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…

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…

Pavilion Mirage

Another project has come to a close. The review went very well with lots of positive feedback and potential ideas to carry forward from this project into the next project. Before I get too far though allow me to introduce the project, it’s parameters, and then the process followed to arrive at this final pavilion. The pavilion project is a team project carried out…

Portfolio Reviews

  Though I did not participate in this event as it was targeted to graduating students, I found this really reassuring. The school is there to the very end to ensure your success. So long as you are putting forth the effort the school will be there to aid you in any way possible. Portfolio reviews are just one of the many ways in…

Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibit

MOMA Exhibit: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1660?locale=en It’s not everyday that I get to go to visit the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. This Saturday was a wonderful excursion to just that place at the suggestion of the history/theory professor Joan Ockman. The exhibit was an impressive array of original drawings, models, and products all produced during Frank Lloyd Wrights lifetime by him. The exhibit was divided…

Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Central: https://weather.com/storms/hurricane-central National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/ This past weekend has been a tad stressful for many reasons, two being a final project in studio and, more importantly, Hurricane Irma. A large majority of my family and friends reside in Florida so this storm would have had it’s impact on me no matter where it landed on the peninsula. Thankfully with the use of…

First Review: Container Project

One down, two to go! This past Monday M.Arch 501 had our first pin up. We were very happy to be joined by two people from the Penn Museum who had worked with us to produce photogrammetry scans of artifacts from which all our projects were derived. The review went smoothly and it was a delight to really enjoy everyone’s projects. Below are just…

A Landscape Tour: Chanticleer Garden

Chanticleer Gardens: http://www.chanticleergarden.org/ What better way to spend a saturday than visiting a local garden? None. This trip was organized by the Landscape Architecture Department and allowed 30 students the opportunity to engage in a private tour of the gardens led by two of the gardens staff and OLIN partner\Penn alumnus Dennis McGlade. Chanticleer is a pleasure garden. It’s sole purpose is to be…