They're here...

Our pieces for the desk are back from the laser cutter!

Today I sanded laser burn marks off plywood for 5 hours.

5 hours.

Back to the grind

It's all about the research paper today. Kudos to Brown's Rockefeller Library for having 50 books on Heidegger.

Happy Belated Thankgsiving!

I'm home for the holiday. We watched the Macy's parade. I need to get back to work.

Did I mention the final laser file for the desk is with the laser cutter? It's done. Finished. In a week we'll have a stack of birch plywood parts ready to be assembled into a desk.

Here's where we are with the desk. It's Monday morning and the files need to go to the laser cutter by tomorrow at noon. The major change to the design has been the removal of side panels and beefing up of the lower right support panel. We're meeting with the CIT shop manager to discuss fasteners later today.

The pattern is meh. We're going with a "key" pattern after the shelter's Logo. The screen portion of the desk that separates the user from the public bookshelf will begin at the bottom as abstract geometric shapes and then work it's way up to a finish key design. This signifies the idea of a transitional house environment where the formerly homeless are provided with a key to their own room for the first time; the establishment of a new life starts with a key. There isn't enough time to figure out the crane pattern and how much stability it will cost the desk. I'm not into the keys, I think it's too literal a reminder of the logo. C'est la vie.





Shhhh....I'm still holding out for the crane.

2 Classes left??

I only have two classes left in drawing, building materials and history! What happened? Where did this first semester go?

Yesterday in building materials we each presented four material samples (I had composites) to donate to RISD's tiny and poorly organized Material Library. The Materials Library currently resides in the hallway of a forgotten floor of the Fleet library building but will soon be expanding to a larger, more accessible space.





My four samples were:

Paperstone Paper Countertop Material
Marmoleum Click!
Corian
Maya Romanoff Geode Glass Wallpaper

I thought this was a decent range based on my past working experience, but my classmates brought in some truly amazing samples.



I stick by the glass wallpaper though. I've seen this installed and it's stunning.



Our last project for the class is a materials board (which means more sample collecting) that corresponds with a project we've worked on this semester. I'm using the Shavings Collections project. I need to get working. Samples can take weeks to arrive and this board is due Dec 3.

Blah

The first course of my dinner looked like this:



Yes. Today was so good that I went to the grocery store and asked the kind sir in the cheese department for a "triple cream" varietal.

The crit we had today was tough. We need to rework the construction of the desk. At the eleventh hour. Pushing laser cutting the final product back a week due to the upcoming holiday.

For added nutritional value the next course looked like this.



Roasted brussel sprouts and a second cider.

I'm frustrated tonight. But I also know the challenges presented today are precisely WHY I'm attending grad school.

Versus working at a job...which pays money...and has benefits...and allows me to contribute to a retirement account...

And pop goes the lid of the third cider.

Art Nouveau Patterns

Here's the "pelican feeding chick" pattern in sketch model form. The pattern is based on a drawing by Sir Edward Burne-Jones called "The Pelican" (pictures in the pattern sheet on the previous post).

For the purposes of our project, the design is symbolic of Sister Virginia Mulhern (for whom the property at 35 Creighton is named) and her contributions to the community of Jamaica Plain.








Keep in mind the final project will be out of birch plywood with a natural linseed oil / beeswax finish. Not black like a Rorschach test...

Patterns

I'm exploring possible patterns for the desk. The Pine Street Inn house itself dates to the 1890s - so I'm concentrating on Art Nouveau patterns.

Today's drawing homework

...came out ok? I'm really happy we've switched to computer drawing.

We laser cut another round of models - this time focusing on a removed pattern to lighten the weight of the desk.





The desk - shaped up a bit to meet ADA requirements.

History Research Paper

Our one paper for the semester in History class can be on anything we'd like- provided it relates to something we've covered in lecture. We all shared the ideas for our papers during class last week, lots of Renaissance and Baroque topics - theater, chateaus, etc. I decided to go a different route.



I'm writing about the movie Moon (Duncan Jones / Sam Rockwell) and how the works of German philosopher Martin Heidegger would prove or disprove the existence of the main character, Sam Bell, within his lunar habitat. Heidegger believed that existence is based on location. Human beings exist between the Earth and the sky. If you're not between the Earth and sky, you do not exist. This is different from someone like Descartes, for whom existence was based on the ability to think. If you have a brain in your head, you exist.

Back to Heidegger, after we've established our existence between the Earth and the sky, we must "dwell" - that is provide ourselves protection from the elements, in order to sustain existence. Sam Bell exists not between the Earth and the sky - but in outer space, in a lunar dwelling. What other philosophical Heideggerian paths will Sam travel to determine his existence?



watch the trailer here

Hmmmm....

I wish I had something exciting to report today. I had a nice weekend, lower key than usual. Lunch at Clover in Cambridge and a quick sweep through Anthropologie for inspiration purposes only.



This photo makes me want to spend the two weeks of winter break knitting enormous yarn links. I don't even know what I'd do with them. I'm definitely going to try for a textiles class next semester.

Christina and I are still working out the details on construction for the Pine Street Inn desk. We met with a large scale laser cutting company today, Precision Laser in Pawtucket. They're going to be cutting our 4x8 sheets of plywood for the final piece. For tomorrow they're cutting our next round of scale models because the school laser cutter wouldn't work last night. We almost cried.

By Friday the full scale final pieces will be cut and many of our weekend hours will be spent sanding away the burnt edges from the laser. We looked at a calendar yesterday, this semester is 3 weeks away from completion! How? What? Huh?

Tensile Structure

Mine came out okay. Definitely a fun class activity and I think I'll be able to reuse most everything, including the homasote.






I don't want to jinx it but I may have an internship lined up for Wintersession in addition to my Web Design class. Fingers and toes are tightly crossed.

Tensile Project

In Building Materials class tomorrow we're doing something to explore tensile structure.

Here's the treasure hunt of a supply list we'll need:

16”x 16” x 1/2” thick homasote
Sewing thread / Sewing needle – mid size is best
1 pair queen size pantyhose – white
white glue
push pins / straight pins
wooden dowels ( 2-0 long and 1/4” diameter will be sufficient)
Optional - Metal rods ( approx 3/16” diameter)
Bring adequate cutting tools – scissors, small saw, utility knife, etc.

Should be fun!

Also, we went up to Boston today for our final meeting with the Pine Street Inn folks. The next time we'll see them is at the review on December 15th. The laser desk model fared very well - just a few more tweaks needed. We'll be laser cutting once more this Sunday evening to ensure the dimensioning and structure is sound. The best part is they're leaning towards the linseed oil / beeswax natural, no-VOC finish that I was hoping for. It's the one on the top. Second choice is the darkest of the "Georgian Cherry" in the middle. It matches the existing stained Wainscot perfectly.

Hello Gorgeous

As gorgeous as burnt masonite can be.





Still a bunch of kinks to be worked out, but this will be the basic form, with casters.

Go Go Gadget Laser Cutter!

And here we are. All of this crap should produce a model by 10am tomorrow morning.