Habitat Experience

The experiences in the Habitat for Humanity site in Albion was really impressive and educational for me. I went there to help build the base of the building, which I think is for the homeless people. I helped to put roof drain pipe and drain tiles. Mostly I did the rock shaft. I moved the rocks from the pile and pull them on the pipe in order to bury the pipe. Firstly I can't operate the cart cause it was too heavy for me but I gradually got used to it and I becoming good at using it. I know how to control the cart when there were obstacles and how to keep the balance.

I was really tired after I done the work, but at the same time, I felt pround of myself of my persistence. The experience was really meaningful for my future life.

                                           Drain Tile

 

                                  Pouring Rocks

 

                                      Overall View of the Site

                                   Group Picture After Done

Sketch Crawl Reflection

     I think one of my strengths about my sketching is I could quickly catch a portion of a view and show it on my sketchbook. I also become more familiar with  hatching & value. I like drawing small details in order to make my drawing look more real. I think the biggest weakness for my sketching is my patience. Especially when I firstly began to sketch, I always feel impatient of re-drawing again and again in order to getting the correct positions and the proportions of objects and I realized every time when I had that emotion, my work ended with a mess. I was eagerly to see my improvements even though I didn’t put much effort. Then gradually, after I have found the problem, I began to develop my patience because I still had a lot interests in sketching and I believe I could do well if a sit down with calm emotions and enough patients. The skilled urban sketcher also mentioned this point at the Sketch Crawl that if you keep doing it, finally you would get it. They spent years of time on sketching and their works looked all amazing. I think in the future time, I will sketch more and more with steady and patient emotions in order to develop more skills and become more professional.

 

Sketch (1)---Popcorn Car

                                                                                

    

  

 Sketch (2)---Space Needle

 

           

 

Sketch (3)---Inside the Chapel of St. Ignatius

                                                

 

Sketch(4)---Detail drawing of Chapel of St. Ignatius (eave).

                               

 

Job Shadow Reflection

     I went SkB Architects for the job shadow and the person I met was Erika Biggs who is a Senior Designer. It was my first time to do a job shadow in a professional company, so I really valued this opportunity. Fortunately, the company let me and my partner got involved in a real presentation brought by a client who was from “The Senator Group” from U.K and he was there to promote their furniture. During the presentation, there were lots of professional conversations going on and I could tell those conversations were based on wide knowledge and skills. It made me feel that I should work harder and harder in order to be as professional and confident as those skilled designers. The same feeling came out when I watched Erika editing the presentation of a drawer. She was very adept using different programs and software. Even though it was just a design for a single drawer, she included a lot of details and analysis. I think in the future, I should spent more time and put more efforts in every single design work in order to reach the perfection and satisfaction as much as I can. Though the job shadow was just four hours, the meaning was very significant. 

 

SkB (1)---Meeting room

                                                                                 

 

 SkB (2)--- Working Area

                                                                             

 

  

SkB (3)---Presentation of Models.

                                                                

 

Frye Art Museum Reflection

     At the entry sequence, there was an oculus on the hemispherical ceiling which allows the daylight to come through. It reminded me of the pantheon in Rome which also has an oculus on its ceiling. The daylight in Frye Art Museum are important, so people there really put efforts on this part. When I wondering around in the museum, the daylights came from different angles in different ways. The lights themselves were actually art and they made my visiting experience more enjoyable and meaningful. In term of the interior form, the overall layout is quite common. It was made up with a lot of straight lines. However, there were narrow indentations located low on walls. In my opinions, I think the purpose of indentations was to add a value of reality. A whole flat, smooth and white wall may easily make eyes get tired. The use of daylight might also have the same purpose from my perspective. The important aspects of human interactions with that built space could be people wondering around and standing in front of the artworks to further observe them or to take photos of them. People may also share insights and thoughts with each other of a piece of artwork. In generally, the museum was kind of small but the feelings when I stayed there were enormous.

 

Frye Museum(1)--- Oculus on the ceiling

             

 

Frye Museum(2)---Sketch: Show the indentation.

  

                                                  

St. Ignatius Chapel Reflection

     Chapel of St. Ignatius: The Chapel of St. Ignatius was my favorite place to visit during the study tour. Every element in that building was designed deliberately and delicately in order to make the chapel looked like a whole and coherent unit. The use of daylight was really stunning. The daylights came from walls from different directions and positions, and when I walked inside the building, I feel like that lights were kind of leading me from one place to another place and they made my eyes moving around the space subconsciously. Together with the interior form, which was mostly made up with fluent and smooth lines, I felt calm and comfortable staying there. The walls were simply decorated by overlapping the plaster. They turned out with gray and white shapes that were kind of next to each other. The shapes seem like were done casually without accurate calculation but I believe there were specific rules. Another thing I want to mention is there was no clear glass in the chapel to let people see outside. As a result, the interior space seemed to be apart from the outside world. By having those characteristics of the building type in mind, I think the important aspects of human interactions could be people amending to god or doing something to purify their hearts. Generally speaking, I love the Chapel of St. Ignatius and I believe it is a great place to calm people’s minds down.

 

            St. Ignatius Chapel (1)---Wall

                                           St. Ignatius Chapel (2)

  St. Ignatius Chapel (3)---No clear glass

                         St. Ignatius Chapel (4) ---Exterior

Street Bean Espresso and Shelter Reflection

     The place I visited is called the “New Horizon” and it is a place to provide service to young teenagers on streets who suffered from family destructions and the like. The philosophy of that development affect my thinking about designing for residential by making me further realized how important that a residential building should remain warm, attractive and welcoming especially for cases like the “New Horizon”. Likely, I think the most important idea from my visit at Street Bean Espresso is how to design the place comfortable and “homey” to attract people to come without any awkwardness or embarrassment . In addition, I think the warm environment could help avoiding fights and complaints among those homeless teenagers. The important aspects of human interaction with the build space considered the special population could be children gaining services together. There are lots of service provided in that place such like foods to eat, sofas to lie down and rest, clothes to wear, bathrooms to take shower, a TV to watch videos and play games, washers and dryers to do laundry and there are also several computers for people to use. Those services help to create human interactions among those homeless teenagers. The Street Bean Espresso was one of my favorite coffee shops I have seen. The environment was really comfortable and I love the paintings on the wall.

 

Shelter (1)

                                                                          

      

 

Shelter (2)

                                                                                   

 

Shelter (3)

  

                                                                          

 

 Street Bean(1)

                                                                                                                                           

 

Street Bean(2) 

                                           

325 Westlake Residence Reflection

     The Westlake residential building I visited was designed as 12 studio apartments. It also has a penthouse for the owner to live in. I think the philosophy of this development affect my thinking about designing for a residential building by showing me how to design properly for different clients in one building without losing the creative thinking and how to maximally exploit the space without losing the aesthetic appearances. I believe a interior designer should be very skilled and familiar with those techniques and I will pay attention to this part for my future residential work.I think one of the most important and also the most challenge ideas from my visit at Westlake was to build a building with some specific characteristics while remaining some related or similar elements to the neighborhoods. In addition, the security should be another important idea or consideration for that building since there would be different people living in one building.  I think the important aspects of human interaction with that built space could be people hang out with each other a lot and hold lots of parties since the building is a studio apartment which is also known as a bachelor apartment. In generally, the visit to the Westlake residence has broadened my eyes and I really enjoyed learning new ideas or concepts.

                                                                  Westlake Residence (1)

zHome Reflection

     After I visited the zHome, I think the most important idea for that project is the sustainability. The designers applied multiple ways to achieve the goal of “zero energy” such like the heat recovery ventilator, the reusing and recycling of materials and so on. I learned those new techniques and I think they are helpful and meaningful for my future design. The philosophy of this development really affect my thinking about designing for residential because before I had visited the zHome, I always thought that the more money you spend, the more pretty of the aesthetic appearance you would get for a residential building. However, the visit to the zHome totally changed my opinions. The buildings there were all look beautiful and modern. Each building in the zHome was pretty close to each other and the area near the place would soon be a whole community, so there will be some basic equipments such like supermarkets, hospitals and the like. As a result, I think the important aspects of human interaction with that build space could be neighbors gathered together and do some entertainments. Children may go to school together and play with each other a lot. Generally speaking, I think the zHome will be a warm environment to live.

 

 

 zHome (1)

 

zHome (2)