School starts tomorrow

So, School is already starting tomorrow, like the title says, and I figure I better post a few of the projects i did last semester because we set up the blog after I got out of school.


This was my first day of school last year

This project was a "bale" where i was studying intersecting lines and change of direction. I used 8.5 X 11 inch sheets of recycled paper from the computer lab. The next project was a "box" and had to be made out of wood and had to relate to the "bale" so this is what i came up with


Each of the pieces of wood were shaped so that when put together they would relate to the dimension of a piece of paper. for instance the inside circumference is 8.5" and the outside circumference is 11" the height of each individual piece is 11" and the height of where both pieces are touching is 8.5" and so on.

One of my visual training classes we studied spheres all semester long. I used my time as a materials study as well so i made spheres out of plaster, yarn, concrete and different mixtures of light weight concrete. I used balloons as guides for a little bit but then I used a bowling ball as an object that I made casts from. anyway here are a few of the many spheres i made.





In one of my studio classes we studied wood structures and some of the common and not so common practices of building wood buildings. one of the structures I studied was the forestry station modular structures located in Switzerland. this is what part of the building looks like.

Our class later in the semester went to Switzerland and Jackie and I went during spring break before the class arrived. We drove up to the forestry station to see if I built it right and I think I did a good job.

Later in the semester we had a final show in Crown Hall and here is one of my projects along with a few of the other structures that were studied by my classmates.


Also in that semester we made some dynamic structural models of some existing buildings that used natural shapes that help the structural stability of the building. the model Tom (a classmate) and I made was a representation on the dules airport in D.C. at least i think its in D.C. either way here is a picture.

Our model is made of wood, plastic and wire to show the different forces and movement that the building has. the actual dules airport is made of concrete that is post tensioned into this parabolic shape which is able to span a much greater distance than just a flat roof.
The last project of the semester was a full scale structural design. My team decided to design a bridge that used some of the structural ideas that came from studying the dules airport. the idea was to span a long distance with a very thin structure. here are some pictures.

It ended up being a success as you can see. Tom and I are standing on what looks like a 4" deck spanning a good distance. the distance between the wall and the lockers is 40 feet. the way that the bridge works is that there are three support posts that are not touching the ground, they are actually held in place by some tension cables that are putting all the force back into the deck in a horizontal direction. it is a little hard for me to explain without being there and pointing and touching but in essence the posts are being held up because of the compression in the deck and the deck is able to span because of the posts breaking up the span distance. I am probably making no sense but anyone reading this just needs to know that it was a successful first year and I am looking forward to a next year starting tomorrow.

Last Nights Storm

Im glad I found that time lapse option on my camera because I knew that last mid to late summer we had a lot of great lightning storms and I wanted to record one coming in. I was watching the news and there was a tornado watch in effect in some of the counties to the west of us. I set up the camera and we got a storm that was a lot bigger than we were bargaining for. Take a look at the video.




At the beginning we could see a lot of lightning to the north west of us, as we kept watching we turned on the news again because it was starting to look scary. the tornado advisory was heading straight for us then the cable lost signal and we heard the tornado warning alarms going off outside! we grabbed our 72 hour kits from the front closet and were ready to book it down the stairs. Our power was still on so we decided to stay where we were until either the power went off or our windows blew out. luckily none of those things happened so we just stayed in our apartment. If you look closely at the video right before the brunt of the storm hits you can see the red crane violently swing around in the direction of the wind then later it shifts in another direction. The news said that the storm moved across the city at 40 MPH with gusts of wind that were in multiple directions which they thought might turn into a tornado. I thought the gusts were going to blow our windows out! It was a little scary but we are alive.

Joel doing nothing

So, I don't have a job. I have been looking all summer for an internship with any sort of architectural firm. Before the summer even started I gave my resume to a few firms at a job fair, then when the summer started I looked up a few places that looked like cool places to work, after no luck at any of those firms I just started giving my resume to just about any place that looked like it might resemble architecture, including a firm that draws new designs for bus seats. I had a couple of interviews and a few phone calls but nothing has worked out. I have less than a month before school starts and in that time we are going to move and I have to get a few things ready for school. Lately I have been packing books into boxes, playing rock band on line with Brett and I have been monitoring the progress on some new building they are constructing outside my view. I found this cool time lapse feature on my camera so I recorded a little bit of the day in the life of a construction worker. It is amusing to me when the food truck pulls up and there are herds of workers that line up behind the truck and then vanish for lunch.