Saturday, February 23, 2008

First Client Review


Jon gave me the Client Presentation photos today so now I can post them! Like I said - we were in the Donghia Gallery space on the third floor - not my favorite pin up space but everything ended up looking great anyway.


Oh right - did I mention they were filming us as well? I guess every year for the annual Trustees meeting they produce a short movie highlighting one of the NewsSchool programs and this year they are doing the Design Workshop. So yeah - as if it wasn't hard enough to present to clients - having a giant boom mike in your face made it evezn crazier. It still went just fine though and I think everybody's work was just incredible.



Stephen and Anne checking out the work before we presented. Thats a 1/2" scale model of the Enclosure from our project in the foreground.

David Lewis getting us started, Star and Meg.

Johnny, Meg and Emily - she's one of the Design Builders from the Margaritville project and is helping us out now as a TA.

Tory, Star and Meg - presenting their scheme LITEscapes

Jason and Star performing the Light Wall - so awesome. I'm trying to get Star to give me better pictures for the website cus' the thing is absolutely amazing and I'd love to put them up. The idea is an interactive art wall that uses this fancy glass which reflects different colors depending on the angel that the light is hitting it. So the wall has a field of these twistable glass fins which people can manipulate to change the color patterns - those fins are connected to dimmers and lights on the back side of the wall which then projects the persons actions onto the neighborhood by changin to light pattern (by dimming certain 'pixles'). Its a great idea but we need to integrate it into the architecture and use it not as a singular piece which stands apart from the rest of the project but as something which informs the way we are actually making the rest of the structure. So i don't know yet whether it gets integrated into the greenhouse, the enclosed kitchen, or maybe the garden? We'll figure it out though cus' its a super cool idea.


Ralphie and Johnny presenting their project: The Greenline


Paul, Solveig and Ralphie - greenliners all.


The Green Line was this idea of a linear hydroponic garden that ran through the site and which served to organize and connect the the different zones of the project. They were concerned about the maintenance of the gardens and so had used hydroponic herb growing as a way of creating a program for the residents to farm and then sell the produce - using the potential for making money to draw the residents to the act of farming. Really smart idea since I think getting the residents to interact with the growies is going to be a huge challenge. They also had all sorts of great programatic ideas like using a Kitchen as the focal point of the project and connecting it to the gardens as a way commenting on the linkages between our what we eat and where it comes from. It seems like, however, that there is more support [as in, staff] for more extensive gardening and that we don't have to be as concerned about things going unmaintained so maybe we can let the growies take over a little more if the site from now on.

Meghan. Myself and Carrie: The Livingroof: yup - its a pun :)

Meghan introduced the project: She talked about our concepts, our thought process and our attitude towards the residents and how that informed our project and briefly walked through the plan.

Margot, Stephanie and Jon - one half of Team Total Package.

After Meghan, I introduced some of the spaces a little more in depth - talking about materials, spatial qualities, how we think people will use the area and talking just a tiny bit about the construction / modular concept which drove a lot of our form.

Carrie wrapped up by explaining the gardens in more depth and talking about soil depths, species, and our overall concept of connection and linkage as well as seasonal / daily change in the use of the project. All in all it went great. Everyone seemed to like our project. They thought that it was very 'Zen' and they liked the 'quietness' of the architecture which was great to hear because I think that was something we all worked hard to achieve: to try and create a safe space, a sanctuary away from the craziness of New York where the residents could actually let their guard down for a moment. Their main criticism (other than: More Green!) was that we were perhaps a little too quiet and that maybe a little more whimsey or fun would really liven up the project. So now that's our tasks - to lighten up a bit in the next phase - especially in the garden which could be the most 'alive' and fun area if we design it right. Anyway - thats what I should be working on right now actually - I'll post more later - and remember: everyone [You especially Mom and Grama!] send me the name of your favorite garden so I can do some precedent research!

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