We designed ourselves into a hole. Literally. Our project
was flowing right along. We had some suggestions from professors and had sifted
through most of them to refine our design – the driving factor being to reduce
the symmetry of place (apparently a classical style thing that is soooo 100
years ago). One of our professors made the comment that we shouldn’t
necessarily follow the design factors from the classical period (symmetry
included). He thinks, instead that we should try to be more organic and forward
thinking. So that’s what we did. We made the mistake, however, of assumption.
We came to the point that we felt that digging into the ground was the solution
to our design problems. At the time, this made sense – we were going to tunnel
under a very busy street to assist in pedestrian safety, but the tunnel was
quite deep; therefore, make the grade closer to that of the tunnel. No assumptions
up to that point – it’s all valid. The assuming came in the fact that neither
of us considered how to buffer between the existing grade level and the new
grade level (we assumed that the side of the hole was going to be just a
vertical wall with railing around it, which is NOT the way to design a space).
We focused more on the general shape of the area that we wanted to create in
plan view – never looking at the design in section. Problem. The funny thing
is, last semester my partner and I ran into the EXACT same problem – we were
tunneling under a railroad track to help pedestrian flow and didn’t consider
HOW to go from exiting grade to new grade until very late in the project – not until
AFTER our project had earned the unfortunate nickname “the pit.” Yeah, pretty
bad. After that fun review, we decided upon a set of stairs on one end that
terraced down into the new space and, after we broke off for the individual
final project, I decided to make amphitheater seating to blend the ground
planes. In this project, I think that we are just going to backtrack a lot and
go back to not creating another pit. Simple enough, right?
On another note, I have started to find my discipline (hard
to believe I lost it, right?). I’ve decided that having coffee and fococcia
bread every morning for breakfast is absolutely awful for me, so I bought some
orange juice and crackers that I spread honey on. Between the honey and an
apple, I’m probably getting more energy than I was from the coffee (and it’s
natural). Also, trying to drink more water to stay hydrated. I’ve started to
work out again. And that’s saying something out here – we don’t have access to
a gym. I got an app the other day that has different exercises for every muscle
group, including “body only” exercises, which I am confined to at the moment. I’ve
done pushups every day now for the past week. My goal there is to be able to do
100 in a row by the end of the semester. Today, I went with a group of people
and we went running up the hill a little ways. Started small, but at least we
started running. I think that running a little a couple times a week will help
keep your legs strong and heart healthy. Also, don’t wanna work out just your
upper body because then you’ll look like an upside-down triangle, and nobody
wants that. I work every day on things for different classes – although this is
nothing new for me, I like to do this so that the info keeps fresh in my mind
and I keep moving forward. I’ve been reading a little bit in the Bible and
doing a devotional every day – recently started a plan about “unquestionable
character.” So far so good. My hope with all of this is that I will become a well-rounded individual, at least better-rounded by the end of the semester – find a balance between my mind, body, and spirit; or something like that. Also, I want to be a good example to everyone here. It’s been interesting to observe how some people’s conduct has changed with the new-found independence; interesting to say the least. I’ll let you know how that one goes.
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