Midsummer

I realize it's been a very long time since I updated this, so here it is. I left off where the block group had cast its first prototype block to go into the Well House. Here are a couple photos of the final one:

So, there it is. There were dozens of these blocks cast out of 14 total formworks that were made such as this one:

And since we were making the entire structure out of concrete, there were column and lintel formworks to be made:

And then, once these were constructed, we had to mix and pour concrete into them:

Then, after all that was done, here's what it looked like hanging out in the shop yard:

This was followed by the transportation of these blocks, columns, and lintels to the site:

So, after transporting everything to the site, we commenced construction:

All that was left at that point was some additional painting, plumbing, block additions, and site cleanup. Here are my final photos:

I'd call it a job well done by Penn State First Year Architecture, Section 3!

Well House process

The Well House previously mentioned is proceeding slowly it seems. Until now, we had narrowed our ideas for the water-catching roof and structural frame down to two, and our section just convened to create one idea. I am one of the three self-assigned to the "block crew." It's our job to create formwork for our concrete blocks that will fill in the frame. We successfully cast our first block:

It may not look/be perfect, but if you line them up in a staggered form, it looks pretty cool.

Here's what it would look like if they were all lined up in the staggered way, which is ultimately what they will be stacked as. The reason this image doesn't make perfect circles is because I had to warp the block a little in order to fit them in a nice pattern, but they are going to make near perfect circles in reality.

Concrete blocks, Well House, etc

Here's a more text update on things that are going on. For studio, each section is designing and building a structure (approx. 12'x12') that will serve a purpose on Penn State's Center for Sustainability. My section is designing what we call a "Well House," which will house at least two water canisters that are used for gardening. This is all well and good, but our professor wants the walls to be made out of concrete blocks. And yes, it will be the students' job to design and ultimately make these blocks ourselves. Here are my two preliminary proposed block ideas:

We then collaborated as a section to pick out the best designs based on function or aesthetics. I placed both of mine in the aesthetic category. We knocked out half of our total blocks, and both of mine managed to make it through that round. Then, we grouped similar blocks together to make five groups, and we have small groups developing each of those ideas further. There will eventually be one block design that will make up the entire Well House.


For VisCom, we've gone over PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign, and now we are doing a quick segment about PowerPoint. Here's my InDesign assignment:

The assignment was to describe our last studio project with visuals and text.