Zoom Study Rooms
Posted on March 30, 2021
In design there is always studio. In studio, a single room in which each student is given personal desk space to work, classes are taught and homework is done. This space drifts between communal and private. Studio has a lot of the attributes people who love study groups look for.
For one in studio you can just stay at your desk and complete all the work you have for the day. If you need to leave your computer running, you can. If you need to leave modeling materials out or something to glue, you can. Everyone understands that your desk is personal and “private”. Private in so much as if it’s in a drawer or a locked box no one will touch it, it may be borrowed if out in the open. Now while you can work totally “alone”, the person next you, and across from you, and diagonal to you are also working “alone”.
So when you are finally stumped on a problem or just need a break and want to chat there’s a room full of people working “alone” at their desks. This proximity of people working creatively on their own problems generates exciting ideas and conversations. As a result Zoom, in combatting Covid’s work at home alone trend, becomes both our enemy and friend.
Somehow joining yet another Zoom class just drags me down a bit. There is no joy in watching your computer crash as you try to share a model or have your audio fail halfway through a 6 hour class. Yet there’s something freeing about the idea of joining a Zoom Study Room.
People from all around the world are coming together on Zoom solely to have someone else study “beside” them. My sister uses it to keep her focused on studying and completing her work. Per her story these rooms are forcibly muted and the chat is disabled. Communication is essentially prohibited in the Zoom Study Room. Those keen to make new friends in the room might include an Instagram handle or Twitter name in their Zoom name to encourage others to find them and start a chat. But for those who just want to keep on task this offers a large room of students hard at studying to motivate you.
Now the silent studying may fail occasionally. As she noted, one day the audio and chat functions were accidentally enabled and the entire room exploded in chaos. Everyone was exclaiming, saying hello, asking what others were studying. Though the initial exclamations were in many languages the entire room quickly switched to English.
I’ve been recommended to try out Study Stream (https://www.studystream.live/). I can only hope that when I try out these Zoom Study Rooms I can experience the accidental enabling of audio and chat. It’s sure to be remiscent of studio in a way a silent room of textbooks can’t ever be.
Have any of you tried Zoom Study Rooms? How else are you maintaining some normalcy to your studies during Covid?
A sketch for Tomorrow
Posted on March 21, 2021
The whole field of design is built on imaging the many futures awaiting us. JKRP, a Philadelphia firm, is currently hosting a student sketching competition looking at the future of Philadelphia. Interested, see the flyer below for competition brief:
There are soo many views in Philadelphia that perfectly showcase the past, present, and most current future in progress. Right in the foreground of those views is the open space that begs the question of future.
What if the new tower in rittenhouse square boasted enhanced community spaces for post covid gathering? Or if the many parking lots still in downtown becomes turnaround areas for autonomous vehicles with second and third floor greenspaces and community centers in the building? Or if new city guidelines seriously consider the shutdown of a network of streets creating completely pedestrian friendly paths that cover the whole city? Like a serious expansion of the idea of play streets and the new outdoor dining set ups that we all love so much. Or if a new parks initiative connects rooftop greenspaces with pedestrian bridges creating a new level of community space in an ever growing city?
I’m not sure what to enter for this competition. Even if I don’t enter a sketch I will certainly enjoy the prompt for consideration during my breaks from class to stroll the city.
What do you think the future holds?
A Redesign for the future
Posted on March 12, 2021
Welcome reader! If you’ve visited in the last few days or even in the last few years you’ve seen a number of changes. As I near graduation and step into the next part of my journey towards becoming a licensed professional designer I decided the take the blog along with me.
For those new and old, I have changed up the categories to reflect the upcoming shift. All my old posts, all 179 of them!!!, still exist and can be found under Education > University of Pennsylvania > (the original category). I have gone ahead and started to additionally tag posts that reflect some of the new categories and interests I want to further express.
I have also added social media not previously linked to the blog. Instagram will still be a space to share my teatimes and breaks from school or work. Twitter will host quotes from each new post to summarize or express the post as clearly and succinctly as possible. The upgraded website can now host video!! I have created a youtube channel to help host the videos and post more video heavy content where the blog may be support rather than central. My Linkedin is up to date and the best place to see my most recent resume and portfolio.
Speaking of which, I have finally added my portfolio! Currently I am showing my chronological portfolio with work from my first semester at University of Florida in 2013 to my most recent work at University of Pennsylvania in 2021. I have sprinkled in work from my externship/internship as well.
While I am by no means done working on the website most of the changes to come will be in the back end. I am excited to have updated and refreshed the blog! I can’t wait to continue to share my journey with all of you!
A note on design:
Photographer is the wordpress template I am currently using. Originally I used Snaps.
Subtle Freckles by Atle Mo is my current background. You can find lots of amazing free website backgrounds at https://www.toptal.com/designers/subtlepatterns/
Template: Photographer | Backgrond: CC BY-SA 3.0 – Subtle Patterns © Toptal Designers. (Subtle Freckles)
If you have comments, suggestions, or just want to reach out please do!
The Hunt Begins!
Posted on February 22, 2021
Career Fair came and went this past Friday in a flash. Before I knew it I had a chronological portfolio in the works, a presentation worthy portfolio for screen sharing, and a long list of updates across platforms. This job hunt is I’m sure going to be as interesting as last years.
Most things are still online including Career Fair. The school decided to use the Handshake platform this year. A few weeks in advance firms began to post online chat slots and students started booking them up. Resumes were submitted two weeks ahead of the fair. Portfolio was arranged quickly after. Daily firm research, practicing my elevator pitch, and prepping questions for the firms were just a few exercises I used to prepare for career fair.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the technical difficulties of the Career Fair. Handshake had an integrated video conference calling platform. In large group sessions many had disabled the video/audio features limiting an individuals engagement to chat only. Individual sessions would only allow you to join once. So with my iPad I could share video and audio but screen sharing is a little hit or miss. Joining my desktop meant I would be able to share screen and show off my portfolio and resume but not talk to the firm. I fully anticipated we would be using zoom links, as we had been for our classes, which would have avoided these issues.
Only one firm I talked to had arranged the handshake link to open a proper zoom link. So this firm was the only one to achieve the full career fair experience. I hope that this issue is solved for next years career fair. The online platform is nice and opens the event up to more people. Regardless of the technical errors, the conversations were informative and engaging. I feel like I learned more than in years prior where portfolio dominates the conversation as opposed to the firm culture and work style.
Career Fair checked off the list, and all the basics prepared, it’s officially time for the Job Hunt to begin! I have my eye on a few firms that can offer me the opportunity to become licensed as both a landscape architect and architect while exploring a range of designs. So to family, friends, interested parties I am all ears for interesting, integrated design opportunities. Best of luck to those also on the Job Hunt!
Superbowl Studio!!
Posted on February 7, 2021
My first year at Penn the Philadelphia Eagles won their first superbowl. I was in studio, streaming the game, and munching on snacks. You could hear the celebration echo throughout the city as soon as they won. It was one of the most incredible memories I have of footbal and school.
The years to follow I’d join friends to watch the game, critique the commercials, and, as always, munch on game day snacks. But this year the pandemic is full swing. So game day watch parties aren’t really in.
That isn’t going to stop the fun though. This year I made salsa, tried making my mom’s superbowl pink dip, and set up my workstation to maximize my solo watch party.
While most of my friends won’t have any fun with this my family and single studio football friend will be rooting for Tampa Bay! Enjoy your snacks! Be nice to the delivery guys who are definitely swamped trying to fill the orders of wings, pizza, egg rolls, and what not that make the game delicious! And let’s see what this years commercials bring out in us!
I am a huge fan of the poetry commercial that kicked off the game. That was beautiful!
The oatmilk commercial got me. I need that jingle now… :,D
The Toyota Olympics commercial supporting the US Team and an adapted Jessica Long story was adorable!!! Also what a twist… Toyota’s Japanese but the superbowl is too American to do a commercial with a Japanese team support… And this year the olympics are in Japan. What an odd play. But the message was so pure and adorable!!! <3 I love it!
Halftime!!!!! I love the set! It was sick!!! That was a beautiful arrangment with great camera angles! The view from the top into the whole staduim was super unique and breathtaking. The mini city choir and backdrop just fancy. The on field dance was probably cooler on camera then in person. The way the lights on the dancers hands played with the camera just made the whole thing more energetic and gorgeous.
The show was incredible and interesting in it’s use of masking and stage location. I am curious if the face covers and stage set location was a requirement placed by the NFL or determined by The Weekend. By placing the majority of the show at the upper end of the stadium does it keep the performers airflow away from the athletes and limited audience? or would the air sink down into the stadium? Or would it blow over and out of the stadium? Would it even matter? Is there concern for on field performance with air sticking on the field and risking athletes post season? Even if all the performers are tested and negative there’s always a risk of false negatives or delayed symptoms showing.
Overall a beautiful show, that felt covid sensitive, and certainly will be interesting how next year’s halftime show follows up on it.
I enjoyed the number of commercials with a community focus. It was a very supportive commercial set. Not too many funny ones but maybe next year.
Tampa Bay win!! A little something for Florida to celebrate and forget about all the chaos for a bit.
What’s a Snow Day?
Posted on February 3, 2021
Que sparkly winter music and the thrill of no school …. Gone. Never again will there be an equivalent. Where the weather once played a role in our lives the internet has allowed us to remove ourselves one step more from the physical world.
Meanwhile I yearn for a true snow day. While the past three days aren’t anywhere near the snow storms of my first year in Philadelphia it was strong enough to warrant canceling in person operations at the university. This impacted almost nothing. Covid tests were rescheduled for the next week and everyone continued to their next zoom meeting bitter about the click bait emails prompting dreams of snow days gone by.
No mini break but I did enjoy some hot chocolate while photographing the magic. Here’s some poor photography of the snowstorm:
As beautiful as the snow is I do hope everyone took the storm seriously. For those who are new to winter storms, like I was 4 years ago, it’s a lot like hurricane prep. You stock up on food and water. Make sure you have batteries and everything fully charged in case the power goes. Maybe the only difference is that you want to be sure to have things that will keep you warm: sweaters, good socks, blankets, heaters of any kind. The Red Cross and CDC have some nice guides on preparing for a winter storm. Once you’re prepped just sit comfy at home and watch the magic!
Should February prove to be snowy perhaps I will finally get to go sledding with friends! I’ll be sure to update you all on any fun snow shenanigans I get up to! Til then, stay warm!
Upenn Resources for Snow Emergencies:
Contact Information:
Emergencies: 215/573-3333 or 511 (from any campus phone)
Special Services: 215/898-6600
HELP Line: 215/898-HELP (4357)
Escort Services
Walking: 215/898-WALK (9255)
Penn Transit Ride Service: 215/898-RIDE (7433)
General Information: 215/898-7297
Pure Poetry
Posted on January 28, 2021
Call 1-855-763-6792 toll free to see what I mean. Seriously sweet, right!?! Wanna skip the intro, press 1 to get to the goods.
Philadelphia has rolled out a Poetry Hotline called Healing Verse. A new poem is released every Monday and is scheduled for the entire year of 2021. The poetry space is hosted by Philadelphia poet laureate Trapeta B. Mayson and is a place for any Philadelphia poet to speak out their work to the public.
Poems falling within the theme of affirming poems can be submitted to the poet laureate comittee. Selected poems will be read on the hotline. There is no word on what will happen with poems that don’t make the cut for the hotline. Perhaps a poetry board can be installed online in a platform like miro, tiktok, facebook, or instagram? Regardless it’s an excellent resource and platform for aspiring poets.
For information on the poet laureate’s and how to contact them go to the Philadelphia Free Library’s website: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/programs/poet-laureate/
Thank you Grandma! I love this little tip and will enjoy my weekly poem, a memory of Philly for possibly my last year here.
Resolutions
Posted on January 21, 2021
New Years typically is celebrated with joy and false promises to do an insane list of new things. Well I have made New Years resolutions that have been half kept. I’ve certainly started and maintained the resolution but not always achieved the full goal. After listening to a podcast my sister sent me however I decided to try a version of it.
For the curious, the podcast/episode is NPR Life Kit’s December 29th 2020 episode “Trying to Form a Habit? Start Small” . The main takeaway that influenced me was the idea that when we are asked to make lists of positives and negatives often the two lists are extremely different in lenght. We are all too good at criticizing ourselves. If we celebrated each task or accomplishment with the same vigor as we criticize ourselves perhaps more habits would stick, more resolutions would be realized.
The test then is to see if I can switch from my lists and constant scrutiny to one of personal cheerleader. In doing so I hope to achieve the following resolutions:
- Become a better runner. I have started running. I have progressed greatly from when I started but can’t say I am all that great at it. However instead of berating myself for each failed run instead I plan to celebrate each attempt. Even when I don’t hit the miles I wanted or the time I can celebrate that I made the decision to run. That I did the support workout to build my base. That I can run so, so much more than when I first started. And maybe then I’ll really improve to the ultimate goal of half marathon!
- Read more, read again, read, read, read. Somewhere in purusing my architecture education I lost my habit of reading. When I do it tends to be for class, work, or for the profession. It seems that all other kinds of writing have been cut out of my life. So while I don’t have the time to devour whole books in one sitting like I did as a kid, I can certainly make the time to read a little bit each day. Starting with the books I was gifted for Christmas and moving on from there. I’ll finally finish all those half started books from last year.
- Write more. Much like I used to love reading, I also used to write constantly. I have no goal in mind. No word count. No storyline. I simply want to write more of anything: Short stories, informative articles, better blog posts, poems, speeches, etc. Perhaps the foundation of this years writing exercise can be next years great literature endeavour.
- Sketch better by sketching more. Sketching has always been a way of analyzing and studying places or ideas that interest me. However this is typically in plan, section, maybe a small perspective detail. I’d like to improve my general drawing skills to better depict everyday scenes. To be able to draw things other than buildings and a small range of plants. Generally the more confident I am in sketching the clearer my drawings and spur of the moment presentations will be. I can’t wait to fill up my pocket sketchbook with drawings!
This is by no means all I hope to achieve. However these seem like the simplest to change and the most obvious to impact a greater range of my life and opportunities. Excited to see how this goes!!
What a Wednesday!
Posted on January 21, 2021
January 20th, 2021 was certainly an interesting day. The Presidential Inaguration, the start of the school semester at Penn, and the most interesting weather. Adding to that the start of federal work study jobs and the last few days of production for the ULI Hines competition and you have a day like no other.
Sadly it was an amazingly busy day seen from a single chair in my apartment. With every window to the world tuned into a different thing. One set on my desk following the Material Formations coding tutorials. Another logged into zoom for the coding lecture. Another showing the peaceful transition of presidency. Another trained on the weather outside, one minute a snowglobe and the next a warm spring day.
One thing is certain despite all the changes in time, in politics, in weather, the prescence of these windows to the world is only going to increase in each day. Will the computer(s) ever be turned off? I doubt it. If anything the past year of Zoomiverse has taught me how to better compartmentalize my apartment and my technology.
This semester I am starting fresh with my setup. I’ve found by assinging stations I am more productive and I can at least change up my day a litttle. I currently have a desk set up with two monitors for schoolwork. Headphones plugged in, ready to do side by side video tutorials, share screens and note taking, etc. Just below, and charged to be fully mobile, I have my ipad purely for attending zoom or streaming music when not in zoom. In another area I have set up my laptop to function solely as a “work” computer. Here I can blog, email, prepare for the upcoming job hunt, and complete non school related tasks. The tv is angled to be visible from both stations and can function as a secondary display as needed. My phone acts as a coordination device, mainly for messaging and calling others. The one non tech piece I still rely on is my calendar.
This time I went with a calendar that has both monthly/weekly pages. I find it gives me more room to get the big picture deadlines down and then specify smaller tasks to keep me in check. In addition this will help mark down my progress in non work/academic activities. Activities, goals, little dreams, all those fabulous New Years resolutions which crumble by the middle of February which I, like many people, have told myself this year WILL happen.
I am happy with my current physical set up, digitally evertyhing is further compartmentalized. Each task has it’s own window with only tabs related to it open within. Links are saved in notes for quick login to meetings. Notification settings have been updated to ensure that I recieve every update. I feel prepared for my last semester.
Interestingly one of my classes asked how to make our digital experience more seamless and productive. Naturally the answer hinged on communication tools and regular scheduling. But I am curious, how is everyone else’s digital experience? What are the platforms you are using? What has made your overall experience better? Are you ready for this next few months, whether it’s school or work?
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!
