DAISY AMES

I made these sequence of collages to capture the varying lifestyles that the typical businessman in Stamford, CT transitions through on a daily basis. This is all in part to capture the inherent culture of Stamford, which we are redesigning/re-evaluating for our studio project this year. The first image is the bustling commute from New York City, followed by an image of the regimented corporate environment in Stamford. Then, the next image represents the family life in the suburbs juxtaposed to the life of indulgence after hours. Below these images is a sequence of abstractions from these collages that could possibly be used to inform our design in some way. Right now these ideas are very indirect and uncalculated and I am enjoying this approach for once. 

“So, this is my favorite class. It’s not going to be yours… but that is why it’s mine. I’m not here to make you happy. There are plenty of things to spend $50,000 on to make you happy.”

He’s a straight shooter and I like that… a lot. 

Erleen Hatfield, Principal Engineer at Buro Happold in New York City is the professor of the first year M. Arch I Structures course. In our first class we were taught the fundamental differences between concrete construction and steel construction. We closely looked at the load bearing qualities of each, and how each handle internal and external forces and pressure. Professor Hatfield was very clear and knowledgeable. At the end of the lecture she answered questions about construction and some random hypothetical situations flawlessly. She knows her stuff - this is going to be a really great class. Interesting fact of the day: the steel and concrete unions in New York City do not get along, so construction is designed around not having them on the site at the same time.

I wonder if the concrete union backed Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ song “New York?” ”New York, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of…” 

hm? hm? hm? 

I just had my first lecture course: Modern Architecture and Society, taught by Kurt Forster in Hastings Hall. He wanted us to just sit back, relax and have him talk us through the story of architecture, rather than be a maniac note-taker. He began the class saying, “this is supposed to be a class you enjoy, and want to come to… it’s important to refine these jumbled up facts in your head into clear and logical modes of transition so you can understand them intellectually.” (something of that nature) Professor Forster is a master lecturer and his pencils-down “policy” was really effective because he presented the material in such an enthusiastic, lively, and witty way. I’m looking forward to that! 

Yesterday, August 26th, as part of the Yale Lecture Series, Canadian architect, Brigitte Shim of Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, gave a touching presentation on her work. Most of the work addressed was located around the Great Lakes. She seemed very connected with materiality, sensitivity to landscape, and ecological footprint, but not to a point that they completely regulated design decisions. Below are a few examples of her work.