DAISY AMES

Diagrams:

Plans:

I worked on the roof last week - first girl in Yale Building Project history (40+ years) to work on the roof apparently… and being exceptionally steep and doubly-angled, things got tricky to say the least. However, I’m more impressed with my ability to continuously hammer my own fingernails black and blue than I am with my ability to hang on to scorching galvanized metal panels for dear life. Nevertheless, it was a really fun experience… 

a piece of scrap… tossed to the side of the construction site…

now lives with me!

The roof beam is up! We spent the day calculating the lengths of the rafters and the alignment for the sheathing for the roof’s nasty torque!

Tonight was a screening of the film, “Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio.” For those who do not know about Samuel Mockbee… He was an architecture professor at Auburn University who founded Rural Studio, where he guided his students in building socially responsible homes and community spaces for poor residents primarily in Hale County, Alabama. The film was awesome! More info about it here.

The question it obviously raised is the role of the architect - one who answers the needs of the local society verses one who designs high-end skyscrapers in “the next place money will being spent,” ie Dubai and China. Seeing this movie reaffirmed my desire to use my education as a way to give back. The one-on-one relationships the Rural Studio has with the poor communities in Alabama are intimate and life changing for both parties. I would much rather design a lively environment for a poor family than an elaborate and wasteful second home for a bachelor. It’s certainly not where the money is or where any glory is, but far more rewarding. That’s why this summer’s Yale Building Project is perfect for me, and I am looking forward to it like crazy!!

The Butterfly House - 1997