Sunday Structures 5th Edition

So what is it about good architecture by a guy named Frank?

A few weeks ago in Design class, we watched a documentary on Frank Gehry, and I was really impressed with his deisgn of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Not to be confused with the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, designed by the other Frank (Lloyd Wright).

The structure sits on 32,500 square meters of property and takes up 24,000 square meters. It sits on the River Nervion, and is at the same level of the river, which is 16 meters below city level.

The facade is built with 33,000 sheets of titanium, which are less than 1/2 millimeter thick, and are guaranteed to last for 100 years. Each sheet is a different shape and is formed to adapt to the placement of the building.

The curves are supposed to feel random to the viewer, with Gehry stating "the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light." Gehry's style is one of radically sculpted, organic contours, which is also present in his other works. The curves catch the reflection of the river, and the sky

I like his method of designing too. He starts with the model building, and then goes to the plans for it.

This is definitely going to be on my list of things to see in Europe. The building itself is a piece of modern art and architecture, which then houses other contemporary art exhibits. Right now, Frank Lloyd Wright is actually on display, but I won't make it there before the exhibit ends, unfortunately. Good thing I'm living in Illinois and can see his buildings first hand.

Here is the link to a virtual tour of the Museum. It's pretty sweet!

http://www.guggenheim-bilbao.es/visita_virtual/visita_virtual.php?idioma=en

Wednesday Workings 4th Edition

So yeah, I only have 3 weeks of the semester left. I've been busy with projects, so the blog has slowly slipped away. But here's what I've been doing this week for Design and Tools and Media.

I'm really excited about the design for my box. I've gotten a lot done, but it's due two weeks from tonight, and I have a lot more to do. I spent a few hours today working on giving the illusion of depth to the knotwork with the chisel. Here's the end result:

Then in Design class, we started our unit on Color. This is the only time Judson Architecture students spend on color, so we have been advised to get a good grasp on color. I'm sure I won't have to spend any time on color at U of I either. So we had to make a 12 step color wheel with corresponding tints (white) and tones (black) with acyrlic paint. I think I ended up with more paint on my hands than on the paper.

That's really it. Until next time!!

On a Night Like This, I Could Fall in Love

Yikes, it's been a while. I've been busy with a lot of things, and I'm pretty sure most of my readers know all about it.

Anyway, this blog is all about the weekend in Champaign. It was fantastic!!

The rehearsal dinner was great. It was good to see everyone again, and then Saturday was the big day! Everyone started getting ready super early, and then I met them at the church around 12. We got some great pictures of Tessa and the bridesmaids getting ready. Isn't she so pretty!!One of my favorites was after everyone was ready and we were just waiting for 3 o'clock to come around. Tessa and her nephew played ping-pong in the basement of the church. Great action shot!

One of my weirdest moments, which is worth mentioning. Right before the pictures started in the sanctuary, I walked into one of the pews and ripped a hole in my pantyhose, so I ran over to meijer, which was conveniently right next door to the church, and bought a new pair. And for the 5 minutes that I was in there, MMMBop started playing! Of all the songs in the world to play. I really wanted to laugh out loud, but no one was there to laugh with me.

So I started to get nervous about the reading, but I think I did alright. I even got a few compliments on the passage that I picked, so that was cool. I got a few pictures from the ceremony. Their vows and the ever popular, 'You may kiss your bride' picture.

After the ceremony, we had some time to kill, so we went to the Blind Pig. Always a good time. Thanks for the beer!

The reception was a lot of fun. Food was good, speeches were funny, dancing was great! Footloose and the Cha-Cha slide were my favorite...maybe because I requested them. I tried to catch the bouquet when Tessa threw it. And we had a deal, but somehow I didn't get it. Oh well. I slow danced with Katy a few times, and did the dollar dance with Justin. I'm so happy that I was able to come and be a part of their wedding. I miss them so much, but we will see each other more often very soon.

Don't you love our Maurice's dresses? We're so fashionable. We kept pointing out maurice's clothing at the wedding, it was pretty funny. Also, Ryan doesn't understand 'smile' so he just likes be weird and make a good photo op funny looking. But it was a nice tie, I especially loved the Kenneth Cole dress shoes, nice touch!

And on another note not related to the wedding, I let Zeke take pictures with my camera on Sunday, and this is what he came up with: