welll....

so i haven't written since.. october? Wow. I guess i forgot i had a blog I guess. 

So anyway, i think this week has been one of my hardest. I just always seem to be behind. I pulled an all-nighter on Sunday night, and finished just in time to take a shower and get to my first class. Sometimes i think that architecture (or archi-torture, as Greg calls it...) is actually killing me slowly. Now, that doesn't mean that i don't like it. Sometimes it's so rewarding. 

For example, on Monday at our big critique, i was the first one to present (oh joy, i love when i have no idea how to present.. and I magically go first...). But it went really well. Obviously, one of my designs was so much stronger than the other, but that was just because I spent a ridiculous amount of time developing and perfecting my first. She (Yan Chu, my section leader) didn't necessarily not like the first design, but she just pointed out the fact that I didn't exactly have a very developed idea behind it. Which I was fine with. I wasn't exactly head-over-heals for the design in the first place. What I thought was funny was that everyone (students) seemed to love it and thought it was so great and modern. Ha. 

Anyway, the second design i spent a lot of time on. Lots and lots. I sketched it. I played around with it a ton in Rhino (a computer modeling software.... like AutoCADish...). I worked hard on it. And i was really pleased with it. It would be a park that i would want to hang out it. Definitely. So anyway, i had a lot of ideas going on in that design, mostly involving the overlap of materials and spaces so as to create (and partially force) different movements through the spaces and outlooks on the space as a whole. I didn't want the cement drives to be seperated from the crushed white stone walkway which would be so separated from the benches, separate from the shelters, seperate from the trees and areas of foliage and especially separate from the water area. I wanted to integrate EVERYTHING and spent FOREVER doing it and, in my opinion, did it rather marvelously. I was pleased. Though Leon (another section leader/prof, of Indian origin....VERY OPINIONATED)  did not really like my design at all and thought my integration of spaces was insignificant as a whole. WRONG. Yan thought the design rocked (my own words..) .. and proceded to basically explain in full detail the intent of the space as she had interpreted it... which was exactly how i had planned it!!!! Victory! Does this sound very exciting to anyone but me? no. But these small victories make me know that this is what i'm supposed to do. I LOVE figuring out these small details and designing and planning everything. it just gives  me a lot of joy. so when i get any positive feedback, it basically makes my day. It's super exciting :D