Building a Kiosk

Here is our finished "jewel box" - the main display case on our kiosk. Today we finished the welding and priming of the frame. Tomorrow we will paint and on Monday we can start the final assembly. I can't wait to post pictures of the finished project.

...including lots of rotary sanding.

I then learned the multiple steps involved in finishing the glued pieces...

Once our class finally decided on a design we set about constructing the three kiosks. My group is responsible for the College of Art and Architecture kiosk, so feels an obligation to make it a bit more formal. Above is my first experience with gluing wooden panels together. So many clamps involved!

Our third, and most complex, idea involves three popcorn-stand-inspired kiosks, each made out of slightly different materials. You have to get creative with materials when modeling!

It can be configured in numerous ways with the two matching kiosks.

This kiosk idea includes a movable display shelf.

As mentioned previously, my class was charged with designing a set of three kiosks to represent the College of Art and Architecture, School of Architecture, and Student Groups in our building. After analyzing the architectural aspects of the building, each group set about coming up with modeled designs for a review with our dean. The above model displays a three-in-one kiosk that could be set-up in one or three parts.

The Charming South

Can you believe this? They actually sell massive turkey legs at the fair and people buy them! No, I didn't get in a stranger's face to take this photograph. This is my friend's brother sinking his teeth into more meat than I eat in a week.

Opting for a slightly healthier option between my corn dog and mac'n cheese I enjoyed freshly grilled corn on the cob.

I had been warned that everything was fried at the fair, but never expected to find fried mac'n cheese, fried candy bars, fried oreos, fried pecan pie...the list goes on.

I couldn't resist the chance to completely immerse myself in southern culture and go to the state fair in Raleigh.

What you've heard is true, there's nothing like fall in North Carolina. This is a beautiful scene I passed on the way to try to get in to see Obama when he spoke on campus the night before election day. My favorite part of fall thus far is getting rained on by leaves when I am walking under a canopy of trees. It's lovely.

I realized when I moved to the South I had a daunting task ahead of me - perfecting the biscuit. I mean, for goodness sake, they are such a part of everyday life they are served at Sephora on Saturday mornings! This is my latest attempt - a flaky and moist sour cream biscuit. I'd love to practice on anyone who comes to visit!

An Architectural Tour of New York

The final project we had in New York was to find a gracious retail space in SoHo that would let us analyze their building. I was in charge of the facade and street scape. Upon returning to campus I created a time-lapse collage of the facade, then grouped multiple photos together to create images of the street looking down in each direction.

Another dream came true when I had the chance to visit Chelsea Market, home of Food Network Studios. While we couldn't go up to the magical kitchens, I enjoyed shopping at the markets on the bottom floor that supposedly supply the chefs upstairs. If those walls could talk....

Martha has also been talking about how much she loves Balthazar Restaurant and Bakery since I first started emulating her in 1997. Amy Jo and I went for Saturday morning breakfast and couldn't have had a more enjoyable experience. I highly recommend it if you are ever in New York. (Tom Cruise was spotted there the next day!)

I was thrilled when I noticed Eva Scrivo's new salon just down the street from one of the buildings we were sketching. Eva has been Martha's make-up artist for years and I had a special moment when I saw the famed friend of my icon through her shop window.

We spent some time learning about the progress at Ground Zero and talking about the great challenge it has proven to be for architects.

One of the best exhibits we visited was "Home Delivery" at MOMA. Five pre-fab homes are on display in the open lot next to the museum - everything from this five story "cellophane house" to an extremely tiny home about the size of a closet. Which one would you choose? We are now using the above building to learn how to draft back on campus.

We took a great field trip to New York in mid-October. Both of my professors are familiar with the city and planned a jam-packed, architectural adventure for us. We spent Wednesday-Saturday morning running from building to building and doing a bit of sketching in between. We then had Saturday afternoon and Sunday to explore for ourselves.

Moooooore Projects!

This is the computer-generated matrix I developed with my photographs and diagrams. It compares plan-based photographs on the top to growth-based photographs on the bottom. While the organizations of these fields were very different, I concluded they were all very specifically ordered. The order and complexity seemed to decrease as "man" got involved (i.e. picked blueberries, crumbled cheese, etc.)

I then diagrammed all nine of my best photographs by hand (as you can see from the five diagrams pinned below each photograph). These diagrams reflected everything from bounding boxes, to axes, to negative space, to anomalies. They certainly took some time!

We were required to take about 40 pictures, enlarge the ones we thought would work best, then display them all for a pin-up.

For a different project, we were asked to take pictures of fields (as in the object/field relationship), diagram the photographs, then create a matrix using our findings. This is one of my favorite pictures from that set.

This is the Salon space in the center of our building where we "pin-up" our projects and are reviewed by jurors.

This is the matrix we developed to display our findings. The types of lighting are collaged in proportion to their prevalence in the top section, then plotted on floor plans in the bottom section.

The first step of a long-term project (the creation of a kiosk you'll see later) was to analyze different parts of the architecture building in groups (i.e. Lighting, Movement, Sets, Signage, etc). My group was assigned lighting, so Amy Jo, Laney and I analyzed both planned and unplanned lighting in each area of the building.

Photography Project cont. - Cake Pans

Lemon Angel Food Cake in a tube pan

Springform pan

Silicone bundt pan

Mini cupcake pan

Fluted tart pan

Photography Project cont. - Lemons

Photography Project - Leaven

Pancakes - exhibiting baking powder

Beaten egg whites - for use in an angel food cake

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Punching down the risen dough
Rising dough


Dough - ready to be kneaded

According to my professors, in order to become an architect one must learn how to observe the world around them, frame well-composed views, and capture and represent one's ideas. What better way to learn these things than through the practice of photography? When given the opportunity to choose what we wanted to photograph I could not help but choose three subjects from the kitchen - leaven, lemons, and cake pans. I know these are funny categories, but they seemed to fit the objectives of the project. So as not to bore you with those details, all I will say is enjoy the pictures and I hope you are salivating by the time you reach the last one.

Carolina Panthers & Sir Purr

Carolina Panthers games are THE thing to do in Charlotte. I found this out when I asked one of my new friends: "remind me again which sport the Panther's are?" Who knew a simple question could cause such an uproar! To set me straight once and for all, one of my classmates invited me to attend a game with her and her husband. I hadn't been to a football game since high school so thought it would be fun to give it a try.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but here are some observations I had at the game I think might differ from other NFL game experiences around the country:

1. The mascot for the team is named Sir Purr - intimidating? Not really.

2. The very first person on the field was a local pastor. His job was to bless the game before it began.

3. Right before the game began a commercial flashed up on the big screen that showed a series of kids reminding everyone to watch their language during the game and be considerate of the little ears around them.

I had a great time at the game and hope that after a few more tries I will understand what all of the calls mean. For my first NFL game, though, a 47-3 victory over the Washington Redskins was a pretty good way to start.