I Could Hear Them Breaking Free

Why couldn't my school choir have been this cool? I might have enjoyed singing if it had! The PS22 Chorus in New York sing my favorite song - ever. And do one of the better covers of "Private Universe" I've heard.



Here is an amazing live version of the original by Crowded House, on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.



So what was I singing in my choir? This song. Years after it was cool.



We also sang a song about painting a rainbow. No wonder I quit after the first trimester!

I'm Still Alive!

I can't believe it's May! So much has happened since the last chance I had to blog that I don't know where to start. I'll have to backtrack and write about the most remarkable and exhausting spring I've ever had.

Where to begin . . .

Winning two major competitions in a week?
Eleven days in Qatar?
Speaking at the American Society of Interior Designer's convention in San Francisco?
My senior project that turned into design anarchy?
Senior exhibit and a presentation to the dean?
Beginning the job search?

How about graduation!

Yes! At last I am a college graduate! Last Saturday I graduated magna cum laude with honors, with a degree in Interior Design and a minor in history. What was my honors thesis on? I titled it, "Design Response to Humanitarian Crisis: An Analysis of Low-Income Labor Camps in Doha, Qatar in the Context of a Student Charrette." I know, I know. I can't help it. I wouldn't be me if I didn't go overboard and push a few boundaries.

Now I'm sifting through job opportunities and trying to decide whether to stay in Utah or move to a bigger market. It's not a decision I'm taking lightly. I'll catch up with everything else that has happened over the next few days.

Globe Trotting

I finally have my travel itinerary for Qatar. I won't announce the exact dates online, but I will be gone for 11 days! The flight will be about 24 hours each way and we will come in a few days before the conference to participate in a charette with the other students. I will miss seven days of school. I'm glad all my classes are in my department and they will let me go. But I have no idea how I will get everything done this semester.

To add to everything else going on I found out this week I won another competition. It's not time yet to announce the details, but it will involve me travelling to San Francisco three days after I get back from Qatar! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Guess what!

I've been neglecting this little blog because I've been working on another blog (see previous entry) . That blog has been part of a competition entry for a design conference called Tasmeem. The competition is to identify an issue dealing with water and generate design solutions for the problem. I worked on the project with a friend and we focused on the 1.2 billion people who don't have access to a source of clean drinking water and the 6,000 children who die every day from a water-borne illness. It's a little outside the realm of interiors, but it was fun to apply what I've learned to another area of design.

I just found out that we won! The prize is all expense paid trip to Qatar for a sustainable design conference in March. The speakers are some of the best in the world - David Suzuki who spoke at Greenbuild, Cameron Sinclair the founder of Architecture for Humanity, Susan Szenasy the editor of Metropolis, and other architects and designers from around the world.

Yes, that's right! I'm going to Qatar! Where in the world is Qatar?! Here it is:


Yes, I know. It's in the Middle East. But the safe part of the Middle East. I promise.

Qatar has mosques . . .


. . . and luxury resorts . . .


. . . and camels . . .


. . . and this giant pearl.

It is also the home of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar who is sponsoring our visit.

I'm so excited!

525,600 seconds

I spent some time reading through my past posts. I do tend to be obnoxiously self-reflective, don't I? I'm afraid that's not going to change. It seems I only make time to write when I'm in a reflective mood. Studying design forces me to live in a world of abstractions. I have a million ideas but none of them will become reality. It's very frustrating. Sometimes it's hard to find concrete things in my life to guage my progress by. So I'm stealing this idea from Karen as a chronicle of my past year, to prove that it wasn't all in my head.

January: For good or ill school has defined my life the past three years and January was a month of transition. A new semester began with one professor leaving Utah State for an international position, and I began studying under another one. I also began my search for an internship.

February: Event producer Scott Corridan came as a visiting designer. I made him cry. I spent the rest of the month preparing for our next visiting designer. The lack of sleep made me cry.

March: Jamie Drake came as our second visiting designer. He said I was daring. I found out I won honorable mention in the International Design Guild/ASID rug design competition. I applied to GSBS for an internship, and went to Las Vegas and Los Angeles on a design trip. At NeoCon West I met Karim Rashid.

April: I had an interview and got my internship. The semester wound down, leaving me in utter exhaustion. My nephew Aiden was born. I began blogging.

May: I found out I won honorable mention in the IIDA Sustainable Design competition. I saw Sigor Ros in concert and moved to Salt Lake to begin my internship.

June: I worked at GSBS and loved every minute of it. The month ended with the Theresa Bradly Spirit Award at Design Awareness.

July: I sadly left my internship, but not before applying for another one at G. I flew to London and spent most of the month there. It was hot. Very, very hot.

August: I moved on to Paris before flying home to crash for two weeks after a summer as a nomad. I was offered the G internship and school began again.

September: I'm finally a senior and won 1st place commercial and 2nd place residential in an ASID competition. I begin working as an undergraduate teaching fellow. I also started an IIDA Campus Center at school and was put on the IDSA board.

October: I worked. I worked on projects, on my job, and on my honors thesis.

November: I organized an IIDA campaign to donate stockings to children with cancer. I started working part time at GSBS and volunteered at Greenbuild in Denver, flying home in time to see my brother get married. On the 28th my grandmother died.

December: I went to my grandmother's funeral and two days later my sister-in-law's father died. After two funerals in a week I finished three projects and travelled to Salt Lake seven times. Thankfully the last week has been very quiet.

The year is ending and a new one beginning. I hope 2007 will be a little more peaceful, but no less eventful.

Breathe Out

In less than three weeks I've had a wedding and two funerals take place in my family. Throw into that mix finals week with multiple projects due, the latest in a succession of crappy birthdays (yea for December, everyone is too busy to notice), and weekly trips to Salt Lake to work, and I am exhausted. Overwhelmed and utterly exhausted. All I have to do is make it to graduation, but that doesn't feel like it will ever happen. It's the middle of the night and I'm even too tired to sleep.

So for you, and mostly for me, I present a bit of visual bliss. Next semester my senior thesis will involve research on the work of Santiago Calatrava. Just looking at these images helps me relax. They feel like modern cathedrals.

Breathe In

I went to school yesterday and was told to go home and not come back until I was ready. I appreciate that. I need a little time to catch my breath.

Just as I was leaving the sun lit up the sky. The air was bitter cold after Tuesday's snow and the silhouettes of the trees were lovely. I'm glad I had my camera with me.





The scene fit my mood on many levels.

I recently came across a website with an image that I also think is lovely. The Night and Day World Map shows you what part of the world is currently in darkness, and what part is light. In spite of my stand against light pollution I think images of the earth at night are gorgeous.



My family and I are doing fine. We're in that strange post-passing, pre-funeral limbo when no one's sure what to do. That will be over soon and then I'll have to get back to work.

Walking and Sketching

Inspite of an overwhelming amount of work to do before the end of the semester I took a break and went for a walk around campus. A storm is moving in and the ground is covered with a beautiful dusting of snow. I stopped by the bookstore and bought a new sketching pencil in terracotta to break out of my usual black and white mode.

I stopped outside the Merrill-Cazier Library and made a quick sketch to try out the pencil. It has a waxy feel, but the color lays down nicely and doesn't smear. It was truly a quick sketch - I was sitting on cold concrete.

I was gone almost an hour and it felt good to get some fresh air. I think I may be able to get some work done now.

When I got back to my desk an envelope was waiting for me. It contained our IIDA (International Interior Design Association) Campus Center certificate. We're official! This is the first year our school has been a Campus Center and it's exciting to have proof of all the hard work.

Post Occupancy Evaluation

This is it. The end of the school year. Goodbye seat number 10 in the junior studio of the Lundberg Building. Goodbye drafting table that broke during the first five minutes of my first studio class last fall. Goodbye chair with a ripped seat and window that doesn't latch shut. Goodbye box elder bugs (I named each of them Fernando). Blood and tears have been shed here, and my best work has been done here. I will miss you.

I'm off to Salt Lake to sign a contract on an apartment.

Spring Cleaning

I am moving out of the studio. I've lived here more hours this year than I've lived at home and don't even know where to start. I have a fabulous book by Paul Smith called You Can Find Inspiration in Everything*: (*and if you can't, look again). In it he has a pullout that lists in miniscule print every single item he owns. It's an interesting exercise in urban archeology. I don't have time for that but here is a list of some of the odd things I've accumulated over the year.

• Sample donations from the seniors: glass, 3form, bamboo and a Sherwin Williams paint deck!
• My own stash of samples that includes enough fabric from Maharam and ArcCom to make a crypton quilt.
• A wedding announcement from Susan. Congratulations!
  
• A deck of Architectural Vocabulary Cards my dad gave me. He bought it at the Salt Lake Library Store. Now I know the difference between an English bond, a Flemish bond, and a Garden bond (brick patterns).
• A pair of 4" brown leather boots I took off when I couldn't walk another step. Curse Charlotte Moss and her "I judge my potential clients by the shoes they wear" advice.
  
• More magazines than I will ever know what to do with. My favorites: Metropolis, Objekt, Interior Design and Communication Arts.
  
• Binders from every project I've done. Even my sophomore binders are here, and they are all huge!
• Tear files take up 3 more large binders, and I'm ready to expand to 5.
• An application for the graduate program at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture in Houston. Hmmm, I think I'll hold on to that.
  
• The FedEx Receipt for $18.64 from the internship application I sent to William McDonough + Partners. They said no, but I'm proud of myself for trying. I think I'll keep it so when I'm famous I can show it to him and tell him what he missed out on. ;)
• My midterm exam from Architectural Systems last fall. I took 17 credits from Steve and he only gave 1 test. I got 100%.
• All the design development from my dialysis center - sketches, research, programming. I loved that project. It became very personal and very gratifying.
• A note from Woolley. I still haven't forgiven him for leaving.
• A box of Frosted Shredded Wheat - the usual breakfast at my desk.
• Books. I'm addicted - it's what I spend my money on. Some are from the library and need to be returned.
• The blanket I wrapped up in all winter because the heat doesn't work. I took the space heater home over spring break.
• Hundreds of dollars in Prismacolor markers - literally! I can't bring myself to throw out the dried ones until I try filling them with alcohol to see if they will revive.
  
• The Gandhi laserdisk I got at the awards banquet for being "Undergraduate Researcher of the Year" - by default. No one else is doing research.
• "Rabbit Shouting Graciously Around the Bicycle" Last fall KC and I cleaned out some old projects that were being thrown out and this needed to be saved. It's been on the ledge in front of my counter all year. Maybe I should send it to MOBA.
• Two calculators. I try to avoid math but sometimes it's inevitable.
• Scrap pieces from my dialysis center model I built last fall. I need to clean things out more often.
• Business cards from sales reps. I wonder when I will get to use them.
• Empty color ink cartridges from my printer. If you recycle them at Staples they will give you $3 credit for each one.
• 2 bottles of Sobo glue. Awesome for models and it doesn't wrinkle paper.
• Needle-nose pliers and a set of screwdrivers. You need them more often than you'd think.
• 25 ft measuring tape, 3 ft measuring tape, a scale and 3 rulers.
• My baby maglight. I wondered where that went to!
• An article I printed out from IIDA: "Design Competitions - Why? And what it takes."
• Insurance package for study abroad. I have $100,000 coverage while I'm out of the country. I wish I could get it in the country.
• 4 inking triangles in 3 sizes and 3 colors.
• Poster advertising Scott Corridan's visit here. I hope I run into him again some day.
• A note from Darrin. I hope he doesn't leave.
• More 3Form. Cool!
• The new Moleskine to take on my internship.
• A quote from Thoreau I jotted down: "Wisdom does not inspect, but behold. We must long for a time before we can see . . . The question is not what you look at - but how you look and whether you can see."
• Pieces of stained glass I bought for the Jamie Drake project.
• The cool messenger bag I got free from Herman Miller at NeoCon West.
• A postcard of the Getty Center, from before I got to go to the Getty Center.
• Now Sting's cover of "Ain't No Sunshine" is playing on iTunes. I love that song.
• Several kitchen size garbage bags. They are perfect for covering projects, especially when it rains. And it always rains the day a project is due.
• A dime. It's not mine but I'll keep it. I need all the help I can get.
• A penny. I'll take that too.

The car is full. I will come back tomorrow for another load. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Seriously, where did all this stuff come from!?

I haven't factored in sleep

Things to do before the end of the semester . . .

• Complete redesign of project boards for Jamie Drake presentation
  
• Render English sitting room and create board presentation
• Render sustainable Potager's kitchen and create board presentation
• Construction documents for kitchen - elevations, floorplan, millwork, electrical plans
  
• Finish finding materials for both rooms - fabrics, sustainable countertops, glass
• Write six page paper for American history on the environmental movement
• Finish Honors project on sustainability in residential design
• Find apartment for May and June for internship
• Finishing touches on Valentino powerpoint presentation

I also have an internship meeting April 26th and a Study Abroad meeting May 1st.

Wish me luck! At least I don't have any finals.

Internship at Last

This morning I met with Stephen Smith, principal architect of Gilles Stransky Brems Smith in Salt Lake City. GSBS designed the new Merrill-Cazier Library on campus and he was here to take part in the dedication ceremony. On Wednesday he left a message on my cell phone asking me to meet him in the lobby at 9 a.m. He said, "I'll be the old guy in a suit and tie, not looking like a college student." Even with that description he wasn't that easy to spot. I had to make my way through the news crews and other dignitaries milling around. The lobby was full of men in suits, university staff setting up chairs and a podium, the cameraman and newsanchor from channel 13 I had seen on tv before I left home, and the usual milieu of students.

When I finally found him he invited me to the cafe and we sat down. Over a cup of coffee he looked through my resume and work samples, and then offered me an internship. He didn't ask many questions, just told me that he liked my work and my interest in sustainability. GSBS hopes to have half of their office LEED accredited by next fall. Every Monday they order pizza and have a LEED workshop for their employees. They haven't had an intern before so I'll be blazing new ground (no pressure there). I start the second week of May and will work until I leave for London in July. David Brems, the other principal I initially spoke with, is the 2006 Chair for AIA's Committee on Design.

This is where I will be:



GSBS is also known for:
The Olympic Speed Skating Oval
(one of the first 12 LEED certified buildings in the country)
Extreme Makeover Home Edition
South Town Expo Center
Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield Headquarters
Salt Palace renovation and expansion
LDS Conference Center (consulting architects)

. . . and many other projects throughout Utah. I'm so excited to have this opportunity. Now I need to find an apartment in SLC.