100 Fold Summer Design-Build
I had the amazing opportunity to spend the summer in Lakeside, Montana learning from an incredible group of architects and working with a diverse team of architecture students to design and build a playground structure for a local middle school.
Mentorship and Teamwork
100 Fold Studio has such a big heart for mentorship and they empower and inspire the next generation of humanitarian architects through their example. Just spending a few months with them, I noticed right away that they do architecture differently. It’s not about ego. It’s about listening.
With a group of 24 architecture students from all across the US and abroad all trying to design this one playground, I though this project was going to be a train wreck! Thankfully, it was the exact opposite! With 100 Fold’s model of cooperation over competition as an example and with a common goal of making our project the best we could for the kids who were going to use it, the design process went smoothly.
Our Design
The prompt was to build a structure that would be the catalyst and heart of a new playground for the local middle school, and that would store their outdoor games. When we met with the school principal, she emphasized that she wants the school to focus on the whole child, so we designed four sheds with the themes “intellectual, social, emotional, and physical” to represent different aspects of a child. Each shed has a bench area on the front with something that represents its theme. For example, social shed has a long bench and the intellectual shed has a table with a chess board. In the middle of the four sheds is a fun new game the kids love called Nine Square in the Air. Lastly, the structures frame the beautiful mountain views on rural the Montana campus and remind the students of the beautiful place they live in.
Build Week
After working together to design the project, we got to build it together too! Again, I though that 24 people (plus the staff who helped us!) building a structure was going to be a disaster but it actually worked out really well. We all learned new things but also learned how to shine in our strengths. We came together as a team and made lasting memories. We also learned that it’s REALLY HARD TO BUILD THINGS IN REAL LIFE! Everything takes longer than you’d imagine and it looks like you’re going so fast at first, but the finishing touches take so much patience! But we also learned that it’s SO WORTH THE WAIT. It was priceless to get to play in the finished structure and now to see photos of the kids enjoying it!
Beautiful Montana
It was such an amazing summer of growth, not only in my architectural and leadership skills, but personally. It was a great time of reflection in nature and a time to think about WHO I want to be as an architect.
I can’t recommend 100 Fold Studio enough. It’ll be a landmark in my path as an architect. A distinct wayfinding point in my career. A solid foundation.
Colorado Architecture
Boulder has some beautiful architecture, walking downtown Pearl Street is a must but you can see lots of cute houses just by driving around town.
Visitors Center
Old Dining Hall building
Houses on Pearl Street
Unique office building on Pearl Street
Denver has a great mix of more modern skyscrapers and smaller brick buildings with a lot of character. One of my favorite parts of the city was Larimer Square.
New York or Denver?
Beautiful modern fenestration
And of course, I had to make the pilgrimage to Libeskind’s Denver Art Museum.
The details on the outside were exquisite
and the lighting on the inside and the layering of space was breathtaking.
Another cool building in Denver is REI. It’s a historical railway building that was converted.
Denver had it’s fare share of unique buildings as well, including this milk-pail icecream shop (with THE BEST icecream! Totally worth the wait!) and this unique house entryway.
I ended my time in Colorado with a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater.
Not only are the rock formations themselves amazing, but so is the way the architects seamlessly integrated the built elements to make the venue functional.
If you look closely at the upper left you can see the Denver skyline.
The backdrop of the stage is a natural rock formation that the lighting designer can project lights on during the show to create different looks.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of being in Red Rocks.
Portland Architecture
Although Portland isn’t particularly known for its architecture, there are still some remarkable buildings there and lots of cute houses to oogle over while you’re driving around.
A building downtown Portland.
I visited the Pittock Mansion and although I didn’t get to go inside, the exterior was elegant and the view was amazing.
So many plants! Oregon definitely is not in a drought.
What Portland lacks in buildings it makes up for in bridges!
View from the Portland Aerial Tram.
A short drive from Portland is the Mt. Angel library by Alvar Aalto – it’s a must see if you’re in the area because it’s just as beautiful, peaceful, and intricately detailed as it looks in the pictures.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of exploring a new city.
Hearst Castle
Yesterday I visited Hearst Castle for the first time. I was blown away by the estate, designed by Julia Morgan in the 1920s. The amount of detail in every aspect of the design was incredible. Every tile seemed like it was hand-selected.
The Neptune pool was closed for renovations but it was still incredible to see. My tour guide described how Julia incorporated antique and replica sculptures into the architectural decoration.
There are a number of guest houses on the property that surround the central Casa Grande.
They all have exquisite views of the ocean and immaculate gardens.
The tile work also really impressed me. Julia Morgan is known for designing her own tiles for projects and I loved the contrast between the blue and white custom tiles and the red terra cotta tile.
This is one of the towers in the Casa Grande. The two towers peek in and out of the trees as you approach the castle.
The front facade of the Casa Grande. It has a mix of styles and looks almost like a European cathedral.
The inside is just as beautifully decorated. Hearst loved antiques and art.
My favorite room was the Roman Pool. I had seen pictures of it before but to be there in real life was magnificent. The blue tiles sparkle and the water is perfectly clear. My favorite part is the cantilevered diving platform that adds depth to the space. If you ever have a chance to visit Hearst Castle, I think you should go just to see this one room.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of traveling back in time at Hearst Castle.
Visiting Cornell University: My Top 4 Things To Do
This past weekend, I visited Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I had a wonderful time exploring the beautiful campus and learning more about their architecture program.
Here are a few tips for your own tour:
1. Visit the Johnson Museum of Art
The museum has a patio, a light-up roof, and a viewing tower.
Whether you’re more of an art-observer or an architecture-oogler…
Architectural detail of a two story floor-to-ceiling window.
you’ll love the view from the top! (And did I mention it’s free?)
Beautiful panoramic views of campus, Ithaca, and the lake.
2. Explore Ithaca!
Ithaca is a rural town in the finger lakes region of New York. Cornell University is located on a hill to the northeast of town. Campus itself is divided into central campus (where all of the academic buildings are), north campus (north of the river, where freshman housing is), and west campus (down the hill on the western edge of campus, where upperclassmen housing is).
Below are two of my favorite “downtown” type places in Ithaca.
Collegetown is directly south of campus and has many great places to eat. I’d totally recommend Collegetown Bagels. Their chocolate chai blew my mind!
Collegetown
The Commons, under construction during my visit, has many more great places to eat. My favorite restaurant there was Waffle Frolic. Yes, just as the name implies, it is indeed an entire restaurant dedicated to the most delicious and inventive waffles ever.
Ithaca Commons
3. See Some Natural Beauty
To work off all the extra bagel and waffle-related calories you’ll be consuming while in Ithaca, take a walk to some waterfalls. If a “walk” in the cold New York weather sounds daunting, don’t worry. Triphammer falls can be seen from your car as well as from a footbridge literally on top of it. To get the true Cascadilla experience requires climbing stairs down into the gorge, but it’s SO worth it!
There are so many beautiful waterfalls in Ithaca, but these two are right on campus (see map above).
The top part of Triphammer Falls.
Cascadilla Falls
Cascadilla Falls
4. Get in the Classroom
Last but not least, it is important to really investigate what it means to be a student at this university. For me, that meant attending an AAP (College of Architecture, Art, and Planning) Information Session and visiting studio. The information session gave me an opportunity to ask architecture-specific questions to an admissions person and get to know the requirements and expectations of studying architecture at Cornell. Visiting studio was one of the highlights of my visit at Cornell because, as an architecture student, I will be spending the majority of my time in studio. First of all, I loved how Milstein Hall being one giant room encourages so much collaboration and community between architecture students. Second, I got to sit in on a critique and really see how intellectually Cornell approaches design.
If walls could dream… they’d dream about art, food, and waterfalls.
Ghost Towns in Northern California
Last month, while camping with my family at Lake Davis, we took a day trip to two of the best ghost towns in Northern California, Walker Mine and Lucky S Mine.
First was Walker Mine. The drive was actually quite straightforward and the site safe and easily accessible, with a great view from the top. Directions (and some great historical photos) can be found here.
At the top of the hill is the entrance to the mine, complete with railcar lines, old railcars, and outbuldings.
One of the outbuildings was full of shallow boxes scattered about like the one pictured below.
It was only after we left that we realized that they were for rock samples like these I photographed.
Below the main buildings are other concrete structures that we assume were used to process the copper.
We had lots of fun wondering what these structures could’ve been used for, from a safe distance.
I was amazed at how the ruins had partially deteriorated and revealed hints about the construction, but still left us all guessing about the function.
For example, the walls of this overgrown structure were partially constructed out of random materials, hinting that perhaps they were building and growing so fast that they had to use scrap material instead of waiting for a shipment of new materials.
From there, we headed out for Lucky S Mine, unsure if we could even find it with the vague directions we had. But by using paper maps, cell phones, our car GPS, many hours driving down dirt roads, and sharp eyes, we finally found it! (Photo credit to my dad, below)
For most of the drive, all I saw out of my window was green and brown, trees and plants, the occasional cow. The only thing man-made was the trail itself and the occasional sign (usually just a logging trail marker). I’m searching the landscape as we reach the GPS coordinates, picturing some haunted strip of overgrown buildings, when suddenly, I saw something grey and angular, definitely not a tree – a roof.
There were two cabins and two outbuildings.
I was amazed, first of all, by the fact that there were such well-built buildings here in the middle of nowhere. Then, I was amazed by the craftsmanship of the buildings, which their abandoned deterioration only exemplified. The fallen ceiling beams made you more amazed that the roof was still standing.
While amazed with this mini neighborhood, our directions promised us at least 7 buildings, one of which a 3 story hotel, so we continued our search. We continued toward the GPS coordinates and found a shed labeled “Caution: Explosives” and a steep dead end road. We assumed that we were not going towards the town, if there even was a town, and turned around. Following a small road around the cabins we found earlier, we were suddenly greeted by 3 more buildings and a number of outbuildings.
And, yes, there was a 3 story hotel!
In addition to the buildings, there were artifacts everywhere, including furniture in the houses and hotel.
My favorite was a sled.
Sadly, many of the artifacts had been used as target practice over the years.
Next to the hotel was a slanting building we assumed was a saloon or kitchen/mess hall.
Towards the end of our time at the ghost town, a truck pulled up and its driver introduced himself as a member of the family who had just purchased the land the town sits on. He was very kind in answering our questions about the town and explaining that they intended to do their best to preserve this amazing little town for generations to come.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of outliving their residents.
Map of Architecture Colleges
As all “visual people” would know, the NAAB (National Architecture Accreditation Board) list of architecture colleges is not very helpful in understanding where these schools actually are, so I created this interactive Google Maps map of all of the accredited BArch programs in the US. Now we all can easily visualize the locations of the schools as well as start to learn about the climate and the town around them to help simplify our college search.
Old Town Sacramento Street Raising
Just blocks from the urban hustle and bustle of modern Sacramento, Old Town Sacramento seems to be frozen in time. Once you finally get a parking spot, you are enchanted by railroad cars, horse-drawn carriages, and, of course, beautiful brick buildings. And though it may seem like this is the original Sacramento, that is not the case. The original Sacramento is nine feet under ground.
At the start of the Gold Rush, Sam Brannan opened a store on the Sacramento River. This waterfront location was great for business, but prone to flooding. The settlement that grew around his store became Sacramento.
Without much lumber from trees, the gold rush town of Sacramento was built out of abandoned ships, like the Eagle Theatre building. The frame was made out of wood and the walls were made out of canvas from the sails. The entire town was built like this in the early days.
The town grew and more permanent buildings were constructed. However, flooding was a big problem. In January of 1862, a huge storm plunged all of California’s Central Valley underwater. In 1862, you could sail from Sacramento to Bakersfield. However, this flood did create the rich farming soil the Central Valley is known for today as well as spur the town of Sacramento into action.
There were three camps of thought on how to save Sacramento: reroute the river, build a bigger levee, and raise the town. They all won in their own way. The river was rerouted with the help of some “volunteers” from the prison. The railroads built levees for Sacramento, with the condition that they could put their rail lines on top of them of course. But my personal favorite is the raising of the town. Hungry for more information about it, I went on the Historic Old Sacramento Underground Tour. And next time you’re in Sacramento, I’d advise you do as well.
Following our time-period-accurately-dressed tour guide Rose, wearing our not-so-time-period-accurate-headsets so we could clearly hear what she said, we headed out on our tour. We went to two different basement areas where Rose described the businesses that were originally there and how the streets were actually raised. (Pictures weren’t allowed underground, but you can find some in this document about the street raising project here)
The basements had dirt floors with a wooden path to walk on and smelled very musty. You could hear the floors creak from people walking on the floor above you. It was very well maintained, though, and almost like a museum with photos and artifacts on display. The first underground space was the basement of B.F. Hastings & Co, which used to be a bank. The second space used to be three apartments.
A quick side note – ever wondered why some old buildings have giant metal shutters on their windows? Well according to my tour guide Rose, they were for if a fire were to come through town, you could lock yourself in your brick building and the fire couldn’t get to you. Which was good because most of the fire escapes are made of wood like the one on the left so you couldn’t get out during a fire anyways. Good thing you can stay out of the flames sealed up in your brick oven of a building!When raising the streets, they started with the streets themselves, building brick walls where the sidewalk met the street on each side and filling the street area with dirt until it was level with the second floor of the buildings. The owners of the buildings then chose whether they wanted to rework their building so that the second floor was now the first floor and the first floor was now the basement, or raise their entire building to the new level of the street. Those who chose to raise their buildings hired a crew that used jacks to slowly lift the building up inch by inch, a process that took around 40 days.
The evidence of this process is all around town, if you know where to look.
This yellow three story building for example, sits next to a two story building. The two story building chose not to be raised. The three story building did. Which is evident when you look closely at its second floor windows…
…which aren’t straight.
Or take, for example, this bricked-in doorway and window (the window is a little harder to see – it’s behind the no parking pole) which are below the level of the street, indicating that the street had at one time been much lower.
The street raising project gave Old Town a very interesting horizon, both on the ground and against the sky.
All of the alleys curve downward in between streets,
and almost none of the buildings are the same height.
It even has submerged parking lots!
I love being able to look around and read a story from the buildings around me and the story of Old Town Sacramento was a particularly interesting one. While there have been many street raising projects all over the country (the one in Chicago has an amazing 99% Invisible episode about it) Sacramento is the only one in California.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of lifting entire towns inch by inch.