Summer Scholars

A brief look into the life of the Summer Scholars, past and present.

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Bloopers

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What is a Summer Scholar? A summary of the Summer Scholar Experience at Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company

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Some more pics from Columbus, Indiana 

Here are some pictures I took from our Summer Scholar trip 2015. Can you guess the building/architect?

-Kelsey

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Check out the 757 maker space!

Parklet still has ways to go, but it’s getting there!

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Life’s a Beach

If you ever find yourself with nothing to do over the weekend, then I highly recommend a post-Handsome Biscuit trip to the beach. Trust me, after devouring a delicious Hella Fitzgerald (fried chicken on a biscuit… seriously) the last thing you want to do is move for a few hours. A convenient 20 minute drive away from Norfolk, Virginia Beach is perfect for a sunny day of weather.

Depending on what we wanted to do, the beach had plenty of options. It ranges from livelier concert venues with plenty of restaurants and touristy activities, to the calmer residential areas up on the North end. Over the course of our 10 week program, the Scholars hit the beach at every weekend opportunity we could. It’s a great way to spend a sunny day, and would highly recommend to any future Scholars!

-Kelsey

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PARKLET!!

Construction for the new HEWV Parklet has begun here in Norfolk. Design has been finalized, construction documents completed, and the materials have been ordered. All that's left is to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty.

A Parklet is miniature park that must be transportable and fit inside one parallel parking spaces, so roughly 20’ x 8’. We are constructing the Parklet at 757 Marker Space, which is basically a dream come true for any true fabricator. It has table saws, chop saws, welding equipment, a CNC, and every hand tool imaginable neatly housed in a renovated warehouse in the historic Ghent district. Construction began with the cutting and assembling of 2x4’s for the benches which will define the footprint of the Parklet. Next cedar had to be cut and sanded down for siding.

Next weekend we plan on staining all the siding, assembling the planters, and cutting wood for the wall. We’re moving as quick as possible in hopes of finishing the Parklet before our time in Norfolk ends.

-Garrett  

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The end of July is nearing, meaning that Graphics Month is almost over. During Graphics Month, there are several lectures and activities taking place to encourage drawing as well as other forms of expressive art. Scavenger Sketching is something that takes place weekly. A specific theme is chosen and during lunch hour those who are interested make theme-related sketches. This is a compilation of some of our themed sketches!  

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Trivia

Over the past few weeks, we have been partaking in pub trivia (sometimes at Tap House but most recently at Smartmouth Brewery) almost weekly. It’s hosted by Pete, an architect friend of several people at Hanbury Evans and practically all of Norfolk. Usually a handful of people from work go with us but Sam, who also works at the firm, is our official team “space nerd” and basically carries the team every week! :P 

-Kamila

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Construction Site Visit

Today we went on our third construction site visit, organized by Chris. Down the street from the office, there is a hotel being constructed. The structure is concrete so it has been pretty cool being able to see the process. Each visit, we’ve been meeting with this guy named Gary who works for the construction company. We first meet in a conference room where Gary tells us what is happening with the project, answers questions, and in general tells us about things like construction documents, concrete construction, placing rebar, etc. Afterwards, we go to the construction site to see the new developments. Today we got to go up several ladders (it’s a good thing none of us are really afraid of heights) and saw finished concrete slabs, as well as steel reinforcement being laid out for a two-way slab prior to the pouring of the concrete. It was really neat to be able to see both the work-in-process and the finished product on the same construction site. 

While we were, we also happened to run into the mayor! It was pretty funny but also cool that he was interested in knowing where we were go to school and taking group photos with us!

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My Snapchat story with some of the buildings, sculptures, and things we saw on our Summer Scholar Trip to Columbus, Indiana! 

Unfortunately because it was taken with a phone, you might have to tilt your head 90 degrees for half of it :p 

-Kamila

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Summer Scholar Trip

For all of those wondering how our Summer School trip to Columbus, IN went—we had a great time and saw some really amazing works of architecture by Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi, Harry Weese, and even sculptural pieces by Henry Moore and Dale Chihuly.

I think all of us can agree that the highlight of the trip was seeing the Miller House and Gardens designed by Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley (though Kelsey might argue that the highlight was the ice cream parlor)!

On our tour of the Miller House, we were able to see some very crafted interior spaces, like the central living area—complete with a conversation pit, furniture designed by C. Eames and many custom textiles by Girard (unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos of the inside). Although majority of the house was white travertine and marble, the colorful and interchangeable furnishings gave the house a unique liveliness. The plan was organized on a grid dictated by cruciform columns. In the center of the grid was the living area whereas programmatic spaces such as bedrooms and the kitchen were pushed to the outer corners. Unlike other influential modernist houses with which the Miller House is often associated— such as the Farnsworth House, Glass House, and the Barcelona Pavilion— the Miller House was all about functionality, requiring practical and comfortable living for a large family of seven. After getting a tour of the inside and gardens, the Miller House quickly became one of our favorite stops on the trip.

However, that is not to say that the other buildings we saw were any less captivating!

Overall, we had a wonderful time especially since none of us scholars had been there before. Columbus was a peculiar, albeit unique city with a very diverse range of architecture.

-Garrett

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Restaurant Week

This week is Restaurant Week in Norfolk! There is a good number of restaurants in downtown Norfolk which are offering prix fixe $10 lunches and dinners ranging from $15-$40. We did dinner Thursday night with Nathan at Gershwin’s. Everything was really good! Today we went to lunch at Todd Jurich’s with a large group from the office. It was nice to be able to try some of the nicer restaurants in Norfolk for a really affordable price. I wish I had taken pictures... but most of the time my hunger overrules my patience! :p I will try harder to photo-document food adventures in the future!

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All-you-can-eat sushi! Sorry, Garrett already ate a few pieces before I could even take out my phone.

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Maxwell Lesson

One of the many great aspects of being a Summer Scholar is the Mentoring  that takes place every day. Everyone at HEWV is willing and able to take the time to sit down with you and help with anything you may need. Jimmy Stevens, the in house Swiss Army Knife, helped us throughout the summer learning the Maxwell Rendering Software.  This is an extremely powerful tool that takes any old Sketchup model and puts it through a rendering program to take your visuals to the next level.  Maxwell was installed on the computers back in Tennessee but I was never able to really utilize the software because it was never taught to me. After learning the software I really wished I had taken advantage of it while I was there.

Jimmy was an excellent teacher, explaining thoroughly how to map materials onto objects for the greatest effects, lighting parameters, and optimal settings for final renderings. In the end we produced some nice renderings for a presentation that will be shown to donors in hopes of raising money. I am excited to put this new tool to use over the summer and throughout my career.

-Garrett  

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Today’s post is entitled “OMG FOOD!”

Okay, anyone who knows me fairly well will tell you that I get far more excited about food than the average person. Some may even call me a “foodie.” 

Whatever you wish to call it, I will be posting about my breakfast/brunch experience. While I was still in Syracuse and preparing for this summer, I spent some time on Yelp to check out what Norfolk’s food scene has to offer (I was impressed, actually). Very highly rated on there was Handsome Biscuit-- basically homemade sweet potato biscuits stuffed with all sorts of delicacies. There’s one with PB+J, another with pulled pork, one with chicken salad, etc. etc. Anyways, the three of us decided to go this morning and there was a line leading outside of the place. I got a sweet tea and the Stevie, which is basically a biscuit stuffed with FRIED CHICKEN, pickles, whole grain mustard, and honey. The guy taking the order asked if I’d like to add bacon... naturally I had to say yes. 

Needless to say, it was delicious and resulted in a major food coma. But nothing that the beach couldn’t fix. Yes... we went to the beach after all of this. Probably didn’t help our beach bods, but it was worth it :) I’m really excited about the “Southern Food” I’ve had access to here in Norfolk. In NY, Popeye’s (or Mad for Chicken when I’m in Manhattan!) is basically my best option, so this is exciting!!

-Kamila

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Harborfest!

Today started out with Kelsey and I going to the Sketch Walk. If you don’t know what a Sketch Walk is, basically it is an event where anyone can meet up and sketch while walking around the city of Norfolk. At the end of the Sketch Walk, everyone meets at a local restaurant/bar to share and show their drawings from the day. 

Well, today’s sketch walk happened to coincide with Harborfest, so Kelsey and I decided to go there to get some sketching inspiration. There were multiple ships you could walk through, live music acts, performers, and tonnes of food vendors! It was fun to be at the waterfront and it seems as though Norfolk has a lot of festivals happening throughout weekends in the summer! I know Kelsey is especially looking forward to the Bayou Boogaloo Cajun Festival!

-Kamila

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Revit Training

One of the biggest disadvantages of just completing my third year of undergrad is not having any background knowledge in Revit. Fortunately for the Summer Scholars program, regardless of your previous (or lack of, in my case) experience, there will be mandatory training sessions. Woohoo!

I have to admit, the idea of a few full days of software training in your first week may sound intimidating. As someone who could pretty much only draw a line in Revit, I was skeptical of how much I could really learn being stuck in a single room all day. However as soon as the Revit master, Mike, walked in and introduced himself, it was clear to the summer scholars that he was the guy to get us through the next couple days. The tutorial session itself was engaging and kept at steady pace. Fellow scholars who were more knowledgeable guided me through some of the tasks, which indicated how well we would work together throughout the summer. And whenever any one of us got stuck, Mike was there every step of the way.

So, future Summer Scholars, if you have no idea how to use Revit, have no fear! Or even if you think you are an expert in the software, I guarantee you will learn a few more extra skills. It’s also a great opportunity to talk to Mike, he is definitely one of the coolest people you will ever meet.

-Kelsey