Diagrams

In our most recent history lecture, we were shown some diagrams which Richard Meier is fond of drawing in order to explain his ideas. I'm sure that at this moment the whole class simultaneously thought 'our matrices!' because these look like exactly the sort of thing we're supposed to do. Hopefully having seen these will make my next matrix even better, since I have been quite unsure about them previously and we're getting so close to the end now!

The Architectural Promenade

Since his time drawing in Athens, Le Corbusier had an idea of the architectural promenade- having to walk around a building first, admiring it, before being able to stand before it and understand it as a whole. (We learnt this in history! :))
We were intrigued with this idea, especially in relation to the cable car vehicle- the cable car vehicle is all about pushing the limits. Escaping with this vehicle is not meant to be an easy thing- you have to really want it. Therefore, if we don't allow it to stop at the front of the building it means the travellers would have to go just a little bit further before finally having escaped.
It also enhances the journey of the lantern- the lantern travels at a slow rate, forcing the traveler to experience everything; to really see what they are escaping from, and maybe considering whether this scenery is really dystopian at all. Having the lantern not land right at the entrance enhances this, since it means that upon disembarking, the travellers have another slow journey to go, a journey in which they also must experience everything; experiencing what it is like to finally arrive at their destination and allowing them to consider whether their destination is actually much better than what they left behind.
Hence we want both our cable car and lantern to stop at the back of our Waiheke inspired hotel.

Starting ArchiCAD

We actually started using ArchiCAD last semester for ARCHDRC 102 (you can see the treehouses myself and my team mates created at my media blog here: ARCHDRC 102) but we were told that we would be using it in more depth this semester.

I actually don't have design until tomorrow morning, but it's always best to start learning software as early as possible (if you want to download your free version under an education licence you can do so here at the official graphisoft website: Free ArchiCAD education licence) so I downloaded it and played around with it in the semester break. At first (as far as I recall) you get a 1 month licence but you can apply for a 1 year one and extend it each subsequent year while you're studying (whether at high school or university, it doesn't really matter so long as you're a student). I'm doing some more major practice tonight mainly because my memory is awful so I'd like to make sure that the things I learnt are still fresh in my mind. There are lots of tutorials all over the place including on the graphisoft website, but I have mainly been looking at a series of YouTube videos starting with this one: Basic Training Lesson 1.

Anyway, I'm back to it now. The first day of semester has been good so far by the way. My ARCHHTC 102 class seems like it's going to be very interesting even if it is rather annoying timetable wise- 8am starts 3 times a week. That's fine really for me since I live close to uni, but for the students living in places like North Shore it must be dreadful. I'm quite fond of history though and if it's related to architecture then even better! Basically, I'm really looking forward to this next semester!