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The section- the cut- is spatial, and expresses the way in which we actually inhabit the world. As a drawing, it is the link between the analytical and the human, the devised and the perceived. I believe it is the ideological base, and perfectly captures the essence of design, linking the built and the lived. But really, living is the bigger question. For me, architecture is an issue of ethics- in the end, buildings are places for people, so people must be at the forefront of any sensitive and ethical design. Context, culture, and use are always my starting point, and always the primary concern of my work. This has lead me to develop a fixation with juxtaposition, which is typically the condition of life. Personally, I find that varied perspectives add more questions about the nature of my ambition, introduce more contradictions, and eventually yield more meaningful results. In the end, the important thing to me is that my work is about an and, not an or. Architecture is not an end in itself- it should not ignore or re-devise its surroundings, but explore and reinterpret them. It is a way of framing the world. The world is already given.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Weekend Number 1

Oh my, oh my.  So I wasn't kidding about being too tired to get around to writing on Sunday!  I thought about it on multiple occasions and just never got any umph behind me to go ahead and write down what had gone on.  I will be brief because it is already late, I am already tired, and I need to get to be if I'm going to get up and go back to studio in the morning!

So- Saturday I got up early and went to studio.  I hoped to only be there for a few hours, but a few hours turned into most of the day.  And when I finally came home, I just kept on working.  It's feeling compulsive, actually.  But I was at least productive.  I spend the vast majority of the time researching.  What is funny though is I felt like I was getting dead ends at every turn for most of the morning.  I went to the library a couple of times to look at 5 or so different books.  None of them were of any use.  Then finally, I decided to try the academic article database- and low and behold- treasure trove.  Although I am still looking high and low for articles about 'purification rituals' to supplement the vague knowledge I already have, I seem to be making headway on all fronts.

The 3 main areas of research are:

PTSD/Trauma & Veterans, Veteran Reintegration, Mental health for Veterans, etc
Non-traditional healing, Yoga, Meditation, etc
Tribal knowledge, Purification rituals, psychic healing

The three areas sometimes mix, sometimes don't.  At the moment, I have about 15-20 references in my growing bibliography.

I will add that one FUN part of the research was movie watching.  Reich suggested that I watch "Born on the Fourth of July" and "Coming Home".  I've only watched the first- but it was pretty intense.  I sat down with Cailin Friday night, expecting something not too crazy, not too tame.  But there was a lot of shooting, blood, violence, and anger.  All of which is understandable in the context of the Vietnam War.  And while it wasn't super pleasant, it was entertaining.  And I learned something.  As Reich said- Movies are serious.  They are condensed knowledge.  Yup.

On a completely different note, I am beginning to contemplate Vellum, the annual furniture show/competition in SLO that architecture students (especially thesis students) participate in.  I have some ideas that I'm pretty excited about, but are still being worked out from a structural/detail perspective.  I will give a few clues, although I'm too tired to go into details now.  I want to design a floor lamp, I want it to be transformative, and I want to base the aesthetics on Japanese lanterns.  That should get the juices going.

Oh, and as a last note- tally of hours for the week (week ONE, mind you): 46.5.  Oh man.
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