Where are my keys??!

I’ve made changes in my life before, but never like this.  I just realized that when I leave for Philadelphia, I will have no keys.  None.  My key chain has slowly become more vacant over the past few weeks.  Right now I’m down to only three keys,  two of which I will lose to Leslie’s new roommate, and the other I’ll loose to my parents, unless of course, you want to buy my car before Friday, then i could lose it to you (don’t be a wimp, stick shifts are rad!)!

My Nerdy Computer Blog Post

I freaked out today, trying to figure out whether or not my computer is going work for school. I have a laptop that’s only a year old, and it’s pretty decked out…but maybe not decked out enough, according to the computer specs recommended by PennDesign. I’m really not very good with computers. It was a challenge enough just to figure out what kind of video card I had, much less comparing it to the one I “need.” The online tech support and phone tech support just frustrated me even more, so I went and talked to an actual person (Whoa!). I showed the tech guy the recommended specs. His reply…”Oh my, we don’t even have that here!” He looked at the specs of my current computer, and was impressed, but my graphics card is a little under par. Hmmmm…

Then I got to thinking (dangerous, I know). The program is three years long, and computers change fast. This year’s recommended computers weren’t even available for students who started two years ago, and I’m sure they are doing just fine. Fancy renderings are the reason for having such a ridiculous graphics card, but they are not my reason for being passionate about architecture. The quality of a design is not necessarily equal to the time it took render the drawings or the animations. If my projects are going to stand out, it will not be because of my renderings. It never has been.

So now I have a goal.

Poetry (an attempt)

Sometimes, I don’t surface so easily.

Sometimes, I’m need someone to

                Dig

                        Dig

 

                                Make a hole of me.

                                Make a whole of me.

 

??? I don’t know…what do you think about when you are in the shower?

Vancouver

Vancouver is an amazing city for lots of reasons. I guess I expected it To be somewhat overwhelming, but it wasn’t at all. There are a ton of nerdy architecture/urban design issues that I could talk about, and I’m sure I will…eventually, but for now I’ll just focus on one very small space in the city…Granville Island.

I didn’t have the best first impression of Granville Island. I went there on a Wednesday morning around 10 am, and I felt like I was in a deserted Disneylandish place. It was raining. No one was around, and the only thing open was a gift shop where I could have bought stuffed moose (a REALLY BIG stuffed moose). So anyway, I left.

Later on I ran across a book called Towards an Ethical Architecture about the work of Gregory Henriquez, an architect in Vancouver. Clearly this excited me (see my first post)! Browsing through the book, I learned that Henriquez designed Arts Umbrella, and the False Creek Community Center, both on Granville Island.

So I went back. This time on a Sunday afternoon. The Island was buzzing. School kids and bums alike were performing on the sidewalks. The Public Market was crowded with flowers and food from every corner of the world. Inside a small theater someone was rapping while his band, consisting of a fiddle and a few drums provided a beat. Just outside the theater Irish dancers were rehearsing with their instructor, and next door in the community center, a kick boxing class was in session. I know this all still sounds a bit Disneylandish, and maybe it is…but then take into consideration the fact that this in all going on underneath the Granville Street Viaduct in an area that was previously an industrial waterfront!

The whole issue of deindustrialization and the resulting vacant and contaminated spaces haunted me and a lot of other architecture students (especially in that last year)! It was so refreshing to see such a space that had already been dealt with…successfully!

 

 

False Creek Community Center

 

 

 

 

Arts Umbrella