And School Begins...

Well, yesterday was finally the first day of class; yes, two weeks after arrival. This semester, I will be taking three different classes: Studio, Detail Drawing, and Urban Exploration in Paris. Detail Drawing is mostly about sketching and analyzing how a building comes together. Where ever we travel, we'll be looking at a building from a different perspective- the construction details of how the building could possibly be built. Urban Exploration is more of a walking class through Paris. We will be looking at different neighborhoods, exploring all of the intricate corners of the city otherwise never seen, and mapping out our own "map" of how we interpret the city. The last class is of course Studio. This semester, we are going to be designing a floating restaurant for the Paris canal as well as the Chicago River. For six months out of the year, the restaurant will be docked at a prime location along the river or canal and for the following six months, will travel south to warmer weather. The restaurant will house four workers; all of which are tsu chefs, waiters, and captains of the vessel. The main chef will constantly change as world renowned chefs will come to the restaurant and cook for a couple weeks on the vessel at a time.

It's going to be an interesting project. My entire third year of school was about designing a building for a specific location and program- however this project has no definite site or specific program. Although this gives a lot of leeway to do as we please, it also leaves a lot open for interpretation: whether or not it be good or bad. To me- because there is constantly a new chef, a new location, and new visitors- the restaurant has to adapt to its environment. Also- if the same four people are living and working on this small vessel for months at a time, they're going to want a change every now and then. For me, this restaurant has to be about adaptation and exploration. The workers need to be able to move walls, change layout, and alter the exterior look. For me, good architecture satisfies three parties: the user, the passers-by, and the architect. It must be able to function sufficiently for the workers and customers. It must draw the average person walking by to want to explore the building and experience more. And it must please other architects- whether it be in the building's detail or overall interpretation. So far, my preliminary ideas consist of everything being able to move- walls, windows, colors, entrances. It has a series of vertical louvers which create an ever changing view of the building for the person approaching it and viewing the restaurant while walking past on the path beside the river. But- it's been a day- so I know a lot will change- but as of now, this is where I'm at.

I just came back from a trip to the Louvre and dinner with a bunch of friends from class. Since it's Friday night, all people under 26 are able to enter the Louvre free of charge. We say the Mona Lisa, Wing Victory (or Nike statue with wings), Raft of Medusa, and more. We didn't get to nearly the entire museum- I believe if you walk every hall in that museum, you would walk over 4 miles. But from what I saw, it was a beautiful museum. At dinner, a friend asked all of us to go around the table and say one word to describe the Mona Lisa; mine was "creepy". It was very impressive to watch the eyes follow you as you move from left to right, and the angle of her mouth makes you want to truly know what she's thinking. I must say, though, the painting was much smaller than I imagined- but maybe the 3 inches of bullet-proof glass surrounding the painting give it the illusion of being so much smaller than thought.

On our way back home, we got a little lost, but all of the sudden all of these cop cars and vespas with their sirens on come wailing down the street with, literally, thousands of roller skaters following them! I honestly don't know what was going on, but these skaters were intense and never ending- and on top of that, it was about 11:30 at night- honestly, I don't know what was going on, but it was a pretty cool site! Anyways, I hope all of you back at home are having a great beginning of your weekend. I miss you SO much, thank you for reading!