15 for 2015

So, in case ya'll haven't noticed, it's the new year...and I don't feel any different. Thanks Death Cab for Cutie, you're great.

 

Anyway, I surely didn't experience some sudden epiphany where I decided to make this my best year ever or create a new me in the new year. I did, however, get that customary boost of motivation to start what will hopefully be another incredible year.

In observance of any goal-setter's favorite holiday, I opted out of a single, specific resolution and instead decided to make a list of fifteen "goals" for 2015 - revolutionary I know. Some of them are professionally-oriented, some are personal goals, and some are just for fun! Regardless, I'm looking forward to working toward each of these and can't wait to see what I'm able to accomplish!

1// Register for and/or take the LEED Green Associate and AP ID+C exams.

2// Visit Toronto, Canada.

3// Start using my bike for daily transportation.

4// Spend more time on creative endeavors - paint more often, fill more sketchbooks.

5// Save enough to cover a month's worth of expenses.

6// Learn how to render scenes in 3DS Max.

7// Attend NeoCon in Chicago, IL in the spring.

8// Start a potted veggie garden.

9// Make my physical and mental health a regular part of my daily routine.

10// Read more design history and theory books.

11// Watch as many films on AFI's 100 Years, 100 Movies list as possible.

12// Sing at a karaoke bar.

13// Cross off at least five items from my ROC bucket list (...coming soon!)

14// Get a small, part-time job - preferably at a coffee shop.

15// (Re-)Teach myself how to speak, read, and write Spanish.

Cheers to 2015!

On Being a "Real Person"

So we meet again! Here we are - one week into September, a solid four months into the ever stressful, crazy exciting, and terrifically unpredictable post-grad era. And no, I'm not talking about the cutesy but overall meh rom com starring Alexis Bledel - you really let me down Rory.

**Look how cute I was...so oblivious to the orb of confusion that is "post grad"

Anyway, the past four months have been...challenging...to say the least. To anyone who's gone through this before, congratulations on making it to the other side. To those who are currently experiencing this, I feel you...I promise we can do this. And to those who are still operating the grand illusion that is undergraduate life, well, good luck.

Let's rewind to May. College graduation alone is this giant pressure cooker of emotion. It's the pinnacle moment of your undergraduate career, EVERYONE and their mother is going to be there - literally, and there's the impending sense of doom over just what it is you're going to do with your life. If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me "So Danielle, what are your plans after graduation?" well, you know the rest...

Great job graduating! ...Now what?

Getting to that, the months following graduation can be some of the most uncertain, anxiety-inducing months any young adult will face - unless you're one of the lucky ones who had a job straight out of school, in which case great job being proactive and employed! ...now go away. For pretty much my entire life, all I'd really known was school. All of a sudden, that was done, and I was now faced with the daunting task of finding a "real job," and let's face it - ain't nobody got time for cover letters. Unfortunately, as any recent college grad will tell, you actually have all the time in the world for cover letters.

Back to the present... It's four months later, and can officially say that I am an interior designer - like, how cool is that? Emerging professional status. Here's the thing, though - it definitely didn't happen overnight, and it most certainly didn't happen without quite a few hiccups along the way. Looking back at my sad little "professional" email account, I sent out well over forty job applications in the span of two months. I had cover letters zipping out to Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle...you name it, I probably sent it. I was looking for a big city, and a definite change of pace. To my disappointment, an overwhelming majority of my applications resulted in complete radio silence.

About halfway through the summer, I saw a post on a Facebook group (run by an awesome former professor) for an entry-level interior design position in Rochester. The job description sounded fantastic - it did, after all, actually contain the words entry-level. If you've recently graduated, you know how stupidly hard to find that is. The only potential problem seemed to be the location. Rochester? Isn't that just Syracuse but, uh, bigger? Honestly, if you had told me at the beginning that I'd end up here, I'm not sure I'd have believed you. All i can say is, I'm glad I decided to give it a shot, because it definitely ended up being one of the better decisions I've made in my life.

There's about a million and a half things you can do to get a job and if you ask me how I went about it, I'm not sure I could give you a straight answer. One of the most important things I can concretely say is that you must be open to whatever life throws at you. Roll with the punches, if you will. Because the thing is...you can have all these goals and plans, but if you completely rule out anything that doesn't fit your exact, ideal situation, you could really miss out on something fantastic.

So to sum up my first little life lesson on being a "real person," don't rule anything out that could potentially lead to something good. Whether it's a job offer, an invitation to an event, or even just a conversation over coffee with a total stranger - you never know where it may lead.

Until next time!

**Thanks to Ian Simon-Curry for the photo

In Pursuit of Thesis: Week Seven

Every once in a while, a magical thing happens where I have a three-day long burst of motivation. While I'd say I certainly have no problem buckling down and working on something for an extended period of time, actually being excited to do so, for so long, is a much more uncommon experience. Anyway, last weekend was one of those rare phenomenon - pretty much every minute I had, I spent working on thesis, enthusiastically I might add.

In a few short days after my last post, I managed to pump out a pretty holistic and thoughtful floor plan for the majority of my space - the whole space. There are definitely some minor tweaks to be made throughout the classroom spaces, but I'd definitely say I hit that 75% mark that I was talking about last week. Plus, I made some serious headway modeling the changes I'm making to the space digitally and physically. Check it out:

Purple: Classrooms      Yellow: Student Lounges     Green: Public Spaces    Blue: Group Spaces

First Floor Plan

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Compare that to this current moment, where I can barely motivate myself to even talk about my lack of motivation and work flow. Unfortunately, the one part of my space I've been struggling to solidify is probably one of the more important ones - the main reception and gallery area. Something about essentially designing blank wall space in a thoughtful manner is really giving me headaches...maybe literally. My biggest issue is that the initial entry space is so strong in comparison to the gallery area. It's the "second impression" of the design you get, and figuring out how to make it equally, if not more, impressive has landed me a ticket on the struggle bus.

I've spent a large part of this week creating a second model of just those two spaces in an attempt to figure out how to arrange the gallery in response to what I've designed in the entry. I think a lot of my decisions will be based on my inclusion of the angular forms seen in the entry space. After talking to a few classmates about it, it'd probably serve me well to figure out where seating areas should be and then plan the wall space around that. I'm currently toying with the idea of moveable gallery wall systems as well (especially considering I might be using some sort of a portable practice room in my classroom spaces). Also, I think it might be a good choice to allow for the students to arrange the gallery in addition to what is displayed in it, giving them another facet of the program to take part in and control. Hey - it goes with the concept of empowerment in a way.

Anyway, I have my second review this week so I'm hoping to get back on the productive streak this weekend. It's hard to believe it's already the midpoint of the semester! Can't wait to show you everything I have next week (:

Until then

In Pursuit of Thesis: Week Six

There are officially two short weeks until spring break, which means there are just two short weeks until the mid-point of the semester. The entire concept of this clearly hasn't hit me yet, because I'm feeling just fine - but check back on that in a week or so. Anyway, while the idea of flying across the country to Seattle (!!!) is a wonderful thing to daydream about, I'm really hoping to make some serious progress on my thesis. I've set a lot of goals for myself in the next few weeks - with my midterm review and a solidified draft of the written portion of my Capstone on the horizon, I'm starting to feel some pressure.

Right now, I still feel like I'm at a pretty good point. The expectation for my midterm review is that I'm 75% done with my floor plan - that's a lot of percent - but I really feel like it's totally do-able. Just in the last few days I've made quite a few decisions that are really helping me to progress.

Before I can get to the nitty-gritty of laying out individual rooms and spaces, I need to solidify my major design concepts. In the images below, the green colored form show where I've intervened so far. Again, these forms are based off of my original concept model work from last semester. These forms, in some places, will extend up the wall in a very angular manner, some will double as hang out places or seating - such as in the main entrance.

A very basic model of what these forms will look like. This seating element gives the entrance a 

function other than prolonged entry.

A section of the entry. The lighter green portion on the right will be a 

sculptural piece mimicking the form of the seating area at the bottom with less visual weight.

The area on the top left will allow for students to view the entry from multiple perspectives 

rather than from below only. 

First floor overall design concept plan.

Second and third floor general plan for warehouse space. The

section enclosed by the green will be open to the floors below and above.

This week, I got so excited about where I was going with these forms that I was on the edge of going overboard. After a brief discussion during class, I decided to include these forms (in three dimensions) only where I've intervened with the structure of the building. In other words, I've place them only where I've added partitions, cut through the floor, and so on. As I move forward and actually draw out perspectives and sections, I intend to add two dimensional elements mimicking these forms throughout the rest of the space - a development you should start to see next week. 

Right now, my biggest roadblock is figuring out how to divide the classroom spaces from the student lounges. Specifically, this becomes an issue on the third floor of the warehouse space, which will be open to the floor above. In a few, select spaces, I'm considering using the angular form itself to create a room within a room. That being said, this idea would need to be applied very specifically in order to avoid the form seeming completely arbitrary.

A lot of the solutions to this, I think, will come from working with my physical model I made a few weeks back. With my particular designs, a computer model will only confuse me at this iterative point. I'm really looking forward to learning how to put that into Revit...gulp. We'll talk about that next week though. 

Until then!

In Pursuit of Thesis: Week Four

Somehow, the fourth week of classes have come to a close. A quarter of the way there...whoda' thunk it? Anyway, this week entailed a more formal thesis review with both of my professors about where I was with my project and thoughts about moving forward. Naturally, despite the fact that I think I'm actually in a pretty decent place, I was irrationally nervous going into the week.

Sometimes having so many ideas floating around in your brain and on a ton of unorganized pieces of trace paper can really make it feel like you haven't accomplished anything. Regardless, pinning everything up and talking about it to my friends and professors really made me realize I actually have a pretty good idea of what I'm doing moving forward.

I spent the majority of the week leading up to my review focusing on large aesthetic concepts as well as the main entry space. (Fear not, I'm still thinking about the space holistically..not just one area at a time). As I've said in previous posts, I'm really concentrating on emphasizing the existing structural elements of the space while adding a unifying element based on my conceptual work from last semester.

Here's some of my visual inspiration:

From CreativeLIVE San Fransisco: Build LLC

Eegoo Offices by dEEP Architects on ArchDaily

Arthouse Cafe by Joey Ho

Via PJHM Architects on Pinterest

My own concept model work

Looking at all of this, I decided to move forward with the idea of implementing a strongly triangular and geometric motif throughout the various areas of my design. These particular designed elements will be vibrant and colorful - whether this color is inherent in the material I chose or not has yet to be decided. Right now I'm thinking that it could be really interesting to use a color changing material or dynamic lighting to create a glowing effect like in the first image. 

Part of this thinking has to do with drawing students, parents, and the community into the space. What many, but not all, of my users (aka at-risk students in the city) are lacking is a support system from their families. With this in mind, my intent is to give families and community members a sense of prestige when they, or their children, enter the space. I want people to think "Hey, my kid goes here?! I must have done something right...I'm so proud!"...and so on. 

As an initial pass, most of the work below shows my general ideas for space planning and aesthetics - most of which will occur in the bright yellow areas on the plan. Using these vertically oriented, triangular forms, I'll create a visual cohesion between the entry (now located in the shipping and receiving dock), the reception desk, and the student lounges located in the four story building. 

After my review, I'm really focusing on the idea of the interaction of light between floors and through structural elements, visual access across floors and from different perspectives, and the physical division of spaces. Keeping all of these aspects in mind, I'm really excited to play with different angular "viewing windows" in the student lounge or class spaces that mimic the forms in the entry. (See the second and third inspiration images for more of an idea). 

Similarly, I plan to open up space between each floor of the classroom areas. At this point I've already opened up the top two floors of the warehouse space to one another and added south facing skylights to bring in more light and create an interesting focal point. Moving forward, I intend to emphasize this idea and carry it throughout multiple levels so the user can experience it visually from multiple perspectives. 

I'm really excited to see where I end up four weeks from now at the next review. Each week has brought about some tweaks here and there - from day to day, my thesis isn't the same. Hey, change is good, right?

Until next week!

In Pursuit of Thesis: Week Three

Recently, I've had quite a few people tell me I'm crazy. Frankly, this isn't an uncommon occurrence. Somewhere along the way, my brain wired itself to do things the hard way and somehow, it wired itself to enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't go out of my way to make things difficult for myself or anyone else, but if you give me the choice between the shortcut and the scenic route...I'm likely to pick the latter.

Anyway, why am I crazy you might ask? Thesis. But honestly, who isn't? Regardless, I'd been having trouble visualizing just how the four distinct buildings connected and interacted with one another. Since it is a semester long project, and since I desperately need a refresher course in Revit 101, I've been working on modeling my space in the program. I'd really like to give up on that notion and just use good ol' familiar SketchUp, but honestly I'd like to milk my thesis for everything it's worth. Unfortunately, my progress in virtual modeling has been much slower than I'd hoped, and I was getting pretty impatient without a visual, 3D representation of my space.

Enter two days of chipboard, exacto blades, and some serious sobo glue. This is where the crazy comes in. There's this magical thing in the Warehouse shop called a laser cutter...Woah. Fancy. I could have easily plopped each wall of my space into CAD, submitted a file, and emerged victorious with a perfectly cut, speedily produced model of my building. Where's the fun in that? Instead I measure, cut, and glue the entire thing by hand - certainly not a quick process by any means, but it's definitely one I enjoy. The physical act of making a model is extremely satisfying and somewhat therapeutic.

1/8" = 1' - 0" of the CabFab Building in all its glory

On top of its stress-relieving benefits, manually cutting and forming each space really helped me to understand the ins and outs of the building and gave me some formal ideas moving forward.

After discussion over the model with one of my professors, I got an interesting spin on what space planning I had done prior. One of the biggest issues I was having with my space was deciding on where to put the main entrance. I knew that for my programmatic requirements, it would have to move from its original location, but the area I thought about moving it to seemed to be in competition with the existing entry. Enter Professor Zeke flipping my project in the best way possible:

Why not move the entrance to the shipping & receiving dock?

It never would have occurred to me, but it's brilliant actually. This new entrance would be away from the existing one, allow for more traffic to access the building, and open up the existing parking lot to be used for outdoor green space. Needless to say, I was thrilled with this idea. What's most interesting to me at this point is the potential for the aesthetic and conceptual design of this entrance and the immediately adjacent reception/lobby/public space inside. My biggest concerns are keeping and emphasizing the existing industrial nature of the three larger buildings while also creating a visual and formal concept of those two familiar words - empowered pursuit. 

Space Planning Reloaded: The Sequel

So far, a lot of my thoughts on this involve a series of dualities - trade versus art, light versus dark, interior versus exterior. By opening up space between floors, my intent is to expose key structural elements while allowing for an interesting play of light filtering through the building - an idea that really drove some of my conceptual form work last semester. (The visual idea of empowered pursuit kept leading back to something with a strong direction and a movement from dark to light). Similarly, I'd love to introduce some element that ties the interior and exterior visually. In this way, the activities occurring within the walls of the center are literally and figuratively a starting point for a successful launch into the rest of the community and world. 

At this point, I'm thinking of using some sort of strong, angular forms referencing both my concept work from last semester and the structural beams seen in the current showroom space of the building. With steel or wood beams or columns being used in almost every space of the building, it'll be an exciting challenge to emphasize these elements in a thoughtful, designed way.

Talk to you soon!

They Call Me a Working (Wo)man

Now that I've had a few days to recover from a whirlwind of finals, last days in London, flying home, and extreme jet lag, I've started thinking about my plans for the summer. With a bit of disappointing results after a full-blown internship hunt, I've decided to take the summer to work and get my things in order. And let's be honest, studying abroad in London really did a number to my wee little bank account. Let's not even talk about it.

Anyway, I'm more than excited to be starting at the cafe again. Yes, I'm that girl who legitimately wished she could go to work while she was abroad. I know, I have a problem, I've been told. But hey, there's nothing wrong with absolutely loving your job. Plus, who couldn't love a job where you make coffee all day? Am I right? Even better still, I'll be working full-time hours...a thrilling proposition for someone who has dreams of opening her own coffee shop someday. That's another topic in and of itself, though.

For now though, I've got some really exciting ventures to juggle around. With classes out and finals done, I'm psyched to really get into my thesis/Capstone research. Growing up in a family chock full of teachers and educational administrators, I've always valued the importance of a good education. For the longest time, I wanted nothing more than to be an art teacher (after all, my high school art teacher helped to shape the outcome of my life so far). For many unfortunate reasons, I decided against that career path my freshman year of college. But hey, I'm absolutely in love with what I do now and have absolutely no regrets.

Even as an interior design student, I've kept this interest in education alive and well. (Check out the amazing project I was lucky enough to take part in here). Naturally, when choosing my topic for my senior thesis, I wanted to focus on how we can improve the quality of education through the creative arts. I've started reading up on "right-brained" thinking, as well as current educational systems and theories and I've got to say, I'm pumped. And of course, I can't wait to share what I'm gathering from it all with you...but alas, we'll save that for another post, another time.

On top of thesis research, my amazing boss has given me the wonderful opportunity to do design work for the newest, upcoming location for the coffee shop I work at (see why I'm obsessed here). Upon my arrival back in the states, I found out that we'd be opening a kiosk/shop in Hancock International Airport in Syracuse, NY. While the new location is opening up this coming week, I'll be working on the design for the merchandise section of the shop. It's absolutely thrilling to be able to know that my design for the space will soon be seen by jet setters from all across the country. Needless to say, I'm extremely lucky and absolutely elated to have such a great opportunity.

Speaking of jet setting, I'll soon be up in the air one more time. Just as soon as I arrived in the states, I'll be heading out again to Santa Maria de Jesus, Guatemala. After the quickest four months of my life, I'm finally going to see the school five classmates and I did design work for last semester. I'm still in awe of the fact that we're even going, but the closer it gets to departure, the more I look forward to seeing the school, the country, and most importantly, the children using the building.

Until next time!