The Other Day

I received a phone call the other day from a friend in Vancouver whom I haven't spoken to since I left almost a month earlier. I've been swarmed with work and have spent every waking hour in the studio. And when I get home all I do us unpack a box or two and fall asleep on the couch under the weight of my history textbook. For all of you I apologise. I don't even have a land line phone yet....
I honestly think they are trying to kill me with work.

Dropping like flies

The first victim appears to have succumbed to the workload and pressure and has decided to bail out of the program. Just reminds me of how some people are simply capable of doing this kind of work and others are not. I don't think architects are smarter than other people, their brains are just wired differently: we are in the grey area between artists and engineers - left brain and right brain.
I'm sure he won't be the first to drop out. It has been publicly stated by several professors that their goal is to "weed out" those that can't keep up. It feels like some sort of military exercise where the drill sergeant won't let up until at least one drops out - but in this case I think they want to get rid of 5 or 6.
On another note I'm looking forward to the lecture by Fumihiko Maki on the 22nd as part of the Aga Kahn Lecture Series.
And on the moving in front I managed to locate my kitchen amongst all of the boxes and even managed to make a meal for myself. However I couldn't find any cutlery in the boxes I had opened so far and was forced to eat spaghetti with chopsticks.

My new home

Yes I'm in my house at last. It only took a month for my stuff to get here and minus a few wine glasses which didn't quite make it - I'm finally in. It is becoming quite clear to me in the last few days that I have another address which I will be spending most of my time: 230 College Street. It seems like [and after the first week has proven to be so] we are expected to be in the studio 12-14 hours a day 7 days a week. Yahoo. Therefore spending lots of time beautifying my home has made me realize that it is now an overpriced storage facility.
I've been very busy working on a solar-exposure project with very strict rules and photosensitive paper. It wouldn't be so bad if the sun didn't threaten to hide on the days when I need to expose my projet to the sun. It has been going well so far but I am desperately behind. I'll post photos when I have them and give a better description of the project when I have time.
The students are nice and it seems like we are our own little entity on campus forming a tight community within the walls of the building. Everyone is friendly and teaming together to get through the massive and neverending workload.

Toronto!

Yes I'm here at last. I've been spending the past several days in the summer workshop offered to students who have either not drafted ever or have not done it in so long that they need a refresher course [I fit into the latter].
I'm still a little overwhelmed by my surroundings but am relieved to have found myself earlier tonight sitting at a pub with the director of my department talking about Eisenman's aesthetic goals over pints of strange and unknown east-coast label beer. Yes I do believe I am at home.
I'm loving it tremendously and am more sure now than I was when I applied that this school is absolutely the right choice for me. The new director, An Te Liu, is a young and vibrant individual whose soul purpose seems to be to shake things up and put the school on the cutting edge of design in Canada. I just seem to have gotten in before the word has gotten out. The possibilities seem limitless and the freedom to explore my ideas seems more than just a given.

Blah blah blah. I love it. It's perfect. I'm beaming.

"Protect Me From What I Want"

Somebody the other day was asking about U of T and what the ultimate goal for me was. I thought about it for a second and said "I want to have my fingers in all the pies". They laughed and assumed I wanted to just be a big famous architect. I knew at the time this was what they thought and I didn't bother to correct them. I do feel that I should explain to all of those that are curious as to what my goals really are. I want to be able to do everything that I want. It's that simple. There are certain designers and companies working internationally like Phillipe Starck, LOT/EK, Tobias Wong [the coolest], and Shigeru Ban that I look up to and admire. They're all totally different and are doing some of the coolest stuff out there.
I guess I just don't want to be limited. I want to design teapots and chairs and light fixtures and houses for the super rich and public buildings and art works and social housing for the third world and...... everything. So everyone, that is the goal.

Renter's World

As I sit with fantasies of buildings in my head I'm reminded that many of us simply cannot experience good architecture intimately. Many of us either cannot afford it or live lives that are simply too transitory to warrant an investment on this scale. Some of us are lucky to even have a place to call our own. And some of us live will live in this architectural marvel to the left, being held up by the brick super-buildings next door.
I'm constantly reminded of the fact that the experience of great architecture and amazing design is no where near prevalent enough in the world. And that sucks. I guess I'll just have to change that.

The Order of Ducks

Yes they are in order so to speak. Accepted to school -done. Find an apartment -done. Moving company to get my stuff there-done. Student Loan -done[as much as I can]. School supplies -done. House Insurance -done. Yes I'm bragging now but with all the stuff I've had to do lately I'm feeling pretty good about all the things crossed out on my four page list. Yes, they're lined up like dominoes. Even the Tour de France is done, thank god because I need the sleep. I'm organized, ready and prepared. Of course that means that I must have forgotten something.