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March 25, 2016 - No Comments!

AD 1 Piece of Prague

My first architectural brief came in the first week of school at Archip, after a few days of introductions. The task I was given was to draw one piece of Prague in elevation, cross section, and plan. This could be any space or place in Prague that fit into a 100 x 10 x 10 meter imaginary box. And our only criteria were the need to spend  24 hours in this location and describe why we chose it and what we would do there.

The brief was extremely confusing to all of us at first. Most first years, unlike myself, are not native speakers to start. On top of that, the  process by which the brief was described to us, non-architecture lingo savvy people, was just beyond our immediate understanding. But it was that very afternoon when we found out we could always go to Paul and ask him to explain it over and over until we understood. We did so, and finally we all felt we had a good understanding of the brief. Of course when we began speaking to one another our disillusionment of understanding was shattered and we were back to nervous confusion.

However, after finally feeling that I understood the brief I went out to search for my Piece of Prague.

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After a beautiful walk through the old town, I found myself right by the Vltava river, bellow the street level on the refurbished boat docks.

 

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It is really a fabulous place which recently helped redefine Pragues urban landscape, providing a space for cultural and social events outside of the tourist overrun/expensive old town, but still close enough to enjoy its beauty. I decided to spend more time in this place, and claim it as my Piece of Prague.

This is my final poster along with the test on the poster for easier reading:

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“There is a fabulous book by the name A Peoples History of America which I am, and have been, reading for two years. There for I propose to sit by the river and read for ten hours, in order to finish the book before studies at Archip begin. The river is my place of choice due to the power of large bodies of water to calm my thoughts, relax my body, and let me feel my heart. Thus being the ideal place for me to think, and you may even say meditate on the contents of the book. I have chosen this particular location because it conveniently provides me with food and drink, as well as a toilet and of course the majestic river. “

March 10, 2016 - No Comments!

AD 1 My Space

My Space was the second project I received at Archip. Unlike the previous project, this one required a 3D model. The brief was generally to design a space that I would like to spend one month in. It had to fit into the given space in the brief, which was an area between two columns and a wall with one window in the school.

Archip Studio Space

We were pushed to develop a strong concept to base our design off of. I began with many different ideas all based on what I liked and was interested in. I figured it was my space so it should include everything I like. Then I began scaling back and I decided to make my dream bedroom and a front cafe/bar.  After my first consultation I realized I needed to get more conceptual and let the physical shape take form out of the conceptual idea.
I was then asked to write down a little bit about myself and my basic concept. Here is what I wrote:

I believe that between my parents, my education, and who I am, I have a balance of skills and interests. Most prominently I would consider myself a functionalist –I believe that function is the ultimate designer– and most recently I have come to the conclusion that form is function. I follow a few somewhat contradictory ideas, namely that I should be selfish for everyone else, and that I must develop a strong human ego through collaboration. I think contradictions hold the greatest insights, because every problem is an opportunity in disguise. But despite the ease with which I find myself dreaming up fantastic buildings in my own mind, I feel that the sole purpose, and defining aspect of architecture is to solve problems, and not only the one proposed by the client, but all those which are perceivable by human experience.

1) Simple
2) Sound
3) Paper
4) Plant
5) Breath

1) The space is complex in simplicity. 2) Sound is diffused by the circular nature of the interior. 3) Natural paper is used as the building material in order to achieve simple construction and compatibility with nature. 4) Air quality is enhanced through the generation of oxygen and the filtering of the air by three special plants, Areca palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), Mother-in-Law's Tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata), and Money plant (Epipremnum aureum). 5) The spaces breaths on many levels; the breath of the plants, the breath in of the circular reading, work, and sleep spaces, and the breath out of the open central atrium.

Materials: Paper, light, sound, cloth. I hope to purvey the experience of lightness and openness, as well as privateness and warmth. I see it as the breath of life in the space, finding open, bright, airy spaces, with the equal balance of enclosed, cozy, warm spaces. This also meshes the private and public spaces, bringing them each to one another's doorsteps.

 

Out of these five key ideas I distilled my concept, and this is how to took shape.

 

 

 

March 7, 2016 - No Comments!

My First Blog

I have never written a blog before so please excuse what may be a slightly rough start. This past fall of 2015 I moved to Prague to study architecture. This was a big step for me and especially an exciting one.

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Since moving to Prague I have received numerous emails asking, what became the most common question, How are your studies going in Prague? I attempted to reply to all of those emails, writing furiously between project assignments. But it was just to much work and I never got around to all of it.

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This was not the best solution for me, so I have come up with another, this blog.  Here I will attempt to consolidate all of the many emails into one blog where any and everyone can enjoy.