The Short Road Ahead

The road to the finish seems to be taking forever. I'm done. Not work wise [that happens on the 27th] but mentally, emotionally; everything.
I need a break. I need a trip somewhere else, a fast car, an open road, and some sleep.
Enjoy the very real, un-staged trip through early morning Paris, it looks like heaven...

#1

Okay. It's been decided. Daniel, you're my number one draft pick.

So Daniel, how do you like my cover?

A Trip Down Amnesia Lane

Last year I avoided this chaos.
Last year I was unemployed during the summer.

It is Reading Break this week. Usually time to go skiing or hang out on a beach for many students. For me I get to sift through the startling amount of data I have amassed and make something useful out of it.
IT'S PORTFOLIO TIME.

Four days in I have a layout pushing a measly 150Mb and about 18 pages. It now takes several minutes to save the Illustrator file so I thought I would update this woefully neglected blog as I wait.

There is some slight motivation for this labor intensive process besides applying to local firms for summer work. The PEP, or The Professional Experience Program Award is up for grabs. Or more specifically the chance of being placed at a MAJOR international firm for an internship over the summer. The firms up for grabs are:
Allies and Morrison - London
Behnisch Architekten - Stuttgart
Studio Daniel Libeskind - New York
Kohn Pedersen Fox - New York
Morphosis - Los Angeles
Michael Maltzan Architecture - Los Angeles
OMA/Koolhaas - Rotterdam
Skidmore Owings and Merrill - New York/Chicago.

Prestigious? Certainly. Competitive? Absolutely. Out of my reach? Possibly.
However, you don't get in if you don't apply.
I list in order my top three choices, the faculty reviews the portfolios received, and sends each firm a small handful of portfolios deemed worthy enough to choose from. The only question is where do I apply?
Any Suggestions?

School

New projects abound and yet I'm feeling unmotivated. This semester is the Comprehensive Building Studio - the most practical studio. We have been given an elementary school in the to be developed West Don Lands Development Project. It will be challenging and I'm looking forward to getting started this week, after a few weeks of preamble, but I'm not completely here...

I'm in search of an architectural identity I guess. Its causing a creative block, and is making school difficult. I don't know where I want to go in my work, but I know I need to find what is missing. I'm starting to think I need to do an Independent Study course, a course of my own creation, to explore the random ideas I have in my head. I need to figure this out.

The scream and wail of success

At a rather loud 18000 rpm and with a 3/4 inch bit it only took a few hours to CNC mill my final model for studio. Cleaning up the static clingy foam pellets and dust took almost as long....

The Review

Come one come all it's final review time!!

You are all invited to my final review on Tuesday the 19th of December. I should be going around 11am to 1pm but I would recommend showing up at 10:30 just to be safe. It will be held in the basement of al&d and will run all day.
On the production front it looks like one of my models will be just over five feet high, made of solid wood, and carved using the CNC router - if everything goes according to plan. Thats some of the images of it digitally underway below. It should be quite a sight...

Work in Progress