I have had the opportunity to attend a few interesting local events in the last few weeks. They include the Miss Louisiana Tech Pageant, the 2011 Louisiana Agriculture Expo, and the lecture by architect Michel Rojkind.
The Miss Louisiana Tech Pageant was really interesting seeing the variety of talent of the women that were brave enough to make it to the stage. When I was young, my mother put me in child pageants (I wasn't one of those kids that's forced into it by their crazy stage-mothers) and I can remember the impact that it had on me. It was definitely a positive experience. Also, my sister competed for the Miss Louisiana title when she was 19. Let me tell you, that is not something easy to do! (Jenny, if you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about) Being able to have complete confidence in yourself in front of so many people can be frightening to many. Something as small as making the slightest mistake in the way you walk can hinder your chances of winning. Winning pageants is not just about looking good, or being really talented; it is about the total package and the confidence you have in yourself. I do believe this relates to architecture in many ways. During critique, the instructor is not only looking at just the design, or only how well your craft is on your model, the teacher is judging you a lot on how well your ideas are communicated. If you don't have complete confidence in your design (or don't appear to) that can affect your grade. Even in the real world, architects have to make their designs marketable to clients. The better a salesperson you are, the more attention your project will receive. Although, its not just about presentation, ultimately the content should be the most important factor in any project, but its easy to see that the presentation is a critical factor in the reception of your ideas.
The second event I attended was the 2011 Louisiana Ag-Expo. I found out about this event through my sister. She was wanting to bring my nephew to go see the "miniature cows." My nephew is two-years-old and he seemed pretty excited to see all the animals. When we arrived, this place was packed! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I must say, I grew up in a decent, mid-high income home in Monroe; its not the biggest city in the world, but its not what most would consider a "country" town. The Ag-Expo was the gathering place of just about every stereotypical "country farmer" type within a 200 mile radius. Its really incredible to witness such a sub-culture in my own area. These people spend their entire lives dedicated to the care and business of livestock and farming. I was so fascinated with people-watching in this environment. The outfits, accents, smells, and overall content of the conversations buzzing around me were so alien to me. After about 20 minutes of fighting the crowd to visit booth to booth, my boyfriend and I decided to go outside to see the livestock events happening...
We found an area of bleachers that weren't too packed and took a seat to observe what was going on in front of us. I had never seen a "cattle-show" before this, so I had no preconceived notions of what should be happening. The most shocking thing about these cattle were the people that were handling them with such grace and strength; they were children. These kids ranged in age from 6-12 years old (both boys and girls). It was so impressive mainly due to the size and strength of the cattle. According to the couple sitting next to me, these cattle were called Brahmas, they range from 1,000-2,200 pounds.
The Miss Louisiana Tech Pageant was really interesting seeing the variety of talent of the women that were brave enough to make it to the stage. When I was young, my mother put me in child pageants (I wasn't one of those kids that's forced into it by their crazy stage-mothers) and I can remember the impact that it had on me. It was definitely a positive experience. Also, my sister competed for the Miss Louisiana title when she was 19. Let me tell you, that is not something easy to do! (Jenny, if you're reading this, you know what I'm talking about) Being able to have complete confidence in yourself in front of so many people can be frightening to many. Something as small as making the slightest mistake in the way you walk can hinder your chances of winning. Winning pageants is not just about looking good, or being really talented; it is about the total package and the confidence you have in yourself. I do believe this relates to architecture in many ways. During critique, the instructor is not only looking at just the design, or only how well your craft is on your model, the teacher is judging you a lot on how well your ideas are communicated. If you don't have complete confidence in your design (or don't appear to) that can affect your grade. Even in the real world, architects have to make their designs marketable to clients. The better a salesperson you are, the more attention your project will receive. Although, its not just about presentation, ultimately the content should be the most important factor in any project, but its easy to see that the presentation is a critical factor in the reception of your ideas.
The second event I attended was the 2011 Louisiana Ag-Expo. I found out about this event through my sister. She was wanting to bring my nephew to go see the "miniature cows." My nephew is two-years-old and he seemed pretty excited to see all the animals. When we arrived, this place was packed! I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I must say, I grew up in a decent, mid-high income home in Monroe; its not the biggest city in the world, but its not what most would consider a "country" town. The Ag-Expo was the gathering place of just about every stereotypical "country farmer" type within a 200 mile radius. Its really incredible to witness such a sub-culture in my own area. These people spend their entire lives dedicated to the care and business of livestock and farming. I was so fascinated with people-watching in this environment. The outfits, accents, smells, and overall content of the conversations buzzing around me were so alien to me. After about 20 minutes of fighting the crowd to visit booth to booth, my boyfriend and I decided to go outside to see the livestock events happening...
We found an area of bleachers that weren't too packed and took a seat to observe what was going on in front of us. I had never seen a "cattle-show" before this, so I had no preconceived notions of what should be happening. The most shocking thing about these cattle were the people that were handling them with such grace and strength; they were children. These kids ranged in age from 6-12 years old (both boys and girls). It was so impressive mainly due to the size and strength of the cattle. According to the couple sitting next to me, these cattle were called Brahmas, they range from 1,000-2,200 pounds.
Here's a picture I took of a girl as she was leading her heifer to the show. One of the things I found interesting in how the cows are judged is that the more "feminine" and "beautiful" the heifer, the better she will score. Other positive characteristics of the females are length, balance, massing, structure, and color harmony. This to me started relating to architecture more and more. It shows that there seems to be a universal aesthetic that is transcendent into almost any realm. If you think about the Vitruvian ideals of order and proportion. Its amazing to see that genetics plays a part in your perception of beauty/health. A cow that is "beautiful" to judges is said to be a much better breeder and overall healthier animal than one that is not. Although beauty/attractiveness is usually thought of as a surface characteristic, it can be read as something much deeper and positive. If a building is beautiful, it may mean that it is structurally sound, or provides excellent circulation. Although you may not be aware of everything that is going on inside, the outside signifier of beauty is a mechanism that almost any creature develops to aid in our judgement of the world around us.
The third event I attended was the lecture of Michel Rojkind in Wyly Auditorium for the school of architecture. This lecture was one of the most refreshing and inspirational I have ever seen. His philosophy was so geared towards living life richly and bringing together human through architecture. He abandoned most of the theories in which I have been studying in this class and based his designs more upon the contextual elements of each project. Mr. Rojkind was about to spend a few minutes with me to answer some questions for the website I helped create for Architectural Theory: Special Topics. (wespeakarchitecture.com). In his interview, he says how he does use a specific formula to develop his designs, but more focuses on the client to generate ideas. He said that does very intensive research for all aspects of the project before he even thinks to about what the design is going to look like. I loved how he was able to take his experiences outside of the world of architecture and abstract ideas for his designs. I agree with him when he said "you cannot isolate yourself from the world when you design, instead, embrace all of the things going on around you." He's absolutely right. If we as architects only took other architecture as precedents, we would not be able to generate anything other than reshuffling past works. I'm not saying that all inspiration should be derived from all non-architectural things, but you must be wise in how you approach each individual project. One of the hardest things I have found in designing is learning how to think on an experiential level, not just iconographic. My critique in studio this morning with Mr. Caldwell consisted mostly of him reexplaining how you can't design things to "look like" or "represent" other things visually. It's about taking experiences you have had in your life, abstracting those ideas, and translating them into a formal language that achieves those same concepts.
The third event I attended was the lecture of Michel Rojkind in Wyly Auditorium for the school of architecture. This lecture was one of the most refreshing and inspirational I have ever seen. His philosophy was so geared towards living life richly and bringing together human through architecture. He abandoned most of the theories in which I have been studying in this class and based his designs more upon the contextual elements of each project. Mr. Rojkind was about to spend a few minutes with me to answer some questions for the website I helped create for Architectural Theory: Special Topics. (wespeakarchitecture.com). In his interview, he says how he does use a specific formula to develop his designs, but more focuses on the client to generate ideas. He said that does very intensive research for all aspects of the project before he even thinks to about what the design is going to look like. I loved how he was able to take his experiences outside of the world of architecture and abstract ideas for his designs. I agree with him when he said "you cannot isolate yourself from the world when you design, instead, embrace all of the things going on around you." He's absolutely right. If we as architects only took other architecture as precedents, we would not be able to generate anything other than reshuffling past works. I'm not saying that all inspiration should be derived from all non-architectural things, but you must be wise in how you approach each individual project. One of the hardest things I have found in designing is learning how to think on an experiential level, not just iconographic. My critique in studio this morning with Mr. Caldwell consisted mostly of him reexplaining how you can't design things to "look like" or "represent" other things visually. It's about taking experiences you have had in your life, abstracting those ideas, and translating them into a formal language that achieves those same concepts.
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