of the design process, we were fortunate to have an adjudicated mid-design review with local architect John Diamond and Professor Julio Bermudez, as well as our professor, Jake. I admittedly went into the review with little conviction and as soon as I let my guard down, I was dealt with. In some parts of my life, I could have seen myself getting really offended by comments made, but for some reason, as I was feeling dormant and passionless, the harsh-ish critique was a stimulating wakeup call. Below are the panels I pinned up:

Finally, the design of my Prada ‘hangout’ is done. This is to say, it’s as done as it was going to get in the week and a half I had to come up with a design and then learn to do 3D design and rendering in AutoCAD. Everyone in the class struggled and at different times, we each had a number of meltdowns. However, ultimately, we’ve all ended up with some pretty kuhl/qool/cool buildings and images. Mine is probably the most conservative of the class, but that comes with doing the Prada choice. The haute couture brand is known for “unassertive, combining traditional good manners and an ultramodern industrial sleekness,” and clean lines, opulent materials, and basic colors.

This year’s 4th of July was a time to catch up on schoolwork and then to celebrate in a low-key fashion with close friends. Having acquired a deeper interest in the manual functions of my camera, this was a great time for experimentation. The results, however cliché were fun and effulgent.

Now, you can embed 3D orbiting previews of Google SketchUp models on a blog or website. Here are models from my Franchises project: