Week 4

Alex and Zeb

Monday:

Starting week 4 we all began presenting our final drawn interior space floor plans. After a productive morning of crucial feedback and thinking from the group, we were all ready to begin modeling! Based on every person’s design we were put in groups that had similar design concepts. Once in our groups we began to finalize one idea per group, which was a diving board into models. Each group began to scale back our drawings to ⅛: scale and build what we had drawn. After intensely building all afternoon we had 10 models to compare and contrast. Looking over each model and concept, everyone had new ideas brewing to continue the design process. 4:00 came and went, when it was of course time to cool off in the punch bowl.

Tuesday:

Today we started with the continuation of our massing models and began to experiment with different concepts. Our group (Alex, Andreas, Zeb) focused on trying different roof pitches and a series of ridges in order to give the exterior of the building different appearances. Other groups focused more on the shape of the roof and wall heights to accommodate their interior floor plans. We quickly wrapped up the building session because it was time for a field trip! We were fortunate enough to tour the Waitsfield 10; a building built over the course of 10 years. We met Mac, the home owner and he invited us to take a tour of the building. With new ideas brewing in our minds, we headed back to campus. While the day of design was over for the day, some of the students headed over to a local circus to conclude the night!

Wednesday

Today began with more modeling and the discussing of our ideas. In groups we furthered our designs and continued to change and mesh our ideas into one. The goal was to experiment with different aesthetics in order to figure out what would make sense, considering the landscape, sunlight, time of year and of course what the client had in mind. With these considerations in mind each group went back over their designs and applied the new information. After lunch with more iterations of our models we had another review session. Shortly after Sean gave us a great lesson on building materials and structures, specifically buildings in the northeast. With the lesson all wrapped up, it was time to enjoy some dinner.

Thursday:

Today began with finishing our latest models to have them ready for the afternoon.

With these new ideas and models on hand, we had the opportunity to present to Britton. We explained the clients program, shared the site model we had built, and finally presented our latest iterations in order to gain more feedback. We had a great discussion about how we could yet again change our designs to consider new factors that we hadn’t thought of. With heavy rain coming down all day, we stayed inside and were treated to a presentation on Historic New England Architecture given by Jamie Duggan. Jaime had given us all a tour of the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead a few weeks back and was generous enough to share his knowledge. Once the presentation was wrapped up, it was time for a great Yestermorrow dinner.

Friday:

This morning began with a discussion regarding race in architecture. We discussed the impact that racism has had on architecture and the way it has affected certain groups. Along with cited information, many anecdotal experiences were shared as well. This generated an important discussion on how racism still affects architecture to this day. After our discussion, we all moved inside to begin learning Sketch Up! With a brief overview it was time to visit Britton’s house. A quick trip over found us eating lunch and talking about the bizarre architecture of the area. This led us on a walk up Prickly Mountain rd and Loop rd where we admired many past Yestermorrow projects. With yet even more new design ideas in our heads we all headed back to campus. Once we got back, our Sketch Up lesson continued and the process of hand drawing our designs soon became virtual versions in the software. While we didn’t quite get to modeling them, it was a good fundamental lesson in how to use the program itself. With another good week of progress under our belts, it was finally the weekend.