By Jessica Grafton
For my first post I’m going to tell you about my transition from the SIUC undergrad Interior Design program, into the Master’s of Architecture program. Initially I had no intention of majoring in Architecture, but as an undergrad in Interior Design at SIUC, we are exposed to the first 2 years with architecture students. I think this is great, because it gives you a firm background in CAD, conceptual thought processes, architectural history, and a small portion of building technology. This preparation was very beneficial in the junior and senior years of the Interior Design program.
After Graduation, I was working under an Interior Designer in an internship, and had every intention of going on to work in a firm, sending out resumes wherever I could. Then of course a few months turned into a few more, and with all of my prospects falling by the wayside due to the economy, I decided to apply to the SIUC Master’s of Architecture program. SIU makes this transition very simple for their interior design graduates since we’ve already completed the freshman and sophomore years of Architecture.
With this background I’ll be able to complete the Master’s of Architecture degree in 27 months, using the first two semesters to get caught up on the structures and building tech courses, picking up where I left off my junior year of undergrad. Then I’ll be able to join in with the other 15 month track graduate students, who have their undergrad degrees in Architecture.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Death to Facebook
By Vince Burdi
Have you ever found yourself pulling all-nighters the during finals week? If so, you are not alone. Time management is not something that comes easy to most college students. In fact, there are too many distractions that get college students off track ranging from social networks to reality television. In order to avoid these all-nighters, we have to make responsible decisions early on during a project. Seems simple enough, but it was even something I struggled with this past summer.
Dr. Walter Wendler wanted his students to consider the lack of time during the summer semester. Dr. Wendler explained, "Make a decision in order to have something to work on early. There are no bad decisions at the beginning of a project only at the end." Dr. Wendler wanted his students to stand by their choices throughout the course. By defending our work we became more responsible for our choices, which in my opinion made our projects stronger. What I have learned this summer is that design is never going to be perfect. As many times as you think you can change your work to become “perfect", it just will not. Progression is truly the only objective we should concern ourselves with. Below, I have outlined 6 easy steps to avoid the dreadful all-nighters.
Step 1, use the syllabus, it is a great tool that most students tend to forget. The instructor has obviously taken the time to write what he/she expects from you. So, take the time to read it and yes, try to actually stick to it.
Step 2, mark your calendars. Some of us are new to the campus life, but those of you who have been here before know the temptations around us. By setting up your schedule ahead of time, you can plan around parties, bars, vacations, etc.
Step 3, instead of waiting to the last minute, set times up during the day to work and study. Find a good study area and make it a ritual by going every day. Before you know it, you will begin to miss the place. Hint: the printing does take time, so do not wait to the final day to print. Get in the habit of printing before your deadlines.
Step 4, turn off the technologies. I know it seems impossible, but try to spend less time on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Xbox, television, phone, you name it. The only reality about reality TV is that those people are making money while you watch them for hours. So, do yourself a favor and study, you might have something to contribute in class.
Step 5, make decisions early about your design during a project. Figure 1-a represents two types of time management. The red line represents someone who waits towards the end of the project to make decisions about their design. This will ultimately leave someone with little or no time to work out the details of the project. Forcing a person to spend late nights cramming their work the last week before it is due. The blue line represents someone who begins to make decisions early on. The persons level of work does not drastically change, and there is a consistency to the time and energy spent on their work. Making decisions early not only allows a person to correct their own mistakes but does make for stronger design.
Step 6, follow through on your work. Many people can come up with the ideas, but when it comes down to getting on paper, they fall short. Remember not to wait to last minute, but just in case you should have some sort of computer malfunction. Trust me when I say this, it does happen. A log of your notes is a last resort. Keeping clean notes always helps your professor/boss track your work and he/she may be a bit more understanding when you fall behind. There you have it steps to avoid the dreadful all-nighter.
There are plenty of ways to fall behind, but if you stick to these steps you should find yourself on a smooth track that does not include late nights, coffee, and red bulls. Hope this helps and good luck on the rest of the semester!
Figure 1-a - Design Energy
*Note: the same amount of energy is spent between sections A and B. Instead of waiting to the final week (red), you can start making decisions early on (blue) during the course of a project.
Have you ever found yourself pulling all-nighters the during finals week? If so, you are not alone. Time management is not something that comes easy to most college students. In fact, there are too many distractions that get college students off track ranging from social networks to reality television. In order to avoid these all-nighters, we have to make responsible decisions early on during a project. Seems simple enough, but it was even something I struggled with this past summer.
Dr. Walter Wendler wanted his students to consider the lack of time during the summer semester. Dr. Wendler explained, "Make a decision in order to have something to work on early. There are no bad decisions at the beginning of a project only at the end." Dr. Wendler wanted his students to stand by their choices throughout the course. By defending our work we became more responsible for our choices, which in my opinion made our projects stronger. What I have learned this summer is that design is never going to be perfect. As many times as you think you can change your work to become “perfect", it just will not. Progression is truly the only objective we should concern ourselves with. Below, I have outlined 6 easy steps to avoid the dreadful all-nighters.
Step 1, use the syllabus, it is a great tool that most students tend to forget. The instructor has obviously taken the time to write what he/she expects from you. So, take the time to read it and yes, try to actually stick to it.
Step 2, mark your calendars. Some of us are new to the campus life, but those of you who have been here before know the temptations around us. By setting up your schedule ahead of time, you can plan around parties, bars, vacations, etc.
Step 3, instead of waiting to the last minute, set times up during the day to work and study. Find a good study area and make it a ritual by going every day. Before you know it, you will begin to miss the place. Hint: the printing does take time, so do not wait to the final day to print. Get in the habit of printing before your deadlines.
Step 4, turn off the technologies. I know it seems impossible, but try to spend less time on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Xbox, television, phone, you name it. The only reality about reality TV is that those people are making money while you watch them for hours. So, do yourself a favor and study, you might have something to contribute in class.
Step 5, make decisions early about your design during a project. Figure 1-a represents two types of time management. The red line represents someone who waits towards the end of the project to make decisions about their design. This will ultimately leave someone with little or no time to work out the details of the project. Forcing a person to spend late nights cramming their work the last week before it is due. The blue line represents someone who begins to make decisions early on. The persons level of work does not drastically change, and there is a consistency to the time and energy spent on their work. Making decisions early not only allows a person to correct their own mistakes but does make for stronger design.
Step 6, follow through on your work. Many people can come up with the ideas, but when it comes down to getting on paper, they fall short. Remember not to wait to last minute, but just in case you should have some sort of computer malfunction. Trust me when I say this, it does happen. A log of your notes is a last resort. Keeping clean notes always helps your professor/boss track your work and he/she may be a bit more understanding when you fall behind. There you have it steps to avoid the dreadful all-nighter.
There are plenty of ways to fall behind, but if you stick to these steps you should find yourself on a smooth track that does not include late nights, coffee, and red bulls. Hope this helps and good luck on the rest of the semester!
Figure 1-a - Design Energy
*Note: the same amount of energy is spent between sections A and B. Instead of waiting to the final week (red), you can start making decisions early on (blue) during the course of a project.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Architecture and Civil (Structural) Engineering
By Micah Jacobson
Hello, my name is Micah Jacobson. I am the TA for Arch 361-Structures 1 this semester. I am a new student to SIUC. I am from Columbia, Missouri. I just finished my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri. I will be here at SIUC for two years working on a Master’s of Architecture. My wife is a special education teacher working with children with developmental disabilities ages 2-4. We have been married for two and a half years.
My focus in my undergraduate was Structural Engineering. I made a change in my major two years ago from Mechanical Engineering to Civil Engineering and 1 year before that from Electrical Engineering to Mechanical Engineering. I found a love for Architecture in a class from Dr. Benyamin Schwarz at the University of Missouri. This is also when I changed my major to Civil Engineering.
In Civil Engineering there are four main disciplines; Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural and Transportation. Environmental Engineering is concerned with regulation concerning pollution in air, water, and soil. This is a very chemistry heavy discipline. Geotechnical Engineering is the study of soil mechanics, structural characteristics and design of foundations, damns, levees, earth slopes, retaining walls and other soil based structural builds. Structural Engineering is the analysis and design of structures for buildings, roads, bridges, damns, water towers, antenna, boats, planes, spaceships and many more. Transportation Engineers analyze traffic, design roadways, intersections, slope and crowning of roads, and traffic signal timing and placement.
I have always loved to build things and figure out how things work, so Engineering and Architecture are both obvious choices for me. My career goal is to become licensed to practice both Architecture and Civil (Structural) Engineering. I hope my experience can be a help to everyone in this program. I look forward to my endeavor in this program and as the TA for Structures 1 and Structures 2 in the spring.
Hello, my name is Micah Jacobson. I am the TA for Arch 361-Structures 1 this semester. I am a new student to SIUC. I am from Columbia, Missouri. I just finished my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Missouri. I will be here at SIUC for two years working on a Master’s of Architecture. My wife is a special education teacher working with children with developmental disabilities ages 2-4. We have been married for two and a half years.
My focus in my undergraduate was Structural Engineering. I made a change in my major two years ago from Mechanical Engineering to Civil Engineering and 1 year before that from Electrical Engineering to Mechanical Engineering. I found a love for Architecture in a class from Dr. Benyamin Schwarz at the University of Missouri. This is also when I changed my major to Civil Engineering.
In Civil Engineering there are four main disciplines; Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural and Transportation. Environmental Engineering is concerned with regulation concerning pollution in air, water, and soil. This is a very chemistry heavy discipline. Geotechnical Engineering is the study of soil mechanics, structural characteristics and design of foundations, damns, levees, earth slopes, retaining walls and other soil based structural builds. Structural Engineering is the analysis and design of structures for buildings, roads, bridges, damns, water towers, antenna, boats, planes, spaceships and many more. Transportation Engineers analyze traffic, design roadways, intersections, slope and crowning of roads, and traffic signal timing and placement.
I have always loved to build things and figure out how things work, so Engineering and Architecture are both obvious choices for me. My career goal is to become licensed to practice both Architecture and Civil (Structural) Engineering. I hope my experience can be a help to everyone in this program. I look forward to my endeavor in this program and as the TA for Structures 1 and Structures 2 in the spring.
How I Got To SIUC
By Scott Fisher
I started my college career at Vincennes University, in Vincennes Indiana, by taking an Architecture CAD class; which was my first experience in an architecture class. My first day in a CAD class was definitely an experience for me. CAD seemed to do everything I didn’t want it to do. At this time I was also in other general classes and an architecture hand drafting class. I found out in the first week of college that I was very good at hand drafting but CAD was going to take some time for me. Later on in the semester I got use to CAD and was getting better and ending up being one of the best in my class. Continuing on to my freshmen spring semester, I continued to take general required classes and now was taking a CAD class that was to basically put everything I had done in the hand-drafting class onto the computer, in CAD. After a year of taking a lot of notes and getting the college experience, I registered for the upcoming fall semester taking the more advanced CAD courses and design courses.
The fall semester started and I was in my first design course with a new professor that I never had before. As I went through the design course I was handed projects to do that were not architecture related; they were mainly about combining shapes, lines, dots and other symbols in a way to create a unique object/design. After a few of these projects I was wondering what this had to do with architecture, but my CAD class was all about architecture drawings. So continuing through the rest of the semester working through individual, group, and community projects, I gained interest more in design class and became more knowledgeable of what was next after my two years at VU; the architecture program was only a two year program. After pages of notes, essays, hours of CAD, several models and tons of math problems, I started my last semester at VU. I was down to taking physics, advanced CAD, advanced design, site planning and a 3d digital modeling class. As I started my final semester I found out this was going to be a hard semester but I had to do good to finish my college career at VU, but I would also figure out where I wanted to transfer to get a bachelors degree. As far as the other classes I learned how to use Autodesk Viz and learned how to do site observations. I drew a hole set of CAD drawings, and finally I did design architectural projects, physics, and other general required classes.
Working closer to the middle of the semester I was told by my professors that I could not transfer to anywhere in the state of Indiana to continue my architecture to earn my bachelors…so what to do? After thinking about it and talking to my advisor, he said he was in connections with Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He said he was sure that my credits would transfer and that would be my best choice. Weeks went by and semester got busier and I found out that I knew some people down at SIUC and that some of my architecture friends at VU then were also going to SIUC. So I graduated at VU and the summer started and I decided to take a campus tour of SIUC. I got down to SIUC and took the tour and was able to meet with Dr. Wendler of the Architecture Department and was able to talk to him about the architecture program. Traveling back home that night I had a lot of information going through my head and did not know what to do. Going to SIUC would be a big change: living away from home, bigger university, being around more people I did not know, and what classes would I take? Days went by and I made up my mind that I wanted to earn my bachelors and my best choice was going to be SIUC so I applied and weeks later I heard back from campus that I got in.
Image: http://www.mdc.edu/main/collegeforum/archive/vol13-3/academics/architecture.asp
I started my college career at Vincennes University, in Vincennes Indiana, by taking an Architecture CAD class; which was my first experience in an architecture class. My first day in a CAD class was definitely an experience for me. CAD seemed to do everything I didn’t want it to do. At this time I was also in other general classes and an architecture hand drafting class. I found out in the first week of college that I was very good at hand drafting but CAD was going to take some time for me. Later on in the semester I got use to CAD and was getting better and ending up being one of the best in my class. Continuing on to my freshmen spring semester, I continued to take general required classes and now was taking a CAD class that was to basically put everything I had done in the hand-drafting class onto the computer, in CAD. After a year of taking a lot of notes and getting the college experience, I registered for the upcoming fall semester taking the more advanced CAD courses and design courses.
The fall semester started and I was in my first design course with a new professor that I never had before. As I went through the design course I was handed projects to do that were not architecture related; they were mainly about combining shapes, lines, dots and other symbols in a way to create a unique object/design. After a few of these projects I was wondering what this had to do with architecture, but my CAD class was all about architecture drawings. So continuing through the rest of the semester working through individual, group, and community projects, I gained interest more in design class and became more knowledgeable of what was next after my two years at VU; the architecture program was only a two year program. After pages of notes, essays, hours of CAD, several models and tons of math problems, I started my last semester at VU. I was down to taking physics, advanced CAD, advanced design, site planning and a 3d digital modeling class. As I started my final semester I found out this was going to be a hard semester but I had to do good to finish my college career at VU, but I would also figure out where I wanted to transfer to get a bachelors degree. As far as the other classes I learned how to use Autodesk Viz and learned how to do site observations. I drew a hole set of CAD drawings, and finally I did design architectural projects, physics, and other general required classes.
Working closer to the middle of the semester I was told by my professors that I could not transfer to anywhere in the state of Indiana to continue my architecture to earn my bachelors…so what to do? After thinking about it and talking to my advisor, he said he was in connections with Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He said he was sure that my credits would transfer and that would be my best choice. Weeks went by and semester got busier and I found out that I knew some people down at SIUC and that some of my architecture friends at VU then were also going to SIUC. So I graduated at VU and the summer started and I decided to take a campus tour of SIUC. I got down to SIUC and took the tour and was able to meet with Dr. Wendler of the Architecture Department and was able to talk to him about the architecture program. Traveling back home that night I had a lot of information going through my head and did not know what to do. Going to SIUC would be a big change: living away from home, bigger university, being around more people I did not know, and what classes would I take? Days went by and I made up my mind that I wanted to earn my bachelors and my best choice was going to be SIUC so I applied and weeks later I heard back from campus that I got in.
Image: http://www.mdc.edu/main/collegeforum/archive/vol13-3/academics/architecture.asp
Friday, September 10, 2010
Then and Now. My Journey into Architecture and Design.
By Tara D. Loughman
Looking back, I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. For me this was always a simple choice. I grew up in a family in the construction business and was constantly around all sorts of construction sites. Of course when I was younger I hated it and wanted nothing to do with it, but as time progressed I knew it was something I wanted to do.
One thing that was always constant in our house was me rearranging my room and any other room in the house I could get a hold of. I was always building things with my little cousins Lego sets. Of course I played with Barbie’s but only to build and decorate their houses; then I was done. After awhile, I needed more of a challenge and started to do things around the house with my dad and grandpa. The more I got older, the more I wanted to design and construct new things; now I just needed more of a challenge.
After taking a few interior design classes in high school, I started to look at colleges that offered an interior design degree. My advisor suggested to me, a small, private design school downtown St. Louis. After looking at Patricia Stevens College, I knew it was a perfect fit. I graduated in March of 2006 with my associate’s degree and then went on to Maryville University to finish my bachelor’s degree. A year later, Patricia Stevens College, called me, telling me they now offer a bachelor’s degree and asked for me to come back. I did and was the first to graduate, with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Interior Design, at Patricia Steven’s College, in March 2009.
Immediately following graduation, I was already on my way to starting my master’s degree. I started classes at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the fall of 2009. For the first year I took several classes to level out from interior design to architecture. This summer was the official start of graduate classes and my current position as the graduate assistant in the AID Library.
Looking back to my years growing up around my dad and my grandpa, I can really see the inspiration they gave me in my career today. It’s really nice to look back and see all that I have accomplished thus far in my life and career. I can’t wait to one day be licensed as an Interior Designer and Architect and work within the fields that my family had once proudly worked for.
Looking back, I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. For me this was always a simple choice. I grew up in a family in the construction business and was constantly around all sorts of construction sites. Of course when I was younger I hated it and wanted nothing to do with it, but as time progressed I knew it was something I wanted to do.
One thing that was always constant in our house was me rearranging my room and any other room in the house I could get a hold of. I was always building things with my little cousins Lego sets. Of course I played with Barbie’s but only to build and decorate their houses; then I was done. After awhile, I needed more of a challenge and started to do things around the house with my dad and grandpa. The more I got older, the more I wanted to design and construct new things; now I just needed more of a challenge.
After taking a few interior design classes in high school, I started to look at colleges that offered an interior design degree. My advisor suggested to me, a small, private design school downtown St. Louis. After looking at Patricia Stevens College, I knew it was a perfect fit. I graduated in March of 2006 with my associate’s degree and then went on to Maryville University to finish my bachelor’s degree. A year later, Patricia Stevens College, called me, telling me they now offer a bachelor’s degree and asked for me to come back. I did and was the first to graduate, with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Interior Design, at Patricia Steven’s College, in March 2009.
Immediately following graduation, I was already on my way to starting my master’s degree. I started classes at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the fall of 2009. For the first year I took several classes to level out from interior design to architecture. This summer was the official start of graduate classes and my current position as the graduate assistant in the AID Library.
Looking back to my years growing up around my dad and my grandpa, I can really see the inspiration they gave me in my career today. It’s really nice to look back and see all that I have accomplished thus far in my life and career. I can’t wait to one day be licensed as an Interior Designer and Architect and work within the fields that my family had once proudly worked for.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sustainable Living in Cades Cove
By Ben Temperley
This past summer break I took a trip to the Smoky Mountains, staying in a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. On the final day of my trip, my wife and I toured the pioneer settlement outside of Gatlinburg known as Cades Cove. A cove is a relatively flat area between mountain ridges. Cades Cove began as a small pioneer community in 1821 that reached 685 (132 families) in 1850 (Brewer, 1999, p. 23). Cades Cove is now part of a national park with over 70 historic buildings. I would like to highlight the sustainable features I encountered on my tour of the cove.
The first building I encountered was the John Oliver Place. This is the oldest log cabin in the cove, built in the 1820s. Local trees were felled with simple tools (without the use of fossil fuels) to provide material for the cabin. Open spaces between the logs were filled with mud (no VOCs) to seal out the elements. The stone chimney is filled with a mud mortar. The construction process involved little embodied energy. In addition the cabin has lasted nearly 200 years!
Elijah Oliver, son of John Oliver, bought a property in Cades Cove after the Civil War (Brewer, 1999, p. 11). Without a refrigerator or a freezer, Oliver used a spring house to keep milk and butter cool. The spring house was built over a stream on his property. The cool spring water kept perishables from spoiling. In order to store and preserve meat for an entire year, Oliver built a smokehouse. Corn was stored in a corn crib for grinding into meal to last until the next harvest. Without motorized farm equipment or vehicles, animals and farm tools needed to be kept in a barn. Hay was stored in barns. Cows provided milk. Elijah even piped water from the nearby stream to his kitchen sink (Brewer, 1999, p. 11).
The grist mill was my favorite building in the cove. It harnesses energy from a creek that flows through the cove. Water is funneled through a wooden flume that pours onto the large wheel, causing it to turn and providing energy to grind grain. Again, fossil fuels are not involved. Instead, gravity is used to power the mill. The grinding speed is adjustable based on how much water is allowed to pass through a gate on the water flume.
Cades Cove had a blacksmith shop. The blacksmith shaped iron into axes, adzes, knives, bolts, saws, etc. A sustainable quality of the blacksmith shop was that iron was not wasted. If a saw broke, it could be made into a butcher knife. Iron was readily recycled, as it is today.
A final sustainable feature may be represented by the village's communal spirit. They attended church together in the churches they built. Neighbors helped each other husk corn, make molasses, peel apples and quilt. They gathered chestnuts together on weekends.
The Cades Cove families lived a sustainable lifestyle before we realized the importance of sustainability. They used local resources. Those resources were renewable. They did not rely on burning fossil fuels. The materials they used did not off-gas harmful VOCs. They lived within their means. They did not waste their resources, and their lifestyle fostered a sense of community togetherness.
Works Cited
Brewer, C. (1999). Cades Cove Tour. Gatlinburg, TN: Great Smoky Mountains Association.
This past summer break I took a trip to the Smoky Mountains, staying in a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. On the final day of my trip, my wife and I toured the pioneer settlement outside of Gatlinburg known as Cades Cove. A cove is a relatively flat area between mountain ridges. Cades Cove began as a small pioneer community in 1821 that reached 685 (132 families) in 1850 (Brewer, 1999, p. 23). Cades Cove is now part of a national park with over 70 historic buildings. I would like to highlight the sustainable features I encountered on my tour of the cove.
The first building I encountered was the John Oliver Place. This is the oldest log cabin in the cove, built in the 1820s. Local trees were felled with simple tools (without the use of fossil fuels) to provide material for the cabin. Open spaces between the logs were filled with mud (no VOCs) to seal out the elements. The stone chimney is filled with a mud mortar. The construction process involved little embodied energy. In addition the cabin has lasted nearly 200 years!
Elijah Oliver, son of John Oliver, bought a property in Cades Cove after the Civil War (Brewer, 1999, p. 11). Without a refrigerator or a freezer, Oliver used a spring house to keep milk and butter cool. The spring house was built over a stream on his property. The cool spring water kept perishables from spoiling. In order to store and preserve meat for an entire year, Oliver built a smokehouse. Corn was stored in a corn crib for grinding into meal to last until the next harvest. Without motorized farm equipment or vehicles, animals and farm tools needed to be kept in a barn. Hay was stored in barns. Cows provided milk. Elijah even piped water from the nearby stream to his kitchen sink (Brewer, 1999, p. 11).
The grist mill was my favorite building in the cove. It harnesses energy from a creek that flows through the cove. Water is funneled through a wooden flume that pours onto the large wheel, causing it to turn and providing energy to grind grain. Again, fossil fuels are not involved. Instead, gravity is used to power the mill. The grinding speed is adjustable based on how much water is allowed to pass through a gate on the water flume.
Cades Cove had a blacksmith shop. The blacksmith shaped iron into axes, adzes, knives, bolts, saws, etc. A sustainable quality of the blacksmith shop was that iron was not wasted. If a saw broke, it could be made into a butcher knife. Iron was readily recycled, as it is today.
A final sustainable feature may be represented by the village's communal spirit. They attended church together in the churches they built. Neighbors helped each other husk corn, make molasses, peel apples and quilt. They gathered chestnuts together on weekends.
The Cades Cove families lived a sustainable lifestyle before we realized the importance of sustainability. They used local resources. Those resources were renewable. They did not rely on burning fossil fuels. The materials they used did not off-gas harmful VOCs. They lived within their means. They did not waste their resources, and their lifestyle fostered a sense of community togetherness.
Works Cited
Brewer, C. (1999). Cades Cove Tour. Gatlinburg, TN: Great Smoky Mountains Association.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Little Person in a Big World
By Rhonda C. Daugherty
I embarked on a trip this Labor Day weekend to Chicago. As I arrived and looked over the edge of my window, the tracks appealed to be woven together like rope, in no particular order. I stretched my arms up and yawned; then, I began to pack my things in my carry on bag, as we grew closer to Union Station. The whistling trains in the distance, screeching breaks, dim lighting, and dusty tunnels were crowded with people as they hustled to their destinations. I started to wonder… “Wow, I’m pretty short.” Everyone had a target and they were moving hastily to get to them. Back and forth from the entrances and exits, pushing and shoving.
How did the architect investigate circulation for both Union and Ogilvie Station? How does the architect attempt to understand the complex patterns of both travel and behavior? Is everything random or a logical guess? The three different scales I partake in were Carbondale to Chicago, Union Station to Ogilvie Station and Ogilvie to Bellwood. There are four types of rail ways in Chicago: Metra, Amtrak, CTA, and the freight trains. The function and priority must have influenced the design.
The experience became to be surreal, I boarded the train at 3:15 A.M. Sunday night, and I got off the train at 9:05 A.M. Sunday morning. Groggy and tried, I got off the train carrying my luggage and walking aimlessly to the waiting area to meet my ride as people walked swiftly around me. I had arrived at the station only to depart five minutes later…
I embarked on a trip this Labor Day weekend to Chicago. As I arrived and looked over the edge of my window, the tracks appealed to be woven together like rope, in no particular order. I stretched my arms up and yawned; then, I began to pack my things in my carry on bag, as we grew closer to Union Station. The whistling trains in the distance, screeching breaks, dim lighting, and dusty tunnels were crowded with people as they hustled to their destinations. I started to wonder… “Wow, I’m pretty short.” Everyone had a target and they were moving hastily to get to them. Back and forth from the entrances and exits, pushing and shoving.
How did the architect investigate circulation for both Union and Ogilvie Station? How does the architect attempt to understand the complex patterns of both travel and behavior? Is everything random or a logical guess? The three different scales I partake in were Carbondale to Chicago, Union Station to Ogilvie Station and Ogilvie to Bellwood. There are four types of rail ways in Chicago: Metra, Amtrak, CTA, and the freight trains. The function and priority must have influenced the design.
The experience became to be surreal, I boarded the train at 3:15 A.M. Sunday night, and I got off the train at 9:05 A.M. Sunday morning. Groggy and tried, I got off the train carrying my luggage and walking aimlessly to the waiting area to meet my ride as people walked swiftly around me. I had arrived at the station only to depart five minutes later…
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