Valentine's Day Sushi!

Pictures of the Day] The delicious food and Japanese restaurant named Oysy, on Michigan Avenue, just off of the Roosevelt stop!

Mood] Romancy!

Weather] COLD. WHY DID I WEAR HEELS!?

Currently] In my room

Quote of the day: "Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent a normal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be."

Valentine's Day came after a very hectic Camras Weekend, but it was super fun! It happened to also fall on Chinese New Year this year, so I had a lot to celebrate. I wish that my family could have been up in Chicago with me, but I'll see them soon. Chinatown had an awesome parade that I wanted to go to, but just had a little bit too much work to catch up on, so I had to focus on getting that done instead. There's always next year though! This year was Year of the Tiger and I was born in the Dragon year, so when that comes, I'll be super excited to celebrate.

Although I did not get to spend time with my family, I did spend time with my boyfriend. We dressed up and went on a very nice date to a Japanese restaurant called Oysy (http://www.oysysushi.com/), which translates to "delicious" or "tastey" in English. We had some awesome sushi and small plates of food! I even got a complimentary glass of champagne, which was very nice. The architecture of the space was also great. The high ceiling dipping away to the bar was a bit unusual, as if it were an aside, but it was brightly coloured on the inside (lime! One of my favourite colours), and had metal detailing with bright lights. The most interesting part were the chairs to the bar and the booth seats. The bar stools were low-backed and the booth seats were made of a bamboo looking wood, probably a veneer. Overall, the mood was welcoming and bright.

Arizona Summer: Tuna tempura, yellowtail, cilantro, masago, green pepper, avacado, chili oil, spicy sauce, and lime juice

California Sunset: Crab meat, avacado, mayo and cucumber, topped with seared salmon, ikura and miso dressing

Chicken Teriyaki: Grilled chicken breast with sweet teriyaki sauce

Lotus Root stuffed Chicken Tempura: Lotus Root stuffed with Chicken and deep fried in light Japanese batter


I am definitely very happy and will hopefully be going there again soon!

That's your food and architecture update for today!
~Jaye

Camras Interview Weekend ROCKS!

Picture of the Day] Camras Event type awesome! Above I'm working the VanderCook Table at the Student Resource Fair. This fair is for prospective students to see exactly what IIT can offer in the way of athletics, financial aid, Union Board, ROTC, Spiritual Life, etc...

Mood] Excited

Weather] Not too bad. Sunny and brisk.

Currently] At the Front Desk

Quote of the day: "They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."

So Camras was super fun! We had a huge turn-out and it was awesome to see so many of the people that I had just heard good things about. Perlstein was pretty much packed with people walking around and talking with us Student Ambassadors and the counselors. We checked everyone in bright and early and then spent a lot of the time just going to have lunch in the Commons, leading them to their interviews, and hanging out in general. Everyone looked really pristine too! The guys were dressed up nice for their interviews, wearing full suit and everything. A lot of the current Camras Scholars helped out for the event too, working the baggage room etc...

There was actually a student panel that I Was not a part of (sadness), but I heard went very well. Parents and students love to go to the student panel to really talk to the current students about their extra curriculars on campus and what life is like in Chicago.

I had a fun time actually at the parent reception. I hadn't been there before, and it was quite nice to see all the parents of the students since the students were out on the Pizza Dinners. We had a lot of yummy desserts, drinks, and bite sized snacks as we talked just from table to table, answering questions that the parents thought up. They were all really fun.

I think the best part of Camras Weekend was really being able to show the prospective students how much the campus comes alive with all the fun things that our student body is so proactive to do! The Quad had a ton of things going on and the BOG was having IIT Idol Finals, so that was packed. Overall, a great weekend.

Signing off,
~Jaye

Program of a Montessori School

Pictures of the Day] Montessori school setting! This is the classroom that they work in.

Mood] Aware

Weather] Sunny and cold!

Currently] In my room

Quote of the day: "Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds."

So our studio's project this semester is a Montessori school. We visitted one up north in Lake Forest to get an idea of what the school and its philosophy promotes. Basically the Montessori way of learning to envelop a student in a living working environment where they have free reign to complete what is known as "work cycles". Basically the classroom is packed with tools for students to research on their own, beads to learn mathematics, play kitchen materials to practice life skills and more. The child is expected to find some point of interest and to work for three hours before breaking and then if the child does the whole day, then they will complete another cycle after the break. The Montessori school that we visitted looks like the classroom is divided into little pockets. Each small portion of the classroom focuses on one thing, like art or reading, etc... I think it's actually an awesome idea. What the teachers we talked to really emphasized was the ability of students to really jump in to things on their own without being prompted. The teachers act more like guides and just provide the materials that the children need to learn with or desire to play with.

The Montessori school program that we were given in class is divided into classrooms, administrative areas, and possibly gardens. When we visitted though, we found that this was not the case. There were classrooms, but like I said, they all had the different subjects within them. So instead of having one library for all students, each classroom had its own library inside. It was very in teresting to see their interactions.

We started focusing on how to design and organize the spaces differently to match with an idea that we wanted to explore. I thought that the philosophy of learning interested me the most, so I began to develop a way to organize the space based on the different learning types. Kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners need to have different environments to be able to work in otherwise they can not be very productive. By taking that into consideration, I was able to look at the site that we were given and start to isolate factors and create conditions that would respond to these different portions of the site. What I wanted to do was to create a set of rules based on how the site effected the way of learning that I wanted, how it would be detrimental and how it would be beneficial.

I made a TON of models, so there are way too many pictures. They all describe program and site ideas. Here are some of them:


I really enjoy visitting the sites because it gives me an idea of what I could be working with and what examples there are in the real world. :)

That's all exciting for now
~Jaye

Fast-Paced Workshop Mania!!!

Pictures of the Day] The diagrams that my partner and I came up with for our second workshop and some pictures of our model that we made.

Mood] UGH.

Weather] Sunny and cold. No degrees.

Currently] In my room

Quote of the day: "Genuine beginnings begin within us, even when they are brought to our attention by external opportunities."

Model. Model. Model! This was probably one of the most fun things I've done in studio. We did a workshop like we had before, except instead of with plaster, we worked in pairs to look at a very basic program for a building and were separated based on what lens we should study. Let me start defining things here because it gets crazy! Program is basically a set of things that you should aim for and lenses are the way in which to achieve those goals. It could be something simple like a sketch or a chart.

The program was simple, a list of verbs that we had to comply with:
A space...
to enter
to eat
to cook
to study
to live
to sleep
to work
for hygiene
for play
for a vehicle

Then the lenses were:
Program Relationship/Permutation Matrix
Movement Patterns
Scenarios by Occupant
Physical Data, Object Volumes, and Circulation Shapes
Material and Environmental Considerations
4d (formal) Programming
Enclosure/Views

Some strategies and techniques were:
Interior/Exterior Space
Adjacencies/Use
Enclosure
Circulation/Spatial Sequences
Form
Structure/Materiality
Scape

So we went through a process of first diagramming how we were going to reorganize the program, like focussing on one aspect of it and narrowing it down. Then we made a model taking into account another aspect of the program. It's kind of like taking it step by step slowly and breaking the program down into what is important. Since we focussed on Enclosure and Views, we played around with the idea of which activities went together and what kind of views they would want. After that, we tried to distinguish what could make those sorts of view, what materials could achieve that. So, for instance, hygiene and sleep go together. Both of these are activities are private, in enclosed spaces. You really do not need to be looking out and you don't need anyone looking in. :)


We finished organizing everything and made this model to symbolize the transparency and view of these different areas. The colours represent the activities and there are different levels of view and enclosure:



Pretty nifty eh? I thought so! More to come in the future! We're movin' on!!
~Jaye

Plaster Mania!

Picture of the Day] Pictures of the forms I made for my plaster workshop 1A and 1B in studio.

Mood] Pleasant

Weather] Face fall off weather. There is no degree for this.

Currently] In my room.

Getting back into the groove of school has been less than nightmare-ish, which is good. I guess break was too awesome to be true. I wish it had been longer, but I didn't mind diving back into working for studio. We've started with plaster. I used plaster and went to a workshop last year for second year, but this time, we've been experimenting with it as a way of understanding and trying to think about concrete. There are three factors that you have to keep in mind when using concrete.

1. The formwork (the stuff that holds the concrete)
2. The falsework (the stuff that holds the formwork)
3. The recipe for the concrete (how many parts plaster to how many parts water)

WORKSHOP 1A: (I will upload pictures here later. I can't seem to find them right now....)
So what we did was partner up with people and tried to study the properties of plaster. We began with an analysis that studied how we could make units of sorts with a specific formwork that would really represent what we were using. Often times, the formwork is lost during the process. In the end, you never see the formwork, only the beautiful polished concrete or the raw concrete walls. Sometimes the walls are even covered in the end! What my partner and I did was used fabric. We started by simply making shapes that would take the texture of the fabric to keep a memory of what the falsework was, in a way, preserving it. With our second iteration, we studied how we could accentuate the way the fabric functions as formwork. Since plaster is so viscous and flows to wherever it wishes, it was essential that we used a semi-thick mix so that it would not leak from the fabric, but would also allow the plaster to move the fabric where it wanted to. With the addition of a peg board, we were able to show how the fabric pouches allowed the plaster to drip and droop with gravity, take the texture of the fabric. This created a memory of not only the plaster pieces' origin (in terms of composition), but also its construction. Pretty nifty, eh?

Workshop 1B:
For the second iteration, my partner and I focussed on how the fabric could act as a looser formwork. We tried different kinds and eventually decided to come up with a set of rules and techniques. The goal was to create some visuals/diagrams, forms, and also an instructional sheet on how to recreate what we did. Our final turned out to be very interesting. I was pretty proud of the results. We came up with two iterations that linked to one another by a common piece.

iteration I - focus on how the manipulation of the fabric changed the perception of the object


By using three different kinds of fabric, which we allowed to crease and to wrinkle as much as the fabric would allow, we changed the way the object appeared. The thicker fabric left a larger texture and was not able to fold as much, so the object (in this case a rock) appeared much bigger than it actually was. When it came down to the T-shirt fabric, it became the size that it really was.

iteration II - focus on how the manipulation of the object changed the perception of the fabric

By using three different objects, we changed the way that the t-shirt fabric appeared. In one, it looks as though it could be a large curtain like fabric, in another, just simply a thin fabric.

Now we've moved on to discovering some new things in another workshop, but I think that this was successful. I'll update you soon enough! :D

Plaster is CRAZY FUN, especially once you get the hang of it. :)
~Jaye

Winter Break Fun and Back to School UGH!

Picture of the Day] All the delicious food I made!

Mood] Nice

Weather] Cloudy with a high of 35F

Currently] In the Ambassador Cube

Quote of the day: "I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently."

Baked Brie with a Sweet Date Sauce, Garlic Bread, Cappuccino Cheesecake, Four Cheese Ravioli and Homemade Tomato Soup, Four Cheese Ravioli with the Pumpkin Sauce on it, Fresh Fruit Salad, Crepes (vegetables and bacon inside with a dill ranchy kind of sauce on top)!


Over break I did a ton of awesome things! Some of which were more productive than others. Although I did not achieve my goal of working on my resume and figuring out all the study abroad stuff, I did have a ton of fun with family and friends, which was much needed. I ended up spending most of my time doing cooking, baking, or crafting! This semester I hope to do some more cooking here at school. Over break I made a Vegetarian Feast! :D Which included a lot of tastey things. I also made some crafts which I'm pretty proud of. My focus was throw pillows. This one pictured here is a bamboo bolster. :D You just buy some of the fleece at the store, whatever colour you like, and make a pillow case for it. The circles on this one was pretty tough, but it was my first time sewing something circular to something rectangular, so I am pretty proud I guess. I ended up using the sewing machine for this one. I also made some other ones for my sister and friends, which were a piggy and a cabbit. They were both very pink. You can kind of see the close up on the designs.

Now that I'm back to school, I have been busy busy busy! I already started using the planner that my sister gave me and figured out dates for a lot of events. I'm thinking about joining Union Board and TechNews to write articles about the events that happen in the BOG. Tonight we have a Comedian, so I'll go to the BOG and write about what I saw, how people reacted to the show, and what the overall turnout was. :) I also am planning on directing a One-Act this semester, so I have one chosen! It's called The Master-Poisoner, and I found it off this nifty site where they are completely royalty free, so anyone can produce them: http://www.one-act-plays.com/dramas/the_master_poisoner.html

I like doing dramas, so I think it'll be a good change to all the comedy wafting around. :D Camras is also starting back up soon, so we'll be having lots of meetings soon and trying to get together events for this semester. This Friday is actually a Camras get-together in the BOG. They're opening it up for free food and socializing. It'll be great!












In terms of projects, I already need to go to two different sites and do some research/make observations. We've gotten into studio and stuff too! My classes so far are:

Structural Concrete Design (commonly referred to as Structures)
Building Systems II (commonly referred to as MechElec)
Studio (commonly referred to as...well we won't go there)
Vernacular Landscape (this class is very intimidating, but since I'm considering specializing in it, I'm going to have to man up)
VanderCook Private Voice Lessons (still need to set up a time with my teacher)

I have classes Monday - Friday, so no days off completely, but it's all good. :) I hope I can keep a balance with everything!

Bye for now!
Jaye

P.S. Turned the heat up in my dorm room last night. Slept SO well.

EEP! Winter Break and Study Abroad!

Picture of the Day] My art at the conservatory stop last winter! :D I am notorious for writing "LOVE" in the snow all over the place. Hee hee.

Mood] Chilleh!

Weather] Overcast, snowy, with a high of 32

Currently] In my room

Quote of the day: "Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb."

It is cold around these parts now! :D Chicago is gorgeous!!! I can't wait until I can go shopping downtown. Whoo whoo! Finals are almost over. My family got a new fake Christmas tree that I am pumped about and tonight the Techtonics are singing in the BOG for the Glee season finale (ha ha ha ha. Yes...people love Glee here too).

About this time of the school year there is a LOT of chaos. People are running around to finales, stressing out about papers that they haven't written all semester (I kid you not. I heard some kid say that they have 10 papers they could've written throughout the semester and instead is now writing them the day before they're due. NOT a good idea), and in general, realizing that there are a LOT of deadlines. One such deadline I just found out about recently myself is study abroad.

Well my plan for study abroad is to go to Japan or Germany for spring semester. I'm looking at 2011. BUT I guess there's some paperwork that needs to be filled out now that I have never seen before. X.x YEAH. I definitely need to meet with Louis Berends from the IIT Study Abroad office and see if I can figure out what to do! Since I have the Camras scholarship, things work a little differently. I have full-tuition and that means that I would do more like an exchange than anything. They would find someone to take my place here at the university and I would take their place so that we both continue our scholarships. Interesting, eh? Well that deadline is Dec. 16th, so hopefully I can figure everything out before then!

That's it! One more final to go. WHOO!!!
Jaye