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Architecture’s Energy Analysis Seminar Lays Groundwork for Meeting CCA’s Environmental Goals | California College of the Arts.

Last spring, I was enrolled in an Energy Analysis seminar at CCA. The link will take you to the press release of our presentation. I have visited CCA recently and was informed that many of our proposals are already underway and being implemented.

It’s been awhile since my last post! I will update with a more thorough post soon (about thesis, graduating, recent events) but I’m in a 10-day intensive workshop called Biodynamic Structures here at CCA. It is co-taught by the Architectural Association in London; we have tons of talent here teaching and learning about passive and active systems that respond to dynamic environmental and spatial factors in architectural design.

http://sanfrancisco.aaschool.ac.uk/

Design in architecture is heavily weighted by research and rigor. Research involves analysis, precedents, methodologies, strategies, and more. Rigor is the exhaustive and thorough filter that which the research and experimentation must be subject to. I recently attended a lecture by Marc Fornes here at CCA, and was inspired by the work, but even more fascinated by the intense processes that his studio goes through for the realization of projects. I appreciated the format of the lecture, as Marc presented his projects in the manner of its failures and evolutions. His extensive research in architecture via what he qualifies “Explicit and Encoded” protocols of design (scripting and computational methods) to me, resembles the inherent processes of nature. Although Marc claims that he does not intend to explore biomimicry in architecture, I see an analogous process. With the exhaustive research of material applications and structural tendencies coupled with the rigor of testing, failing, and evolving; Marc and his studio “THEVERYMANY” are creating an immense body of work that pushes the boundaries of computational modeling and experimental morphologies that mirror the natural processes of adaptation and evolution. After the lecture, I had the pleasure of attending dinner with Marc and some CCA faculty, where the discussions ranged from traveling, futures in architecture, even to my thesis project and horoscopes!

Such a late post, but better than never..

My last semester’s classes: Thesis Studio (Nataly Gattegno, Advisor); Energy Analysis (Ryan Stroupe); and Glass Blowing (Pamina Traylor). Graduation May 14!!

So far, thesis is going slow.. but steady. It’s pretty weird having to fully direct your own project at this stage. I’ve gotten accustomed to the typical design studio where there’s tons of work and you’ve got a general idea of what’s required in the class. In thesis, its all driven on your own, and you set your own pace. I have a pin-up/review on Monday so my pace right now has accelerated greatly..

Energy Analysis is a great Building Tech elective that I’m glad I decided to take. In May of 2010 our CCA president, Stephen Beal, signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). This agreement puts the college on a path to climate neutrality: an impressive objective that will require strategic planning and aggressive action. The seminar will undertake some of the first steps toward this ambitious goal. We are both benchmarking and visiting existing buildings within our CCA campus, conducting energy audits of facilities, exploring energy conservation measures and the feasibility of renewable energy systems, identifying facility re-design opportunities, developing project proposals, producing a financial assessment of each proposal, and creating a climate action plan and timetable.

Glass Blowing is my third open elective and is a great break from being inside studio. It’s an awesome class, because I’m being introduced to a completely new world of art & craft making through a medium so complex as glass. So far, I’ve learned how to make small orbs, hollow spheres of various shapes, and cylindrical cups. I also had my first skills/techniques project due recently in which I had to use only cold-working with glass.

The coolest effects that I didn’t foresee in this project are the shadows and how my ‘bowl/dish’ is rendered in light. Our next project will focus on sandcasting.

We have a great lecture series this semester, and I’ve already seen Michael Weinstock and Preston Scott Cohen.

CCA Spring 2011 Architecture Lecture Series