Replay Button Please?

Nicole here.
I'm terribly sorry for not writing a post sooner. This is my first official one and today is the last day of Forum. I'm sitting in the hotel lobby as I write this. When I get home tonight, I'll start updating photos and writing about my experience at Forum 2011.

I heard "I would like to thank..." at least a dozen times the past four days. I do thank all of the people who helped plan this event, but I especially want to thank the 4 students that came with me to Forum (Jimmy, Rachel, Shawna, and Kelly).

I'll be honest, I was extremely nervous to attend Forum. This was my first one. I didn't know the four students from State that well (even though Shawna and I spend a lot of time together as co-presidents) and I didn't know anyone going to Forum.

That. was. terrifying.

Flying to Phoenix was my first flight by myself. Ever.

Nothing more intimidating than flying alone and going to a place I'm not familiar with or knowing anyone.

I had my first bar-setting experience at Forum. One night there was a social at a place called the Duce. (okay, so it really isn't a bar, haha)

Let me tell you, it was uncomfortable for me.

I never told my NC State classmates, but it meant the world to me that I could hang out with them the WHOLE time and they wouldn't mind. I'm the youngest one of the NC State students at this convention, and they really looked out for me.

It amazes me how you can bond with a person when you're only together for 4 days.

At Forum, you meet people from across the country. You form friendships that can last a lifetime, right?

Attending this Forum allowed me to develop closer friendships with the students at my own school. If I had never come to Forum, I wouldn't have these friendships.

At the General Session last night, the President (Nick) said to look around us. We could be sitting by the next President, the next Steve Jobs, the next famous architect. I kept looking straight ahead, and I just smiled.

I was sitting by my NC State peers. I may not be a grad student like them, but I've never been more proud to be a part of them and a part of NC State.

I don't mean to be all mushy, but I'm truly honored to have been here at Forum with 4 amazing classmates of mine.

So Jimmy, Rachel, Shawna, and K Mo, thank you for everything.

And for all you reading, I'll leave you with this question....

What's your favorite vegetable? (you better let me know :) )

30 Second Sketches of Taliesin West

Studios and Lawn

Threshold to Studios

The Science of Happiness

The science museum had many interactive exhibits and was more or less oriented towards kids. Unfortunately, I felt like the architecture was not kid friendly....since when do kids like concrete? There were a few sweet moments in the building and I thought the entrance sequence was well put together.

Nicole and I had an epic time.  Flipping through the pictures made me realize it wasn't about experiencing the building, it was about experiencing the exhibits.  It was like being a kid again...I haven't laughed this much in a long time.

[touch]

View from the our room in the Sheraton and Taliesin [ma]

I'm posting these a day late...but its a good thing I did. We visited Studio Ma in downtown Phoenix today. Dan Hoffman, one of the three partners, talked about the firm's work but he also talked about what "ma" meant when the question was asked by one of the other students visiting. It is the space between. Not to quote wiki but I like the way this sounds: 

Ma: consciousness of space, not something that is created by compositional elements; it is the thing that takes place in the imagination of the human who experiences these elements.

For me that is what architecture is about, not so much what something looks like but how you experience a sequence of spaces composed to make you feel...

R.O.L.L.C.A.L.L.

If you have never been to an AIAS conference than you probably haven't experienced Roll Call, a simple display of presence at the general session events has turned (to our delight) into a show of witty skits and chapter pride.

Each evening when they have called North Carolina State University we have responded accordingly:

Day 1 Roll Call Response: Each of us leisurely made it to the front of the ballroom, stretching and yawning the whole way. When we got the the front, Nicole, who had flown in ahead of us, boasts "What took you guys so long?!" To which we responded, "Uh, maybe the 3 day car drive?"

Day 2 Roll Call Response: We started by saying, we would like to share with you a few memorable moments from our studio reviews this past semester: 1. Your project is AMAZING! I am PEEING my pants over here! 2. Don't take this the wrong way, but I would kill myself if I had to live in your cabin. 3. Your building is being mean to all of the other buildings. 4. I like a good box. 5. (with attitude) I think you've said enough.

Day 3 Roll Call Response: Stay Tuned!

Day 4 Roll Call Response: Stay Tuned!

We Design Together Therefore We Design Better

What's the schedule?" Kelly asked.

"On Thursday, you, me, Jimmy and Nicole are all going to Taliesin West."

My face dropped, I was not part of the group that day. Everyone looked at me with pity.

"And Rachel is going to, oh," Shawna snickers " She is doing the Who's Left Out Charrette."

The thing with charrettes, at least for me, is that I enjoy being part of a team more than I enjoy being part of a group.

My charrette team included three other incredible women, Jennifer from Tuskegee University, Monika from University of Maryland, and Emily from Drury University. The goal of the charrette was to address social issues such as education, inequality, homelessness, obesity, poverty, food and agriculture and social media through design. We had four hours, a pack of Sharpies, a computer lab and over a hundred years of combined life experience.

We had four hours to bond as a group, brainstorm, develop a program, design a solution and present our idea digitally. Here is what we created.

Our design focused on creating market with a central forum so that people can share their talents. One of the central premises of our design focused getting student involvement in the market. The purpose of this involvement is to integrate students from different schools (magnet, private and public) with the greater community. The students would have booths to sell vegetables from school gardens, artwork and ideas. Another important premise of the market is getting the students and the community to the place. Proximity to schools, residential areas, and public transportation is essential to keeping the market equality to all soci-economic classes. Finally, we wanted our solution to not only address the problem of inequity in the education system, but also to address other problems synergistically.

I considered this charrette successful for many reasons. We acknowledged each woman's area of expertise and incorporated her preoccupation into our process. For example, Jennifer was interested in the inequality of the educational system and Monika had just finished an "Urban Market" design studio, Jennifer was interested in giving form to content and my interest involved dissolving the separation between issues. I think I learned so much from working with these women and this experience strengthen my interest in social issues and architect.

Finally, I should say, that I did not know that one could "win" a charrette, but my team did win a prize for the best design. This win reiterates my belief that when we design together, we design better.

Stay tuned for the video which is on my iphone, but I am having problems getting the video from my iphone to my computer because the file is too big.