Today went as swimmingly as yesterday!

I returned to completing the site model. The few individual choices made were aesthetic in nature, which color to border the model, how much to sand or cut the 3-D prints, and how to trim and border the streets.

More of the office members stopped around to chat. Honestly the location of my worktable probably helped. I moved around 2 pm from a closed conference room to an open white table in the middle of the office. Most of the members of the firm are working not two feet away at open desks and everyone seemed to walk up and down that corridor. Certainly the place to be as the new bee in the office.

Between being asked to file new forms to a secondary introduction to the project I was modeling’s design and decision process the day was plenty busy. Of all the conversations or breaks a few stood out.

I was introduced to the in-house Landscape Architect who walked me through her proposal for a play space in a courtyard. I learned some of the intricate detailing of the play space as demonstrated by example materials. Below is a quick sketch and some illegible notes rewritten on the construction of the play space surface composed of faux grass, a safety surface, elevated support for the above surfaces with drainage holes, and cones or columns to support surfaces and maintain a distance from the orginal floor being built over.

Another conversation started with the many built projects CGA is working and led to the ideological proposals being made as well. This discussions  led to over a process model for a neighborhood restoration, reinvigoration, I was given more reading material, this time online.

Another occurred to reminisce about the dangers of model making. I had recently sliced my finger, a scratch akin to a deep paper cut. Thankfully no blood on the model and a quick papertowel and tape bandage stopped the bleeding in a few minutes. Soon after another member of the office offered up more tools to help complete some of the finer shaving, cutting, and detail edge trimming left to be done.

After all the model work a short stretch break with the people sitting directly across from me was enough to liven up. A quick clean up and a few goodbyes and I checked out for the weekend to explore the city!

Dress to Impress:

I was a little worried about work attire. I did some research (see my earlier blog post Externship Excitment) and reinvented my wardrobe a bit. Below is today’s look:

Today was exciting! I arrived early and was greeted very warmly by Ashley, a staff memeber who handles a number of tasks from front desk to ordering supplies. Ashley assisted me with setting up my computer, showing me the office (kitchen, supply room, material library, and general work spaces).  Just before the office tour I met Christine, who I had emailed with confirming this externship, and Mark, a Penn alumn and principal at Curtis + Ginsberg. Soon after I met Darby, also a principal. During the office tour I familiarized myself with the office layout and met the majority of the office members, all of whom were very friendly.

Toby, a soft spoken woman, came by my desk after the tour. It seems she had been in the review process looking over resumes, portfolios, and statements of intent and had taken the impression that I was very curious and eager to learn.  She brought with her comments a stack of  marvelous readings. These readings range from row house preservation, to material catalogs, to publications on housing and funding projects (the last category being produced by the office). Naturally I am eager to read these quickly as it is aparent they tie closely to the work produced at Curtis + Ginsberg.

Soon after this pleasant visit I was set to work. First to assist with a quick square footage calculation and then to my final task of model making. Surprisingly, on Day 1, I am assigned to assist Daniella and Vance, two very nice members of the team, in making a client requested model, which the client may keep! Needless to say I was a tad nervous as I work slowly model making to ensure that everything is cut straight and cleanly. By the end of the day I had all pieces cut, layered, and ready to glue. Tomorrow I will finish sanding the pre-printed 3-D buildings and glue everything together.

Sadly I do not think I can discuss the project publicly as the office has not released it. However I will say that the project caught me by surprise and peaked my interest. Throughout the day as people stopped in to see the progress and chat I was glad to learn more about the process of obtaining the project, the various stages of work, and the overall timeline in place.

I look forward to what tomorrow has in store. The little I know of my schedule here is that I will not work weekends**, I may visit a construction site next week (yay!!), I may have a lunch date with some of the firm members, and the rest is a surprise!

**While I technically will not be working weekends I will still be posting about my time in NYC. All posts will be dated as Externship Day # but my appear in different channels.

Dress to Impress:

I was a little worried about work attire. I did some research (see my earlier blog post Externship Excitment) and reinvented my wardrobe a bit. Below is today’s look:

Today was a calm day of travel and preparation. The Megabus from Philadelphia to NYC departed and arrived on time. I settled into my temporary accommodations making sure to keep my new work clothes straight and neat. Once unpacked and acquainted with the apartment I went for a long walk.

I walked from the apartment to the office of Curtis+Ginesburg, then to the bank, and lastly to a Target/Trader Joes. All along the way I encountered a number of neat surprises from cute clothing stores to seafood shops in china town and a bunch of construction sites!

Everything from road repair, plumbing, demolitions to new high rises putting in the finishing touches were scattered along my walk. It seems like more construction than I remember on any prior trip to the city. The most fascinating site today had to be of this well closed off demolition which had a single window placed into the fence to showcase the work.

After a long day of walking I am ready to sleep, just dreaming of all the excitement tomorrow will bring on Externship Day 1!