First week...

Before the first day of classes actually started, I was a little nervous about my second year as an Interior Architecture student. It seemed that from the very beginning of my first year in the major there was a consensus among 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th year students that your second year in the program is the one that will either make or break you. Although I can't say how I will feel at the end of the spring semester, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by my first week of studio.

Our first project assigned, on Monday, asked us to make a map of our journey to a certain destination, previously chosen by our teachers, by sketching and recording areas that stood out to us. After we had completed this and shared our individual "paths" with the class as a whole, we broke into our suit groups that consisted of roughly 15 people to work on the second part of the project which was to figure out a way to combine our paths in a legible and cohesive manner. I was worried that working as a group would be incredibly frustrating and that some of us would end up creating something that we didn't fully stand behind. I was very happy, however, when our group was extremely open to other's ideas and willing to hear every voice of the group and that in the end we were able to reach an agreement that we could all be excited about (which definitely helps in regards to the quality of our work). After we presented our work as a group to the rest of the class, the final part of the project was given to us with a time frame attached. We, the entire class, had roughly an hour and a half to decide how to combine four group's work now. Although I expected it to be hectic, I was disappointed in those who did not take the assignment seriously. I'm glad that we were all forced to work together, however, because this was just a small taste of what the real world is going to be like (and we definitely all need that). In the end, the final piece of work was not what everyone agreed on but instead a final attempt at completing something before our time ran out.

This first week flew by and if it's any taste of what the rest of the semester is going to be like, I can say that I am honestly excited for what is to come.

Wayfinding

For our first project in studio this year, we were assigned to take note of landmarks, nodes, edges, and districts along our journey to our destination. My destination for this assignment was the Beth David Synagogue off of Friendly Avenue. Along the way I sketched certain objects and areas that, to me, help identify the path that I am on. At the end of my journey, I realized how many objects you subconsciously see on a daily basis but fail to realize how big of a part they play in your navigation. I really enjoyed this assignment; I will definitely pay more attention to an area's layout now!