Perspective Lesson

For our drawing lesson today, we learned about perspective! Yay my favorite!
Our homework assignment was to draw our dorm room.
Photo quality, eh? It was fun to experiment with my new pencils and shading.
Wonder what we’ll be doing tomorrow…

Cube

Our second assignment was to make a cube.
We talked about cubeness, the parts and characteristics of a cube, and then went to our studios.
We were given a template and I colored the extra paper to accentuate the faces, edges, and vertices of the cube. (My geometry teacher would be so proud!!)

 

Tuesday morning we reviewed our cubes and then got our next assignment: to make more cubes!! Using two colors and focusing on space and opposition, we set out to work!
Here are my cubes before the glue finished drying:
The one on the left is very square and textural, opposed by the one on the left which is rounded and springy.
Tomorrow morning we’ll review the double cubes and then get our next assignment!

 

Towels

Mark gave us our first assignment Sunday night: to draw a towel.
I went for a simple approach, drawing the outline of the towel and adding the detail of the fabric stitching.

 

In Studio the next morning, we were divided into two groups to arrange our towels into a wall presentation.
We organized the drawings by how neatly folded or crumpled the towels were. At the last minute I had the idea to write TOWEL with the string they had given us.
We finished just in time and then sat down while Mark and the TAs evaluated our work.
Monday night we were assigned to draw another towel using what we had learned in our drawing lesson. Here’s my second towel:
  Honestly, I was surprised by how realistic my towel looked. Something about the beachy air and architectural surroundings is bringing out the artist in me!

Motivation Monday: Fearless Creativity

Good morning everyone!
We made it through an eventful first night in the dorms complete with a power outage and a massive game of Apples to Apples. We’ve all drawn our towels and collected our special things for our first morning in the studio and I’m kick-the-covers-off excited! 
For the next four weeks, I’ll be sharing both the projects I do in the workshop and the experience I have living and learning at Cal Poly. 
But for those of you who still have dim eyes and shaggy tails, here’s some Monday motivation:
Aside from our excitement, I’m sure we’re all feeling a little bit nervous about making good first impressions, being away from home, and impressing the professors. So let’s start out this week with some fearless creativity to launch us into our mutual dream of becoming architects!
 

This post is part of a series nicknamed My SLO Summer. It’s about my time at Cal Poly’s Summer Architecture Career Workshop, a four week hands-on experience about what it’s like to study architecture. You can see the entire series here.

My SLO Summer: my experience at Cal Poly’s Summer Architecture Career Workshop

Hello everyone!
I have very exciting news to share today!! Over the next four weeks I’ll be participating in Cal Poly’s Summer Architecture Career Workshop. I’ll be blogging about the projects I do and my experience here in San Luis Obispo (or SLO as the locals often call it). These posts will all be in a series right here on If Walls Could Dream called “My SLO Summer“. You can access it at any time by simply clicking the “My SLO Summer” button at the top of the page or by clicking the “My SLO Summer” logo at the right.

I’m so excited for this amazing opportunity to grow in my architectural abilities and find out if studying architecture is truly the best fit for me. And I’m so glad that you all can share this journey with me!

 
This post is part of a series nicknamed My SLO Summer. It’s about my time at Cal Poly’s Summer Architecture Career Workshop, a four week hands-on experience about what it’s like to study architecture. You can see the entire series here.

Remote Flat

This house, or flat as its shape illustrates, makes the most of the views to the back of the property, with a huge deck and a walkway right through the house. It’s wooden exterior blends with the surrounding forest of a remote location.

This remote flat has a small footprint with only one bedroom and one bathroom. However, it makes the most of it with a large entertaining space complete with dining room. It also has a big deck to take in the gorgeous views. The added studio space could make the perfect workspace for a young artist or extra bedroom for an older couple’s grandkids.

When you first walk up to the house, you’re immediately drawn to the view through the hallway next to the studio, but the entrance to the house is to the side.

You enter to the dining room with a wall of storage to your left. The color scheme continues the natural theme with soft greens and bright whites.

The dining room opens up to the living room which has three windows along the back wall that invite you out to the backyard view.

To the side is the kitchen complete with neutral tones, granite countertops, a breakfast bar, and lots of storage.

Through a hallway off the kitchen is the bedroom. Soothing neutrals and sophisticated dark blues give this bedroom a relaxing feeling. The floor-to-ceiling cork headboard makes the bed the star of the room.
 
 
And last but not least is that deck I’ve been telling you about this whole time. Accessible by doors in the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and by the hallway through the middle of the house, it’s very open. With two levels and expansive views, why would you ever want to leave?

If walls could dream… they’d dream of small flats in remote forests.

What are you dreaming of?

Family Split-Level

Designing this house was like putting together a puzzle, figuring how to fit a four bedroom house, separate office space, and guest house together in one cohesive unit. But it all worked out for the best.
Come on in!
 
This large house is built like a split-level house, with three stories, four bedrooms (plus a guest house) and two and a half bathrooms (plus a half bath in the separate office space and a full bath in the guest house).
This house would perfectly fit the lifestyle of a large family. With three bedrooms and a master suite, there’s plenty of room for everyone upstairs. The guest house is perfect for relatives or friends visiting. The great room and large deck make entertaining a breeze. The separate office space is perfect for dad’s (or mom’s) business. Additionally, there is a bonus room on the first floor and lots of storage throughout.
This house has plenty of room for work and play!

 

You enter the house on the second floor from a porch next to the garage.

 

To the side of the entry to the residence, is a small hallway to the “work” part of the house – the office!
(Also, notice how the flooring indicates which section of the house you’re in!)
 
The office is complete with its own hallway/sitting room, bathroom, and large storage closet.
From the entry hall to the residence you can go up to the third floor.

The third floor houses the bedrooms;

three bedrooms with a full bath,

and a master suite complete with bathroom as well as “his and hers” closets.
Heading down from the entry hall, you’ll arrive on the first floor of the house- the “play” section.

 To your right is the half bath and bonus room (media room, guest bedroom, play room… the possibilities are endless!) Notice the huge deck right off the great room, perfect for entertaining and taking in the magnificent view.

To your left when you come down the main staircase is the great room with a spacious sitting area and space for a family-sized dining table. The door in the back corner by the kitchen goes to the laundry/mud room which has a stairwell up to the garage (for easy grocery carryin’) and a door to the side deck.

The kitchen, complete with breakfast bar for the kids, is done in a light, European style with tall cabinets that make the most of the ceiling height.

There’s so much counter space in this kitchen that the counters even extend in front of the cabinets along the back wall – perfect for hiding countertop appliances away when they aren’t in use!
Around the back of the house is a spiral staircase to the guest house.

The guest house is complete with a kitchen, full bath, and lots of storage.

If walls could dream… they’d dream of large homes with room for work and play.

What are you dreaming about?

HGTV Star

I watched the premiere of Design Star HGTV Star yesterday and loved it! (Although I am still getting used to the new name…) I’ve watched Design Star for a couple of years now. Some of my favorite designers (David Bromstead and Emily Henderson) are former winners of the show. It’s a dream of mine to be on the show someday!

Host David Bromstad With HGTV Star Designers

The cast made a really great first impression. They have a really good variety of talents. And David’s doing a great job of hosting, as always! I love Abby’s energy and design style, although her hair threw me off at first. Anne has really good energy as well. Jeribai seems very genuine and warm. Brooks is delightfully quirky and entertaining. I really want to have him as a teacher! Oh and for a good ten minutes, I was convinced that Jessie was Taylor Swift.

Like, seriously, they look absolutely identical! Anyway, I like how they started the competition off with a bang, combining the classic “white room challenge” with the added test of displaying your personal brand.

Abby Vasek in her Finished VignetteJeribai Tascoe HGTV Star Vignette

Those white walls were dreaming big! My favorite vignettes were Abby’s boho living room inspired by ink blots and Jerabai’s sitting room branded with his initials.

Brooks Atwood's HGTV Star Vignette
Brooks took a creative approach as well. From his pink wallpaper to his quirky accessories, you really get to know his outgoing personality. Additionally, he incorporated the sense of smell into his design by leaving a card with cologne on it for the panel to sniff.
 
 
I realized that the most important aspect of these challenges is often time management, just like taking your high school SATs! For example, Jerabai didn’t give his painting enough time to dry so it dripped. Also, Anne didn’t have time to pick up her bedding herself and had to present an unfinished bed. Both these mistakes were criticized by the judges and could’ve cost these designers their chance of winning the challenge.
 
Brooks Atwood - HGTV Start Season 8



The panel only invites the most and least successful designers to the evaluation room to review their designs. Not only does this add drama for the TV audience, it adds drama for the designers. Would you rather be told early that you’re safe and know you’re not the winner of the challenge or have the possibility of being the winner but have to face evaluation? Personally, my competitive spirit draws me to the latter.
 
 
All in all, I’m excited for the new season of HGTV Star and getting to know these unique designers. I can’t wait for next week’s show!
 
Who’s your favorite designer? What did you think of the challenge? Do you agree with the panel’s decision? Leave me a comment below! And keep dreaming!


How To Become an Architect

So you want to be an architect?
Well there are a few steps you have to fulfill before you can practice architecture.

First you must meet the EDUCATION requirement.
This means you have to earn a degree from a NAAB (National Architectural Accrediting Board) accredited program, for example the Bachelors of Architecture (B.Arch) or Masters of Architecture (M.Arch)

Second you must meet the EXPERIENCE requirement
This includes completing the Intern Development Program (IDP) by working as an intern for an architectural firm

Third you must meet the EXAMINATION requirement
This is when you take the Architect Registration Examination (ARE) which tests your knowledge and skills so you can practice architecture independently

Now you can be LICENCED by a local jurisdiction and CERTIFIED by the NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards)

Any questions? Leave me a comment below!

*this is just an overview of the steps to becoming an architect in the US, be sure to research the details of each program before committing yourself to this major

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