What would Aristotle say?<--Wrong blog!

{Yes, another one..risen from the grave...}

"So since my other blog looks rather similar...I posted it at the wrong blog.. something I am definitely capable of....

Um yes, haven't blogged in a long while...Well, life has been busy as usual with studio, though my super sarcastic professor just makes it even more "fun" for all of us. That reminds me of a wonderful conversation I had with him..

After class...

R: "Sigh, it makes me worried to see you guys have such horrible aesthetic taste..." (aka: your stuff is ugly)

Me: "Hum, I think it's a generation's problem..." (aka: we tolerate more ugly stuff due to various reasons such as tech., crazy forms + materials, and tech. Hence, we create more "ugly stuff")

R: *stares @ J* "What? So you're saying that I have to deal with a whole generation here??"

Me: *assertively* "Yes..and perhaps even more to come."

R: *stares @ J w/ a very annoyed face and walks away..*

Yay? Can't wait to see how this all turns out when we get desk crits instead of four hrs of discussing our work every Mon and Weds. (w/ often no sleep the day before)"

It's March... Where did Febuary Go?

{Yes, this is one of the many old posts that I have managed to revive... stored as drafts...waiting to see the daylight..}

"Feb. has been like a whirlwind of events and workload for me, everything happened at an instant and did not stop, not even now. As my firefox browser toolbar is filled with links to share, my life just jumps from one chapter to another, racing from page to page. Due to studio work, planning for studying abroad, entering a competition, and tons of paper (and possible scholarship opportunities?!) I could barely slow down to give myself five min. of free time to meditate or even just to stop thinking. So some news and updates...

Feb. 22- A night with Mimi Hoang of nArchitects
I went to Mimi Hoang's lecture at CCA (California College of Arts in SF) to remind myself how "fun" architecture is. (studio has quite tuned that part down a bit.) She is the partner at n Architects with Eric Bunge, who both actually have taught in UCB before?! Some of their famous works include the Canopy for the MoMa/P.S. 1 Young Architect's Program for 2004.

Their awesome diagram for the project.

Their VILLA-VILLA: Ordos 100 house @ Ordos, Mongolia is one of my favorites. It is part of a big project where 100 architects are invited to each design a villa at the new city center. The concept is that the inner house contains 60% of total volume and 75% of the area, in contrast to the rest of the space being the outer house. The inner house functions as a compact living space, while the outer house provides the protective enclosure against the harsh weather of the desert. When the weather is harsh, the occupants can choose to live in the inner house, which extends to the edge in personal spaces for a view to the outside. As the weather gets warmer in the summer, the occupants can start to inhabit the outer house, a much more open space in height and area with gardens and fountains."

the concept diag...

the house...

the outer house..

the inner house...

All pictures are a courtesy of n Architectes.