פסח וחופש || Passover and Freedom

The significance of this holiday... They say it's about freedom, they say it's about remembrance, they say it's about a lot of things. What it is is a holiday of realizing that we are not free. We are not in our homes. Six months ago during Sukkos, the same message was applied but on a physical level of actually leaving our homes for eight days. Now we sit indoors and digest that thought spiritually.

Tonight, we will sit at our seder tables (which are the same dining room table but has an extra holiness added to it when you dress the table in a chometz-free table cloth), and we will, briefly, have a glimpse of what freedom is.

For those who have not yet understood, this Yom Tov is not about being free or physical freedom, contrary to belief.
It's a reminder of how we are not free yet and how this Yom Tov is about spiritual freedom.
At the end of the Hagaddah we say, "L'shona Haba B'Yerushalayim"

Next year we will be both physically and spiritually free.







Freedom is not a feeling of non-dominated periods. Freedom is a spiritual moment encapsulated within our souls momentarily.


If we were free all the time, we'd have nothing to do.

In recent events, we are reminded again how free we really aren't.

Chag kasher V'sameach, dear reader :)
~ArchiTalmud

Waiting for Superman... or at least a crit

It's the weekend before Passover is set to begin and I'm still stressed from the midreview which did not go as well as I hoped for.

Reminding myself, the rule is:

"Fix it, don't start over" 

unless you have a really good reason for it.

Today, sitting in studio, I have had nothing prepared, but I did come for a reason, I needed to get out of the house one more time before the holiday started so I can say good bye to my studio mates. They're very receptive of my occasional antics. I don't know why. I'm unusually moody today. Probably because of the heat in the studio.

So I sit down and work on a 1/8" scale model based on my floor plans, and I'm realizing all of these issues that are surfacing.
I had only completed two floors. But I could see now where I need to push my model around.

The professor passed by, asked if I was ready for a crit. I wasn't. And later she would be ok with it as a friend would tell me over a phone call, whilst commuting.

I've always waited for a crit, whether I was ready or not. I have had a total of 3.5 critiques-not including mid review and finals and group sessions.

I'm not complaining. But for this project I have been unclear on many details. But today, I am receiving clarity. Although I can't do much before Passover starts.

But this mindset I'm in currently, is what I'll need as soon as the חג is out.

Thanks for reading, dear reader :)

~ArchiTalmud

Project UPdate 7 April 2014

Game of Thrones aired last night, still haven't seen the whole episode... I'll watch it on the bus ride home.

Spent most of the night drawing plans and singing on the top of my lungs... or as loud as I could without the rest of the house hearing me.

I completed the site, but not the model. Which is fine.

In class, I waited til around 1pm (We only have 10 people left in the studio group, but It still takes forever to get a crit). The professor took a few looks at my model, and the site, and she did not like it. There is no overall scheme. She suggested looking at my final model which was all about a continuous folded plane. The frame, in that project, was a separate entity. This is exactly what my project needs to move forward.

I'll be incorporating that into the model that I'm going to stay up tonight building out of foamcore. I'll also have time to redo the plans and sections.

**Note: When drawing stairs, add a directional arrow in the lightest lineweight pointing up to the next floor.

Also, i should really be thinking about a grid of columns that aligns straight with the cube. There shouldn't be any random columns lying around anywhere in the project.

The site itself, is a separate project of Mass & Void. It should be treated as such while following the guide lines of the floors above it.

The cistern that I'm using is going to be the one penetrating object that breaks through all the floors, it'll have a multipurpose of air circulation AND the cistern for water.



Days until midreview: 2.5 days...


Wish me luck, dear reader ;)
~ArchiTalmud

BANNED!

From the start of this project, I have been making a fuss about the one and only bathroom required in this project. ON purpose of course.

I've been setting myself up to be able to make bathroom jokes when ever I felt it necessary.

Yesterday, I pushed it too far. We were asked to make Pathway Diagrams- a kind of map of our project- and I had easily linked my bathroom to be the epicenter of my project.

When I had mentioned it in class, it got a laugh out of everyone. It was Thursday, notably, and everyone is normally abnormal that particular day of the week.
My professor then asked I try to avoid mentioning it. So I decided to use similar words.

"...And as you go through the entrance there's three pathways--"

"Did you just say bathrooms?" The professor interrupted.

 "No, no! PATHWAYS one can take. Going down the center brings you straight to the potty room where everyone gathers."

"Did you just 'potty' or 'party'?!"

The class laughed again. My professor was amused for a few minutes, and then...

"Alright, let's make a new rule. YOU cannot mention the bathroom unless someone explicitly asks you about it. No more bathroom talk."


And that, dear reader, is How I Was Banned From Talking About Bathrooms.

~ArchiTalmud

April Architecture Fools! (Update)

We're about three (TREE!!!) weeks into the Cliff Dwelling project. I'm behind right now in drawings. There's:

• a frame/structure model 
• the site
• study of the site

Due Thursday morning.

Right now I'm trying out making floor plans for the first time in AutoCAD... I don't know right now. It's fast and easy. Less measuring time. But, like, I'm worried. I have every right to be. Oh well.

The reason I'm behind is because of spring break week when we were assigned an amount of homework that is in-equivalent to the amount of work the other two studios were assigned the whole semester so far.

I got some of it done. But, oy vey.
I'll get there. With only six weeks left to the semester. Eight days until the mid-review. Thirteen until Pesach (Passover).

This is going to be interesting.

Actual Project Updates:

I've a basic grid layout for the program conditions. nothing too complex. which is how I like it. but the final product needs to be in a modern style. I really like this concept, but the approach is very wrong.
We've done a frame/wire model construction. It's not very useful. we could have just put columns into the site and infilled the belly of the structure where needed to support rooms and structure.

Idea: Cave elements... Yeah. Just talking to myself.

Midreview: 10 April 2014 9:00:00 AM

Talk to you later, dear reader ;)

~ArchiTalmud

Starting Project 2: Cliff Dwelling

Just making a footnote here: 8 Weeks of Insanity!

And not the physical workout... It's the architecture student kind...

Finished Project 1-- Now the Games Begin!

My Corner Presentation + Spotlight BONUS

Here's the Original Painting:

This is the Analysis of it:

Phase 2 Model

Phase 3 Wireframe Model

Phase 3 Volume Studies

Final Wood Model

Final Model Axonometric

Final Model Exploded Axonometric

Final Model Elevations

Final Model Section Cuts

And that's the end of this project. I've cut out 3 months of work and 18 more pages.

Thanks for checking it out, dear reader ;)

~ArchiTalmud