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I started these blogs off with why I wanted to become an Architect. Today, I’m writing my last blog, and I want to explain my future in Architecture.

The first step is to finish schooling. I’m almost done with one year in my five year education at Penn State. I still have a long road ahead, and while it will be difficult, I’m looking forward to all that I will learn. We are currently just getting started with designing and I’m having a great time. All the tools that I’ve been given in my first year and that I continue to get better at, will help me greatly over the next few years. Penn State has an amazing studio over at Stuckeman Building. The tall ceilings and large space is perfect for a studio setting. The faculty is also great. They provide us with many former Architects who had very successful careers. When choosing my school I’m very glad I ended up here. Between the friends I’ve made and the education I’m getting, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

After I graduate there is a bit of extra work I need to do in order to become a licensed architect. There’s a certain amount of internship hours that I will need to get, in several different types of categories. Some are more drafting and design-based, some jobs are more construction-based. It’s quite a lengthy process but it’s crucial to ensuring architects have much-needed experience in several different fields. There’s also 6 tests from the A.R.E that I will need to take. During school, I can start getting my internship hours, but I can’t take the A.R.E exams until after I graduate.

Once I become licensed, I have the ability to do whatever I want. I’m certainly luckier than most, in that I have a guaranteed spot back home with my father’s business. My brother who is 4 years into his education at the University of Hartford will probably be taking over the business with me. Of course this is not binding, and me and him both have the flexibility to pursue other paths. I personally like the residential aspect of architecture and I like the area in New Jersey where I live. Many new houses are going up and my brother and I have all the opportunity we need. Plus, my father also does work with solar panel companies and we can probably take over for that too.

For me, pursuing a career in architecture had nothing to do with what my future might be like. Sure, things like the A.R.E will be difficult. Things like the internship hours will be time-consuming. And having my father’s business to fall back on is certainly lucky. But I just like architecture, and I will continue to pursue it, because I love it.

Something I’ve always appreciated about Architecture was the vast history of it. Since the beginning of man, humans we’re designing forms of shelter imperative to their survival.

And as time went on, these shelters evolved. Their purposes, designs, materials, and especially their size changed immensely. Some were designed for shelter, others for meeting, many in early times for religious purposes. Today many buildings serve for businesses.

As time went on, architecture always remained dedicated to its largest demands. Buildings are designed and built for reasons. Whatever it is that a client or a society wants or needs, architecture provides that for them.

In this post I will be discussing some of my favorite buildings throughout the beginning of the history of architecture.

The first is Stonehenge. I’ve always appreciated this one because of the size of it. If you look to the left you can see just how large the stones are compared to the human standing between them. Even more amazing about the size is the fact that it was done around 3000 BC, so 5000 years ago. I’ve always found the technique to haul the large stones up interesting. The builders would slowly lift the stone and then build wood platforms under it. They would continue to build the platforms up until finally the stone was high enough to slide over onto the two vertical stones.

Another building I like is the Parthenon. Built on the top of the Athenian Acropolis in Greece, the Parthenon was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos. The building was designed by the early architects Iktinos and Kalikrates. It was a very large temple that had doric columns surrounding it. There were 8 columns on the front and back, and 17 on each side. To the left you can see some drafts I did of the Parthenon. At the top of it is an elevation so you can see what it looks like. Below that is a plan of the temple. As you can see it has a peripteral colonnade which means it is surrounded by columns. Then there are walls on the inside that house a large statue of Athena Parthenos. To the right of the plan is a picture of what the doric columns look like. Of the three main classical columns, this is the least decorative type. It also has no base on it but it does have a fluted shaft. Below the column is a site plan of the Athenian acropolis, with the Parthenon shaded so that one can see its size and location on the acropolis.

The last building I want to speak about is my Viscom teacher’s favorite building, the Pantheon. Built in Rome in 126 AD by Hadrian, the Pantheon is still to this day a structural phenomenon. My favorite part about the Pantheon is the dome. The coffered inside of the dome is amazing enough. Then add in the oculus in the middle that allows light to come in that is 26 feet wide. The dome in total spans 142 feet. For me, I truly appreciate the fact that a building that was built almost 2000 years ago with such a large dome can still stand. Most buildings from that long ago are in shambles today.

I’m certain I’ve said this before, but I feel it is very important to learn and have an understanding of architectural history. That is why I’m learning and studying these buildings and luckily for me I enjoy it so much. It will help me as an architect in the future and give me a solid understanding of precedents in architecture.

I previously wrote a post about early architecture. This is my second part to my blogs on architecture history. This gets into architecture that came a little later. I wrote before about buildings prior to the year 200, so very early architecture. This time I will be writing about a certain a certain architect from the late 1300s and early 1400s.

One architect who I grew very fond of was Filippo Brunelleschi. You might not know his name, but I promise if you’ve been to Florence, Italy, then you’ve seen his work. Why do I say that? He was none other than the person who designed the colossal dome atop the Florence Cathedral. More than the looks of the dome, I’m very interested with the process of how he built it. Brunelleschi was chosen to build the dome after submitting a design and plan for it. The dome would end up being 150 feet wide and was 180 feet up in the air. It was the largest dome in the world at the time it was constructed. The catch for this dome was that they wanted to build it without flying buttresses or pointed arches, two things that were crucial to the structural integrity of domes in the gothic-era of architecture.

To this day, engineers and  architects alike marvel over his decisions and techniques that he used to build the dome. I’m going to talk about some of the innovations that he made to complete this task.

The first thing was the herringbone brick pattern that he came up with. While working with brick structures, Brunelleschi discovered that there were some structural constraints and failures of laying brick to create a dome. His idea was to have certain bricks oriented vertically so that some of the weight would go outwards into the supports. This was to ensure no brick would fall during construction. Today it is common practice but back then this was a good example of his brilliance.

Another thing he created was called the ox hoist. In order to lift heavy stone and other materials up to the height of the dome, it was much more efficient to have some kind of machine that could hoist it up. Similar to the concept of a crane today, Brunelleschi designed a machine that used the strength of an ox to hoist these heavier materials up to the top. According to this New York Times article on Renaissance machines, this invention was, “capable of allowing a team of oxen to lift more than a ton of stones hundreds of feet in the air” (Iovine).

Getting into the dome, Brunelleschi was able to build the dome without centering. This means that there was no support in the middle to hold the dome up while it was being built with the supports coming out once it was finished. It was at this time virtually impossible to build a dome without centering and not have it cave in while it was being built. But with the immense size, it was imperative to do so because it would take a lot, and I mean a lot, of wood to have centering on this dome.

To combat the structural issues of not being able to use flying buttresses, Brunelleschi utilized metal chains that held a lot of the tension coming from the dome. The dome had many vertical and horizontal supports on the inside of this and to keep these hidden from the inside and outside, he technically created two domes, with the large supports hidden between the two.

Every step along the way, whether it was a new problem arising or the ability to be more efficient, Brunelleschi found a way to innovate. He even created a kitchen for the top of the dome so that his workers didn’t have to come down to the bottom to eat. He was always looking for better ways to build the dome and make this colossal dome stand, something architects and engineers are still baffled about to this day. It is absolutely amazing that a man at that time was able to come up with and carry out a plan to do it.

Rhino is a 3D modeling and computer-aided design (CAD) software used by many in architecture. It has a very user-friendly interface and it has many applications for students, which makes it a fan-favorite for architecture students.

My first experience with Rhino was in the middle of my first semester. For building real life models, it is much more efficient and precise to use a laser cutter. This is where you insert the material, upload a design, and a laser cuts through your material and makes the pieces that you want. It’s super helpful, and I wanted to use the laser cutter but the only problem was I needed some way to digitally draw my designs. So, I learned how to use Rhino. It took a while, but I slowly learned it, and only stayed in the world of 2D, never getting into the 3D stuff.

Then I had a class this semester, my second semester Visual Communications class. Last semester was hand-drafting, this semester is all digital. This semester I’ve learned a lot so far in the Rhino world. I’m actually good at 3D modeling designs now, and I’ve also learned many new commands and tools that I didn’t before. As the class goes on I keep learning more and more that I can use to get better and quicker at 3D modeling.

Rhino has several applications. As I mentioned before, it’s very useful for laser cutting. Another thing it has use for, although not the best, is drafting floor plans. It does have object snaps, and user input for distances, so for drafting it does work well, but AutoCAD might still have the edge over Rhino for 2D drafting. The most important application of Rhino is taking a plan of your building, and then extruding it (making it 3D) to turn a 2D plan into a 3D model. This is where Rhino is so important in Architecture.

I’ve made many things so far. We’ve done some stuff in 2D, but in 3D we’ve made some cool designs.The Eiffel Tower was a cool one. It also taught me some very valuable tools in 3D modeling. There’s a whole group of tools that go under the category ‘boolean‘. They’re all very helpful for modeling. An example is boolean union where it brings two 3D objects together, or boolean intersection, which takes two 3D objects and only keeps the parts that intersect with one another, deleting the rest. That tool was very helpful for the Eiffel Tower.

At first, I was skeptical about 3D modeling. I was worried and felt overwhelmed with all there is to learn, with all the commands and tools. But, I’ve already grown very fond of the capabilities that I have now obtained now that I’ve entered this world and I look forward to continuing on.

Recently in Architecture, we’ve been studying prefabricated Architecture. This is when the supplies and building materials are first made (normally in factories), then shipped to the construction site where they are assembled into the building.

We were looking at a specific part of these buildings however. My professor chose buildings that all have very interesting types of joints used in the construction of these buildings.

The building I was assigned was the Montreal Biosphere. It was designed by American architect Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller for the Expo 67 in Montreal. The building is a large geodesic dome built around a little museum designed to display American culture. In this blog, we’ll discuss the architect, the building, the concept behind a geodesic dome and the joint used in this building.

Let’s start off with the architect. He had a rather tough road to success. Buckminster Fuller was expelled from Harvard twice, once for partying, and the second time for having “bad ideas”. That wasn’t it. When he was 32, he hit a serious road block. 5 years prior, his daughter died at the age of 4. Now, he just lost his job as president of a company who specialized in structures. On top of that him and his wife just had a newborn baby. They had no way to pay their bills and we’re going into debt. He was also becoming a serious drinker. One night, on his usual walk around Chicago where they lived, he walked next to Lake Michigan, and considered drowning himself. He thought his family would be better off with the insurance money. But instead a voice told him he can’t. It told him that he has no right to kill himself. And that if he were to use the skills that he has for the right reasons, then he will find out that he has a purpose on this planet. From that day on he was one of the great pioneers and scientists looking into the integrity of certain structures, trying to find the most efficient ones.

The building is a unique one to say the least. It has the dome on the outside and then the building on the inside. The geodesic dome is made out of steel, specifically the struts on the dome are made of 3 inch steel tubes. The size and weight of the material diminishes towards the top in an effort to help the building stand. Also, if you look closely, it can be seen that the building actually has two spheres concentric to one another, the inner sphere helps with the structural integrity of the building.

The next thing is some information on geodesic domes. They are very useful for designers and architects because they have the smallest surface area (material usage) for the largest volume (space). It’s cost efficient in that sense. It’s said that a house made of a geodesic dome uses 1/3 the amount of lumber to build compared to a normal house. So the way it works is that a geodesic dome is made of equilateral triangles that transfer the load of the dome throughout the structure. It can have 4, 6, 8, 12, or 20 faces. The Montreal Biosphere is a 20-sided (icosahedron) dome. This may have you thinking, “Well I see so many more!” but it’s technically 20 sides and then a repetition of equilateral triangles in each face to give it a more spherical shape.

The last thing is the joint. The system of jointing in the dome is a hub and strut system. Basically there’s a hub, which is like the center, and then struts run out from them and to other hubs. The hubs on the building are a hexagonal shape with arms that extend out to which the pipes can attach to. The struts are the 3 inch steel tubes that I mentioned before. There is little documentation so it required just photographs, mostly poor ones, and diagrams/logic to map out how the joint works and what it looks like.

One of the classes that all first year students in Architecture take at Penn State, Visual Communications, is one of my favorites. The fall semester of this class focuses on hand-drafting while the spring semester will focus on CAD programs and software.

The fall semester helped me out in several ways. I learned some time management skills. I also learned many important skills relating to hand-drafting. It even gave me a thorough understanding of the history of Architecture.

Time-management was an important part of this course. On top of studio (and being an honors student), I got little sleep every night but I learned in this class the importance of knowing when to stop. Sometimes spending an extra 3 hours on a project will result in minimal results but you lost 3 hours of sleep. Knowing when to stop is important.

Hand-drafting is a skill that has become somewhat lost today due to the computerization of architecture. But, it is a crucial precursor to learn for students because to skip over it would be overlooking everything that’s been done in Architecture for the past thousands of years. I learned things like how to scale things and use a compass to help transfer measurements.

The last thing I learned was a good understanding of history. Due to the professor, Dr. Cooper’s background in architecture history, many of our assignments and lessons had a lot to do with history.

Our first project we worked on was drafting a plan, a section, and an elevation of the Temple of Apollo. I liked this project. It was something different, and it helped everyone get used to working with a parallel-rule, as well as circle templates.

Another project I enjoyed was drawing the Uffizi in Florence, Italy. This one I found so interesting because of how the geometries work out. Our professor showed us that if you put the vanishing point of the one-point perspective in a certain spot that when you draw out the buildings they end at the edge of the plan that we super-imposed in the middle. It results in a really cool piece and one that makes for a very good portfolio piece.

Another thing I had to do for this class was draw analytiques. Only me and one other student made the decision to honors option this class. My professor had us draw analytiques every week. We would pick a building and draft it, make diagrams and write about the building.

Last semester, I was required to study an existing building. My professor made a list of several buildings that had some sort of movement aspect to them. This concept is known as kinetic architecture.

When it came time to choose which building we were drawing, my professor had a slide show with pictures of each building. I noticed one that had a very unique feature on it, these sort of large, white, plastic bubbles bulging out the side of the building.

Having never seen a building like that before, I decided to go for it, and chose that as my number one choice. No one else wanted to deal with having to model that, so I got lucky and learned soon later that I got the building I wanted. The building I got is called the Shed, and it is located in Hudson Yards in New York City.

In 2005, the New York City Council approved about 60 blocks to be rezoned. The city looked at this area as the last place to build in Manhattan. New York’s Department of City Planning wrote, “In a place where dreams and ambitions are limitless, land is not. There is one last frontier available in Manhattan-Hudson Yards.” Hudson Yards is a 28-acre mixed use development located on Manhattan’s far west side.

As part of the rezoning, the city maintained a piece of land on West 30th Street adjacent to the High Line for future cultural use. Dan Doctoroff, the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding, worked on determining what should go there. He worked closely with Kate Levin, the Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs. Together, they wanted a space that was, ” A highly flexible one that could cater to the growing desire of many artists to break out of their silos and blend disciplines.”

In 2008, the city issued a request for proposals. The city selected Diller Scofidio + Renfro to be the lead Architect and the Rockwell Group as their collaborating Architect to develop their idea of a flexible building that could house all of the arts under one roof.

In 2012, a non-profit organization called The Shed was formed to oversee the construction of the building and continue to oversee it after it was finished.

In January of 2019, it was announced the Shed would open on April 5, 2019. The Shed’s building was renamed to the Bloomberg building after the former Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $75 million of the structure’s $475 million total cost. A dedicated ceremony was held on April 1, 2019 for the building, and 4 days later The Shed opened as scheduled.

The Shed has a few distinct parts to it and when explaining it I find it easiest to split the building into two parts. The non-movable part I usually refer to as the base building, and the movable shell I always refer to by it’s name, The McCourt, named after donors.

There are a few important aspects of the Shed. One being the large white “bubbles”. These are actually known as ETFE pillows, and they are the largest ones in the world. They give a very artistic look to the building and also allow some of the natural light to pass through them. Another aspect of the building is it’s openness. They intentionally allowed for a wide-open, column-less space in the middle of the building for displaying art and performances. You can see the large space in the plan.

Another thing I liked about the building were the different levels of it. The bottom two floors are both gallery spaces for art exhibits. The third floor is theater space. And the top floor has the Tisch Skylights that allow the sunlight to penetrate through into the top of the building. I’ve also been very fond of the mechanical system that allows for the Shed to move. The wheels that the Shed moves on were named the Bogies, and I drafted a section of what they look like with a person next to them to see the scale of just how big these wheels are.

Trying to model the Shed was a struggle. The building has complexities to it, one being of course the plastic pillows. I worked with my professor to model these pillows by first creating the design of the pillows, then plasma cutting the design into a sheet of metal, then using a blow molding machine which would blow the heated plastic up through the metal to create bulges in the plastic. It was a lengthy process, but it resulted in a very successful model of the building.

In order to show people the importance of the kinetic aspect of the Shed, my second model dealt with the different disciplines that the Shed can display. In the one above, the McCourt is deployed out and a concert is being performed inside. I had other thing that could be inserted into the middle of the model. One of these was a dance recital performed inside, another was an art gallery. And then while the McCourt was nested on the building, I had inserts that showed an outdoor viewing of a movie, and an outdoor concert. This model helped me successfully show that whether you’re a singer, song-writer, dancer, choreographer, instrumentalist, painter, film-maker, or any other type of artist, the Shed has the ability to display YOUR art.

When applying to different schools of Architecture, it was interesting to see what each school asked? Some asked many questions, some asked a few, but every single one asked the same question: Why Architecture?

As far back as I can remember, Architecture has always played a large role in my life. My father is an Architect and getting to see what he did everyday and his passion for it really got me interested. Being an Architect gave him the ability to work straight out of the house in his home office, so I was able to witness firsthand what it’s like to be one. He always talked about how much he loves his job, and how when you do something you love, it doesn’t feel like work anymore.

One thing that really pushed me into the direction of Architecture was LEGO’s. As a little kid I loved LEGO’s. The ability to lay the blocks out in front of you and just design whatever you wanted was amazing. It reinforced my love for design.

I’ve always seemed to have the mind of an Architect. I love creativity, and at the same time I’m also very intrigued with structures and Engineering. In my opinion, Architecture has the perfect blend of creativity and structure to it. Having only one would make me miss the other. If I were to take up Engineering, I’d be losing the ability to make my own designs. And if I were to take a more artistic approach, I would be losing the math portion that I’ve enjoyed my whole life. With Architecture, I get both.

Walking around I’m always noticing things about buildings. Normally people just look at a few buildings and are amazed by it’s size or detail. But what I like to look at are its interactions, whether it’s with the people who are using the space or the environment around it. I like trying to figure out what the Architects meaning behind certain design elements are. I like getting into the deeper meanings of the Architect’s intentions.

I took Architecture classes in high school, and up until that point I was unsure how much I would truly like getting an education in Architecture. But I soon realized after two years of classes that I still loved it and couldn’t wait to do more. I was introduced to building models, drafting, and CAD. It all made it clear what I wanted to pursue in life.

My brother and father both told me that Architecture school is tough. I can tell you after taking one semester of Architecture, it surely isn’t easy. After pulling multiple all-nighters throughout the semester, staying up for 75 hours straight one time, getting a lovely average of 4 hours of sleep a night, I realized that Architecture is indeed time-consuming. But, even though it might not be the healthiest thing in the world, I still love it.

Some people complained. They would say, “Why do we get so much work,” and, “I don’t want to do ALL of this.” And as people complain and moan, I just smile and think back to what my father told me, “If you truly love Architecture, then you won’t mind the late nights and no sleep.” He was right, no amount of all-nighters are going to convince me to stop doing what I love. And I can’t wait to be doing Architecture for the rest of my life.