Sunday, December 14, 2008

12 | 12 @ 12

after working all week, the class has finally arrived at the moment of truth -- the bus shelter's unveiling before a public audience. in the last week, the class came to the realization that the hard-packed soil on site, and the windy conditions of the last several days would prevent them from revealing the design for the shelter outdoors. as a result, the community was invited into the lobby of the gatewood building.

all of the second year students stood proudly as tommy lambeth, department chair, congratulated them on tackling such a tough issue in studio. students gave an overview of the design process and uncg's female a cappella group, the sapphires, sang in celebration of a long semester's worth of hard work.


in the end, students realized that their work, while not sited at a bus stop, had truly brought a greater awareness of the woeful shortage of bus shelters in greensboro (64 shelters currently....1100 stops). read more about news coverage online....or better yet, stop by and see the shelter in the lobby, accessed off highland avenue.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Ooops!!



This is an example why Patrick's chair cards are SO important.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Natty Greene's

Come out and join us tonight[December 8] at Natty Greene's. It will start at 7:00pm and end at 11:00pm. This is a time to hang out together and help promote our bus shelter. Hope to see you there!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Important Reminders

A few important reminders::

  • In order to buy more materials everyone must bring $15.00 on Monday December 8. Please hand money to Laura Dipasquale!

  • If you have taken any photos of the bus shelter project, please post them to your blog.

  • Don't forget to pass out flyers to your family + friends!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Process, Process, + more Process

We are finally moving along with our bus shelter project [yay]!! We have completed both of our moment benches, which one is located at The Green Bean and the other at Edward McKay--go and check them out! Please keep checking the blog:: lots more updates + pictures to be uploaded!!

Just a few important reminders!!

Please don't forget to come out to The Green Bean located on Elm Street to help get the word out about our bus shelter!! It goes from 3:00-7:00pm today [December 4]. One of our moment benches will be placed here and there will also be half priced lattes! Please come out and support us as a class!

Friday [tomorrow] and Monday [December 8] all students will be working in the wood shop. Prepare to dress appropriately! **Keep in mind that you may be working outside

It is important that we all come together [as a class] to build the bus shelter [121212 is right around the corner]. Even if you are not scheduled to work--please consider coming out to help build anyways [not only is this helping get the shelter built, but it could also boost your grade]

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

overall comments on shelter|bus reviews

Another milestone passed!!!!

We have assessed all of the shelter|bus projects and that will be factored into your final grade for the course.  Please pick up all your materials from the critique room no later than noon tomorrow. As part of our ongoing effort to provide feedback, critique sheets from jurors will be distributed at the end of class on Friday.  We remind you to fill out online course evaluations.

We would appreciate it if the following students would deliver their boards and models to Suzanne's office sometime this week: Meg McMillan, Sara Zales, Michelle Bodon, Kevin Lahti and Maiken Schoenleber. These materials will be retained for the CIDA review in Fall 2009 and then they will be returned to you.

We have the following observations to make for the class as a whole:
  • Many jurors commented that the strengths of the projects rested in the stories you wove to explain concepts and design process.  
  • Students need to observe better time management with their studio projects.  We believe this to be a high priority in the coming semester.  Though some students put in a lot of hours, their time in the studio resulted in low-quality drawings and models or emphasis on the deliverables that did not maximize sharing information about the project --- in other words, the focus was misdirected.  Other students failed to put in the necessary energy and time to fully investigate the design opportunity.
  • In the future be sure to recognize the value of planning well in advance for your visual presentation.  Too many students made last minute decisions in layout, composition and craft which adversely affected the positive perception of their projects.
  • Successful projects included diagrams that helped explain the complexities of the shelter|buses.
  • Use models more through the design process.
  • Draw!  Draw!  Draw!  
  • Experiment with presentation techniques earlier in the design process.  This includes color choices, lighting effects, textures, scale figures, entourage...
  • Continue to experiment with how your board layout can bolster your concept and approach to the project.
  • You've come a long way in your speaking abilities this semester.  Continue to practice the craft of oral presentation supplemented by visual material.  Without doubt the more organized verbal presentations led to a greater comprehension of design intentions.
Again, we look forward to your engagement over the next 9 days for the bus|shelter!  With your active contributions and commitment to the process we are quite confident that the 12|12 event will be a great success and be a seed for change.  Be sure to invite friends and family to the unveiling so they can see the results of your hard work this semester.