Stop: Gym Time!

Penn Recreation Homepage: http://www.upenn.edu/recreation/ Penn Group Exercise: http://www.upenn.edu/recreation/fitness-wellness/group-exercise/ Uh oh! The gym, a place avoided by many due to the pains often associated with growth. Sadly I was one of many avoiding the gym, not due to a dislike of exercise but rather due to the odd thought that all the work on my plate would never get done if I spent a minute…

Schenk-Woodman Competion Complete

“F. Schenk-Henry Gillette Woodman Scholarship in architecture awarded for travel abroad on the basis of a competition.” https://www.design.upenn.edu/graduate-admissions/penndesign-awards-and-prizes This year’s Schenk-Woodman Competition consisted of developing a book-drop for a portion of the underserved neighborhood of West Parkside. The competition is a week long with deliverables consisting of  two boards and a quarter scale model. The variety of proposals was quite interesting. Some were expected, benches,…

Restaurant Week- Center City District

https://www.centercityphila.org/explore-center-city/ccd-restaurant-week This is a neat offer similar to University City Dining Days where a group of restuarants located in a specific philadelphia district offer a deal for lunch and dinners. both lunch and dinner are three course meals based on a specialized menu aimed to highlight the restaurants best food. The price is permantely set with lunch being $25 and dinner being $35 per…

Spring Semester Begins!

The first day of class is always an exciting one! As people trickle back in to the studio stories are shared of restful breaks. Amongst all the stories being swapped the mystery of studio is brought up. This semester opens with a competition! Four classmates, preselected into teams by the professors, are tasked with a week long design challenge which impacts a region of…

What Happened in December?!?

With November came midterms and soon after midterms came an avalanche of pressing deadlines. As with every deadline, anyone outside the deadline has a million suggestions to allieviate the stress without considering any other part of life beyond the deadline. Below are a few suggestions: Work over Thanksgiving Break! Yikes, I know, not really anyones dream to be working over break. However, it really,…

A Note on Department Lecture Series

As it goes the department lecture series are mandatory for the first year and after that it falls to the student to decide whether to attend them. And as is often the case, students in their second plus year prioritize their own work over an hour or two listening to another review their respective work. This is understandable, particularly if the speaker is seen…

Field Report (Unofficial)

On Friday the Construction I class went on a field trip to a local mason(as in brick layer, tile workers, stone workers) training facilitiy. Here we were instructed on how to build a basic brick and concrete block cavity wall. We were then allowed to practice what we were taught on small practice walls. The efficiency of some groups and the craft of others…

Cooking Breaks!

I know school can get really busy and sometimes meals take a back seat in terms of preparation. However a nice home cooked meal every now and then makes a big difference. I notice that I feel happier, in part because of the accomplishment of cooking and in part because of the food I’m eating. This particular cooking break was choreographed by Abuela, who…

Halloween Happy Hour

Of the many Happy Hours hosted on Friday’s by PennDesign Student Government, this one was spooktacular. There were drinks, alcoholic and non, doughnuts, and pizza. A lively game of toss’n’score (commonly played at football games tailgates) going on right next to a large group of mingling students. Music in the background helped set the halloween feel as students chatted amongts the glow in the…

Rittenhouse Square Farmer’s Market

This past weekend I visited the Rittenhouse Square Farmers Market. A little more expensive than the Clark Park Farmer’s Market, this one features some unique stands. One such stand was a pickle stand. While you’d typically think of pickles being the sweet or sour cucumbers in brine solution, there were a variety of pickled foods. Some of the pickles included artichoke, sundried tomatoes, onions,…