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“Misdirection can sometimes be the best direction”

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4th Greatest

A couple of months back, me and a select group of others went on a convention trip to Savannah, GA. The city was extremely beautiful and walk-able. We were down there for about four days. In retrospect I probably shoud not have taken this trip due to timing. When I came back I have more than a handful of deadlines headed my way as well as grades falling. But all in all I got a chance to see a place that I would have never gotten to see if not for the College of Architecture. This was definitely a moment that I shall not soon forget, I also went on this trip with my favorite TA... Ms. Kenna Cajka. The picture shown was on of my favorite showcases and the SCAD Art Museum.

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Max

The former director of the College of Architecture at the University of Tennessee came and spoke to us today talking themes of design and how design can be something different. At least, that’s what I took from the lecture. The picture was the building in question for the lecture. This building in question is a church called NOTRE DAME DE HAUT. At first glace this looks nothing like a church, it completely throws away the idea of what a building let alone a church is supposed to look like. This is what I believe Max was challenging us to to. Be bold, arrogant, and controversial with every design

Manifesto

1. Architecture is and includes Design.

2. Architecture is Art.

3. Architecture is understanding the world around you and what that world needs.

4. Architecture is a thing that has made me personally look at life differently.

5. Architecture is Life - We are all creators, builders, designers. Each day we fight to make our life, our world one step closer to what we have envisioned the day prior. We are all architects, changing lives brick-by-brick.

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"Photo Observation 4/19/2016"

I don't know if this picture has been edited or if it's just extremely old. The building in the background is marvelous. It looks sharp, literally. The building comes to a point on the roof, or at least from this perspective Image Source | Miles van der Rohe - Friedrichstrasse Project 1921

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Photo Observation 4/14/2016

Being free is the first thing that comes to mind. I also find comedy in this painting with the little animal and the bottom left of the screen randomly being placed. Its there almost as if it knows what the girl is doing, waching as if it is another standby in an audience.

Image Source | Max Ernst. From Une Semaine de Bonte. 1933

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Photo Observation 4/12

Another collage. What I believe makes this collage different from others is it’s balance and symmetry.

Image Source | le corbusier, ronchamp door mural, 1950-53

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Genius of America

This painting by far will always be my favorite. “Genius of America” by Adolphe Yvon says so many things or it “displays and processes data in a visually compelling way". Within the painting you see so much that it is hard to somewhat swallow all that is show. This was meant to be. The actual painting has a massive size (The Painting is 30 FEET), I know this from seeing it in person at the St. Louis art museum. One of the main and most predominant things one will see is two figures holding objects while being on a pedestal guarded by lions. While one of the figures holds a spear with golden leaves at the top, the other holds up a triangle. I believe that this represents geometry. This figure is wearing a red fixture and both figures are holding hands. Behind them is a floating group of people and items. The main item shown is the American flag, beside it is the bald eagle which is another American symbol. The people of this floating façade are holding horns and what looks like bay leaves. They are holding these leaves in a position as if they will be using them to fight with. With each person wearing a different color, red is the most common. This reminds me of the British and the red that they wore during the war. Beside them is a statue of George Washington being worshiped as if God. Below him there is what seems to be a pastor of some sort showing the bible to whom one can guess are slaves. I believe this is in the painting to show how religion was forced on such slaves upon entering this country. Every person of black color’s facial expression is that of fear, even in the children. One can even see, clearly, a black male being pulled back by a man wearing a grey coat. For those that don’t know, grey is a symbolic color when it comes to this country. The generals and soldiers of the Confederate states wore grey coats in the Civil War. I have merely touched the surface of all the data that has been presented within this great piece of art, which is another reason why I love it so.

Image Source | “Genius of America” by Adolphe Yvon

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Photo Observation 4/7/2016

The first thing that comes to mind is collage. Or this simply could just be the effect. The car in the front of the photo sheds light on a world that is no longer here. A world of rag time and long Cadillacs. The building tells a different story. A story of a future with the same model car parked in the drive way but only in a newer/better condition. There is a bird flying about what seems to be a desert or a deserted land.

Image: Nils-ole Lund. The Future of Architecture. 1979

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VOGUE

Eaux, my; Eaux, my. To go to Canada to die. To fly in the matte toned sky. Needing to be shook with mirth, one should give Juneau a try. Feeling nothing but grief, creating ripples in streets. Eaux, my; Eaux, my. To go to Canada to die. Fenty is my clothing of choice. These name brands leave my name with no voice. No mental. Torrential, falling rapidly, out the sky. Eaux, my; Eaux, my. Eaux, my; Eaux, my. My fall being photographed. Gold-trimmed nozzles when in bath. Grommets behind the nozzles, nostalgia next to follow. Hamish at best, the world I see tomorrow. If I give Juneau a try. Eaux my; Eaux my.

Image Source | http://allthingscruise.com/wilderness-explorer-alaskan-cruise-summer-2012-precruise-in-juneau/

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Photo Observation 3/29

The photo shown today shows nice and straight lines as well as negative space. It is very simplistic with only two dominant colors in the picture. On the right side though there are little markings in black. They look comparable to some of the earthquake readers, the name of the thing slips my mind.

Image Source | 12th Station - Barnett Newman 1965

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3rd Greatest Thing

This school semester is almost over, something I am somewhat having a hard time grasping. Still, my here thus far has been nothing short but stellar. One of the reasons for my stellar experience at UT is my 3rd Greatest Thing. My 3rd greatest thing is becoming a founding member of an organization. The organization I speak of is B.U.E., which stands for Brothers United for Excellence. Within such an organization I hold the position of Director of Academic Excellence. As I have done several activates with this wonderful group of scholars since my first semester, I have made nothing but joyous memories trying to create a foundation for an organization that not only promotes success and advancement, but diversity. Diversity at this moment in time on campus is in a battle against the officials that are choosing to cut the funds devoted to diversity by more than 65%. I am proud to be in a group like this in a time like this. In the future, if I don’t accomplish anything else I can say that I helped create something for the betterment of my people and that is one of my greatest things.

Image Source | Twitter: @UT_BUE

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Time

Malcom X once said that whenever he would drive his vehicle, he would do it with a watch on his sterring wheel. He would go by his watch instead of his speedometer because he firmly believed that time was more important than anything else since one could not get that back. Time and what one uses to measure or count it is mentioned in the reading “chronopolis”. Seeing as the main was incarcerated he would have had to find means of keeping track of time since he would not have unlimited access to a clock or a watch like Malcolm. My grandmother was a fisherwoman, what she would do to keep track of time was counting rocks. She never taught me the process

Where’s the Beef? (Appalachian Spring)

Today’s song selection reminded me of the old Sony Playstation 3′s opening musical drop. The instrumentation was a spectacle. If I were watching someone steal something or do something mischievous, this would be the background music for the motion picture.

Song: Aaron Copland - “Appalachian Spring”

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Eye of the Skin

This week’s reading, which was ‘Eyes of the Skin’, wasn’t too bad. It started off with a list a statements that were somewhat poetic in nature. My favorite was the one by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe which was “The hands want to see, the eyes want to caress.” I love this phrase so much I thought I about jotting it down in my sketchbook just so I will always have this poetry with me. The rest of this particular reading was mostly discussing the sense of sight compared to the others. “The eyes want to caress”, this makes me feel somewhat sorry for my eyes. Wanting to do something that you know is impossible. The phrase gives the senses human qualities, what this phrase brings to mind is another well-known phrase, “the grass is greener on the other side”. Showing that my hands and my eyes commit the same sin that my mind does at times, lust. The second reading, ‘Such Places as Memory’, consisted of poems. I thought this concept would be cool. ‘Poetry as Architecture, Architecture as Poetry’, a great concept and view. The poems in my opinion don’t really hold up there end of the bargain. None of them were memorable. Almost just like Ambroziak’s lecture last week. Going back to the topic of vision, I had a thought during class sometime the other week. My thought was, how can we better cater to those without sight when society is sight based? Everything from our phones to computers, driving and bike riding would require sight in order for the action to be completed. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not have it. I also can’t contemplate what we could offer those without it to help improve their lives. Of course there are things out there already like ‘text-to-speech’, but there is still so much that those without sight are missing out on. These dreams, thoughts, and ideas that I have might be far fetched and/or impossible but I believe that there is more that could be done so that the eyes could caress once more.

Image Source | https://www.pinterest.com/pin/214835844698533973/

Photo Observation 3/3

Today’s photo reminds me of a glacier. It seems to be a building carved out of ice. This building is beautiful in nature, and it almost seems dream like. Looks almost like something that would be in a Disney world parks. I’m expecting a princess to jump out at any second.

Image Source | Jeanne-Claude and Christo. The Reichstag Wrapped in Silver Fabric. 1995

Photo Observation 3/1/16

The photo at hand makes me see different things. I somewhat looks like I am looking at a field stretched to a vanishing point. But, the colors make me think that it is representing a crowd of people. There are three lines that come from the top of the picture. These line could be the tension that’s holding a goal, a goal that would be in an arena. What throws everything off is this white strip in the middle of the picture, could be water, could be snow. But I am staring to believe that this is a field because at the horizon it seems to be trees or something in the distance.

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