Trevi Fountain

So this Spring Break has been the best of my college career. I got to spend 10 days in Italy and France. As I type I am people watching at the Trevi Fountain in Roma, Italy. This is an amazing place in an amazing city. It funny though I sit here and don't see a single Roman which makes me realize how much this is a tourist spot in Rome. I love it though. There is something so romantic about this spot, by yourself or with a significant other the place is beautiful. The fountain makes over 3,000 euros a day and its because they say this fountain will bring you back to Rome if you throw a coin over your shoulder. Its a fun tradition I have started while in Rome and encourage everyone who visits to make it a tradition of their own!

"Big Ass Fans"

The “Big Ass Fans” company is quickly becoming a recognized home name. Is it the crazy name or the quality of the product, I am not sure but there is one thing I know once you have seen one you don’t forget it. 21^st Admendment Bar and Lounge on Dickson Street here in Fayetteville is the first time I ever encountered one of these huge fans and at risks of sounding dumb I am now a huge fan of this fan.

Bigassfans.com offers large size fans for both the home and the office even industrial uses. Under how they work on their site it says “Big Ass Fans are the highest quality, most meticulously engineered HVLS fans on the planet. HVLS stands for High Volume / Low Speed, meaning Big Ass Fans move a lot of air with their size (which is up to 24-ft. in diameter), not speed. Moving at a low speed means less energy used for operation, translating into more energy savings for you. And Big Ass Fans aren't just for the warmer months. Big Ass Fans can save you money and keep you comfortable year-round.” So not only does it look cool it also saves energy. I’m sold. What do you think?

AutoCAD all the time?

With the release of the new iPad 2 by Apple and my project deadline quickly approaching I decided to look into the AutoCAD app for iPad and iPhone. I haven’t gotten the chance to explore it on my iPad yet but as soon as I do I will let you know the results but for now I am super excited about having AutoCAD with me at all times. The description on the Apple website says:

“View, edit, and share your DWG™ files with anyone, anywhere. AutoCAD WS mobile app enables you to work with AutoCAD drawings directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. 
Accurately annotate and revise drawings while you are on location in the field, in meetings, or out of the office. Work with local versions of your designs when you don’t have an Internet connection, and easily open DWG and DXF™ files you receive as email attachments directly on your device. 
Experience the freedom of taking your designs with you—wherever you go.”

This sounds great and I believe this would be a great tool for in the field adjustments and notes. Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects are leaders in the design field in Arkansas and use the iPad in all aspects in design. Below are some screen shots of the AutoCAD iPhone and iPad app. I will update you on my reviews of the app but for now let me know what you think about the idea of using the iPad on site and for daily design.

Great Lakes Future

The design of Discovery World Museum- Great Lakes Future by La Dallman Architects in Milwaukee located right on Lake Michigan merges Milwaukee’s industrial heritage with geomorphology to create a learning environment that all who enter will leave with a new understanding of the watershed they have being living on or near.

After listening to the lecture by Grace La at the University of Arkansas you see that the design intentions of the project were to marry low and high technology, show the layers of the city/watershed while displaying the industry, economy and territorial essence of Milwaukee.

You see these designed into the sidewalls of the exhibition where the dovetail connection and strong horizontal lines represent the stratification of the earths layers while the excavation of these layers for the exhibit spaces show just how the city use the earth for many different means.

The sky was used to let the users feel the atmospheric conditions while inside, this was communicated by placing LED lights that change the color of the sky to represent winter or summer sky for example. The sky also created a space that they titled “the sky room” which allows the people inside to get an aerial view of the watershed to understand it at another level.

The plan on the space encourages the visitors to meander through like water movement; the circulation plan is very organic which is an interesting contrast to the very geometric sidewalls and ceiling. I believe this contrast was intentional and a thoughtful execution of the beginning goals of marrying different levels of technology, layers of the earth and the industrial, economical and territorial identity of Milwaukee.

View of exhibit space

Diagram of exhibit space layout

View of exhibit space

Plan of exhibit space

View of exhibit space

Detail of exhibit space floor

Example of High Technology software used for watershed area