Carolina Schultz
Living a Designer Life
School Events
Posted on September 22, 2020
LARP Lecture Series: https://www.design.upenn.edu/landscape-architecture/events/activ-ism
ARCH Lecture Series: https://www.design.upenn.edu/events-exhibitions-0/events/weitzman-fall-2020-lecture-series
Meyerson Hall is both closed and open. While students can get in and technically have workspace I know many of us would prefer to stay home. With the majority of classes online and the studio requirements adjusting to reflect that a workspace for model making and collaborating doesn’t seem to be needed.
However the downside to everything being online is the disappearance of spontaneous inspiration. Lectures that used to be good excuses to just change rooms and meet people not typically in your class now are events on a long calendar list of zoom meetings.
Despite the more limited interaction of these events the school has made an effort to create a lecture series that engages this years events directly. The Landscape Architecture series title Activism looks promising. I unfortunately missed the first lecture of the series but look forward to attending the future lectures.
While the lecture series are still in progress much of the typical school events seem to have dissapeared or become another zoom meeting. In their place students are self organizing zoom calls, video game sessions, bubble picnics, book clubs, and group chats of a wildly spontaneous and random nature. These are all nice touches and I am undecided as of yet whether I like them more than studio.
On one hand I can choose when to engage and when not to. On the other hand perhaps this only works because these are all students I already know and don’t have to force the interactions to function. It will certainly be interesting to see how the new class handles this odd disconnect.
On that note, the Student Mentorship Program is officially started. Mentors have been assigned mentees from the incoming class. Students should connect in the next few days so perhaps then I will have a better idea of how the new class is doing!
The semester is still young and I am sure to have plenty more updates as things start to settle! Til then, good luck with studies and work!
Philly Aids Thrift
Posted on September 22, 2020
Philly Aids Thrift: http://phillyaidsthrift.com/
Shopping can be fun. A bit of a wasteful pastime, particularly if everything purchased is new every single time. Personally, I prefer the second hand market. There’s very few things that absolutely must be brand new in my book. The majority of things we own, tables, chairs, books, clothes, plates, etc are perfectly good second hand.
I have rummaged through a fair number of Goodwill’s and Buffalo Exchanges in the North. This weekend I went with a friend to a “new” thrift store I hadn’t been to: Philly Aids Thrift.
We went to the location in the Society Hill – Queens Village area of South Philly. As with all places in Covid era there is a maximum occupancy and so lines are to be expected to get into the store. Once inside it is a little chaotic. There is a sense of organization that is subverted by the sheer amount of things and the odd interior. The building seems to be two or three different buildings all joined together through a maze of wall openings and bizarre interior decor which most of which is for sale. A floor plan exists but is easily missed at the entrance, I am placing it down below for future visitors. I hope it doesn’t change too much!
Once you get used to the maze it is a delight to search through all the little things there! I know next time I go that I will spend more time going through the $1 dollar bins of clothes, books, and odds-n-ends. The clothing racks regardless of size or posted gender are all worth searching through as I found some things were jumbled into wrong categories. Perhaps shoppers take to hiding things? I am not sure if that works quite as well in a thrift store. Regardless of the reason be sure to set aside some time, an entire afternoon really, to just comb through this store. I didn’t really find some things till I had looked a second time.
Of course with such a treasure trove store I wasn’t going to be able to leave empty handed. I am very happy with two dresses I found that require no fixing to be worn. I have a few bracelets to jazz up my zoom conferences in which I move my hands around while talking and editing on google docs. I have a few more tea cups to entertain guests at future tea parties. My friend also did not leave empty handed. We had intended to find him a decent winter coat and we absolutely did! In fact, this coat look brand new, unused, and had both an outer and inner separable jackets with zippers, pockets galore, and nice hazard flashy “stickers”, if you will. To boot, it came in the most beautiful bright yellow! Honestly if he hadn’t taken it I just might have, although I would be swallowed whole by it. In addition to his intended find he finally bought wine glasses and happened across a working rice cooker.
Not every thrift store experience is quite this fruitful. A lot of thrift shopping is hunting and searching and checking in every couple days to see if what you’re looking for is there. I certainly had that experience this summer when looking for patio and interior furniture. I am excited to see how my next visit to Philly Aids Thrift goes!
Til then I will be visiting my old haunts, and searching for “new” places to check out. If you readers have any recommendations I am all ears! Let me know places you love, hate, or haven’t been to but have heard off and want a review. Till the next time!
