DAISY AMES

The last few days I have been working on the cabinetry for the Yale Building Project house. The modular design for the kitchen and the built-in closet spaces require a great deal of attention to detail. Aside from actually cutting and assembling the wood, it needs to be meticulously treated beforehand. Armed with eye goggles, ear plugs, and face mask, I have had the honor of prepping the wood for final assembly - which has actually been really nice. 

First, I have to sand all the wood down to an even, spotless surface. But, what this does is force all the wood dust back into the grain of the red oak which we picked out for its inherently beautiful texture. So in order to bring the grain back out, I have to slowly go over all the pieces with pressurized air gun. It’s a really soothing process as I see the wood regain it’s irregular imperfections (character we call it) and come back to life. Finally, I have to coat all the wood with a primer - we are using Minwax polyurethane.

What I have learned about prepping wood is nothing compared to what I have learned about assembling it - appreciating every cut done correctly, down to the 1/32”. The care going into the house’s woodwork by the team I am working with is really awesome. I am considering this prep work for my own house one day - good stuff to know how to do. Glad to be apart of it!

For our Visualization III course this semester we learned a number of computer programs, fabrication techniques, assembly methods and addressed the dynamics of design collaboration. Spending the time learning these things was a real pain in the butt (at the time) relative to what seemed like more critical deadlines like Studio. But, having just finished our final installation I think it may have been my favorite class this semester. Learning notions of programs like Grasshopper exposed us to fast ways of creating and applying complex design intentions. After finalizing a design we had to fabricate it - forcing us to consider material, production method and the process… which involved milling, band-sawing, thermoforming, laser cutting, water jet and plasma cutting. A large component of these assignments had us working in groups, so we learned to articulate our ideas and work together. 

Above is the final product for our fabrication design - an elevator installation. Being on the design team, we wanted to work within a space that fostered awkward situations - the looming arrival of your floor, the obligation to make small talk, and the eavesdropping of others. While we toyed with the idea of forcing people to stand uncomfortably close to one another, we decided to investigate different ways people would interact with a designed surface. This “surface” provides a bench, foot rest, butt rest, and an peculiarly placed barrier which inhibits one’s ability to stand in the middle. It was fabricated out of 8’x4’ sheets of 3/4” MDF, which took a total of 14+ hours to mill 200+ pieces.