Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Beginnings, but nowhere near the end.


By: Drew Baldwin

Being as this is my first blog, much like many of my other peers, I will share with you how exactly I got myself into this thing we call “Architecture.” I have always been a curious individual, I’ve always wanted to know how things work, what makes them work and how it all stays together. From a young age, I would always like to take things apart (generally my toys) and see what’s going on inside them, I just wanted to look at it, really try and get an understanding of its inner workings. I always found myself, in big cities especially, looking at all the skyscrapers and really wondering how they were able to stay up. I had a serious fascination as to how seemingly tiny structural members (although at the time, the nomenclature would’ve been more along the lines of “that pipe thing” or something like that) could hold up such an immense object, a very cool object at that. As I would look upon these buildings, I would notice that they aren’t just buildings, they’re works of art, big metal and glass works of art.
As a kid I always found myself wanting to draw, whether it was my favorite cartoon characters, my dogs or some random spot in my house; I always found that I was actually quite good at it. As I grew older, I began taking art classes, which really allowed me the opportunity to improve my skills all while making clay sculptures, painting, sketching, etc. From 6th grade through junior year of high school I was in at least one art class a year.  In the summer after my junior year, I took a trip across the pond to Italy in France, where I went to locations such as: Florence, Venice, Nice, Cannes and Paris. All sites which house spectacular pieces of architecture from various points throughout history. Being able to walk through the streets of these cities made me realize how timeless architecture can truly be. The trip as a whole made me realize how much I really enjoy architecture while still leaving me curious as to how these structures worked to stay intact as well as how the designers formulated their ideas into a cohesive design.
After the trip, I decided to enroll in an architecture class that was newly being offered at my school for my senior year. In the class we were tasked with designing a residence for a family using some light programming in the process, nothing like an actual program. However, the class offered me a glimpse into the design process as well as being able to have a pretty free reign over my design, which in the early stages of education, I believe is a good idea. I was also required to shadow an architect for the class, which I did and there was where I really was able to start to see all the work that goes into getting a project done, from the initial/final design, compiling document sets, interior design, etc.
After the class, I was certain that architecture would be something I would want to study in college; however, some may not know that SIU was not actually my first choice. I was planning on going to Kentucky, but there was a lapse in communication/paperwork which kept me from enrolling in the architecture program, so I made the decision to come to good ol’ Carbondale for my undergraduate degree and I haven’t looked back since. I have learned more here than I thought I would’ve ever learned coming into the program. So here I am now, about ready to close out my educational career as a graduate student (scary, I know) working towards my masters of architecture and eventually moving on into the cold, rough and tumble place they call the job market and/or real life (or so thing like that).

Joke of the week:
What time does Sean Connery get to Wimbledon?

Tennish. 

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