Im starting to get it.

Im starting to see more traditional work merging with modern architecture. Although I love the modern stuff you cant help but respect the historical architecture. Although many architects design mostly on modern forms some have gone back to more traditional structures. Within being in history class I have developed a love for gothic architecture and renaissance architecture. Makes you wonder what direction it will be in when we graduation?

Architecture A Womans Style

Not to seem overly pro-woman but I am so inspired by Zaha Hadid. We are all taught to design within in reason, but she really pushes the boundaries. I look at all her structures and, although sometimes I dont understand, she really surprises me each time. Everytime I look at her work I just wonder how she came up with those ideas. I wonder if she has a team she works with, or if she comes up with these ideas solely on her own. It inspires me as a woman to become an architect and that its possible. Its not only possible to be a successful architect but to design buildings other than traditional styles. This building which is an ideas for the London 2012 olympics is awesome from me. Although its very modern

AIA Conference

This years conference was very interesting. Despite, not having the frank lloyd wright display they still provided us with alot of information. It makes me wonder and become really excited about my future as an architect. Just seeing all the exhibits, vendors, and guest speakers really made it seem like the world of architecture is exciting again. Cant wait to see what next years seminar will have.

Is this the shock effect or good design?

Okay lets talk! Throughout the last week I have been attempting to design without having a shock effect within my design. But it seems to me that alot of the winning architecture has some sort of shock effect to it.

This image of the Oslo Opera House in Norway to me has an indeed shock effect. This huge concrete building looks similar to a ship design. (Whats up with so many ship looking buildings). I indeed like the design but it does to me have a shock effect to it. Which leads me to my question....Should you always have some sort of shock effect within your design? Is traditional architecture not award-winning?

Could this be me?

Ralph Walker was a young architect that happened to be at the right firm at the right time. His firm McKenzie, Voorhees, & Gmelin had a reputation of working with phone companies and designing the buildings for these types of companies. Obviously, they felt that because of our past work they could entrust a young architect to handle the usual work. But Mr. Walker seized an opportunity and now we have the Barclay-Vesey Building. This building despite its extravagant ornamentation it indeed was built to withstand the test of times.

On Sept 11, 2007 after the tradegic attacks on the world trade center the Barclay-Vesey Building suffered significant damage to the facade which consisted of Limestone. As we watched the many crews clean the damage the Barclay-Vesey was standing strong. Not only at the time did Mr. Walker create an award winning design but he also created a structure that will be with us for a long period of time.

I wonder if I will be the young architect at a firm at the right now!

What if Hampton Built these dorms? Would you stay on campus?

These dorms are being built at that Illinois Institute of Technology as an experiment for future dorm construction. The only catch here is that the building is being primarily run off of solar energy to promote green design. The students will be responsible for they're habits with energy consumption. The building has been nicknamed the fish tank for a percuilar reason.

Each student will have a small fish tank to monitor they're energy usage. If you use a low amount of energy your fish will swim in a full tank free and rapidly, but if you use too much energy it will have a lethargic look and the water will be rather low. This is to show everyone how they rank with the other tenants. These will be shown on the first floor with everyone's in the building. This is such an interesting way of conducting a study but also showing up our bad habits!

Grace & Mercy/ Petronas Towers

I must say that I am totally confused and afraid of this project. I am so afraid that I am totally off base with my project and I don't know what to do? Well I have been sketching and constantly taking in any advice from the professors. Any advice you can give would be a great help.

In an architectural perspective I recently saw a story on the Petronas Twin Towers recently and although this story was really old...The construction process was amazing. Malaysia was known for its abundance of concrete so of course the structure was primarily concrete. But the interesting part was that for some reason the building drawing were off by 1/4 in and the building was being built incorrectly and caused the structure to begin to slant vertically. They had to derive a solution to build from the existing incorrect building to realign by building back towards the 1/4 in error. The solution was absolutely amazing in my opinion. Check it out!

Fort Monroe

After attending the Fort Monroe closure meeting, my mind was literally blown on the entire idea they are closing an entire site. The fact they are going to evacuate from this place really blows my mind but also opens up an entire new design process in my head. Although Architecture is indeed my passion I always dabbled into the design of cities and urban planning. This area has so many avenues that it could take its ridiculous.

Besides it being an entire little community within itself, it could be a great vacation site, a museum, and or senior community. The possibilites are endless. Makes you wonder why they wouldnt want to keep such a great spot.

I have just began my journey here at hampton and maybe there are issues with this area that I am not aware of. These issues could be the driving forces of the military abandoning this location. THIS has sparked my curosity to find out the why, when, where, and what happened with this place. The saga will continue......