Merry Christmas to all....

And to All a Good Break!!

By Micah Jacobsen

This is one of my favorite times of the years. It is time for family and friends, reflecting on the past year and pondering the message the season brings. Something I always admired about this time of the year is the increase in selflessness and giving, even though budgets are more strained than any other time of the year.
Something fun that I remember from history class with Professor Davey was designing and building a set of blocks. We were to create a known structure with no more than $10.00 worth of wood. There were many creative pieces of architecture made by our class, some were; Hagia Sofia, the Parthenon, Great Pyramid, Notre Dame, Stone Hinge and many more. I built the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. It was a fun project to work on. We were able to present the blocks to the Salvation Army and Marines Corps to distribute to children for Christmas presents. I was reminded of this when I saw Prof. Davey on the news giving the blocks away this year. What a great feeling to know that something I created would be used to bring joy to a child on Christmas!
Another great thing about Christmas is being out of school! What a nice break after a hectic semester. This year has been very hectic for everyone in the grad program. We have been working very hard to get all of the projects and research done associated with our classes and studio project. The studio was conducted differently than many of us were used to (I have just a year of studio experience since I came from a Civil Engineering program, so I don’t really know what to expect yet in studio). We finally finished our project on Thursday and presented on Friday. Our work is in the gallery for anyone to see. There were many very nice and interesting projects completed by the class.
My wife and I will return home to Columbia Missouri to visit our family. I hope everybody has a great holiday break.
What happens when you let an Engineer design Christmas?

Asbestos Free Flocking for the Christmas tree
Christmas lights not to exceed one candle power
Christmas tree 'Dripline' and Limits of Present Placement
Compliancy Standards for trees over 6'-0"
Duct Tape needs a professional elf's approval
Flame Retardant sprayed on the Christmas tree with scented pine aerosol
Limits of Santa's landing strip on the chimney
Load Bearing Christmas tree stand
Presents wrapped in semi-gloss festive paper with adhesive clear strips
Roof Live Loads - capable of supporting reindeer, loaded sleigh & an overweight man
Roof Top holiday compliancy plans
Runaway sleigh containment barrier - made from high strength bungee material
Seismic Studies to ensure tree is placed in a geologically secure area
Tree angel attached with H7 braces
Wheelchair access to the fireplace
Check out the Architects Christmas tree and Engineers Christmas Spec Sheet
found at http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_dec2005/HolidaySpecSheet.htm and
http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/1844/the-architects-christmas-tree.html