Friends until the end Viva - barcelona

Everything is wrapping up. Final boards have been redone and sent, data cards and case studies are coming to an end, final travels are starting to take place, and some are heading home. Sad times… What was once a huge culture shock has made me grow to love this place.
Juan Carlos once asked a group of us if we would live here. I have learned most of the ins and outs that allow you to successfully live in BCN over the past four months. On the contrary my answer still remains no, but I will defiantly come back to visit.
I have been away from the states for some time now and I am ready to enjoy the ol so sweet comforts of home… mom’s cooking, grandma’s cakes, road trips to go visit friends, laughing at ourselves, and the list could go on for miles. However I know I am going to miss BCN too. The long nights in studio, the tourists walking slow in front of you, the random locals on the streets at night trying to sell you cerveza or hashish, Dulce and her Reese’s Cups, new found friends, ping pong in the streets, game/pizza/movie nights, and sharing life experiences just to get the list started…

Barcelona - such a beautiful horizon
Barcelona - like a jewel in the sun
Por ti sere gaviota de tu bella mar
Barcelona - suenan las campamas
Barcelona - abre tus puertas al mundo
If God is willing

-if God is willing
If God is willing
Friends until the end
Viva - barcelona

I figured I'd get in one last blog before I go without a computer for a month. We 're leaving tomorrow at 4 am for a month long Euro-trip, and right now I'm just trying to get boards and books finished up. The book isn't going quite how I wanted, so I think I'll try to revisit it when I return from the trip, but right now I'm just gonna get as much done as possible and make some revisions before I print it. Right now I feel more cruched than I did before the final review though. Every article of clothing I brought (with the exception of what I'm wearing) is in the wash, I have to clean up my room, finish my book, meet with my group to finish boards, pack, and get outta here by 4am. It's gonna be a long day, but in the end it should be well worth it.
My Mom keeps asking me for my travel itenerary ("in case of an emergency") but truthfully we don't exactly have one. I have 2 airplane tickets Barcelona-Milan, and Venice-Prague. In between will be some assortment of trains to get us to Cinqueterre, Rome, Venice, Prague, Bratislava, and Vienna. I don't have any transportation arranged back to Barcelona, but hopefully I can make my way back within 10-12 days, stopping undecided places inbetween. It should definitely be an adventure.

final dinner

here are the two group shots from the dinner.

thanks for an awesome semester everybody, see you all back in tiger town.

Table for 17

It looks a bit empty right now but just you wait until Labor Day!!! There's a ping pong room over to the right but you can't see it. And our chef wear a shirt when cooking bacon Josh.

Dress Code

Don't cook bacon without a shirt. Something I have learned. Figured maybe someone could benefit from that information... By the way, this is Josh; it says Shannon for some reason. hmm...

Just for you Joey

SO we are sitting in Studio after our final review has been over for more than 3 days now. We have to work on some touch ups on the board to finalize things.
Joey was getting frustrated because he was the last one to blog, so here you go Joey. this blog is just for you bro.

And it's over...sorta

So Group Cuatro TRANSforum presentation is complete! I don't know what I was expecting before today (I didnt really have the time to think about it), but presenting a project to 7 professional completely different architects is pretty intimidating. I was pretty proud of how the final boards turned out, and the critique went okay.

Our biggest challenge was narrowing down our four months of study to a 10 minute speech and four 20 inch square boards. Much of the feedback we received was valid, but it was frustrating to know we had some of the research to back up their questions. Two big issues we need to address before our final submission are showing design process and research and bringing our design into the city context of BCN. Structural clarity of the steel design is also important to go back and look at. But before that, I think we all deserve a nice day of sleep and relaxation. I'm checkin' this day as a success.

Title? (Oh yeah, we should think of one of those...)

So it’s the day before final reviews. Things are falling into place as they should, however it’s not all lilies and roses. THEREFORE I’m taking a short break from the madness and taking this opportunity to get ahead on this week’s blog posts.

The project has come along pretty nicely. And I am learning Illustrator a little better now. I must admit that I have only used Illustrator primarily for text until this point. After a night of modifying line weights and making sure lines are attached, etc, as you can see in this image of the master plan. I feel as though I have gotten my foot in the door. With these few simple abilities, the fear of learning a new program has shank overnight. My only regret: I wish I would have done this sooner in the semester.

hobos

so no summer internship at a firm for me...again....i need to intern at least one summer...this is ridiculous...hopefully i'll b able to get a job in clemson...at least if all fails, i can work at my old job at the country club...hell of a commute, but no choice...i just can't b jobless, and i'm startin to get a lil worried.

Why is the rum always gone?

I was raised in what I would call just about the middle of nowhere in Ohio. You know, those places where there's strawberry farms and cow pastures down the road? I never thought I could ever live in a city, but I love Barcelona. I mean, yes, the tourists are a pain in the ass, but they are a helluva good time to people watch, and yes, I am that old lady that loves to people watch. The weather is beautiful. The amount of parks and spaces you can explore are amazing, and the people are great. But, what I have noticed after living here for 4 months is that I don't really have any hobbies. I mean, there is studio, which doesn't really count... and then there is drinking, which isn't a great hobby to have... and then there's the time where you can run or play soccer, which is exciting and relaxing. I have no idea how I am going to go back to Tiger Town Tavern Upstairs and play APA pool... I'm going to be awful and I love to hustle. And it's late April... it can't get more exciting than that. It's just warm enough back home that all the car shows and Rod cruises through the mountains are starting up... and I can't be a grease monkey. I think when I go home, the first thing I am going to do is clean my baby's 350 and take her out, clean the carbon out of her. And hug my padres of course ;) And hopefully, Wednesday will start a new 6 month training regime for a marathon, I hope. My plans are set on 26 miles by about January. So excited, but I'm going to miss this place, I really am. There is just something about traveling that those people who never leave South Carolina, even for another state, will never understand.

i can't go back to frank's car wash.

budding architecture student seeks summer internship.

proficient with:
adobe photoshop & illustrator
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rhino
spot-free wax & interior detailing
won't skimp on the armor-all.

no references. available for phone interview.
+34.610.97.49.58

Eureka!

Woo Hoo! So I have completed my first “complete” attempt at my portfolio! Finally, after starting over five times, I have finally liked a layout enough to complete a full run of my portfolio. After listening to Hecker’s advice on graphics, I have finally come up with a format that is simple and versatile.

So I've been told... "You are suppose to sleep at night."

So I have totally gotten off from the European time. Pulling all nighters just to complete the portfolio has thrown off my sleep schedule. What really stinks is that I still have not gotten back on schedule.

Take ... Luck!

Kathrin’s class is over now along with Dulce’s. Leaving us with Hecker and Carlos’ classes. This should allow for more time right? Well, technically it should, and it does…. More time to spend on the final project. Which is good. I’m much rather have the extra time than try and get all of that done at once. :-D Good luck to everyone on their final presentations!

Josep M. Folch i Torres

So working on Kathrin’s paper has been fun. Calvin and I observed how people use Plaza de Josep M. Folch i Torres and how the construction has begun to affect the park. Adding slides to our presentation isn’t all that bad, a few more diagrams and updated pictures. What are we gonna talk about? We have tried looking everywhere for information on this park. After trying everywhere that Kathrin has sent us, we have come up empty handed. With this being the case, we decided to try and go to the people that use the park by handing out a questionnaire that had a few questions on it to try and gain an insight to this park. Apparently that wasn’t such a good idea…. Or so we found out at our review. Questionnaires have underlined meanings behind them. However, I feel that the questionnaire was a struggle and ended with slim success.

Senioritis.... ?

So I have found myself trying to get over this bad case of senioritis. No matter how much I want to go out and play, and enjoy myself, there seems to be more work. As you can tell, from my lapse in blog posts, I have been pushing work to the side to be able to enjoy myself a little more. With a portfolio developing at hand, I have began to focus all extra energies toward getting that thing done and out the door. Wish me luck… luck on a good internship this summer. :-D

You Know It's TRUE

Ideas not good enough, old hybrid rendering is despised by the Gehry-hating JC, eyes closing, vision getting fuzzy, sleep on the mind and bed out of sight. Studio Boot Camp can solve this little problem. That’s right just send your puny students away for a harsh reality check with BCN boot camp, we promise we’ll have them fully nocturnal within six weeks. Thought the states had architecture, thought you could sleep 8 hours a night, or even thought you could get along with all your studio mates? HAHA, my friend you are as blind as man swimming in doner kababs!! Life is hard, and architecture isn’t even close to having the luxury of such a muted adjective. But why then do we choose to live our lives like this? It’s because architecture gives so much back in return; the rewards are unexplainable and there is an endless road of knowledge to absorb. Every student who stays with the major and enters a firm has the burning desire for challenges and the strength to cope with a high probability of failure. Not everyone here will follow that road but that’s why you’re at BCN boot camp.

Shortcuts rule

So recently, I found that it is possible to not only import Rhino models into Form Z (aka: el diablo), but also Sketchup models. Which makes things so much easier. Especially when you have an angular building. Sketchup isn't great with curvy forms (it's actually probably easier in el Diablo), but with angular forms, it's a breeze. Obivously the quality isn't as good, renderwise, which is why some people are so stupidly dead set against it. I mean, it's a tool, if you can use and and make it look good, you shouldn't go and knock on someone else's project just because you spent twice the time on yours. But it's a really good tool for getting basic formal stuff down, like the overall forms of your 2 million sq. ft. pavilions :-P, and then importing it into Form Z to add details and make it look awesome. Which has been a lifesaver...the strawberries and cream kind :-D

Parc del Clot... a park and a thorough fare

On Monday, Ryan and I had our final presentation for Arch 412. We were studying Parc del Clot which is one of the more successful community green spaces that have been created in the Barcelona residential areas. The 10 acre site offers vast amounts of program spaces from basketball to a more restful green hill where you can take your dog or even a pet cat on a leash. I have seen one, and there is a lady in my neighborhood who walks her cats. Yeah, it is South Carolina. Anyway, one of the main aspects of the park was the fact that the park acts as a thorough fare for the surrounding community. The architects looked into how people effectively move from one connecting street through the park without being truly delayed or obstructed. This approach really kind of enlightened me on how to work with public exterior circulation. There should be an efficiency in circulation, and there should be a way to cut through an area without having direct interaction with people who are using a space for more leisure or any other purpose outside of just moving through.

PUG ART

So let’s talk about a time at the beginning of this journey when my mom was here with me. After a visit to one of Gaudi’s many master pieces we went into this art décor store where in the front window were rows of these plastic translucent molds of pugs. My mom went nuts and ranted of how I had to take a picture of these fake dogs. I mean I know I’m a tourist and it was only my third day in Barcelona but to take a picture of a window display was a little Busch League. So I said no and walked away. O yea my mom is diffidently obsessed with pugs seeing as how we have a little black pug Gordita, who has at least 8 doggie beds to her name and so many statuettes around that we could make a pug farm. But in order to appease my mother I did go back there and took the stupid picture. So it’s probably already printed, framed, and hanging above one of Gordita’s many thrones.